Fall Auburn 2011 recap

Like the concours formerly known as Meadow Brook, another one of the best-loved events in the collector car world has been restored to its former glory. Auctions America was born two years ago out of the wreckage of the Dean Kruse empire, and after a bit of a slow start last Labor Day weekend, Fall Auburn looks poised to regain its former glory.

This year, more than 1,200 cars sold for a total of $18.5 million and a gate of more than 43,000 was reported. The parts vendors and car corral sellers who stayed away last year were back in force. As was always been the case with Fall Auburn, car selection was remarkable with at least one of just about everything.

While not a catalog sale, there were a few blue chip cars like the 1936 supercharged Auburn Boattail Speedster that sold for $396,000. Big cars like the Auburn were, however, the exception. The less expensive cars that made up the bulk of the sale sold for the most part at the low end of the expected range as driver quality examples of “commodity” cars continue to be in ready supply and meeting tepid demand at auction.

Rob Sass is the publisher of Hagerty magazine and the author of the book “Ran When Parked: Advice and Adventures from the Affordable Underbelly of Car Collecting.”