OK, here's the post I've been promising about the auction.
First, why did I decide to sell my car? Well, I bought it in 1981 for $2900 and restored it over the next five years (about 1000 hrs) spending about $9,000 in parts. Except for magnafluxing the suspension, turning the drums and reaming the new kingpins I did all of the work myself. Welding steel, brazing aluminum, body work (using lead on the steel), carb rebuilding, paint, upholstery, etc. I learned a lot of new skills which came in handy in the early '90s when the aerospace market here on Long Island collapsed and I formed a company called Vintage Restorations that did full and partial restorations on classic sports cars. Over five years I did partial and full restorations on several Healeys, XK-Es, 120s, a TC, a TD, several Spridgets, a 300SL roadster and several TRs. My Healey became a rolling business card and got me a lot of work. But I digress.
After the restoration was done in 1986 I showed the car for the first time and won a first-in-class, which was sort of depressing. I'm done, the car can't be improved, now what? Over the next ten years or so I drove the car a bit, took 14 first-in-class and one best-in-show award and used the car for the business. After that it became a Sunday driver so I didn't have to spend 40 hours several times a summer prepping it to show.
As I got older, the crudeness and lack of comfort (heat, vibration, noise, steering effort) started to become less fun. Also, I was in two accidents in my BMW (one a driver on a cell phone ran TWO red lights T-boned me to the tune of $14,000 and the other a driver in a Ford station wagon took an entrance ramp onto a highway I was on, spun into me causing me to bounce off of the center guard rail, then across three lanes of traffic and then up on the shoulder) where I would have been killed in the Healey. I know that some racers say that all accidents are driver error unless you get hit by a meteor but these two were barely avoidable. So the Healey started scaring me and I decided about five years ago to sell it.
Well, the car was old for the second time so I did another disassembly, re-paint and took the opportunity to correct and improve things. I also spent the last five years collecting original tools and books to replace the reproductions.
Why Auctions America? I reviewed past auction results in Sports Car Market magazine (I go 'way back to its Alfa Romeo days) looking for venues that had appropriate cars (not too many high-end exotics or full classics, not all 'mericun muscle cars). Initially I wanted to go with Gooding or RM but they wouldn't accept a car with a reserve of less than $150K in most cases. Auctions America, a unit of RM, looked promising and the Ft Lauderdale auctions in the past had the right mix of cars and the Healeys, Jags, low-end Ferraris all seemed to sell for fair prices.
I started working with AA in January 2015, working on the entry fee and seller's commission. I shot photos of my car based upon their guidelines and put together a detailed description of the car which they put in the catalog almost verbatim. We agreed on a reserve and and estimated price range.
I arranged for Reliable to do the transport based on AA's recommendation. The Wednesday before the auction the Reliable driver called me from Connecticut saying he would be at my house either Thursday afternoon or first thing Friday. Thankfully, the wide shoulder in the road across from my house was finally snow-free (!) so I gave him directions. On Thursday afternoon he called again and said he would pick up the Friday morning. Around 10 AM he showed up (after calling me at 8:30 telling me he's hit the road). I was the last car of six to be loaded (a Vespa car (!), an MGTB, MGTF, a '50's Buick woody and I forget the fifth). He did a very careful job of getting it in the truck and securing it. At noon he was off for Florida.
Being that I had done all the paperwork in advance with AA I didn't need to be there when the car arrived. They would position the car in its proper place in the Broward County Convention Center and I just need to be there for the auction. I decided to be with the car Thursday, Friday (the first auction day) and Saturday. My car was due to be auctioned off at 1:30 on Saturday (prime time, which I negotiated for with AA).
When I came to the Convention Center on Thursday I found the car in perfect shape, just with some fingerprints on it from being pushed into place. (Most cars are moved around that way. The only time the cars are driven are when they're brought outside to get in line -they let me drive it- and when they're driven onto the stage -an AA volunteer driver (!) does that). However, all my tools, books, etc. were missing from the boot! It turns out that they remove all of that stuff from all the cars and put it in the bonded property room for safe keeping.
So I cleaned up the car and then stayed with it talking with other sellers and potential bidders. It was like being in a combination car show and doing booth duty in a trade show with the stress of both! But I met some great people, people with big car collections, a lot of money or both.
On Thursday they started off at 11AM with automobilia and then went to the lower end cars. Many were no-reserve and sold for some good (low) prices. Some cars with reserves sold, some didn't. Those that didn't were put in an area of the floor called "Still for Sale" where that were available to buy for the next three days (and maybe after). I didn't want my car to wind up there or have to take it back home either.
On Friday I drove my car into position around 10AM (I would be about he 60th car). My wife, who has become quite knowledgeable about cars and their vlaue, came with me to the auction along with the couple in whose house in Delray Beach we were staying. The first cars before mine were either not meeting reserves or going for low money which made us a bit nervous. At about 30 cars before mine I went outside to be with my car again and there were a lot of potential bidders looking at all of the cars. I pointed out the important aspects of my car to those who were looking at mine. Most of the people I talked to knew Healeys in detail which gave me more confidence. I would say I probably talked to 10 serious potential bidders for my car for the three days I was there and I'm sure this had an impact on the ultimate results.
My car was driven onto the block (not every car would start so they were pushed aside and then if they could be started went up one or two out of sequence) and the bidding started. Most cars were gone, successful or not, in two minutes. Mine took about twice as long because it had several bidders, including on the phone and on line. (Check the video clip I posted this morning). It stalled a couple of times but then a new bidder would pop in (or an existing bidder, after holding back, would come back in). It stalled at $57.5K which was scary as it's a lot of money but $8K below my reserve. At $62.5K it stalled again and I lifted the reserve. Then it started up again and went over the reserve and sold for $67K (plus 10% buyer's premium). This is what's supposed to happen when you lift the reserve but only happened maybe 30% of the time at this auction. Usually the bidding ends, with just two bidders left, when the reserve is lifted or maybe there's one more bid. In my case I saw that there were several bidders still active so I felt that that the incentive of lifting the reserve ("The car will be sold today!") would have the desire effect.
So all-in-all a good experience, Auctions America did a great job, really took care of the bidders and sellers and Reliable's transport was faultless. Now I'm just waiting for the check from AA...
Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
