Auctions give thrill seekers wild ride

For 28 seconds on Saturday, Bob Shoemaker was transported back to his youth.

Aboard a Dodge Challenger Hellcat in a fenced-off area at Mecum Auctions, Shoemaker held on tight as the driver pulled off multiple doughnuts on the small course, as tires screeched.

Mecum, a popular event that gives thousands of registered buyers a chance to take home some classic cars, transformed the area surrounding Silver Spurs Arena near Kissimmee.

It offered car enthusiasts upclose looks at high-powered and rare cars.

As the auction went on inside the arena, however, Shoemaker and his grandson took the ride, roughly 300 feet away.

Shoemaker said he pulled off similar stunts. once

“I used to do foolish things,” he said. “I used to like to scare the hell out of people who were brave enough to ride shotgun.”

Mecum Auctions resemble what is likely every car enthusiast’s dream: thousands of classic cars set up for viewing as an auctioneer’s feverish chanting blared through loudspeakers as the Challenger’s tires screeched.

The collector-car auction in 2017 sold $86 million worth of cars.

Organizers expect 100,000 attendees at the 10-day event this year, with 6,000 people registered to bid at the auction. It runs through Jan. 14.

John Kraman, a classic-car expert who serves as a television commentator for the auction, said Shoemaker’s experience is typical.

“It’s a heady combination of nostalgia, memories and just reliving the past,” Kraman said.

High-performance vehicles went away as more-stringent emissions regulations went into effect in the 1970s and 1980s, Kraman said.

But they are starting to return, he said, as car owners have been able to use technology to tweak vehicle systems down to very specific data points.

“It’s a little bit of a renaissance with high-performance cars,” said Kraman, who counts a 1964 white Pontiac GTO as the favorite car he owns. “It’s a return to the 60s and 70s, which was the high point.”

The event, in its 12th year, is one of 18 on the schedule for Mecum. Automobile clubs from the region were there to show off their cars.

Jim Belcher, who has flown airplanes for 30 years, serves as president of the Central Florida chapter of the Ferrari Club of America.

“There is a little bit of everything here,” he said, noting the variety of muscle cars, sports cars and drag racers.

In the middle of the campus grounds, a tent lined with dozens of classic cars displayed a 2018 Bugatti Chiron as its centerpiece.

The sleek black, seven-speed sports car, which delivers 1,479 horsepower, is valued at roughly $2.5 million.

But, for some, the main draw remained the thrill rides being offered.

Donna Miller, in town from Maine for a conference, said the ride showed her a different perspective on her own driving.

“I drive like a maniac at home,” she said. “Why not come here and let someone else drive me around like a maniac?”