A vintage airplane flew to the top of sales results for the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event, reaching $1.1 million in bidding. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson.com)
A vintage airplane flew to the top of sales results for the 2009 Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event, reaching $1.1 million in bidding, nearly twice that of the highest collector car sold at Saturday’s “prime time” auction event.
The 1929 Ford Tri-Motor, an iconic passenger plane with distinctive triple radial engines, was not present at auction except for video clips that showed it soaring in the air. It was purchased by Ron Pratte of Chandler, Az., a well-known buyer at Barrett-Jackson auctions who scored a number of the top-selling cars Saturday.
The first 1955 Thunderbird to roll off the Ford assembly line in 1954 reached the next highest number, $600,000 on the block, or $660,000 with buyers premium, for a unique piece of U.S. auto history. The children and grandchildren of the Thunderbird’s late owner appeared on stage during the sale of the car, also purchased by Pratte.
A high point of the evening came when “The King,” NASCAR champion Richard Petty, drove onto the stage in a 1970 Plymouth Superbird tribute that replicates his winning stock car. A charity sale with proceeds going to the Darryl Flynn Foundation’s efforts to buy wheelchairs for needy children with spinal injuries, the car was bought by Phoenix collector Bill Weimann, for $501,000.
