Documenting my Cobra search

[GT11]

Mecum is in town and they had a few cars that caught my eye. I am not sure I like the auction buying. You pay an 8% premium on top of your bid price and the auction company is there to make sure you pay the max amount for the car you buy. There can be some deals but it is typically on some of the more obscure cars.

There are so many cars, you can't possibly look over every car that you are interested in buying and this causes many people to over pay.

In yesterdays auction, I was interested in an early BDR (number around 200 - 210), a series III Jag E-type w/ V12 and a Lotus Esprit Turbo.

I spoke to James Yales on the BDR value. He said since it was an older car, had fake 15" knockoffs and the 342 engine (advertised as 275 hp) and a T5 tranny, the value was around $35K if it was in good shape. That meant a final bid price of $32K - $33K since there is an 8% premium. It was blue and white, which is the color scheme I want. After looking at the car, it needed to be repainted, new windshield, all bright work reworked, along with other work totaling $8K - $10K. I reset my bid price to $27K max.

The Jag was solid but I really want a Series II and I didn't like the color. Based on the condition and everything else, I set my final bid price at $50K.

The owner of the Lotus disappeared during the auction so I couldn't get any information on the engine. The body was straight but needed a respray. I will have to bid this one at the low end of the value or $10K - $11K.

First up was a FFR with a bored out 302 (can't remember the final displacement). The body and paint looked good but us was a very dark metallic color (maroon?) without a strip. The build looked cheap (low end autozone gauges and other components) I didn't spend a lot of time looking at it since I wasn't interest. The guy in front of me bought it with a final bid of $54K! I felt that was pricey for that build. He then bought the next car up, a 1967 Corvette coup for $70K which was way over market (others were selling in the 40's and 50's).

Finally the BDR comes up and I think the guys that really looked at it discounted the price for the condition. The bidding stalled at $23K and I thought I had this one in the bag. The auctioneer then started talking up the car, comparing it to the FFR that just sold for $54K and I think it woke up some of the well lubricated guys that thought there was a bargain to be had. I will admit, from 50', the car looked great. The bidding picked up again and I was out at $27K. It continued to creep up until it hit a final price of $34K.

Three cars later came the Jag. It start low and I bailed at $50K with the car hitting $84K.

Finally, there was the Lotus. Bidding started at $5K, stalled at $8K then continued up to $12K. If the engine (and turbos) was in great shape, this was a deal but I wasn't going to risk a high dollar rebuild if it wasn't.

My wife texted me half way through the auction and asked if I was having fun...I told her, SURE, and I had bought two cars. After receiving a couple of texts back saying TWO??!!, I fessed up and said I hadn't bought anything, yet.

Overall, the auction was fun but I went home empty handed.