Be sure to give a report!
Just saw Otis post on BarrettJackson. Got to say that Saturday at Mecum Kissimmee was incredible too! Long post!
Made the 3-hour drive up from Miami, and arrived at 10am. Parking was easy ($10), and we got shuttled over in a Mercedes sprinter.
Because I was going the second weekend, I was concerned that I would not see all the cars from the 10 days before. I was worried buyers would take home their cars, and owners who didn't sell would do the same. As soon as we were on property, I realized that was not the case. There were cars everywhere. Overwhelming to say the least. I knew there's no way I would see them all. First lot we walked on, we saw Camaros, Ferraris, 'Cudas, Lincoln Continentals, even a wagon that looked a lot like the Griswold's family truckster (it did not sell; high bid $27K).
The next thing we saw was that Dodge Thrill ride. Insane. Check out Youtube. I'm kinda surprised they are permitted and insured to do that in such a small area. Let me repeat: insane.
We then went into the arena to watch the auction for about an hour. It's exactly as you see on television. Seeing the auctioneers do their thing is cool. Really talented guys.
We then went outside and started touring. There are about 8 giant tents in total. Basically, there's a tent for every day (Thursday lot tent, Friday lot tent and so forth). The Saturday tent was busy as the cars were shuttling off to the holding concourse, which is where they park before heading in to cross the block.
That area is really cool, because anyone can get up close with the cars right before they go in. We picked a good day, because the La Ferraris were there, the McMullen Hot Rod, some sick AMGs, the Buddy Parson Winston Cup winning car, the Petty Collection, and more. Speaking of Petty, when we were walking to the arena the first time, we saw a small line, and looked up, and it was the King himself signing autographs and taking pictures. Never really been a Petty fan, but we waited, and he was real cool to meet.
We then had lunch. There were a couple food courts. It's was kind of fair-style fare, but a little higher end, considering the crowd has the expendable income to spend $50K on a car they wont't drive. Andrew Zimmern was hosting in the food area for a couple hours, although we did not see him.
After eating and touring most of the tents, we went back in to the auction. We watched the Petty and Fux collections go across the block. Saw the Hulkster. We left at about 3pm after the La Ferraris crossed the block. We wanted to stay to see the GT500 cross, but also wanted to get home for the KC game.
I'm still undecided what I'd like to buy, but the auction did help frame my thoughts. There were so many Corvettes and Camaros that they were kind of ubiquitous. I found myself drawn to the Mopars and Mustangs.
That's what was great about the whole day. You get to be around so many cool cars without anyone hassling you. Also, because the cars are always shuttling back and forth, you never know what you will see just driving by. It's kind of surreal.
Makes Mecum totally worth it, even if you are not really into cars.