torose

Did rough count of C1 and C2 at Mecum and there was 154 C1 and C2 cars, only half of those sold which tells me either market is still soft or people are asking too much for their cars or maybe he is just putting too many cars out there?

John S 1961

The invisible hand of the market will tell.

Frankie the Fink

I have no idea - I know in the 2013 auction last year the brochure had no less than 4 pages of Corvettes. I wondered the same thing at that point...where will all the buyers come from ? I think the best cars will change hands at the right price but a lot of others will just languish in this market.

vettebuyer6369

Cars didnt sell there because the money wasnt right. For example, I looked more closely at a midyear roadster that looked pretty nice and I wondered why it didnt sell in the mid 50s. I checked it in the Bid Goes On lot and the driver's door would not even stay latched! The paint wasnt that good, and the car wasnt anywhere near as nice as it looked from a distance.

When you tack on 8% the car is suddenly over $60k and not a good buy. Cars sell when the money is right.

Zoomin

Mecum doesn't put too many cars out there. He merely accepts listings from whoever wants to sell their car.

I think many Vette owners have seen the high dollar cars selling and want to ride the wave. The number of cars not making reserve is proof the owners thought more highly of their cars than buyers did. Simple capitalism at work.

There's 115 for sale right now on Fleabay and none will sell until buyer and seller reach agreement on price.

vetteLT193

I think the lowest ones went for 40k when you include the buyers premium and they weren't that nice. Some of them were 50k plus no sales, which should have sold, but the owners were the unrealistic ones IMO.

All in all Mecum shows the prices have gone up and people are willing to spend 50+ grand on a nice original looking driver C2 at this point.

There were a couple of deals in the mix. A couple of Big Block Non number s matching cars. One was super nice 65 convertible with a 67 hood and 396 that auctioned for 37k. It seems that NOM and Big Block combo is the worst thing to have right now. I wonder if the guys that want NOM / driver cars don't want the Big Blocks because of gas mileage? I dunno... seems strange to me.

As already said, the many no sales were bid up to a fair price. Take for example the red 64 convertible, NOM, no AC, no side pipes, standard rally wheels... bid up to 41k putting it in the mid 40's out the door. A very fair price for that car considering everything and it was a no sale.

paulywannafly

Steve
that is not What I saw going on , Cars were not bidding to anywhere they should have been. plus the fact they shoved them off stage faster than people had a chance to bid

sub006

Ahem, '64s were not available with side pipes or rally wheels from the factory. Unless maybe you were talking about knock-offs?

Comp Cam 1

Watching the live stream when someone from Mecum yells out "Wake up Florida", tells me money was just not there. I think Dana was a bit frustrated as well. Perhaps the reason for the fast hammers on some?

SeeYah

I was there from Wednesday through Sunday. To echo what somebody said previously, some of the cars flew through the stage. They were running 35+ cars an hour during the mid-week but cars were selling early. Later in the week they took more time but they weren't selling. At a certain point each night they lost the crowd and nobody was bidding. It hit Saturday about 6pm and hardly any cars sold after that point. The bidder's assistants were talking about it and everybody was depressed. When the auctioneer is looking at his info sheet and the car has a $135K reserve and he can't get a bid above $65K, there isn't much sense in dragging it out. Personally, I wondered how much a 500 point drop in the market on Thursday and Friday affected the bidding. End buyers get nervous and a dealer isn't going to want to load up on inventory if he isn't sure that buyers will be there. One gentleman I spoke to yesterday said that he lost more money in the market on Friday than he planned to spend so he held back and wasn't buying.

paulywannafly

I think you hit the nail right on the head that is exactly what I saw going on also

desertpilgrim

Recall also that B-J had a reported 132 Corvettes for sale during the previous week.

396/425

The wife and I attended Wednesday thru Friday AM. There was a sea of cars. Most we're turds. There were some really nice cars too. Especially in the indoor area, but they were overwhelmed by crap in my opinion. Way too many cars...plus the weather (cold). Had a lot to do with it. Auctions run on emotions and when you're more worried about where the hot chocolate stand is than when a cool car is coming up, you're screwed if your the promoter. Also we were stunned at the lack of booths selling car stuff. Also the food area was a joke. BUT.... If you wanted a hundred acres of old cars to look at in freezing A$$ tents, this was your auction. If you're waiting for mid year cars to tank, may I suggest you call Linus in the pumpkin patch on his cell and see if he wants company. Seriously I think the weather played a major part in this. I would also agree maybe the sea of so so cars just watered it down but you could see that people were just not jacked up about it. More talked about the cold. The organized flow of all those cars was really impressive and I'm sure it's a logistical nightmare. It's well run. This time it was Mother Nature 1. Dana. 0.

SDVette

I've never been to an auto auction and I am NOT claiming any expertise on value here... but I wonder if the "sweet spot" demographic of our cars is passing? No doubt there will always be people wanting to buy/collect these cars, but a large portion of the target buyer must be someone who remembers the cars from his/her youth, and is now financially set enough to buy one.

A person who was 20 in 1964 would now be turning 70.. Don't you think this demographic timing will effect the demand?

Same on the supply side... people who are getting older deciding to sell the cars?

SBR

I think that will play a factor in future years especially with driver type cars. That being said, the best examples of the rarest and most desirable cars will always be in demand and will continue to escalate in price.

Geralds57

They all look good on TV, but you have to see it in person to make a good assessment of the car. Good cars bring good money. So-so cars don't but the owner thinks it should, so the bid goes on. If you see one go cheap, there's a reason.

Frankie the Fink

Interesting point on the week's stock market slide - can't say if that played in to things or not but it sure would have been on my mind.

As far as demographics that's the reason I got a SWC as my mid year choice - took a LONG time to find the right car but I think this particular car will stand the test of time value-wise due to its iconic nature. The '61 may wane in popularity but it has become an old, trusted friend now...it would be hard to part with it but it might have to go in 3-5 years. I think that's when the 'old farts' will have departed the hobby. There is nobody on the horizon to fill that void IMO.

Williamlindsey

I drive cars in the Mecum auction here in Kc, the cheaper cars go on the first two nights. and some of the owners think their cars should bring top dollar, as one of you said some need lots of work, they put money into looks rather than the mechanics. i cant count the number of cars i have driven with doors out of alignment, hard to keep running and no brakes.

BTW a friend of mine bought a 1954 here in KC in December, the owner had a lot higher reserve on it but went on and sold it because he was getting up in years and wanted it to go to someone who actually wanted it instead of someone wanting to turn right around and sell it .

Williamlindsey

A lot of the cars will be in 2 or 3 auctions, I have driven cars that sold in another auction only t be shipped to a different auction, if you look really close you can spot the cars that have been shipped from auction to auction. one car i drove in december i had driven earlier in the spring and it had sold and still had tell tale signs it had been to another auction.

MarkC

It is simple economics, you increase supply and the price goes down. In the case of Mecum, the sellers are the victim of the this auction getting too big. Dana should consider having two or three auctions in this market. Also Barrett Jackson sucked a lot of the funds out of the buyer pool. I also agree with the market dropping 4 percent in a week.