BARRETT-JACKSON AUCTION COMPANY ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT OF DEFAMATION SUIT

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - January 9, 2008 - Officials with the Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. LLC, today announced that a settlement was reached on Jan. 7, 2008, in a suit filed against David L. Clabuesch in U.S. District Court in Arizona. In the settlement, Clabuesch exonerated the Barrett-Jackson Auction Company of all allegations of wrongdoing in relation to a situation that occurred at the company's Scottsdale event in January 2007. Details of the financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
"We're pleased to have reached a successful resolution and to put this matter behind us," said Steve Davis, president of Barrett-Jackson. "While we regretted having to take the extreme step of filing a lawsuit in this matter, we had no choice but to aggressively defend our integrity and the fairness of our company's business practices. This action was necessary to protect not only our own interests, but also those of the thousands of bidders and consignors who place their trust in us each year."
The lawsuit arose from circumstances surrounding the sale of Clabuesch's vehicle at Barrett-Jackson's January 2007 Scottsdale auction. Unhappy with the price paid for the vehicle, Clabuesch locked and chained the tires after it was sold, and attempted to prevent delivery to the new owner. Clabuesch also posted numerous signs in and around the vehicle expressing his opinions about Barrett-Jackson and the company's auction practices. Visible in one of the most high traffic areas of the auction site until removed by the company's security officer and local police, the signs were viewed by the company's customers and members of the public attending the event. Shortly after the January 2007 incident, the company was faced with responding to numerous defamatory rumors and untrue statements related to the Clabuesch incident, which were published on various Web sites, blogs and online chat rooms.
A settlement was mediated on Jan. 7, 2008, by former Superior Court judge Rebecca Albrecht. In connection with the settlement, Clabuesch issued a written, notarized statement that reads:
"Upon review of auction video footage and further consideration of the relevant facts, I, David L. Clabuesch, have concluded that with respect to the January 20, 2007, auction of my vehicle - a 1970 Plymouth Hemi-Cuda - conducted by Barrett-Jackson that I can no longer pursue any action alleging auction irregularities, including the claim that the car was short hammered while on the block. I have also determined that there was no relationship between Barrett-Jackson and the buyer of my vehicle, nor was there any conspiracy between Barrett-Jackson and the buyer of my vehicle, or any other person, to short hammer the sale of the car. I no longer believe that Barrett-Jackson violated the terms of the consignment agreement in conducting the auction sale or otherwise breached any duties to me as a consignor."
Davis concluded, "On the brink of the most exciting automotive lifestyle event in our history, we've demonstrated that Barrett-Jackson upholds the most ethical business practices in the collector car auction industry and that we will take the steps necessary to defend those practices when we are compelled to do so."
Copies of Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. LLC et al vs. David L. Clabuesch et al, US District Court for the District of Arizona, Case No. CV07-561-PHX-EHC can be obtained by contacting the clerk of the U.S. District Court in Phoenix or at http://www.azd.uscourts.gov/. A copy of Judge Clabuesch's statement can be read at http://www.barrett-jackson.com/media/pressreleases/www.barrett-jackson.com/statement.
Established in 1971 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., Barrett-Jackson specializes in providing products and services to classic and collector car owners, astute collectors and automotive enthusiasts around the world. The company produces the "World's Greatest Classic Car Event" in Scottsdale, AZ, and has expanded to other venues, including Palm Beach, FL and in 2008, Las Vegas, NV. For more information about Barrett-Jackson, visit www.barrett-jackson.com or call (480) 421-6694.

THE SMART CAR?

Just what American car companies need another cute little foreign car. Never mind the great mileage, it will be labeled a "Chick" car. It is just too cute. The Smart car is an acronym for Swatch Art and is made by the former owner of Chrysler, Daimler. It is just another little car and they are calling it Smart4two. This is just a way of taking something negative and hiding it in plain site. Your wife won't want one because it is too small and your daughter will want one because it is small. A few guys will choose it but will immediately know it for what it is, a Chick Car! This is the main reason that the little foreign car, the Mini-Cooper hasn't made it big, it is viewed as a Chick Car too!

Maybe the Smart Car will answer the question about what to do about rising gas prices, but I doubt it, it will just pull sales away from US made small cars, like the PT Cruiser and etc. Maybe, maybe not, but at any rate with the gas prices going up and the dollar's value falling, maybe we will all be driving little cars (or Mopeds) before to long whether it is labeled a "Chick Car" or not!

GM SUPERCENTERS?

General Motors is in the process of consolidating it's dealers and reducing the number of dealers. The Supercenter made famous by the retail industry seems to be an intelligent way to do so. The consolidation is supposed to be done this way; 1. Chevrolet, 2. Buick-Pontiac-GMC, 3. Saturn, 4. Cadillac-Hummer-Saab. And the program is kinda working. The recession is driving the transition. Due to lagging sales, by cutting the amount of dealers the sales should pick up for the remaining dealers and by opening Supercenters it should still make the vehicles available to the public. Th only sticky point is the #4, the Cadillac-Hummer-Saab is still not being implemented, but GM says that they are committed to the overall plan.

Like the Super Centers, GM's new cry may be, "Pile 'em high and stack 'em deep!"

HARLEY TO SPONSOR "ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP"

HARLEY TO SPONSOR "ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP"
Harley-Davidson has enjoyed amazing success by appealing to two very different segments of society in the USA; the first group we'll call the "hardliners", those people who may have spent time on the fringes of society and are truly "rebels", people who didn't belong to "motorcycle groups", they belonged to "clubs" with names like "Hessians" and "Hell's Angels". These are the hardcore Harley owners, and the company was brilliant in co-opting that lifestyle as their own. The second group of Harley owners are newer, wealthier, younger and more likely to add sound-baffling to their bikes because the noise bothers their wives. These people are generally known as "Rubbies", the shortened version of a derisive term, "rich, urban bikers". There is another, third important group of Harley buyers, those riders in other countries who feel that Harley is the epitome of the "American lifestyle". There are many Harley clubs in Japan, for instance...
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TESLA SACKINGS A "BLOODBATH" : COMPANY'S CO-FOUNDER, MANY MORE GONE

TESLA SACKINGS A "BLOODBATH" : COMPANY'S CO-FOUNDER, MANY MORE GONE
Say what you will about Carroll Shelby (and we've said plenty of uncomplimentary things along with the good; there are at least two sides to every story), but something he told me a long time ago holds true today, even more than it did 50 years ago. "Steve," he said, while we were sitting in some hotel suite in some city, "It's just as tough and expensive to make one car as it is to make a million." His point is an old story: The costs of R&D, manufacturing, tooling, marketing, advertising and emissions testing and crash-testing are enormous, and...
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