Mecum Auctions, Inc. is an American auction company specializing in collector cars and motorcycles. It was founded by Dana Mecum in 1988, and was originally based in Marengo, Illinois. Since 2011, it has been headquartered in Walworth, Wisconsin. The company hosts various auction events across the United States. Television coverage began in 2008, contributing to the popularity of the events.
History
Mecum Auctions was founded in 1988 by Dana Mecum,[1] a car enthusiast whose father operated a dealership in Marengo, Illinois.[2][3] Dana Mecum initially bought 40 semi-trailer trucks in the 1980s, and traded 10 of them for four houses which he rented out. According to him, "The tenants started calling me in the middle of the night to fix this and that. So I went back to the guy I traded the trucks to and gave him his houses back and told him he could keep the trucks. He said, 'You know, you're going to lose a lot of money,' and I said, 'Yeah, but I'm going to get a lot of sleep'". Mecum subsequently traded his remaining trucks to a North Carolina man in exchange for 40 collector cars; these, in addition to his own collection of 15 cars, prompted him to hold an auto auction.[3]
The company's first auction was held in Rockford, Illinois in 1988. It was intended as a one-time event, but was derailed by 90-mile-per-hour winds, followed by lawsuits from dissatisfied attendees. This prompted Mecum to hold another auction the following year.[3][4][5] He would go on to continue the auctions for 14 years before finally turning a profit. During that time, he was approached by a prospective buyer who eventually declined the $500,000 sale price, which represented the amount of debt Mecum owed.[3] The company auctioned its 50,000th vehicle in 2008.[6] Mecum Auctions was headquartered in Marengo for years,[7][6] before relocating to Walworth, Wisconsin in 2011.[8] It is one of the area's top employers,[9] with more than 300 workers.[3]
Since 2013,[10][11] Mecum Auctions has been overseen by chief executive officer Dave Magers, who formerly served as chief financial officer of Country Financial.[12][13][3] Dana Mecum had previously overseen the company himself: "I was a control freak, and around 1999 I got sick and had to let go and let other people do things. That was part of how I got sick: I was trying to do everything". Mecum remains involved in the business as president, operating it with help from his wife and their four sons,[3] including Frank Mecum as consignment director.[14] A new trucking division, Mecum Auto Transport, was established in 2017. It provides transportation, via semi-trailers, for consigned and sold vehicles.[15]
Auction overview
Mecum's auctions attract a varied clientele,[16] including a large number of non-bidding spectators, who make up approximately 90 percent of attendees.[3] Events receive anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 attendees.[9]
The inaugural auction event, known as the Rockford Spring Classic, was held at the Greater Rockford Airport in 1988. During the next two years, it was held at the Metro Center, also in Rockford. In 1991,[17] the event relocated to the Boone County fairgrounds in Belvidere, Illinois. Despite the location change, the event retained the Rockford name.[18][19][20] Auctions in Belvidere typically attracted 12,000 to 15,000 people.[21]
In 1996, Mecum added premier auctions, offering vehicles of a higher quality and attracting approximately 1,000 people to each event.[21][22] By that point, Mecum also hosted an annual Chevrolet auction in Grayslake, Illinois. It was one of the largest Chevy-focused auction events in North America.[23] In addition, the company also hosted Bloomington Gold, a Corvette-focused event held each June in Bloomington, Illinois.[24] Mecum purchased the rights to the show in the 1990s,[17] before selling them in 2012.[25][26] Mecum announced two years later that it would no longer participate in the event due to diminishing interest. By that point, many of Mecum's regional auctions now offered Corvettes, attracting local buyers who had since found the Bloomington location to be less convenient. Sales for the 2013 event had reached only $1.8 million, down from a high of $7.7 million in 2008.[27][28]
The 2015 Kissimmee event, representing a typical Mecum auction.
Vehicles on display at Mecum's 2013 Monterey auction
As of 2016, Mecum auctions 15,000 vehicles annually, ranging from muscle cars to pre-World War I vehicles, with annual sales of $300 million.[29][30] The company specializes in muscle cars from the 1950s to 1970s.[31] By 2017, the company had added separate auction events dealing solely with motorcycles and farmer tractors respectively. It also added road art to its main auctions.[3] As of 2017, the company hosts 14 annual events across the U.S., including a $100 million, 10-day main event each January in Kissimmee, Florida.[3][32][33] It is Mecum's largest annual auction,[34][35] growing considerably from the company's first Florida event, held in 2002.[33]
During the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Mecum revamped its online bidding system and added livestream footage of auction events. Online bidding saw a marked increase following the redesign, which also contributed to a rise in revenue, with a record $675 million brought in during 2021.[9]
Television coverage
Television coverage of the auctions began in 2008,[45] around the start of the Great Recession. Up to that time, approximately 90 percent of Mecum's buyers were car dealers who would resell the vehicles after auction. Many of the dealers went out of business due to the recession, and the remainder would become sellers at Mecum auctions. The television coverage produced a large number of buyers who were end consumers, as opposed to dealers. According to Dana Mecum, "Without TV, not only would we not have grown, we might not have survived".[3]
The auctions were originally broadcast on Discovery HD, which became Velocity in 2011. NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) took over coverage in 2014, and viewership saw an increase of more than 500 percent.[29][3][31] As of 2017, the auctions attracted more viewers for the network than any other event with the exception of Premier League football.[3] NBCSN ceased operations in December 2021, and Motor Trend took over coverage the following month.[46]
Mecum Dealmakers, a television program chronicling the auction preparations and management, also aired on NBCSN from 2014 to 2015.[47]
^"Popular Mecum Auctions returns to area". Daily Herald. September 26, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2023. In 2011, the company moved to its present headquarters in Walworth, Wisconsin.
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