Classic Car Week: Auto auctions cover a wide array of vehicles
John Kraman knew cars and guitars, trucks and airplanes. A collector, historian, rock and roll band member and former automotive and aircraft salesman, Kraman thrived on details.
Kraman, who died in January at age 68, was also the long-time television coverage co-host of Mecum Auctions around the country and at the Hyatt Regency and Del Monte Golf Course. For 17 years, he kept every vehicle on the auction block fresh. Surprises were rare, Kraman often said.
But during Mecum Auction’s annual three-day gathering last year, the broadcaster was astounded. It wasn’t a high-end Ferrari in a bidding battle but a 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue. The 3.5-liter V6 with 17,695 original miles sold for $2,000.
But a few days later, Mecum also announced another surprise. Its total sales during Classic Car Week were $54 million and it had the fourth-highest price paid for a vehicle among all cars, track and motorcycles sold.
Mecum’s top seller was a 1969 Ford GT40 Lightweight at $7.865 million. A 1969 Dodge Hemi Daytona sold for $3.36 million at the auction, a record for the iconic muscle car.
The unique financial Mecum Auctions extremes provided an ideal example of why the auctions are held.
Collectors, analysts and other experts may know the pedigree of every Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce. But it’s the oddities like a vintage Oldsmobile, celebrity car or a family heirloom or two that make an auction unpredictable. There’s still a chance for the unexpected bargain or a surprisingly high bid.
Classic Car Week auctions included Bonhams, Broad Arrow, Gooding & Company, Mecum and RM Sotheby’s. Most of the auctions were held for multiple days and all tout their offerings as the rarest of the rare.
Kraman called Mecum’s Auctions in Monterey “an auction with a pulse.” The nationally televised daytime auction presented a vehicle on its red auction carpet every few minutes, the quickest by multiple fold of the other auctions
Mecumn’s annual 600 vehicles in Monterey represent the smallest volume in its national series of auctions. But the selling price per vehicle is the highest among the Mecum Auctions’ stops spread across the country – Texas to Pennsylvania to Florida.
High price tags are status quo for all Classic Car Week auctions. The auctions collectively have a year unofficial bragging session with sales from the week.
Last year, RM Sotheby’s had five vehicles among the top-10 highest sales, including the No. 1 sale, the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider ($17,055 million).
Gooding & Company placed three vehicles on the list. Mecum and Broad Arrow each had one car sale among the top-10. Mecum’s top sale, fourth on the list, was the week’s surprise.
Broad Arrow Auctions is a division of Hagerty, the Michigan-based insurance agency specializing in classic car insurance. It assumed a calendar opening in 2022 from the departed McCall’s Motorworks Revival. Broad Arrow for the first time rotated its vehicles on an automotive turntable.
RM Sotheby’s desire to maintain its familiar perch at the top of the sales list this year was highlighted by 1990 and 1992 Ferrari F40s. The 1990 Ferrari has been in storage for 35 years; the 1992 features a rare LM racing gearbox and bespoke upgrades.
Among the top-10 highest-priced auctioned vehicles last year, seven were Ferrari models. Alfa Romeo, Porsche and Ford were also represented.
