Smoke in the Wires April 2016

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they brought me on as working all aspects of the sale. My involvement also included trying to get cars signed up for the sale. This is a huge job talking to classic car dealers and private sellers alike and setting up marketing for a car. You’d be surprised at what goes into marketing a car for a catalog sale. The first step involves flying out our photographer to take pictures of the car. To artfully present a car while also covering the most important aspects of a car’s value such as serial numbers, accessories and documentation is a real challenge. The cars themselves are never photoshopped, although the background can be retouched as needed. It is important not to over represent the cars. The work continues as the photographer selects and composes the catalog layout. Next, I’m up as it is my job to do some of the write-ups. I interview the consignor and review the paperwork as well, as put in a few hours of research preceding the actual writing. We do a complete VIN decode so there is no doubt about the car’s provenance. This is straight forward and yields remarkable details on late model cars, but can get quite involved with vintage cars, as each manufacturer had their own standards and numbering systems. Following the VIN decode, I build a complete short history of the model I’m writing on and focus on its significance and rarity. The final portion of the write-up is dedicated to the particular car for sale. I detail its condition, restoration or preservation history, significant and value-changing features and options, racing or celebrity history, and any items that come with the car. These are all very important in establishing the value of a car. For example, complete books and tool kits add significantly to the value of an old Jaguar. Likewise, the recency or completeness of a belt-service can make or break the desirability of an 80’s Ferrari. All told, it takes about three to six hours to research and write on each car. 1948 Jaguar sold very well As soon as the pictures and write up are ready, they are posted on the website. The social media team also starts pushing the car out to followers on Facebook and Instagram. They send e-mails Smoke in the Wires April 2016 Page 10
out to registered bidders. Car specialists, like me, will call buyers directly if we know clients are looking for certain cars that we have. Closer to the sale, the pocket catalog publishes and these are sent to the entire mailing list. Finally, the full-size catalog arrives. These go to consignors, registered bidders and VIP guests. More than any other product, these are key to securing not only sales at the current auction but also in securing future consignments. A couple of weeks before the sale, site preparation begins with the purpose of having everything ready for when the cars arrive. I traveled to Amelia early to assist with site set up. I literally labored 12+ hours a day to build tents, set up stages and install lighting. The smaller the company, the more hats you’ll be asked to wear. Bad weather and the challenge of a new event venue kept us always behind where we wanted to be. I also helped to design the parking and traffic flow as I have some experience with car show planning and parking. Consignors ship their cars with the intention of them being in place at least three days before the sale. This in itself is an important piece of marketing as buyers are already in town for the earlier auctions. Our sale was Saturday evening right before the Sunday concours event. Bonhams had their sale Thursday night nearby, which generated a lot of preview traffic through our site. Surprisingly, few cars are test driven at these auctions. It is possible to arrange a test drive during the preview days, but few buyers request one. We are often asked to start a car or open all of its compartments for inspection. One of the most critical jobs is to keep track of keys, documentation, tools and artifacts that come with the cars. I designed and led the system which accomplished that. By providing a desk and associated storage, potential buyers can sit down and review the documents and history that back the seller’s claims about a particular sale lot. Smoke in the Wires April 2016 Page 11
Page 2 and 3: Front Cover: Denis Bigioni’s Talb
Page 4 and 5: T-shirt sales, door prizes and the
Page 6 and 7: April The British Line submission f
Page 8 and 9: At the opposite end of the spectrum
Page 12 and 13: Despite few buyers seeking driving
Page 14 and 15: Tenth Annual Pensacola-Atmore Road
Page 16 and 17: engines which are operating at full
Page 18 and 19: Production: Tom Schmitz, Curt Derby
Page 20 and 21: Featured Car 1957 Devin-Triumph “
Page 22 and 23: Bill Devin also offered the Devin-F
Page 24 and 25: emarkably similar. Before acting on
Page 26 and 27: PANHANDLE BRITISH CAR ASSN. Pensaco
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Smoke in the Wires April 2016

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