Auctions America's Flagship Auburn Fall Weekend Earns Best Results Yet
Written by Sports Car Market
Auctions America has posted the company's strongest sale results to date, along with record attendance at its annual Auburn Fall Collector Car Weekend, August 28 – September 1. Car sales reached $27.5m with 68% of cars sold.
Held during the famous Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, this year's sale marked Auctions America's most successful event to date, combining a world-class auction with a range of exciting automotive-themed activities to provide a memorable celebration of the hobby. This attracted more than 70,000 enthusiasts to the historic Auburn Auction Park, surpassing last year's attendance by nearly 40%. New this year, NBC Sports Network broadcast from the event for three days, delivering coverage of the sale to more than 80 million homes across the U.S. Also reflecting strong growth, a record number of bidder registrations were received from 17 countries and 45 states across the U.S., highlighting the event's standing as a Labor Day tradition with vast global appeal. Nearly one third of bidders represented first-time clientele.
"This year's Auburn Fall Collector Car Weekend was simply electric," said Donnie Gould, president of Auctions America. "The world came home to Auburn for thiscelebration of automotive culture and the response from buyers, sellers and attendees has been overwhelmingly positive. This weekend, the Classic Car Capital of America saw a packed auction arena, spectacular collections, three incredible Duesenbergs sold under the Auctions America roof in one day, and the first-ever, live NBC Sports Network coverage from the Auburn Auction Park. The Auburn Fall event was the perfect way to cap off a wonderful summer for Auctions America, which also included our highly successful debut sale in Southern California."
In honor of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Festival, locally-built vehicles were prominently featured among the 1,123 automobiles offered, with top sales honors going to a highly desirable 1930 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Coupe for $1,540,000; a rare 1929 Duesenberg Model J Sports Sedan for $962,500 and a 1935 Duesenberg Model SJ Dual-Cowl Phaeton for $858,000, all sold during Saturday's all-new Salon Offering. Rounding out the top five sales and attracting enthusiastic bidding were an iconic 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona for $434,500 and a striking 1933 Auburn Twelve Boattail Speedster for $371,250.
Auburn Fall also presented several important collections. Renowned collector and enthusiast, Kirk F. White, sold a diverse group of 404 lots of memorabilia and antiques from his personal collection during a full-day memorabilia sale on Wednesday, August 28, with several of his important hot rods crossing the block during Friday's sale session.
"From start to finish, our experience working with Auctions America was seamless," said Mr. White following the sale. "Throughout the weekend, I could not get over the quality of people that make up the Auctions America team. Although it was an emotional moment when that last lot was sold, Marilyn and I were thrilled with the event!"
Indiana native, Ed Ewing's collection of 94 eclectic automobiles also attracted strong interest from collectors, spurring numerous heated bidding contests during Saturday's Salon Offering. Highlights from Ewing's collection included a well-equipped and eye-catching 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible for $220,000, a rare 1967 Shelby GT 500 Fastback for $200,000 and a popular 1961 Fiat 500 Jolly for $99,000. Vehicles auctioned from the prominent collections of William Munday and Richard and Linda Kughn also garnered tremendous interest.
As part of Auctions America's continued efforts to give back to the community, a series of vehicles were sold to benefit four worthy causes across the weekend, including the Fort Wayne Base Community Council Military Support Fund, the Darrell Gwynn Foundation, the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana, and the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
"We are proud to support these important organizations that give so much to both the community and the hobby in which we operate," commented Gould. "Car enthusiasts are among the most generous people in the world. We're proud to use our international stage to help organizations that enrich the automotive culture and improve the lives of those who serve our country and of those in need."
Mark Lizewskie, Executive Director of the AACA Museum added, "We are thrilled to have been part of Auctions America's successful Auburn Fall sale. The event far exceeded our expectations. It's a wonderful facility that featured a wide variety of vehicles on the block, along with an excellent automobilia sale. The AACA Museum had consigned five of its vehicles to help fund our new permanent Tucker automobile exhibit, each bringing a better-than-expected result!"
Beyond the auction, the weekend's program also featured one of the Midwest's largest car corrals and swap meets, organized by Carlisle Events. Thousands of sellers were onsite offering restoration items, tools, parts and collectibles, with many vendors quickly selling out; a strong number of cars were also sold within the car corral. Illustrating the continued popularity and draw of the event, vendors represented 31 states across the United States.
Other popular festivities forming part of this year's Auburn Fall Collector Car weekend included helicopter and monster truck rides, a motocross exhibition and celebrity autograph sessions. Richard Rawlings and Aaron Kaufman of the TV show, Fast & Loud, as well as Jessie Combs of Overhaulin' and All Girls Garage signed autographs for legions of fans on Saturday and Sunday.
In its first social media contest, Auctions America gave away a 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible on the auction block, on Sunday, September 1. Anyone could "like" Auctions America and its sponsors on Facebook or scan the QR code on the yellow convertible parked in front of the auction office with their smart phone app.
Auctions America continues its 2013 calendar of events with the company's Fall Carlisle sale, October 3 – 4, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Kicking off the 2014 season is Auctions America's well-established Fort Lauderdale sale, March 14 – 16. Now in its 12th year, the sale has carved a reputation as South Florida's premier collector car auction. The company will return to the historic Auburn Auction Park, May 8 – 10, 2014, for its annual Auburn Spring Collector Car Weekend, once again featuring the AACA's Central Division National Spring Meet.
For full results from the 2013 Auburn Fall Collector Car Weekend as well as upcoming event information, please visit auctionsamerica.com.
*Official results are listed in USD and include a 10 percent buyer's premium for automobiles and 15 percent for motorcycles and memorabilia.
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