GT 40´s Mecum Auction at Indiana State fairgrounds

Hi everyone,

I was at the Indiana State fairgrounds this morning to see AMGT40/2. Some pictures attached. 1047B was also present.
Apart from those, some original Cobras and plenty of muscle cars (I mean plenty)
Could not see the Shelby Daytona as apparently she was out in a photo session. She Will be there tomorrow though.

Cheers!
 
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Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
I watched a bit of this auction. I had the impression that neither of the GT40s sold, and that the Daytona did not sell either. Did they sell on private deals after the auction?

Certainly was a classy occasion, wasn't it? ;)Give me a British auction every time over an American one. The aim may be the same, but they carry it off with a good deal more class and restraint, from the little I've seen.
 
Those probably did not sell but I saw some of the auction on TV and some Camaro and Shelby 500 fetch the $ 600.000 and $ 700.000 plus mark. Amazing!
 

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
"1047B" sold for $225,000. The market spoke. This is far less than I thought the car would bring, from what I recall, but undoubtedly a market-appropriate price for a car which is essentially a later copy of a period car. I certainly would not expect mine to be worth this much. Interestingly the ex-Alan Mann car did not sell despite being bid to over two million. I suspect they got close to the reserve but not close enough. Similarly, the Daytona coupe did not sell although I think they were close. Someone paid a fairly high price to find out what their cars were not worth, since the entry fees and transportation are not chickenfeed. VERY interesting. Those folks with good cars are going to hang onto them if they can afford to, and wait for better times to think about selling them. Those folks with not-so-good cars are going to wait a lot longer.
 
"1047B" sold for $225,000. The market spoke. This is far less than I thought the car would bring, from what I recall, but undoubtedly a market-appropriate price for a car which is essentially a later copy of a period car. I certainly would not expect mine to be worth this much. Interestingly the ex-Alan Mann car did not sell despite being bid to over two million. I suspect they got close to the reserve but not close enough. Similarly, the Daytona coupe did not sell although I think they were close. Someone paid a fairly high price to find out what their cars were not worth, since the entry fees and transportation are not chickenfeed. VERY interesting. Those folks with good cars are going to hang onto them if they can afford to, and wait for better times to think about selling them. Those folks with not-so-good cars are going to wait a lot longer.

If a car doesn't sell IMO you can not tell anything. The house is allowed to bid up to the reserve. IMO the real bids were much lower than where the bidding "stopped".

Best
 

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
I didn't know the house was allowed to bid up to the reserve....so basically the real bidding doesn't start at all until the reserve is met. And of course the house knows what the reserve is..talk about a stacked deck.

Although Mecum Auctions are trumpeting how successful their auction was, it doesn't seem all that successful to me. It seems that a lot of the serious money stayed in customer's pockets. What do you all think?
 
I didn't know the house was allowed to bid up to the reserve....so basically the real bidding doesn't start at all until the reserve is met. And of course the house knows what the reserve is..talk about a stacked deck.

Although Mecum Auctions are trumpeting how successful their auction was, it doesn't seem all that successful to me. It seems that a lot of the serious money stayed in customer's pockets. What do you all think?

The party's over and will be for many years to come.

Best
 
April 2009 issue of Sports Car Market; Gooding & Company, Scottsdale, AZ auction report:

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Lot#48 - 1967 FORD GT40 Mk IIB Replica coupe. S/N P1047B. Red & black/black nylon. RHD. 427-ci V8, 4-bbl, 4-sp. Variable panel fit. Very good paint shows light polish scratches, Plexi windows lightly marked. Clean interior shows normal signs of use. Clean engine compartment. Cond: 2-. NOT SOLD AT $220,000.
Re-creation of a Mk II built mostly from original N.O.S. GT40 components, including most of the tub. Very well done, but at the end of the day, it's still not a real one...but it is a hell of a lot cheaper. Should be worth the low estimate of $250k, which would have basically been the high bid plus vig.

May 2009 issue of Sports Car Market; Showcase Gallery:

1967 FORD GT40 MKIIB

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GT40 MarkIIB chassis #P/1047B is one of a handful of cars that stand apart from GT40 replicas, having been built from leftover components from the original GT40 production. Built by noted GT40 expert and restorer Bryan Winfield in the mid-1980s. It later benefited from a four year, six figure restoration by noted restorer Jeff DOdge, to MarkIIB 1967 LeMans specs. 427-ci Side-Oiler V8 engine, 600 hp. Sold on Bill of Sales only. $250,000. Bowman Motors, 650.216.6740, [email protected].<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
 
Here's the reality of a lot of recent down-market car auctions: the cars are financed, and the seller can't afford to sell the car because then he/she would have to come up with the difference between the sales price and the principle of the loan (which they can't do because they're broke). For some high end cars (ferraris/shelby 500/real GT40), the difference between what the seller can sell the car for and what they owe on the loan might be a $100K+ - a lot of speculators in vintage/exotic automobiles can't come up with ten bucks let alone $100K.

It's really quite pathetic. These are the same type of folks that are defaulting on the mortgages upon houses bought for speculation before the bust. Tax payers and consumers are going to end up footing the bill for their stupid mistakes and cavallier attitude towards debt.

The above, along with the common practice of "salting" (auction house running through their own similar cars and trying to set an artificial above-market price), and auction houses themselves bidding on actual customer cars to drive up the price makes for a really funky auction. The whole setting screams out "scam" despite the legitimate beauty and rarity of many of the cars.
 
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