HOUSTON — Looking for some new wheels? Something that stands out?
Then head on over to the Mecum Auctions at NRG Park, where 1,150 vehicles are up for sale through Saturday, April 2.
Auctions have their own special language, both verbal and physical, like hand signs.
As it turns out, Karl Duffield is a quick study.
“Being my first auction, I bid on everything that went by. Probably got that fever so I was gonna wait 'til Saturday, but I already bought one,” he said.
The Duffields bought a Renegade on Thursday, opening day, and are still shopping.
Karl nodded toward his wife and joked, “She’ll probably talk me into buying another one.”
Anne Marie, said enthusiastically, “I’m a car girl.”
She's like thousands of other car aficionados who will attend the event. About 60% of the crowd are spectators and 40% are bidders.
The Mecum Auctions is a finely tuned machine holding 18 big events around the country each year.
“We have 250 employees that do nothing but travel with the auction,” Mecum CEO Dave Magers said.
The vehicles are sold on consignment with reserve bids. Prices will likely range from $5,000 to $500,000.
“We ‘ll start the auction at 10 a.m., run a car across the block every two and half minutes, no stops, no breaks, no TV timeouts,” Magers said.
He estimates 1,000,000 viewers will see the three-day Houston auction, either online or on TV.
What’s the attraction?
“These are collectible cars. They range from the early 1900s to late-model exotic cars. As a collector car, typically it has some type of emotional attachment to you," Magers said.