Market Intelligence
Mecum. And the Americans buy…
The article discusses a recent auction event held by Mecum, an American auction house specializing in collector cars. Due to the pandemic, the auction was scaled down but still managed to sell 464 out of the 739 cars on offer for a total of $17,385,060. The article highlights some of the notable cars sold at the auction, including a 2018 Ford GT, a Shelby Cobra Replica, a 1967 Shelby GT500 Fastback, and a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible. The article provides some background information on these cars and their significance in American automotive culture. Overall, the article showcases the resilience of the American collector car market and the continued interest in American-made vehicles.
I can’t decide which is more American: the apple pie or Mecum.
Following the epidemic that upset their plans (cancelling their sale of Monterey, the most “European” of all), the auction house decided to play the ace up its sleeve by proposing a summer version of their flagship event with a sale in Kissimmee, Florida using the traditional auctioneer-in-the-hall formula. Organized annually in January, this event usually attracts between 2,500 and 3,500 cars with sales in the order of $70-90,000,000. This “special edition” event, however, was a scaled-down version. With just 739 cars on offer (and 464 sold, equal to 62.79%) and sales totalling $17,385,060, it was by no means comparable to the original but neither did it claim to be. They should be congratulated for their resourcefulness and, in any case, considering the various factors at stake – not least the growing risks of a new lockdown and the upcoming US elections – the results can be considered more than satisfactory.
Finally, out of sheer curiosity: their other workhorse is the sale in Indianapolis and they have organized a special sale at the end of October for this event too. We’re going to keep our antennas up ready to pick up any signals the market chooses to send out.
