SOLD! 1970 Challenger T/A @ Mecum Glendale / LOT S61 / MAR 20

[JH27N0B]

I bought a Challenger at a Mecum auction nearly 10 years ago, and it worked out OK for me.  But I felt I might have dodged a bullet.
I had 2 cars I was interested in, and did some homework and asking around before the auction to try to vet them.
One looked bad in person, the other I was told during my research that it had been listed online earlier for about twice what I was willing to spend, so I figured why even waste my time bidding on it.
At the auction, another car I believed would be way over my budget was running late on a Saturday afternoon.  I started bidding on it mostly for laughs and grins.  Then the reserve was lifted, I put in another bid at my max, then waited for another bid to be made, and I'd resist the bidders assistants arm twisting trying to get me to bid more.
Sold!  Wait, what??  Me?  I'm thinking oh crap, this car should have gone higher, it's got stuff wrong, I'm screwed.
Then Gregg Nelson of Mopar Ponderosa came over and tapped me on the shoulder and said he used to own it, cleanest E body he'd ever owned, contact me if you want more info.
At the time, the buyer premium was 6%.  I found the car was on an assigned title and in IL you pay regular sales tax on a car purchase from a dealer, my sales tax I paid at the secretary of states office was almost what the car sold for new!
When I opened the trunk, no jack or space saver. 
But I still got a good deal. And the auction was not far from me, so the next day a friend drove me there and I drove it home, no shipping fees for me!
Beginners luck?  I'm not eager to take another chance buying another car at auction.
I do often wonder how to find good Mopars for sale.  I have a couple on my wish list, watch eBay, Craigslist, forums etc and rarely see anything like I want for sale.
I sometimes think it's near impossible to find a good Mopar to buy now days...

[1972V21Cuda]

Was this the car from the Peterson museum?

[Bossgold]

I tried to buy a Challenger T/A in AZ a while back. The car first went up for sale on a Classic Car web site. I drove out and completely went thru the car. The guy wanted $ 65K but other than a T/A block and the numbers matching trans everything was missing, bad paint up close, oil leaks and worn parts. When it would not sell the owner took the car to Gateway Classics and put a price tag on it for $78K( I still have the ad docs). I looked at it again which was just dumb luck that I was driving thru Phoenix and saw it at the showroom. My friend had looked at this car as well and walked. Then the car showed up at Mecum after no one would by it and it sold for over $ 60K. The new owner bought thru a dealer representing him at Mecum had realized what he got and put it back up for sale 9 months later. He ended up selling it for $ 50K. Long and the short, the Mecum experience for both of these owner/sellers of this car had a terrible experience all around. The first seller ended up after Mecum seller fees(10% seller fee on reserve price cars),  Time slot costs, initial registration non-refund cost, marketing fees from gateway, storage fees, etc. with probably $ 48K in his pocket on a $ 55K sale hammer price. The second seller bought the car at Mecum for$ 55K plus 10% or $ 60.5 K and he sold it for $ 50K...another loss. So I am not a fan of this auction business. I think its a scam, a marketing game and for every bad experience another long term effect for this hobby. Finally, at the end of the day the parts and repairs to this T/A were never made or compensated for during these inspections and change of ownership. There was easily $ 12K in OEM parts and paint repair that the new owner will have to spend if he wants a $60K T/A.

[ragtopdodge]

Non-matching transmission and no buildsheet, no way to tell if it's an original four-speed car.

FT's can be faked (this one looks way too fresh):

[70 Top Banana]

Not to mention the hotel, rental car bill, food, the cost to ship the car to the auction and if you don't sell it you have to  pay to ship it home. Lastly, the ring guy employed by Mecum screaming at you to lift the reserve befor you get close to the reserve and sell the car!
I might rather have a root canal.

[Rdchallenger]

I bought a Challenger at a Mecum auction nearly 10 years ago, and it worked out OK for me.  But I felt I might have dodged a bullet.
I had 2 cars I was interested in, and did some homework and asking around before the auction to try to vet them.
One looked bad in person, the other I was told during my research that it had been listed online earlier for about twice what I was willing to spend, so I figured why even waste my time bidding on it.
At the auction, another car I believed would be way over my budget was running late on a Saturday afternoon.  I started bidding on it mostly for laughs and grins.  Then the reserve was lifted, I put in another bid at my max, then waited for another bid to be made, and I'd resist the bidders assistants arm twisting trying to get me to bid more.
Sold!  Wait, what??  Me?  I'm thinking oh crap, this car should have gone higher, it's got stuff wrong, I'm screwed.
Then Gregg Nelson of Mopar Ponderosa came over and tapped me on the shoulder and said he used to own it, cleanest E body he'd ever owned, contact me if you want more info.
At the time, the buyer premium was 6%.  I found the car was on an assigned title and in IL you pay regular sales tax on a car purchase from a dealer, my sales tax I paid at the secretary of states office was almost what the car sold for new!
When I opened the trunk, no jack or space saver. 
But I still got a good deal. And the auction was not far from me, so the next day a friend drove me there and I drove it home, no shipping fees for me!
Beginners luck?  I'm not eager to take another chance buying another car at auction.
I do often wonder how to find good Mopars for sale.  I have a couple on my wish list, watch eBay, Craigslist, forums etc and rarely see anything like I want for sale.
I sometimes think it's near impossible to find a good Mopar to buy now days...

You definitely got lucky! My resto is a Mecum car 😂

Same feeling too, bid on it thinking ah "why not"... Ended up winning it thinking it should've went higher... Found it why it didn't... But did drive it home that day, 2.5 hours on I-81.