Auctions thrive at Monterey Auto Week
MONTEREY — The traveling automobile circus known as Mecum Auctions is slow in Monterey. But it’s hard to fathom since it moves so fast.
Workers buff every vehicle for sale until a few seconds before it’s pushed onto the auction carpet and stage. Within a few minutes, it’s gone, replaced by another vintage car, truck or motorcycle.
The Wisconsin-based company founded by Dana Mecum in 1988, Mecum is among several auction houses, including Bonham’s, Gooding & Company and RM Sotheby’s, with long tenures at Monterey Auto Week.
All of the auctions sold expensive vehicles during the recent 10-day automotive extravaganza. And all of the auctions did so with specific styles.
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.
Unlike Mecum, which advanced vehicles along a short auction carpet, Broad Arrow for the first time rotated its vehicles on an automotive turn table.
The event, with about 150 vehicles at auction, was held in conjunction with Motorlux, an auction preview coupled with fine dining and libations. Private aircraft parked at the Monterey Jet Center served as the decor.
Mecum offered about 600 cars and trucks and 100 motorcycles, divided into a three-day sale at the Hyatt Regency and the adjacent Del Monte Golf Course.
“We’re monitoring how many cars are going across the block per hour and what percentage of car we are selling,” said John Kraman, the veteran television broadcaster who’s been on site for all 15 Mecum Auction editions on the peninsula. “Monterey can slow things down a bit. Not intentionally but it’s because the cars are of such higher value.
“So it’s going to run at a little bit of a slower pace. We normally schedule somewhere in the 35-car per-hour range. But in Monterey, we’ll probably run 30-32 cars per hour, especially as we get into the really, really big cars.”
The simple math: Every two minutes, a car is “on the blocks.”
Despite its prestigious and not-so-prestigious vehicles, Mecum’s presentation during Monterey Auto Week is the smallest of the company’s yearly auctions. The average age of vehicles sold at Mecum Auctions in Monterey is 50 and the diversity is as vast as any peninsula auction.
The Saturday finale had, as usual, the highest percentage of high-priced vehicles with a small selection reaching the millionaire plateau. The traditional Thursday auction is a catch-all of makes and models and various conditions. Bentley, Ferrari, and Packard attracted top prices and a 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue with less than 18,000 original miles sold for $2,000.
In its short tenure, Broad Arrow has joined the high-ended Monterey Auto Week auctions. A 1957 Ferrari 250GT Berlinetta Scaglietti “Tour de France” was the highest-price sold vehicle in 2022 at $5.5 million. Three additional Ferraris sold for at least $1.9 million. This year, a 1997 Porsche 911 GTI sold for an auction-high $7.045 million.
Meg McGrail, spokeswoman from Hagerty, said Broad Arrow Auctions also has a sales pace to uphold. The average time per sale is about 18 minutes or nine times longer than the average selling time of a vehicle of Mecum Auctions.
“While we serve a wide range of collecting interests, our curated auction collection is decidedly younger than many of our customers,” McGrail said. “It’s a reflection of shifting tastes of the next generation of collectors.”
Patrick Phinny of Carmel Valley, the long-time restaurateur, known for the peninsula auctions as well as anyone. He bought a 1931 Bagley-Cragar Special Sprint Car Roadster 11 years ago at Mecum Auctions Monterey and placed it up for auction at the same auction this year with an estimated selling price of $125,000.
“It’s changing, newer cars are selling quote a bit now,” said Phinny, 75. “When I started, it was the older cars; the Model As and the big brass cars. Now, you’re getting new race cars and new everything.”
James Raia, a syndicated automotive columnist in Sacramento, also writes about sports, lifestyle and travel. Email: jamesraia.com.
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