
Ron Pratte, pictured in the center, has become one of the industry’s most popular collector car investor. Photos from video.
Wealthy car collector Ron Pratte has bought, sold and traded highly prized cars as often as a 10-year-old boy trades baseball cards. From time to time Pratte has thinned out his collection, only to add some more unique and very scarce cars to the collection.
Unlike previous auctions where Pratte has sold a handful of his collection, Barrett-Jackson has confirmed that they will be auctioning off the entire Ron Pratte collection at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction in January 10-18 of 2015.
While Barrett-Jackson has not released the full inventory yet, but speculators are projecting that it will read like a wish-list of cars.
Pratte, has an estimated net worth of over $350 million, is the founder and former CEO of Pratte Development company. As a sideline, he began to invest in collector cars. He became known as a buyer that was willing to spend a lot on cars that were rare and strange. He once bought 52 vehicles at the 2003 Scottsdale Barrett-Jackson auction in 2003.
In 2006 he spent $4.1 million on a GM Futurliner, and a year later, he dropped $5.5 million on the last 1966 Shelby Cobra Super Snake.
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, which has some car collectors wondering why Pratte wants to sale his entire collection off.
Given Pratte’s past history and ability to judge the market, many investors appear to be looking harder at the market. Whatever the reason for Pratte’s decision to sell his collection, the chances are very high that some unique and very rare cars are going to cross the block at phenomenal prices.
The Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction is one auction to keep your eye on.