Ron Pratt / Barett Jackson

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He's a man with way to much money! He's been buying the best cars from B-J for years and I mean the best. From what they have shown on TV the past week about this auction, I'm thinking he's a big contractor out west. It appears he own's quite a few diff companies. I'm not real sure about it but that's what it looked like to me.
Jim
 
crackedback said:
For 51K, tear the hemi out and sell the shell or put a 340-6 engine in it and have a spare hemi laying around. I wouldn't be surprised if that is what happens to that car.
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I hope your right. I was shaking my head that one.
 
WRB426 said:
I don't get it. Why would someone clone a HEMI Cuda out of an original AAR Cuda???

And does anyone know what a "sure grip 4:10 posi traction rear end" is?? LOL.
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Back in the day an AAR was just a factory car that could get beat.

A guy in Indy had a Sublime bench seat AAR, he built the 340 and went hunting for a street race. 1st time out after the rebuild he got beat and said THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. Started collecting parts to build a Hemi Cuda. Painted the CUDA white, put a HEMI in it and was King of the street

The last I knew he pulled the Hemi and is running a 440

So it did happen.

This one DONT know about unless it was Mark Wolfe's old car. But just a few years ago he still had it.

I bought the cam out of the 340 and put in my 273 in 1974. Was way too much cam with my stock auto and rear.
 
dcdriver said:
He's a man with way to much money! He's been buying the best cars from B-J for years and I mean the best. From what they have shown on TV the past week about this auction, I'm thinking he's a big contractor out west. It appears he own's quite a few diff companies. I'm not real sure about it but that's what it looked like to me.
Jim
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No such thing as "way to much money".Ron Pratt is a self made man that started with nothing and built a construction empire and yes he bought only the best of the best and bought many charity cars and then donated them back to be sold again. http://www.therichest.com/celebnetworth/celebrity-business/men/ron-pratte-net-worth/
 
He gives away,donates,more money,time,and builds parks and such and turns them over to the city when done. Seems like a cool guy.
 
dcdriver said:
He's a man with way to much money! He's been buying the best cars from B-J for years and I mean the best. From what they have shown on TV the past week about this auction, I'm thinking he's a big contractor out west. It appears he own's quite a few diff companies. I'm not real sure about it but that's what it looked like to me.
Jim
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And thats a bad thing???..good for him:D
 
i watched the preview of the ron pratt collection on velocity and he apparently had a very large residential/commercial construction company that he built himself which he sold some years back. from the amount of equipment and number of employees that company had, he probably got several hundred million dollars in the sale.

the other thing i noticed in the velocity preview was that the pratt collection was almost 100% "perfect" stuff and that he spent years putting the collection together. there was no mention as to why he was liquidating the entire collection but i don't think it was for need of money. anyone who spent the time and money and effort as he did to acquire the level of excellence that he did in his collection has to have a significant reason to sell everything that he collected. pratt wouldn't elaborate as to why he was selling on the velocity preview other than to say he was going to spend more time on his "aviation interests" - whatever that means.

pratt appears to be a licensed fixed wing and helicopter pilot and you REALLY need a lot of money to play with airplanes and helicopters. all in all, he's a good person who gives a lot to charity.
 
After watching DVD's on the Gas Monkey Garage tv show.....I wouldn't buy anything he's rebuilt.....rather dodgey work really.
 
IMO, these and other televised Collector Car auctions, and eBay have been the bane of the hobby. They are responsible for taking very affordable cars, trucks and bikes, and even reasonable parts, and making them artificially astronomical in price.

I'm not a fan of these things and do as little as possible to support them.
 
I have tuned in for a minute or two in passing while channel flipping, and I swear every time I stop and look its another 60's corvette, a flipping camaro or gto. mike joy is one of the most irritating chevy **** ive ever had the pleasure of changing the channel on. its nothing but a revolving door of cars exchanging hands with checkbooks.
 
Frankie said:
IMO, these and other televised Collector Car auctions, and eBay have been the bane of the hobby. They are responsible for taking very affordable cars, trucks and bikes, and even reasonable parts, and making them artificially astronomical in price.

I'm not a fan of these things and do as little as possible to support them.
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I couldn't agree more. I am with you 100%, these auctions have ruined the car hobby for lots of people,me included. No way should these cars be going for so much money, **** it costs a fortune just to buy someones rusted project not because they think it's a million dollar car when finished. I end up watching a couple minutes of these shows and changing the channel because i get all worked up when i see the final selling bid !
 
I've heard people try to justify the price on these cars by saying they are only the best of the best ...but what they don't realize is the higher the top end cars cost it tends to drag the average very nice cars up with it. I have to be honest when I first started on my Dart I didn't do my due diligence because what I have had to pay for certain items and some things I have had to not do because of cost has totally took most of the fun out of it for me but I am to far invested in it to quit now.
 
well i've been watching barret-jackson also and i am amazed at the prices those people are paying for some vehicles. one of the best so far was $100k for a late 40s early 50s black dodge 4x4 power wagon. it was nice but come on.. $100k? oddly, barret-jackson is getting on average $10k more for the same cars mecum sells. the only thing i can figure is that nuts winning "free" money at las vegas are just throwing money at these cars. the last two mecum auctions i watched had very nice cars selling for less than what the restoration cost would be. $20-35k for a completly restored muscle car seems reasonable to me and mecum has sold a lot of them in that range.

i will offer one thought in defense of the astronomical money barret-jackson (and others) are getting for collector cars: because hemi roadrunners, cudas, big-block chevelles, CJ mustangs, gto's, are selling for $100k everybody and their uncle is restoring and saving these cars. in fact, mark worman on graveyard carz had an orange 71 cuda someone dropped off that looked like it had been hit, rolled and then left in a field for 10 years. worman basically "created" a new car with all the parts he put on that cuda. so the rediculous prices some people are paying for these cars has created an entire industry of "restorers/flippers" and consequently, hundreds of muscle cars are being saved from the crushers and junk yards. someday (and probably not too far off) the bottom is going to drop out of the six-figure auction market for these cars and there are then going to be hundreds of perfect old muscle cars available to buy for (who knows?) $10k, 20k, 30k? i'm looking forward to the day that we will be able to buy any of these cars again for reasonable money. don't laugh.... i'm sure this is going to happen.
 
jimharvard said:
well i've been watching barret-jackson also and i am amazed at the prices those people are paying for some vehicles. one of the best so far was $100k for a late 40s early 50s black dodge 4x4 power wagon. it was nice but come on.. $100k? oddly, barret-jackson is getting on average $10k more for the same cars mecum sells. the only thing i can figure is that nuts winning "free" money at las vegas are just throwing money at these cars. the last two mecum auctions i watched had very nice cars selling for less than what the restoration cost would be. $20-35k for a completly restored muscle car seems reasonable to me and mecum has sold a lot of them in that range.

i will offer one thought in defense of the astronomical money barret-jackson (and others) are getting for collector cars: because hemi roadrunners, cudas, big-block chevelles, CJ mustangs, gto's, are selling for $100k everybody and their uncle is restoring and saving these cars. in fact, mark worman on graveyard carz had an orange 71 cuda someone dropped off that looked like it had been hit, rolled and then left in a field for 10 years. worman basically "created" a new car with all the parts he put on that cuda. so the rediculous prices some people are paying for these cars has created an entire industry of "restorers/flippers" and consequently, hundreds of muscle cars are being saved from the crushers and junk yards. someday (and probably not too far off) the bottom is going to drop out of the six-figure auction market for these cars and there are then going to be hundreds of perfect old muscle cars available to buy for (who knows?) $10k, 20k, 30k? i'm looking forward to the day that we will be able to buy any of these cars again for reasonable money. don't laugh.... i'm sure this is going to happen.
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Comparing the auctions, have heard several buyers and sellers say they will not go back to BJ too much BS.

Just getting to see a little of the auction, no matter what, THEY ARE THE BEST CAR SHOWS YOU CAN GO TO. Forget the fact they are for sale, the beautiful cars of all styles to drool over
 
I'm wondering if any of the people who are baggin' on the auctions have ever attended one ? I completely agree with WildCat ^^^ that they can be the best car show you've ever seen........:D

A large percentage of the people that go aren't there to buy or sell....Just lookin' at all the cool cars :happy1:
 
didn`t read all the posts but, I never watch rich people that buy cars and can`t build them.
 
hey 6pack to go..

i think you're right on about the car auctions now being the greatest car shows on earth. i'm actually thinking about planning a trip to one of these events just to look at the cars. i've begun to watch more closely when the camera pans to the parking areas or staging areas for the cars and wow... these auctions now have a collection of cars in one spot at one time that i haven't seen for 40 years. AND every one of the cars looks like it could be sitting in a dealer showroom in 1969! some of these cars i remember in high school as being pretty rare even then. some of them were too weird back when they were new so no one cared about them (i.e. a mercury cougar "eliminator"). now, because of all the millionaire "car nut wannabees" out there, people are paying crazy money to restore every muscle car that was ever built. i have seen cars on barret-jackson and mecum that i remember only ever seeing in the lastest edition of "Super Stock" magazine that i had just purchased for $1.50 - after school in 1970!

so let all the "big money" nuts out there continue to buy these cars. as long as there are these looney people spending big bucks on these cars, "flippers" will continue to plow through the weeds in southern and western junk yards looking for that "A-12" roadrunner with the tree growing up through the engine compartment. someday, there is going to be hundreds and hundreds of restored muscle cars for sale at prices anyone can afford.
 
Ron Pratte Net Worth
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Ron Pratte Net Worth
Net Worth:
$350 Million
Source of Wealth Pratte Development co., Inc.
Full Name Ron Pratte
Nationality United States
Occupation Founder and Former CEO of Pratte Developemnt Co., Inc.


ABOUT RON PRATTE

Multi-millionaire Ron Pratte is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and car collector with an estimated net worth of $350 million. He has built his fortune as the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of the Pratte Development Company, Inc. It is one of the biggest wood framing and concrete foundation companies in the United States. It is a privately held company located in Phoenix, Arizona which manufactures structural wood products. He sold his development company to Pulte homes at the peak of the housing boom in Arizona. His move was at a great timing and he was able to cash out before the housing market crashed.

Ron Pratte is best known for his elaborate car collection as a big car buff. Among his collection of fine automobiles included the Shelby G500 which he purchased in 2008 for nearly $650 thousand. Last year, he bough a $4.1 million Futurliner bus. He also won the bid for Caroll Shelby’s 1966 Super Snake AC Cobra 800hp 427 dual quad, dual supercharged for $5 million. Other cars in his collection are the 1945 P-51 Mustang, the last Sting Ray, the first T Bird off the assembly line, and the Beverly Hillbillies Woody. Part of his fortune has been used to build up his privately owned car museum which is intended for his own personal enjoyment.
 
You can thank the high prices of these cars for creating a great assortment of quality reproduction parts for our cars, AMD body panels comes to mind.
Remember the '80s?
Sure, you could buy a project car for cheap then, but when you went to restore it you were pretty much screwed.
The only choice was NOS or rust free parts.
Reproduction parts then (other than some interior stuff) was lousy at best.
Some was just terrible!
It was a different time back then scouring junkyards and swap meets........
A lot of cars got parted out back then that today would be easy builders.
But thanks to the higher prices that these cars bring today, the reproduction market has blossomed to where it is today, and more is coming!
I would like to thank the rich bastards that spend big bucks at the auctions.
And my hat is off to Barrett/Jackson, Mecum, and others that make this possible.
Our car hobby is being saved, not destroyed!
Some people just don't know when they have it good........
 
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