Bill Pierre Ford

Barrett-Jackson has been the king of muscle cars the last few years. Hemi Cudas, Shelby Mustangs, and Yenko Camaros have commanded high dollar bids from car collectors all around the world. Coming this January, Barrett-Jackson will not only have some of the best classic muscle cars, but the best new ones, as well.

Lot #1300 will feature the very first 2008 Shelby GT500 KR offered for sale, which will be one of around 1,000 built for the year. Next up is Lot #1316, the “first retailable unit built” (whatever that means) 2009 Corvette ZR1, just days after the car’s official launch at the Detroit Auto Show. Last but not least, Lot #1331 will feature the first production Dodge Challenger SRT8 to come off the assembly line. Best of all, the proceeds from the sales will benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), The United Way, and the notMYkid charity.

There’s no way this King Ranch model is going to be a work truck in the construction-site sense of the term. These top-of-the-line trucks exist for people who pull 36-ft (or bigger) fifth-wheels on a regular basis, might install a marble countertop in their weekend retreat and occasionally haul a couple of toys in the back. These people tend to have more disposable income than the neighborhood lawn service worker and they want to be comfortable while they cover thousands of miles with a very heavy trailer in tow. Oh, and there’s the ultra-rich horse owners, too. That crowd can’t find a truck that costs too much.

Yeah, this thing will do everything a stripped-down one-ton will, but most people buying this truck won’t be using it for dirty work.

This truck did great with 7000 pounds in tow and a bed full of tires and the entire front clip off an ’81 J10 pickup. There’s no way all that stuff would have fit in a standard truck bed with the gate up. And it wouldn’t fit on the trailer with the 1982 Grand Wagoneer back there, either.

The weight of the loaded trailer never came into play, either, even climbing hills or entering the highway. The truck rode perfectly level; all that weight simply smoothed out the actions of the suspension. The quality of the ride was totally comfortable. A half-ton truck with the exact same load in tow was much less stable and comfortable. People will point out that half-ton trucks are rated to tow 10,000 pounds or better these days, but they aren’t nearly as stable as their heavy-duty cousins.

The TowCommand system is another feature that makes the upgrade to a Super Duty worthwhile for regular towing. The built-in brake controller is among the best brake controllers in the world because it takes advantage of the endless array of vehicle sensors for everything from speed to traction to knowing exactly how hard the brake pedal is being depressed. No aftermarket controller knows what the driver is doing as well as this unit does. It was very easy to dial in the amount of gain for the trailer and adjust it as needed.

The tow/haul mode on the transmission is another godsend for haulers. It actually provides compression braking when going down hills.