Mecum Houston 2017 Report

Mecum Houston 2017 Report

It finally happened - I went to a car auction and didn't buy anything.  I've bought at least one car, if not more, every time Mecum has come to Houston (and at every other car auction I've been to in recent years).  I came home empty handed this year.  There are probably a number of reasons for this tragedy, but lets just talk about the auction this year instead of whining about my own disappointments. 

They sold $21.7 million in cars with about a 70% sell-through rate.  Both numbers are great, proving once again that Houston is a sellers market and not the best place to be a buyer. 

The venue wasn't as good as past years.  The auction was held in NRG Arena instead of the NRG Center because the Houston Auto Show was occupying that massive space.  It was unfortunate.  The Arena isn't as large and it's very segmented.  You were either looking at the cars or watching the auction but you couldn't do both at the same time.  There wasn't enough room either so all of the Thursday cars were actually outside.  We got lucky with a beautiful Thursday, but it still wasn't as good a set up as the Center.  

On a side note, the Houston Auto Show is a complete waste of time.  I LOVE cars, and I can't think of a single reason to go.  It's basically just like going to a bunch of dealer showrooms but in a single location.  For some reason, as big an automotive market as Houston is, we don't get any of the concept cars or reveals that bigger shows get.  Don't waste your time.  

Normally I cover these with a bunch of "Stuff We Didn't Buy" followed by a "Stuff We Bought" section.  Since we bought no "stuff" this year, I'm just going with a bunch of pictures and comments.

My wife couldn't go with me on Thursday morning, so my mom tagged along until Branelle was able to get away and join me.  These are two very different auction "supervisors" to have, as illustrated by this picture.  My mom, although she always enjoys herself and likes to have a good time, doesn't see the logic in spending large amounts of money on toys for some silly reason.  My wife, on the other hand, is an enabler.  She's usually quite sensible and frugal (compared to me) but at a car auction she gets into it and starts encouraging me - when it's things she likes anyway.

I still love Pace Cars, and matched sets are even better.  This Camaro and truck from the '93 race were fantastic, but the car had less than 1000 miles on it and I just don't have any interest in cars I can't drive.  Neither of them sold, with the car hitting $20K and the truck $10K.

After last year, I wasn't taking any chances with hidden rust so I took a close look underneath a number of cars like this '73 Mercury Cougar Convertible.  I really liked this car, and it sold for $13,500 which I thought wasn't bad.  It's basically the same car as our '73 Mustang Convertible though so I let it go.

Nel was on a conference call for about an hour, but she still checked out cars.  I have always wanted a DeLorean.  It's on my top 10 list of cars I want to buy. This was a great example and sold for a mere $21K.  When I didn't bid on this one I realized something was wrong with me.  

 
Pantera's are great.  My first car was almost a Pantera.  That said, they've gotten pricey so I stayed away this time.

I'm not usually a fan of "replica" cars, but this Auburn 852 recreation I liked.  It's hard to put a value on a car like this.  It's sort of worth whatever you want to pay for it I guess.  I would love to have owned it, but I wasn't even around when it went through.

This was a fantastic 924, but we already have a fantastic 924 in our stable and Nel wasn't really seeing the fun in having two.  I disagreed, but it brought crazy money anyway, and didn't sell!

Not a replica - this was a real deal Ferrari Daytona.  Nel did actually like this one, but I told her she would probably need to get a paper route or something if she wanted me to buy this.

I love Lamborghini Jalpa's.  This one sold for $74K, which is really kind of on the low end.  I missed it, which is probably a good thing because I might have taken a run at this one.

This '51 Crosley Hook and Ladder truck was built by an amusement park and completely restored.  Nel and I both loved it, but it sold for $60K, which is a lot of money for a novelty item, and I couldn't figure out how I would ever get it home.

This fantastic little Fiat 500C Topolino should be in my garage right now.  Nel and I both loved it.  It was completely restored.  It sold for next to nothing.  This is a casualty of me deciding I had other things to do on Saturday.  

This '54 Austin Healey 100 sold on Friday for $34K.  It wasn't in great shape, but I think the price was fair.  We both liked it but it would have been a project and I'm avoiding adding more of those at the moment.

Nel had a long day and didn't survive the ride home on Thursday.  We hit the auto show after the auction as well.

This sort of demonstrates the issue with holding the auction in NRG Arena. When they hold it in the Center, all the cars are in one giant room.  Here, they are spread out among a number of rooms, all separated from the actual auction block.  Not terrible, but not as good as previous years.

I was unsupervised on Friday, which usually means I'm buying!  I did come close a few times.  I bid on this '69 Buick Riviera, but was outbid by an older couple.  I talked to them afterwards and this is what they were there to buy so I actually felt a touch bad for driving the price up on them.

Older 911s are just so popular right now that you can't really get a good deal at an auction.  I always give them a cursory look, but other people want them more than I do.

This is a car that I would have bought but just missed it going across the block. I had no interest in a '53 Chevy 210 going in, but the fantastic restoration on this one won me over.  These aren't valuable cars, but I would have loved to have owned it.

I was high bidder on this one, but the owner wouldn't let it go.  I like these '95 Pace Cars more than most, but I understand him not wanting to let this nice low mileage example get away for very little money.

This is Katie Osborne, one of the on-air personalities for NBC that covers the auctions.  The on-air guys that you see and hear on TV are walking around but they usually don't engage you and I never bother them.  I was looking at some Dodge Dart that I didn't really have any interest in out away from the blocks and she came up and started chatting with me about the car.  I knew absolutely nothing about it, but I faked it as best as I could for a few minutes until her camera man showed up and I took the hint and got out of the shot.  She was delightful.  More of the TV guys should be as engaging as she was.

That's basically it.  No new cars - still had fun - wish I had bought at least something, but life is probably a little easier since I didn't.  Oh well, my new garage will be done soon.