Don Newcombe

2016 Mecum Auctions Kissimmee, Florida Classic Car Auction

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• published: 20 Jan 2016
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there was some problem with the brakes. But it was a 2004 Mercedes-Benz SL500! Did anyone want to bid $8,000? "You could take it apart and sell the pieces one by one, and you'd get a lot more than $8,000," said auctioneer Mark Delzell, making the hard sell. "I had one of these and I backed into a pole and they charged me more. The brakes don't work? The top does, at least. You could coast down a hill with the top down. You'd get a nice breeze." It worked. The seller removed the secret "reserve" price, which means the highest bid would now be accepted, and bidding soon went past $10,000. It was just one of 3,000 cars, trucks, boats and other collector vehicles up for bid at the Mecum Kissimmee Auction at the Silver Spurs Arena, which runs until next Sunday. "This is the world's largest collector car auction," said Mecum CEO Dave Magers."It's one of 12 car auctions we do this year, and we start with the largest. It's like NASCAR with Daytona. Our first event is the biggest of the year." Pictures: Central Florida's Cool Cars We asked Orlando Sentinel readers to send us pictures of their "Cool Cars" and they have! Check out these hot rides. You can send your cool car photo by sending an email to coolcars@orlandosentinel.com with the words Cool Cars in the subject line. Don't forget to attach a .jpg photo of the car.... The highlight of the auction in recent years has been its collection of muscle cars — this year, the event had 30 from the prime muscle years 1969 to 1971 — but there was a mix of everything, from a tiny 1972 Fiat 500 to a basic black 1928 Ford Model A, and from a bright red 1953 Cadillac Eldorado to a cool blue 1968 Buick Skylark. It was like a traffic jam outside of time and space. "If you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere," said the Skylark's owner, Don Newcombe of Clearwater. "Three thousand cars for sale? People come from all over the world." For John Geigle of Palm Harbor, "I'm just looking for a steal," he said. He had arrived a little late on Saturday and missed out on bidding for an Aston Martin, a Jaguar and a Mercedes. "I look at everything," Geigle said. "If it's a good buy, I'm not going to pass it up." But while there were a lot of collectors — who were buying up cars to keep in garages, or to just turn around and sell again — there were a few who wanted a car for the purpose of having a car. "He just wants one to drive," said Dawn Dickerson of her husband, Dana. Of course, some of the vehicles would look a little strange driving down the street to the Wawa, including Bob Taylor's 1935 black Ford paddy wagon — complete with horn and siren. The fact that a bunch of jailbirds in black and white stripes didn't leap out when he opened the door could be considered a disappointment. "My wife and I bought it in 1974," said Taylor, of Montrose, Pa. "It had 12,000 actual miles on it. Now it has 28,000 — and every bit of that has been driven." So why sell it now? "It's time," Taylor said wistfully. "We've owned it for 41 years. My wife's getting ready to retire, I'm retired. It's time for someone else to enjoy it. [But] there's a lot of personal history here." It was a bittersweet parting for Lynn Camarda of New Hampshire, as well. "It was my late husband's, his pride and joy," Camarda said of her 1955 Chevrolet pickup. "It's been four years, and I decided it needs to go to a home with big people who can drive it. I can drive it, but it's difficult." Outside, a landlocked boat loomed over the tents, like a modern Noah's Ark had come to rest in Kissimmee following the day's torrential rains. Though this ark was powered by four 627-horsepower Seven Marine outboard engines. "It's the world's largest outboard-powered center-console custom boat," said Nick Aldous, assistant at Hydrosports Custom out of Islamorada, who said a reporter would have to take his shoes off to climb aboard. "We get worldwide exposure here. Someone can buy it online from Alaska." Besides motored vehicles big and small, there was also a huge collection of what Mecum called "automobilia," including neon signs, road signs and other mementos of the past. "Steltzer's Garage" read one sign, along with "Bud's Service Center," "Pacific Oil," "Sinclair Aircraft" and "Boyce MotoMeter." One intriguing sign was for BruinOil, "the bear of them all." "I remember when some of this stuff was on gas stations and had no value," said Sal Agostino of Sarasota. "Who knew?" In the end, the prime condition of the signs, the cars and everything at the auction held a lesson for owners like Newcombe. "I wish I took care of myself the way I took care of this car," he said of his Skylark.