Mecum Auction Block

I wanted to write and tell you about my experience at the Mecum auction two weeks ago. What a great experience; Let me first start by saying, this is the largest and most extravagant auction Mecum holds every year. If you ever get a chance to go to the Indianapolis or Kissimmee auctions, I would strongly suggest doing so. The cars or I should say, creatively restored “to mint condition” cars were amazing!

Starting Wednesday, there were approximately 1500 cars that went across the block that weekend, and 80% of those cars were unbelievable. This was literally the “Holy Grail” of muscle cars! Everywhere you turned, there was a car that brought you back to your good ole’ days; Chevy’s, Buick, Pontiac, Ford, everything your heat desired.

The auction prices went anywhere from $2,000 – to 6+ MILLION! This was Indianapolis’ Concourse De’ Elegance, not the same type of classics, but they held their own with the big boys in Pebble Beach. Oh and by the way, Mecum set a record with the most cars sold by this company and the most revenue produced for the auction.

Lights! Camera! Action!

If you had a pulse, being in their environment, made your heart race! The anticipation, speed of the auction, the lights, the camera’s, the gestures, the people, the auctioneers, the experts, the clapping and applause was something surreal! You really have to be able to contain yourself or you can get caught up very quickly and find yourself going home with a beautiful car you couldn’t afford.

Before our car went across the block it was extremely intimidating. I decided to walk along side our car before it got to the block, but that also meant, I had to walk side by side with some real heavy hitters too, which were, a Chevy Impala 409 and a 70’ Chevelle Convertible, not that we didn’t have a beauty to sell, but if you know about muscles, you know how intimidated I was.

Everything goes through your mind at that moment; did we pick the right paint color? How does the body look? Should we have put the top up or down? What mistakes did we make in the process? Why is this person looking at the car that way? Did we set the right reserve price? Did I turn off the oven when I left the house on Thursday? Everything and anything goes through your mind – you really find yourself racing for answers before it goes across; and then all of sudden….there you are, in the front of everyone – Lights! Camera! Action!

I found myself yelling inside my head!

I thought; “Holy Smokes, my car looks HOT” but, there was no time for admiring my prize at that moment, it was game time! I had to put on my game time face! I had two guys asking me question after question. One guy was the actual auctioneer, leaning over the stage looking “larger than life” asking me, what’s the price? Will you take lower than the reserve? What color is the top? I found myself yelling inside my head “re-iterate the key points to them!!!!!” So I blurt out “make sure to tell the audience, it’s a 4 speed, bucket seats and a convertible” What? I thought “of course they know it’s a convertible you idiot – the top is down.”

I didn’t even notice how fast the price was increasing by $500 increments. Ok, Ok…calm down clammy hands! Breathe in, breathe out. At this point everything’s in slow mo and this guy’s talking to me as if I took some Hallucinogen…”dooooooo yoouuuuuuu waaaaannnnt tooooooo seeelllll iiiiiit aaaaaat tttthhhiissss priiiiiiice?” And then complete silence – I couldn’t hear a thing! I wanted to ask them my own question… “Can I go back to my Mother’s womb where it’s nice and warm?” But, you’ve got to answer the question now, remember…game face! Wake up, look at the screen and make a decision! I said, in slow mo…“nooooooooo” and he said “how much is it going to take to sell it?” I gave him a figure, which was lower than what I really wanted to sell it for; he then told me the price he thought I could get for it. After about, what felt like, an hour of silence I shook his hand and walked off the auction block with my beauty. The price wasn’t right for either of us and we ended up where we began…back in the waiting facility where all the cars go to the famous “the bid goes on”.

What a Rush!

It’s over! I looked at my watch to check the time, thinking “wow that seemed like forever” came to find out I was up there for 3-4 minutes. 3 to 4 minutes! All the driving, flying, restoring, preparing, discussing, decision making, thinking, worrying and everything it took to get to this point…it took 3-4 minutes. But what a rush! it was like being on some kind of extreme adrenaline drug for only 3-4 minutes. I would do it all over again just for the experience and the things I learned. It really was something amazing!

So next time you’re watching the Mecum auction on television, just remember, each person standing up at the auction block is going through the same thing that every other seller is going through; thinking…”can I go back to my Mother’s Womb where it’s nice and warm?”