The Big Block Blog

Thurs. April 9th

Let the auction begin.

It’s Day 1 at Barrett-Jackson – Palm Beach 2009: As one would expect, the cars are as plentiful as they are beautiful and the crowds swarm the display tents like a pack of fatties at a Golden Coral buffet table on extra pork night.

Of course, this means many of us are wielding cameras and vying for the best spots to shoot these fabulous machines before they’re dragged-off to the auction block and then shipped away to Who-Knows-Where, (which is due north of “Can’t Get There from Here”).

My first day at the Barrett-Jackson Auction taught me at least one valuable lesson: there are people who take photos of cars and there are those who choose to walk in front of those automotive paparazzi.

It seemed incredible to me that so many were either too ignorant, unaware, or just so downright nasty that they would deliberately step in the way of a person who was obviously lining-up his or her camera for a car shot. The Barrett-Jackson extravaganza at Palm Beach seemed to have an abundance of these jackasses. In fact, by the time I was ready to leave, I was pretty much steamed at them all.

It wasn’t just me either. After some mid-sixty-ish clown with a white goatee decided to step in my way as I shot the engine compartment of a ’69 GTO Judge, I began asking others if they were having the same problems.

Two younger guys agreed, but took exception to the fact that I felt it was guys in their senior years who were the culprits. “No, no…” they both laughed, “it’s the younger guys too. We’re getting blocked by people in their 20s and 30s as well.”

This guy seems to realize he's blocking my shot. He saw but didn't stop until he passed through my line of sight. In his defense, he apologized though.

I had just renewed some hope by shooting a ’71 Chevelle SS (LS5) convertible when some 70-something goon hard-headed his way into my first shot and then subsequently moved in my line of fire almost every time I repositioned myself.

The difference between the Persistent Old Goon and White Goatee Man was intent; you see, White Goatee Man was munching on a foot-long hot dog (which seemed to possess a somewhat higher IQ than he did), so he was simply oblivious. On the other hand, Persistent Old Goon actually saw me trying to photograph the Chevy, but was too arrogant to give a shit. I finally got off a shot of the front grille and hood when his attention turned to the car next to us. Persistent Old Goon probably saw another photographer and decided to ruin his life as well.

Inside the actual auction hall, things did not get much better. Each time I attempted to shoot, someone was there to thwart my efforts. I finally just raised my camera over my head and shot a few blind photos!

Want to take some photos at Barrett-Jackson? Put the camera over your head and shoot. No old geezer will be able to bump or block you!

The photo on the right was the best of those.

Do not try this in any other situation though!

EXAMPLE: I used to drink too much beer and then “blind date” at night’s end. The next morning I would be hacking my arm-off with my car keys just to slip out of her room without waking her.

Tomorrow, I will be returning to see if I can slip in early enough to beat the car blockers. If I’m lucky, maybe White Goatee Man will have stomach cramps from his bad choice of food today and stay home. Perhaps Persistent Old Goon will have been stabbed in his sleep by his wife. I’m not wishing this on him, because he might be planning to buy a car from the nice folks at Barrett-Jackson, but I think POG tends to push people over the edge with his arrogance. Maybe his wife will just cause enough damage to make him reflect on what a total putz he is.

Probably not….

See you tomorrow for Day #2 at the Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach Auction!

Here’s some F-body eye-candy for you!