Thanks to Texx holding down the fort and fixing the mess of reporting I was doing from the scene. They had to clump all the boats together.. But we got it done and crashed the web site again.. So thats good. More on the web site later.. Dinner with Carroll Shelby had something to do with it. Hows that for a tease.. Also a big thanks to the folks at mecum for giving us media passes and unlimited access to the auction. These images were taken by fellow Woody Boater Pete DeVito who was up in the normal ordinary pedestrian nose bleed section AND IF HE had hunted me down could have been treated like Woody Boater Royalty. We had food delivered to us Pete.. Thats right. You could just sit there in the front row, getting high on fumes. Glorious fumes, eat nachos and drink beer.. And blow your nest egg on Elvis station wagon.. See what you missed Pete.. See… HA, I have to admit, your shots are better than my back of some ones head shots.. Thanks.. Beer and nachos at Mt Dora are on us.
If you have never been to one of these things. YOU HAVE TO GO! Yes its all caps worthy. It’s insane. First , there are about 1,700 amazing classic cars all in one place.. Anything and everything.. Tractors, Hot Rods, Fire Dept Station wagons, Elvis impersonators…all in amazing condition..not the impersonator.. He was a skinny mess. All in tents like a massive circus or carnival is in town. Only its all for sale. Even funnel cakes and … Chicken on a stick! Ahhhh. There were about 10 or so boats there, a ton of marine signs and out boards. Now.. While you are watching one more 1976 Trans Am being sold off… It all seems like a normal pace.. But when the boats came up. Pow! It was over. Poof. On to pace cars or something lime green, it all went blank for me. I have to say, this was a well oiled machine, that’s for sure. With what was being reported as a 80% sell rate. Very little did not meet the reserve. Prices were good, but things were selling. We are seeing the same here in DC. Our Car dealer pals are having record months. So – Thats all good for the confidence meter.
I was interviewed for some You Tube videos. Asked what I thought. To be honest. I think I sounded like a dufus. So look for it.. It was no different than what I may say here. But god! on tape.. Get out the net.. Here is what I said. And I still stand by it.
The boats that sold for good money had stories behind them. Terry’s Cobra sold because of Terry. If you are going to get one of these, this was one of about three in the country that are an investment. Terry is without a doubt one of the top class acts in the hobby and if he touched that boat, and he did more than that. Its the real deal. This boat had a great history, a great restoration and a fantastic power plant. Terry also stood by that boat for the entire preview and was involved in the history telling. It looks like its going to Ohio..
The Last Riva did well as well. It went to a collector, thats all I can say. But its going to the right home thats for sure to the right guy. It had a story as well. These boats.. OK here is where I got a tad spacy.. These boats are made from an organic matter. Not a metal or reflective material. They absorb heat, moisture and… yes.. energy.. Positive energy. Stop laughing. One day in the future…a million years.. they will measure this.. Any way.. Good energy is part of it. You can feel it. Negative energy as well. , The Cobra and the last Riva had good ju ju… Surprisingly so did the water taxi since it did not sell.. That boat in person was amazing. Photos and poster do not do it justice. Its modern power was a stroke of genus. Although to purists it may detract. To me it meant it was reliable and would not smell like gas all the time.
The little utility was a very nice boat that sold a tad high for me… But it was nice and very well done, The Hacker was under priced in my book, The other Riva did well, considering it had no real story, . It sure looked rockn.. In all a very nice weekend. Good energy, good company, good food, and a good place to go.. Thanks again for crashing the internet. Now on to lake geneva for the next big auction. More to come on that as well.
Love the new pictures and maybe because I’m a dork what you said did not sound stupid. Next, this is the only place on the internet where crashing the site is considered a “good” thing. Matt and Texx keep it up, this made for another nice read with my morning coffee, as always. Further it’s nice to know that even though my boat does not have a famous history the public is starting to appreciate their values.
We were there up in the nose bleed section, too. It was our first car & boat auction (check another one off our list of firsts in the past year!)
Randy was even wearing his woody boater hat…wish we had been bold enough to holler at you…
I am glad you mentioned that Tom Flood’s Hacker went for less than you thought it would, the boat was gorgeous and we were disappointed in its sold price.
Gotta tell you we haven’t been to Kissimmee in years and got lost getting out of there and somehow ending up on Interstate 4 on Saturday night…not good! Bumper to bumper traffic added almost an hour to our trip home…
But, getting to say we were there when the last Riva sold for almost a million dollars…priceless!!!
I will take that Hutch with the new power plant, NOOOO…. Problem
Randy & Ginger, Hope to catch up with you in Tavares. It will be a gathering of the folks with the Woody Boater hats.
Maybe we will have to get Robert Miracle a hat too…
I think he would just love that!
OoRAH
Matt
I was in the cheap seats but they do have advantages. I could see everything that was happening even at the free beer station.
Elvis he was rockin I couldn’t quite tell from the “normal ordinary pedestrian nose bleed section” was that a Woody Boater hat on him.
I was flabbergasted to learn that Terry Fiest is now Cobraless. The new owner of Hemi Under Glass is a fortunate individual. I know from experience that your relationship with Terry is just starting.
Enjoy HIS 21′ Cobra.