Mecum Breaks Records In Kissimmee
In the wake of the 2012 Mecum Kissimmee auction, the list of shattered records continues to grow. The Florida auction kicked off Mecum’s 25th year and a staggering 2,158 vehicles crossed the block, the most in company history. The six-day event, held at Osceola Heritage Park on January 24-29, 2012, achieved a 30% increase in attendance over last year. Hammer price sales for the week-long auction totaled $55,397,462, and factoring in Buyer’s premium, total gross sales are reaching close to $60,000,000 as Bid Goes On sales continue to rise. Mecum sold an amazing 1,548 vehicles with a 73% sell-through rate.
Mecum Auctions president Dana Mecum (pictured above) said, “Kissimmee kicked off the 2012 auction season and Mecum’s 25th year in business, and I can’t think of a better way to begin celebrating our Silver Anniversary than with a record-breaking auction. Company records were smashed in nearly every category including number of vehicles offered, vehicles sold, total sales, attendance, and number of registered bidders.”
Top Ten sellers at the auction covered a wide swath in enthusiasts dream sheets. With nearly 300 Corvettes offered during the Kissimmee auction, quite a few were in the Top Ten, but sitting on top of the list was a 1963 Shelby Cobra Dragon Snake (Lot S220 -pictured at top of this post), which sold for $850,000.
The remaining nine vehicles were (all sales reflect hammer prices):
2. 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible (Lot F199) at $610,000
3. 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe (Lot S103) at $270,000
4. 1963 Chevrolet Corvette RestoMod (Lot S226) at $255,000
5. 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (Lot T188) at $227,500
6. 1930 Packard 745 Waterhouse (Lot S83) at $225,000
7. 1941 Packard Darrin 180 Convertible Victoria (Lot S122) at $220,000
8. 1970 Plymouth Superbird (Lot K56) at $200,000
9. 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible (Lot S163) at $200,000
10. 1957 Ford Thunderbird F-Bird (Lot S129) at $200,000
Dana Mecum observed, “We have a heavyweight title bout going on within our own organization for the title of World’s Largest Collector Car Auction. With the great success from this auction, Kissimmee 2012 has captured the crown from Indy 2011 as the World’s Largest. Stay tuned for ‘Indy in May’ as it works to regain the crown as the World’s Largest.”
Overall, the event was very successful and I think NASCAR Champion, Ken Schrader, (pictured above with me) who visited the auction on Saturday to sign autographs, summed it up best when he remarked that he had no idea how you actually selected a vehicle to buy because there were so many of them on the auction block!
Complete auction results are available to Mecum InfoNet members, which is free to join at www.Mecum.com.
