14th-Annual Muscle Car Mayhem Auction in Murfreesboro

There was a rumor last weekend that a bunch of nice old cars were going to be offered for sale at the Dealer’s Auto Auction. Naturally, we had to head to Murfreesboro to check it out. And guess what? The rumor was true. Saturday was the 14th-Annual Muscle Car Mayhem event, and about 100 muscle cars, specialty cars, and classics were sent across the block in search of new owners. There was a little rain, which could have been a bit of a downer. I actually enjoyed it, because there were less people standing around the cars that I had to dodge to get pictures. There was a pretty good selection here. Check these out.

2015 Vette City Classic Collector Car Auction in Bowling Green

Bowling Green, Ky., is the location of the factory that builds the new Corvette Stingray. That should be enough to draw any car guy to the Bluegrass State. But last weekend there was an even greater incentive, as the Vette City Classic Car Auction rolled through Bowling Green’s ABC Auto Auction. Auctioneer Phillip Traylor presided over 100 specialty cars, trucks, tractors, and motor homes during this one-day event. Naturally, I went up there and took some pictures. Let’s take a look at some of the standouts.

Nashville Classic Collector Car Auction had the good stuff

The Nashville Fairgrounds was a busy place over the weekend. On one side of the parking lot, there was a stereo competition. But since the stock Delco in my wife’s 2007 Impala didn’t crank out enough base to put it in contention, we went to the other side of the lot and checked out all the great vintage cars at the Nashville Classic Collector Car Auction. There were a bunch of people in there with bidder numbers, as it should be. The guys from JMARK Classic Car Auctions, and auctioneer Phillip Traylor, were running a small but high-quality lineup of hot rods, muscle cars, and classics.

Old cars come to the office for the Spring Adesa Classic

My wife and son were in town last weekend to visit during our transition from Kansas City to Nashville for my new job. Saturday morning, I asked them if they wanted to check out my office at the Adesa Nashville Auction on our way out to look at some houses. Of course, I had no idea that they were having a classic car auction at that very time. No idea at all. I hadn’t noticed all the old cars showing up during the week, or the signs and posters that were hanging all over. And I really don’t know where those three visitor passes came from that were in my pocket. It was a complete surprise. But while we were there, I figured I had better take a few pictures. Good thing I happened to have my camera.

Adesa Corvette and Specialty Car Sale is a well-kept Kansas City secret

Here’s one you might not have known about.  Adesa has a huge auction house in Belton, Mo.  Normally, they sell late-model cars for manufacturers and rental companies to dealers.  That’s where a lot of the cars that you see on the used lot of the local new car dealer come from.  But a couple of times a year they have a Corvette and Specialty Car Sale.  It is still only open to dealers, but in this case they have an interesting mix of classic and special interest cars.  It is hard to find information for, because they don’t publish it on their website.  But my dad works out there, however, which is why I can share some of it with you.

Replenishing the car show population at the Adesa Corvette and Specialty Car Sale

Car shows are great, but do you ever wonder where people get all those old cars?  Sometimes they pick them up at a classic car auction, like the Corvette and Specialty Car Sale that was recently held at the Adesa Kansas City Auction in Belton, Mo.  Normally, this sprawling facility is used to sell late model factory and rental cars to dealers, but once or twice a year they open it up to this exciting event.

Mecum Spring Auction is one of the best car shows in Kansas City

The Mecum Spring Auction in Kansas City obviously takes place so people can buy and sell cars.  But as far as I’m concerned, it has become one of the best car shows in Kansas City.  Here, you can see some really great, really unusual cars and trucks.  And since it comes in from all over the country, it’s not the same stuff you see at every other car show.  I just hope a lot of these vehicles were sold locally, because there are several of them that I’d love to look at again.

Fantastic cars fill Bartle Hall at the Mecum Grand Finale Auction

Just as the weather turns cold in Kansas City, and you think there is no more car stuff to do, Mecum Auctions comes to town and saves the weekend. More than 750 cars were packed into Bartle Hall for the Mecum Grand Finale event, and whether you were looking to buy or not, it was as good as any car show you’d ever want to attend.

Don Dougan estate auction marks the end of an era

Don Dougan was livin’ every car guy’s dream. Just one look around the large, fenced-in yard of the World War II veteran’s estate, and you can see that he was completely submerged in the things he loved.

The large, grungy, three-bay shop was stocked with every tool, engine hoist, and welding rig anyone could ever need. The land around the shop was crammed full of old cars and parts. And whether they were waiting for the day they would find their way into the garage, or halfway through the process, every car and truck had a story to tell.

Preserving Kansas City's rich racing history with the CARB Hall of Fame Swap Meet and Auction

You never hear about it on the news, and the people at your office aren’t aware of it, but there is a very strong auto racing underworld here in Kansas City. The fact is, there are people that live and die by local, short track racing, and there have been for the better part of the last century.

Of course, that means there is a rich racing history here too. And for some people, preserving that history is a privilege and a duty. It would be a shame to wake up one day and have no recollection of the people, the cars, and the tracks that played such an important part in so many peoples’ lives. It would also be unfortunate if no one realized the role Kansas City played in the careers of some of the greatest racing personalities in the history of the sport.

Adesa Corvette and Specialty Sale brings big-time collector cars to a big-time auction

Everybody knows when the big Mecum classic car auctions come to Bartle Hall, but that's not the only place in Kansas City where people bid on their favorite collectable cars.  The Adesa Auto Auction in Belton holds their Corvette and Specialty Car Sale a couple of times a year, and sellers and buyers from all over the country get together to swap a little vintage metal.

Affordable bargains, six-figure gems, and one heck of a car show. 750 photos from the Mecum Spring Collector Car Auction in Kansas City

The inside of Kansas City's Bartle Hall is 388,800-feet. Now they can do lots of things in there--home shows, religious conventions, RV shows--you name it, they can fit it in there. But as far as I'm concerned, the best way to utilize eight football fields of indoor space is to fill it up with cars.

Luckily, the folks at Mecum Auctions share that opinion, and once again they managed to draw more than 750 sparkling vehicles to the Kansas City Convention Center for the Mecum Spring Classic Auto Auction.

Red light. Auction brings an end to KCIR's 44-year history

The hot rodding hobby is a respected facet of American culture, but it wasn’t always that way. If you read articles, or even watch movies from the 1940s through the early ‘50s, anyone who owned a fast car was depicted as a hooligan set on destroying all that was good and pure in the world. Legend has it, these scofflaws were racing through city streets in unsafe, cobbled together death heaps, mowing down innocent people, and destroying the lives of every teenage boy and their unlucky girlfriends who were along for the ride.

2011 Mecum Muscle Cars and More Grand Finale. Part 2: and More

Last month, I went to the SEMA show. Now as you probably know, that is one of the biggest gear head gatherings in the world, as nearly 2,000 wild automotive creations converge on Sin City.

That being said, car-for-car, I actually enjoyed looking at the selection in Bartle Hall over the weekend better than the cars at SEMA. The annual Mecum Muscle Cars and More Grand Finale took place in Kansas City this weekend, and some 750 vehicles packed into the big climate-controlled convention center downtown.

2011 Mecum Muscle Cars and More Grand Finale. Part 1: Muscle Cars

For old car fans, December can be a bleak time in Kansas City. The car shows are over. The race tracks are silent. The weather is starting to become cruising-prohibitive. The party, as they say, is over.

But then, Mecum Auctions brings in their annual Grand Finale event, and suddenly things aren't that bad after all.

Mecum Bloomington Gold Auction to sell Bill Mullis collection of black Corvettes from 1954-1969

You have to give Mecum Auctions some credit. It seems like no matter where they go, they manage to come up with some really great collection to run through their block. Whether it was Bob McDorman’s Bill Mitchell Corvettes, the 1953 GM dream cars, or just their visit to Kansas City, Mecum is definitely pulling in some cool stuff.

This weekend’s Bloomington Gold Corvette sale is no exception. I’ve always said that a black Corvette with red guts would be my dream combination. And on Saturday, Mecum will be offering a black Corvette from every year from 1954 (the first year you could get something other than white) through 1969; many with my coveted red interior, and all of them spectacular.

Once proud new cars, they were left for dead. Maxwell, Neb., auction may give them a new life

Show cars can be pretty cool, but not every old car ends up quite as pampered as the examples we usually see here at HMC. Take these pictures from an auto graveyard in Maxwell, Neb., just a few miles away from my wife’s hometown.

Here is a collection of rusted, faded metal that has been quietly braving the harsh, mid-Nebraska climate changes for untold years. The heat of the summer. The cold of a Midwestern blizzard. No one was worried about car polish or engine swaps out here. These are the cars that time forgot.

Nice day, nice cars at the April Adesa Corvette and Specialty Car Sale

One thing's for sure--when the temperature goes up, the crowds go up at events like the Adesa Corvette and Specialty Car Sale, which was held on Thursday and Friday in the sprawling Belton, Mo. location.

And the cars weren't bad, either. Thursday is the Corvette only sale, and there were plenty of nice examples of the featured marque on hand. The oldest one that I saw was a nice Fawn Beige '62, and my favorite was a pretty red '67, but all generations of America's Sorts Car were well represented.

Now Friday is when you got to see some variety. You name it; they had it. Everything from hot rods to Ferraris were there for you to climb in, dream about, and (if you're one of the lucky ones) drive home in.

Unusual classic car auction sparks impromptu office field trip to Merriam

A couple of co-workers and I were sitting in our little Overland Park cubicles Friday morning, minding our own business, when we heard of some carbon monoxide contamination over in Merriam. And sure enough, we followed the colorless, odorless cloud to the normally vacant Merriam Plaza, where First West Auction Company was holding an antique, collectible, and classic car sale in the stillborn Circuit City building.

It was actually a pretty fun little field trip. There were a couple dozen interesting cars on display. Some of them were really awful, but there were a few that were surprisingly incredible.

It's fun to look around the Mecum Spring Collector Car Auction, even if you can't afford anything

An event like the Mecum Spring Auction inside Kansas City's Bartle Hall attracts people for a couple of different reasons.

First and foremost, it is a sale. The goal is to sell vintage cars and trucks. And they were doing a pretty good job of that. Two cars sold for well over $150,000, including a fantastic, original '65 Corvette Roadster with a rare 396-c.i. big block that fetched a healthy final price of $188,000. 

In fact, six of the top ten sellers were Midyear Corvettes. So if you love those cars, and honestly, who doesn't, Downtown Kansas City was the place to be.  And it all took place on live, national television on the Discovery Channel's HD Theatre.
But some people don't have thousands and thousands of dollars to purchase their dream car. I walk among them. And for us, the reason to attend this event is that it is one strong car show.