Barrett-Jackson sought to expand their empire of world class collector car auction events in 2008 by adding a new event venue in Las Vegas. This brings their total count to three large events including Scottsdale and Palm Beach. There is no question however that Scottsdale, AZ is the grand-daddy of them all. The combination of warm winter allure, ritzy posh atmosphere, and wild west style win the day every time.

For the 2009 event which runs from January 11-19, a number of exciting cars are headed to the auction block. For us the big ticket cars will be the first retail sales of the 2010 Mustang GT and also the Shelby GT-500. The latter will make it's official debut on Sunday the 11th of January, just before Barrett-Jackson gets underway. These two cars are Lot 1347.1 and Lot 1347.2 and will go on sale Saturday night on prime-time TV. Both sales are to benefit charities.

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The brand new state-of-the-art expansion of Steeda’s performance operations, is now open and operating! The all-new facility, situated on a vast 35 acre campus in Valdosta Georgia, will ultimately be the home of their engineering, manufacturing, vehicle modification, and distribution facilities. Considered by many who have seen it to be a new benchmark for the performance industry, Steeda says it is the ultimate performance facility in the business.

The cornerstone of this expansion is the all-new 100,000 sq. ft. facility that will take care of the engineering, manufacturing, and distribution side of their business. Following a formal groundbreaking on February 15, 2008, the building was constructed in record time.



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At building 50 of the Roush Industries complex in Livonia., MI another chapter in Mustang’s story opened last week. The first Ford purpose built drag racer in modern times rolled off the assembly line and was delivered to its owner.

On the 40th Anniversary of the 1968 Mustang Cobra Jets, the new 2008 Ford Racing FR500CJ Mustang will hit the tracks this spring with its 5.4 liter supercharged venom. Brian Wolfe, Director of Ford Racing Technology was on hand to present the keys to the first Cobra Jet to Brent Hajek, owner of Hajek Motorsports, who will enter four of the new CJ’s at the 2009 Winternationals at Pomona, Calif. in February.

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News has been out this week that the Sonny & Cher Mustangs are going on the block next February at the RM Collector Car Auction in Ft. Lauderdale, FL .The pair of matched ‘66 convertibles built by custom car king George Barris are a piece of Mustang history indeed. Pink, orange, gold, furry seats, and vinyl exterior trim - they are wild and over the top. They are iconic of the 1960’s era of stylish excess in the custom car scene.

It got me to thinking about the time I had spent with their previous owner, the late Don Chambers. Don was the owner of Mustang Country, a long time Mustang parts mercantile in Paramount, CA. The first store on Lakewood Blvd was a small old shack of a place with a fenced in junkyard of sorts. It was gritty, crowded and smelled like a repair shop. He always had classic Mustangs in various degrees of completion cluttered around in front, in back and in the showroom.

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