Photo credit: Mecum
There’s been a lot of talk about online auctions of late, particularly as they have become a powerful sales channel for the medium to lower ends of the car segment. And yet Mecum, with its events in attendance, is the mother of all rule breakers: after an excellent 2021, it opened this year with the super-mega-hyper-auction that netted over 215 million dollars in Kissimmee, followed by Glendale from 16th to 19th March, which certainly didn’t disappoint.
Compared to 2021, they jumped from 774 cars on offer to 1,259. And although the percentage of sales fell from 83.20% to 73.47%, they still managed to sell 925 cars against 644 in 2021. Thanks to this, the total was staggering: from $39.5 million (€35.8 million) to $60,938,625 (€55,272,551) thanks also to a slight increase in the average price. Congratulations!
This auction, together with Monterey, are the most “European-style” events at Mecum and the top lot confirmed it; a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4. The first owner replaced the cylinder head before selling it in 1971 in the USA., certified by Ferrari Classiche, restored in 2011 without the certainty of the original colour, today it is Grigio Ferro with red interior. Beautiful in any case. In the last year alone four have been sold, respectively at $2.4 million, $2.5 million, $2.8 million and $3.65 million. This one at $3,025,000 (€2,742,040) sold in the high end of its estimate.
The third most expensive car sold was also European, a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT. The price of this model is constantly rising. In August, a 3,570-mile car sold for $1,210,000 when just a year earlier Carrera GTs went for under one million dollars. In January, two were sold: one with 5,500 miles on the clock for $1,545,000 and one with 1,547 miles for $1,980,000, but the example for sale at Mecum had just 182 miles to its credit, and so it was destined to set a record which it promptly did at $2,200,000 (€1,994,212).
Another very interesting car was the GMC Hummer EV Edition 1 from 2022. The arch-rival of the Tesla pick-up, sold in limited numbers while the general public waits for the production model, it whets the appetite more than many supercars. The example for sale had covered just 400 miles from new and was sold for $286,000 compared to the list price of $115,000. Talk about the price of exclusivity…
A record was also set for a Rolls Royce Corniche. What was so special about it? First, it was one of just 25 examples of the S Convertible version produced, all in in 1955. Second, this model was the last of the Corniche series and the only one with the 385 bhp turbo engine. Third, it had covered just 5,671 miles. Fourth, the colour scheme, which was white with tobacco interior. For these four reasons the price paid for it was $412,500 (€373,914) – not bad since the previous record was $209,000 (€189,450).
One of the hottest cars of the moment is undoubtedly the Ford GT produced between 2004 and 2006, which sets a new record every time one is sold. So, with all this demand I was curious to know how its heir produced between 2017 and 2021 would have behaved. In the last year, 10 have been sold, with prices ranging from $924,000 to $1,215,000. The cheapest one had 640 miles on the clock while this one in Mecum had 1,270. Its sale price? $1,100,000 (€997,105).
