Red-Hot Fairlane In Benefit Auction
Barrett-Jackson president Steve Davis donates custom SEMA show car to sell for the Armed Forces Foundation.
As reported by Bob Golfen of Speedtv.com
A striking 1964 Ford Fairlane custom with an intriguing back story will be offered up by Barrett-Jackson President Steve Davis for auction at the Las Vegas event in a No Reserve charity sale for the Armed Forces Foundation.
 Painted and restored as a show car for Barrett-Jackson’s Planet Color brand of Sherwin-Williams vintage paint colors, the updated Fairlane hardtop is part of Davis’ personal collection that he is donating to benefit a favorite charity. The Fairlane’s vivid red paint is part of the Planet Color collection called “Red Hot Chili Pepper.”
The Armed Forces Foundation, which serves the needs of injured military personnel and their families, will receive 100 percent of the proceeds in yet another Barrett-Jackson charity sale to benefit a worthy cause. Such Barrett-Jackson sales have raised more than $40 million in the past five years; the auction donates valuable block time and generous bidders raise the stakes ever higher.
“How can we as a country not be thankful and have the ultimate gratitude on every level for what they do?” Davis said of the men and women in uniform. “That’s why we at Barrett-Jackson feel so strongly about this incredible group of people and this amazing charity. And that’s why I personally am willing to give up one of my prized possessions to show how thankful I am.”
“The Fairlane would be a prized possession in anyone’s collection,” said Gary Bennett, Barrett-Jackson’s vice president of consignment. Bennett helped take Davis’ car from little more than a shell to the magnificent showpiece that it is now, much of it happening over a short span of time under a strict deadline.
According to Bennett, Davis has owned the car for some time after acquiring it from a friend as “just a body with a rear axle under it.”
 “It evolved from that simple beginning to what we have today,” Bennett said. “It became this incredible car. It was a real journey.”
Barrett-Jackson and Sherwin-Williams partnered on the new Planet Color brand, which created modern paint finishes that emulate the classic colors of vintage cars. The paint company wanted a car that it could paint with one of the 25 new hues and show off at its booth in the 2009 Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) show at Las Vegas.
“So we needed a poster child,” Davis said. “Well, the poster child became my Fairlane.”
From there, Bennett said, the project took on a life of its own.
“Steve offered up the car to Sherwin-Williams to use as an example of their paint products,” Bennett said. “He and I reached out to some people we know here, and they had it prepped, basically stripping the car to nothing but a rolling shell. The Sherwin-Williams guys took it to Scott’s Coach Works in Phoenix to get the paint done.
“So we got the car painted, and it came out so well, the next thing we knew, we took it over to the Roush Performance facility in Michigan. We took the chrome to a guy in Tucson who straightened it all out; it all came out beautifully.”
 But the pressure was on to get the car done in time for SEMA.
“This didn’t start until the summertime, and the goal was to have it done for SEMA in November,” Bennett said.
Roush gave the Fairlane the complete Resto-Mod treatment, installing a 522hp Roush 427 IR Ford engine including custom alloy valve covers that read “Red Hot Roush 427,” custom headers and side-exit exhaust, Tremec TKO 600 transmission, Roush 9-inch custom rear, Vintage Air conditioning, and custom seats and console retrofitted from a 1966 Mustang.
Plenty of handcrafted fabrication went into installing the big-block engine and building the suspension that would handle it. The transmission cross member and tunnel were modified, and the custom radiator support was relocated.
The big V8 is a Roush design with an iron block with forged pistons, ported aluminum cylinder heads, hydraulic roller cam shaft, roller rockers and an eight-quart “Road Race” oil-sump pan. Fuel delivery is through eight stack throttle bodies and intake manifold.
The extensive fabrication, installation and completion of Davis’ Fairlane was a drawn-out process that took several months, so everyone was beginning to worry that the car wouldn’t be ready in time for SEMA. But the big push came in the 11th hour, and the car was ready in the nick of time and triumphantly unveiled at SEMA with Steve, the team from Sherwin-Williams lead by Bobby Moody and NASCAR driver Greg Biffle.
“It literally got shipped from Jack Roush’s place in Michigan to the SEMA show in Las Vegas,” Bennett recalled. “Steve saw it there for the first time.”
The result is a stunningly beautiful Fairlane with every stitch and detail done to perfection with many one-off and custom pieces throughout. Or, as Bennett put it, “The closer you look, the better it gets.
“Steve put a lot of money into this, and what he’s now doing with it is so positive,” he added. “To a car guy like me, giving up a car like that is a huge deal.”
 Patricia Driscoll of the Armed Forces Foundation expressed gratitude to Davis and Barrett-Jackson for the Fairlane donation and their continued support.
“Over the years, Barrett-Jackson has provided a tremendous amount of support for the Armed Forces Foundation, from donating the lot number at the auction for our Project American Heroes cars to helping us publicize the foundation at the auction,” Driscoll said. “This Fairlane represents the next step. Steve has put his heart and soul into this car and into his support for the foundation and for our service members.
“We tremendously appreciate the support of Steve and Barrett-Jackson and really hope the auction goers love this car as much as we do.”
After its debut at SEMA in 2009, the Fairlane became a familiar sight at Barrett-Jackson’s four auction venues, where it stood on regal display in the Planet Color booth.
“This 1964 Fairlane is an incredible piece of rolling artwork,” Davis said. “Some of the best craftsmen in the industry have had their hands on this vehicle.”
Davis finally had his first opportunity to sit behind the wheel and crank it up during the 2010 Barrett-Jackson sale in Orange County. The car has been transported from auction to auction and has never been driven on the street.
“So at Orange County, I literally got to sit in my baby, fire it up and drive it to the Sherwin-Williams booth to have on display,” Davis said with a wide grin.
“What a great personal experience that was for me. Getting into that bad boy and rumbling down the Orange County Fair midway — it doesn’t get any better than that.”
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And now for the rest of the story...
To follow up on this story, I wanted to bring you the results of the auction!
Saturday evening 09/24/2011 this "Red-hot" Fairlane came across the auction block at Barrett-Jackson in Las Vegas. It was offered at 'no reserve' with 100% of the proceeds going to charity; the Armed Forces Foundation.
The winning bidder paid $700,000.00 for this hot rod, about seven times it's actual value in my opinion. However, since this was a charity auction, I can understand why the price soared as it did. This is common when vehicles are offered for charity, especially at Barrett-Jackson.
So, who pays $700K for a 64 Ford? The winning bidder was Mr. Ron Pratte, a well known car guy, businessman and philanthropist from Arizona, Barrett-Jackson's home state.
Ron Pratte pictured with Carol Shelby
Ron Pratte is a Chandler, Arizona multi-millionaire who sold Pratte Development, one of the nation’s largest wood framing and concrete foundation companies, to Pulte Homes at the peak of the Arizona housing boom and cashed out just in time to avoid the slump.
While many in the car collector hobby know of Pratte from his $4.1 million purchase of the GM Futurliner bus at Barrett-Jackson a few years ago, he is as much a car collector as he is a philanthropist, and appears to have spent nearly as much on charity as on cars.
In a single charity auction to benefit the Gwynn Foundation which provides electric wheelchairs to kids, Pratte was the winning bidder on a Tony Stewart NASCAR race car. During the bidding, Ron Pratt increased his own bid to $300K, and inspired others to throw in additional funding of $80K aside from the auction. He had previously donated $100K to the charity independent of the BJ auction and helped raise another $20,000.00 from the auction of a couple of $20.00 posters.
As if that weren't enough, Pratte then donated the car back to the Gwynn Foundation. The Foundation was able to re-sell the car at another Barrett Jackson auction for an additional $165,000.00 to buy electric wheelchairs for kids.
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