Page 8 - Experience Magazine Summer 2023

Steve Davis
MILE MARKERS ALONG BEHIND THE SHADES
THE ROAD TO LAS VEGAS
Can you believe it? The milestone be the centerpiece. And lo and
events are coming at us fast and behold, we came up with this little
furious. We no sooner wrapped 1949 MG TC roadster. Not just any
up our 20th year in Palm Beach MG, but Carroll’s first actual race
than we turned our attention to car. It quickly became the poster
Las Vegas, where we’re proud to be child for our inaugural event.
hitting our 15th year. On top of When finalizing the consignment
that, all throughout 2023 Shelby for this MG and we were executing
fans are celebrating the centennial all the pre-event marketing, I went
of Carroll Shelby’s birth in 1923. to Las Vegas with a camera crew, as
While Carroll is no longer with us, I wanted to do everything I could to
his legacy definitely is, and that celebrate Carroll, the car and all the
legacy is tied up with both Barrett- STEVE DAVIS’ DARK GLASSES things he represented, particularly
Jackson and Las Vegas. Thinking PROTECT HIS EYES FROM A LIGHT
SENSITIVITY CONDITION – BUT in Shelby American’s hometown.
about these turns of the wheel, I THAT DOESN’T HINDER HIS VISION We did an in-depth interview with
can’t help but contemplate how OF THE COLLECTOR CAR MARKET. him that was amazing, and had him
many Shelby moments we’ve had autograph the car.
on our Las Vegas stage.
The stories Carroll could tell were legendary, but on this
One in particular stands among my favorites. occasion he was more reflective. The MG meant a lot to
But before I get to that, some background first. I really him. He was driving it for his friend Ed Wilkins, and it
got to know Carroll closely and we became friends in the represented an opportunity to drive a real race car - and
1990s. I worked with Shelby and his organization when he took his first checkered flag in his first race. It was the
the Series 1 project was being introduced. I put together starting point for everything that came after. At that time
an event where we took the Series 1 to Road America and in his life he was not the legend we know today, and to
got the top clients of investment firm Merrill Lynch to take the checkered flag in Norman, Oklahoma, in that
drive the car. I helped move Shelby American from their moment in that car, inspired him and lit that fuse of
original Vegas location to their facility at Las Vegas Motor excitement and desire to do all the things he eventually
Speedway. I also worked with Carroll on his charitable did. It was a humbling conversation. He kind of went
foundation, and he supported me in my efforts to have back in time to 1952 and was that young guy again,
the 1997 grassroots petition drive to exempt 1973 and taking the first step of an incredible journey.
older autos from stringent new smog restrictions in Carroll was unable to join us on the Las Vegas auction
California. This effort became known as SB 42, and if it block for that sale in 2008, but his presence has been
had not passed, the collector car business as we know it felt many times in Vegas. In 2009 he appeared onstage
could have been eliminated in California. In celebration with drag racing Hall of Famer Don “The Snake”
of this, he helped me get a motorsports festival for charity Prudhomme for the sale of the original concept car for
off the ground in Visalia, California, that included a the Prudhomme Edition Super Snake Shelby GT500.
reenactment of a prewar road race in Los Angeles in 2000. And how could I forget selling my personal Shelby Super

When we decided to hold our inaugural auction in Las Snake for $1 million for charity to support the first
Vegas, the Shelby connection was key. The excitement of responders following the terrible 2017 mass shooting at
Vegas is obvious to anybody who has ever been there; the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino?
it’s one of my favorite cities. I love the 24/7 lifestyle and It is fitting that so many significant Shelby moments with
excitement. But it was also the home of Shelby American, Barrett-Jackson happened in Las Vegas. We still enjoy a
which is not just significant to me personally, but to great relationship with the Shelby organization. Gary
millions of car enthusiasts around the world. Patterson, the president of Shelby American, has been on

As Barrett-Jackson was building up to this first Las Vegas stage with many Shelbys as we sell them on the block, as
Auction, I was really searching for something that would have Carroll’s grandsons Aaron and Shawn Shelby.

8 BARRETT-JACKSON EXPERIENCE SUMMER 2023