Scottsdale Car Week Guide: Beyond the Auctions
Most people think Scottsdale Car Week is just Barrett-Jackson. It is not. The auctions are the anchor, but they are surrounded by a full week of car shows, driving events, manufacturer activations, private gatherings, and enough automotive spectacle to fill a month. If you are flying in just for the auctions, you are missing half the experience.
Car Week typically runs during the third week of January. The exact dates shift slightly each year based on when Barrett-Jackson schedules their sale, but everything else orbits around that window. Here is what actually happens and how to make the most of it.
The Auctions
The auctions are covered in detail in our collector car auctions guide, but the short version is this: Barrett-Jackson at WestWorld is the main event, RM Sotheby's handles the ultra-high-end market, and Bonhams and Worldwide Auctioneers fill the gaps. Between them, several thousand cars will cross the block during the week.
If you can only attend one, Barrett-Jackson on a Thursday or Friday gives you the auction experience without the Saturday crowds. If you want to see the best cars in the world in a museum-quality setting, spend a morning at the RM Sotheby's preview. Both are worth your time for different reasons.
Cars and Coffee Events
Scottsdale's regular Saturday morning Cars and Coffee gatherings get supercharged during Car Week. The usual crowd of local sports cars and exotics is supplemented by out-of-town collectors who bring their best. You will see cars at these morning meets that normally only appear at Pebble Beach or Amelia Island.
Several venues host their own Car Week editions, including dealerships, hotels, and shopping centers. Some are organized and publicized in advance. Others are spontaneous gatherings that form because someone with a McLaren F1 parked at a coffee shop and the word got out. Follow local Instagram accounts and the #ScottsdalCarWeek hashtag starting in early January to track what is happening in real time.
Manufacturer and Dealer Events
The major automakers and luxury brands use Car Week to showcase new models and special editions. Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and others set up experience centers and displays throughout Scottsdale. Some offer ride-alongs or short test drives. Others host invitation-only reveals during the week.
The dealerships along Scottsdale Road go all-out during Car Week. Windows are filled with their best inventory, special displays line the sidewalks, and some host their own evening events with food and drinks. Walking Scottsdale Road during Car Week is like visiting a living car museum where everything is for sale.
Driving Events and Rallies
Several organized drives happen during or adjacent to Car Week. The Copperstate 1000 is the most prestigious, a four-day, thousand-mile rally for pre-1974 cars through Arizona's best roads. The start and finish are in the Scottsdale area, and watching the cars stage and depart is a free spectacle.
Other drives include shorter morning routes through the McDowell Mountains, Fountain Hills, and the desert roads east of Scottsdale. Some are organized by car clubs or media outlets and require advance registration. Others are informal convoys that form when a group of collectors decide to go for a drive. The mountain roads around Scottsdale are genuinely excellent driving roads, and January weather makes them perfect.
Shows and Exhibitions
The Arizona Concours d'Elegance typically happens in late January or early February, overlapping or immediately following Car Week. It is held at the Arizona Biltmore and features a carefully judged field of historically significant cars. This is the refined counterpart to the high-energy auction scene.
Several informal shows and gatherings also pop up during the week. Hotel parking lots become impromptu car shows when collectors staying for the auctions park their personal cars. The Scottsdale Waterfront area, Old Town, and the resort corridor all see concentrations of interesting vehicles that are worth walking through.
The Street Scene
This is the part of Car Week that nobody organizes but everyone experiences. During the week, the streets of Scottsdale become an open-air car show. Collectors drive their cars to dinner. People pull out vehicles they only use once or twice a year. Rental companies bring out their exotic fleets. The result is that a casual drive down Scottsdale Road on a Wednesday evening in January will show you more interesting cars than most major car shows.
The best unplanned car spotting happens around Old Town Scottsdale in the evenings, along the Scottsdale Road corridor between Camelback and Frank Lloyd Wright, and in the parking lots of the nicer restaurants and hotels. Bring a camera.
Planning Tips
Where to Stay
Hotels in Scottsdale book up early and prices jump significantly during Car Week. If you are coming from out of town, book by November at the latest. The closer you are to WestWorld and Old Town, the easier your logistics will be, but you will pay for it. Staying in Tempe or central Phoenix and driving to Scottsdale is a reasonable compromise. Traffic is heavy but manageable if you avoid arriving at Barrett-Jackson on Saturday afternoon.
How Many Days
Three days is the minimum to do Car Week properly. One day for Barrett-Jackson, one for RM Sotheby's or another auction house, and one for the surrounding events, Cars and Coffee, driving around, and exploring. If you can swing five days, you will have time to do everything at a comfortable pace and catch events that only happen on specific days.
Budget
Barrett-Jackson general admission is the main ticketed expense. The other auctions vary. Beyond that, most of the peripheral events are free. Budget for food and parking at the auction venues. If you are a bidder, that is a different financial conversation entirely.
What to Wear
January in Scottsdale means daytime highs in the mid-60s and morning lows in the 40s. Layers are essential. You will be outside most of the day, and the temperature swing between morning Cars and Coffee and an afternoon at Barrett-Jackson is significant. Comfortable walking shoes are mandatory. You will cover serious mileage on foot.
Making Connections
Car Week is one of the best networking opportunities in the automotive world. Collectors, restorers, dealers, media, and enthusiasts are all in one place for a week. If you are looking to buy a car, find a shop, join a club, or just meet people who share your interests, this is the time. Conversations happen naturally. Someone standing next to you at the auction block or walking through a Cars and Coffee is probably happy to talk.
The connections you make during Car Week extend into the local Arizona car scene for the rest of the year. The Phoenix cruise nights and East Valley meets are where those relationships continue. And if you want to know what other shows are coming up after Car Week wraps, our Arizona car shows guide covers the full calendar.
Scottsdale Car Week is one of those events that lives up to the reputation. It is exactly as big, as interesting, and as fun as people say it is. The trick is giving yourself enough time to take it all in.