Classics, movie replicas, custom models: Car auctions are more than hobby in Dallas
DALLAS — Classic car auctions these days are a lot more than just buyers and sellers making deals.
The live events have become eye-popping spectacles and the biggest auction house in the country has come to Dallas for a weekend of fast-talking wheeling and dealing involving some vehicles worth millions of dollars. The event runs Sept.4 - 7.
With air-brushed snow leopards under the hood and green accent lights everywhere, Richard Foley has invested a whole lot of money in turning his 2016 Corvette into a work of art.
"I spent six years doing different customizing on the car," said Foley. "Everything from 61 pieces of carbon fiber."
When we spoke to him, his custom Corvette was only seconds away from going on the block at the annual Mecum Auction in Dallas.
"I feel great," Foley said. "I'm gonna let the car do what it can do."
More than 1,500 vehicles, the most ever, will roll across the stage inside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Buyers like Greg Payne are among those drawn to what's become a popular hobby for some and a lucrative investment for others.
"The internet has really brought in a lot of people," said Payne. "Of course, everybody's watching on TV now ... so it's a really cool hobby."
Mecum's CEO showed CBS News Texas the most valuable car on the lot: A 1914 Stutz Bearcat, that almost sold after a high bid of $2.2 million.
But he says bidders don't have to be millionaires.
"The least expensive car we sold yesterday was $250," said Dave Magers, the CEO of Mecum Auctions. "Everybody is looking for a piece of nostalgia or a piece of their past."
There are custom replicas of famous cars and wagons from familiar movies mixed in with the Ferraris and highly coveted pickup trucks.
Some owners have spent months, even years restoring their vehicles, waiting for this brief moment when it hopefully pays off.
As for Foley and his custom Corvette, the $40,000 bid on the car didn't come close to the minimum reserve price he set.
He left disappointed.
But heartaches, high bids and hair-raising moments are what these car collectors have come to expect when the hammer falls.