Page 71 - Experience Magazine Fall 2022

the way toward the car makers’ exhibition
on the World of Tomorrow.
Around the 1960s, neon began to be
phased out and was replaced with other
less labor-intensive and cheaper products.
According to Rory Brinkman, Barrett-
Jackson’s long-time automobilia director,
Neon is symbolic of a bygone era and has
become a lost art form because many sign
companies no longer employ teams of
neon artists. Premium neon signs typically
range between $15,000 and $50,000 with
the best-of-the-best, high-quality examples
exceeding such. Part of the value comes
from it being impossible to find.
“At Barrett-Jackson we have been
blessed with collections composed of
spectacular neon of the highest quality,”
says Brinkman. He added that the Ford
Jubilee neon porcelain sign that sold for
$460,000 at the 2022 Scottsdale Auction
earned a world record as the highest-
selling antique sign at the time. Three
other neon signs also sold for more than
six figures at that auction.
Those other high-selling neon signs
included a 1940s-50s Mobil Oil double-
sided rotating neon Pegasus for $161,000,

- - - FORD JUBILEE NEON PORCELAIN SIGN SOLD! $460,000

MOBIL OIL ROTATING NEON PEGASUS SOLD! $161,000 - - -

FOR THE COMPLETE DOCKET 71