Sales also benefitted Curing Kids Cancer
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The 1965 Shelby GT350R Prototype “Flying Mustang” was the chart-topping car at the 2022 Kissimmee Mecum Auction, crossing the auction block at $3.75 million. PHOTO/MECUM Auctions
By a large number of measures, the Mecum Auction that wrapped up Sunday at Osceola Heritage Park easily beat most existing company and industry records.
Total sales were $217 million, the first time any auto auction event has broken the $200 million sales mark — the previous record was $176 million. Accordingly, all eleven days of the auction had record sales. Saturday, Jan. 15 saw $17 million in sales, a new record for Mecum’s Kissimmee event.
Overall, over 2,950 vehicles were sold out of the 3.500 registered for sale at the event. As anticipated, the 1965 Shelby GT350R Prototype “Flying Mustang” went for the highest price paid, at $3.75 million. A contemporary car, a 2020 McLaren Speedtail, which can reach a top speed of 200 m.p.h. garnered the next-highest auction price at $3.3 million.
In all, 13 vehicles sold for over $1 million, and they were not all vintage muscle cars or European exotics. A 1936 White Model 706 National Park Tour Bus, used for taking tourists through Montana’s Glacier National Park, sold for over $1.4 million. In addition to vehicle sales, the Road Art auction, a regular feature of Mecum’s annual Kissimmee event, generated $2.2 million in sales of over 1,200 items.
The event was also a success for the first year of the new Mecum and MotorTrend Television partnership, with viewership reaching an all-time record for Mecum Auctions.
While autos were flying off the auction block at a record pace for spectacular sums of money, at the same time equally impressive sums went towards Mecum’s charity of choice, Curing Kids Cancer. Bidder Badge No. 1, held for many years by ProTeam Corvette owner Terry Michaelis of Napoleon, Ohio, was auctioned off for $250,000 going towards the charity. Tens of thousands more dollars were raised for the children’s cancer organization by the Mecum company and auction attendees during the 11-day event. Mecum has been associated with Curing Kids Cancer since 2012 and has raised over $8.5 million over that time.
Robb Larson, General Manager at Osceola Heritage Park/ASM Global, who has seen every Kissimmee Mecum show come to life from inside the complex, said the auction always gets “a little bit better” each year, and this year was no exception.
“Mecum does a great job with the event and customer service. The bar keeps getting set higher,” he said. “And we keep finding ways to jump over it.”
The Mecum Auction is set to return to Kissimmee again in January 2023.
For more information on Curing Kids Cancer, please see https://bit.ly/3KAORkS. For more information on Mecum Auctions, please see https://bit.ly/3qHYSEY.
