McDorman Auction

[Bruce B.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Tom,
Do you have any idea who bought the 2 Knudsen cars and the Bill Mitchel car?
All 3 were great vehicles.

[John D.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Just wondering how selling all those cars at once works from a tax standpoint for McDorman ? Does he run each sale through his car dealership or does he pay capital gains on the profit for each car through the auctioneer ?....guess thats why people have accountants.

[Tom H.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Tom,
Do you have any idea who bought the 2 Knudsen cars and the Bill Mitchel car?
All 3 were great vehicles.

I was right in front of the guy who bought the Mitchell car, he was also the backup bidder on the Knudsen car. I don't know who he was. he was also the buyer for a couple of the high dollar signs. Never saw the bidder on the pink car.

[Dick W.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Because of my interest in a blue 54 I almost went out to bid on that car. How do you explain the shift from $130,000 to $50,000? I can't imagine what kind of concern would produce a $80,000 drop.

If in fact they had $130k (or thought they did) either the auctioneer outran his money, or they had a shill bidder (illegal as h**l) and he got stuck with it. The backup bidder has no obligation as once the auctioneer acknowledges he has a bid from someone else, his obligation is gone.

[Scott S.]

Re: McDorman Auction

It quickly caught fire at the carbs and also the frame rail where all of the gas had dripped. Pretty big fire. They were reluctant to use a fire extenguisher beacuse of the halon mess. They finally had to spray the dual pot full of halon. Nasty.

Aren't the Halon extinguishers supposed to prevent the mess usually associated with other types of fire extinguishers?

[Bruce B.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Dick,
The 54 went through and as mentioned was sold for $130,000.
Then it was put up again and at around $60,000 they stopped the auction and started again ending up at $50,000.
Very unprofessional in my opinion.
Another annoying distraction they use is when a phone or internet bid is received they blow a aerosol powered horn.
Are these antics part of the "auction hype?"

[Loren L.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Here's the one I wanted. I was a few bucks short. Way short. Just glad I got to see it up close.

I'd be very curious to know if ANY PAPERWORK OF ANY KIND that supported the BK claim,

[Tom H.]

Re: McDorman Auction

I'd be very curious to know if ANY PAPERWORK OF ANY KIND that supported the BK claim,

Interesting question. You think the car might not be what it is claimed to be ?? I don't know. Just sparked my curiosity now. I was a sucker for the exhaust and just assumed it to be the car.

[Tom H.]

Re: McDorman Auction

I did a little digging through my library on the Knudsen car. I still have my Bloomington Special Collection program from 1992. This car is listed on page 9. At the time, it was owned by Werner Meier of farmington Hills, MI. The program claims the car was retained by the engineering fleet until 1965. It was then sold to a GM employee. Several owners were documented in the future. All in the Michigan area. It was used for daily transportation !!! It was found in a Michigan garage by Corvette enthusiast Wally Abela. A resoration was started and abandoned by a former owner who couldn't finish the task. Werner Meier completed the restoration of the car in 1987. The brochure claims the highlight of Meier's ownership was taking the car to the Knudsen home to show Bunkie his old ride.

I'd say the car is real and is exacly what it is claimed to be. If anybody has info to indicate otherwise, I'd sure like to hear it.

If you have a 92 Bloomington brochure, it is car #9 in the brochure.

[John S.]

Re: McDorman Auction

the 53 never did run. on friday they spent the day changing the fuel pump and on saturday they pushed it into the display area. it took a while to put the flames out on the 54, but shortly after the 54 was running smoothly and driven to the auction area. on the 53 thru 57 cars the only one that stood out was the 55. very complete and correct older restoration that i think made this car a good buy at $130,000. the 53 seemed to have been purchased at a reasonable price. $140,000 might not even have been a bad bid on the car, but the additional 10 percent buyer fee and 6 percent fee for taxes that they required you to pay for many states meant an addition 16 percent to the bid price that was due at end of auction. the 54 price seems to have been helped by a phone bidder and maybe the bubble top!

[Robert G.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Dick,
The 54 went through and as mentioned was sold for $130,000.
Then it was put up again and at around $60,000 they stopped the auction and started again ending up at $50,000.
Very unprofessional in my opinion.
Another annoying distraction they use is when a phone or internet bid is received they blow a aerosol powered horn.
Are these antics part of the "auction hype?"

Sounds like all they needed was a cow bell to make the circus complete. Regarding auctions, I seem to recall hearing that shill bidding up to the reserve is acceptable, but they have to stop once it meets reserve. Since this was a no reserve auction, I guess that doesn't apply.

[Willard M.]

Re: McDorman Auction

I feel better about my decision not to travel out to the auction just to bid on the 54. This stuff just confirms my feelings about big auctions-stay away!

[Richard L.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Here is a dumb auction question. In large auctions that are announced months ahead of time, why doesn't someone make sure that the cars at least start and can be driven across the stage? It would seem to be in both the sellers and buyers best interests.

[Clem Z.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Just wondering how selling all those cars at once works from a tax standpoint for McDorman ? Does he run each sale through his car dealership or does he pay capital gains on the profit for each car through the auctioneer ?....guess thats why people have accountants.

here is why he may have sold this year.
Starting with 2008, there's a new zero percent tax rate on long-term capital gains. The zero percent rate applies to individuals who are in the 10% and 15% marginal tax brackets. The zero percent rate is scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, when capital gains rates will increase to at least 15%.

[Tom H.]

Re: McDorman Auction

Here is a dumb auction question. In large auctions that are announced months ahead of time, why doesn't someone make sure that the cars at least start and can be driven across the stage? It would seem to be in both the sellers and buyers best interests.

It seems like no matter where you go, there are always a few that don't run or have issues on show day. Typical old cars !