Car auction draws dealers and dreamers

Car styles have changed since the 1940 Mercury with a flathead V-8 engine first took to the road.

Rounded fenders gave way to sharp, tall tailfins in the 1950s. Muscle cars dominated the 1960s and 1970s.

And for some, Saturday's classic car auction at the Show Me Center was a chance to once again sit at the wheel of a car they dreamed of owning new. For others, it was a chance to make money. But for everyone, it was expensive.

Ken Landrum of Paris, Tenn., traveled to Cape Girardeau just for a chance to bid on a 1958 Chevrolet Impala. Later versions of the car just don't appeal to him, he said. Even the one on sale Saturday wasn't exactly what he wanted -- it was aquamarine.

"It is a horrible, horrible color," he said. As Landrum waited for the car, he said he would buy it if it sold for about $25,000.

But he didn't even raise his hand as the car sold for $34,500. He wasn't too disappointed. "If I run across one, fine. If I don't, that's fine, too."

Some of those attending the auction, run by Smith's Auction Co. of Dexter, Mo., were there to take advantage of bargains. Like the 1940 Mercury four-door, purchased by Russ Noel of Country Classic Cars in Staunton, Ill.

The tan-and-brown car sold for just $7,800. And it will list on Noel's lot for about $12,000, he said.

"Mercury cars are a little rare from the 1940s," Noel said after making the purchase.

As he looked over other cars coming into the sales ring, Noel said he's ready to buy any car that seems likely to result in a sale from his lot. And he passed on a few tips as well.

"All the muscle cars, the Camaros, the Chevelles, the Mopars, have doubled in the last three years," he said. "And I know that sooner or later, every car is going to sell."

His benchmark, Noel said, is to try to purchase cars for less than $15,000.

Joe Cheeks of Automania in Threeway, Tenn., looks to the other end of the classic car spectrum. After selling a 1972 Plymouth Cuda for $45,500, he purchased the most expensive car of the day, a 1969 Ford Shelby Cobra GT500 for $130,000.

"I make sure everything is primo," Cheeks said as he explained why his Plymouth commanded such a high price. "I always sell my cars high because I have them ready to sell."

For Sherm Smith, owner of Smith's Auction Co., selling classic cars combines a lifelong love with a chance to make some money. The annual spring auction at the Show Me Center is one of his biggest, he said.

"We have 180 cars and we're selling about 80 percent of them," he said. "I've just loved old cars all my life."

At one time, Smith ran two newspapers, the Daily Statesman in Dexter and the Daily Dunklin Democrat. He launched the auction company after selling the newspapers 13 years ago, he said.

"This is something we have built over a number of years," he said. "We've got a good reputation, we sell honestly and people come from all over the Midwest."

He'll try to dissuade people from putting cars through the auction if they believe they are worth a lot more than he thinks buyers will pay, he said. But often, he said, auctions make sellers more realistic, such as Saturday when a 1955 Ford Crown Victoria was unsold as the bidding stopped at $32,000.

The owner wanted $35,000. A few minutes later, a sale at $31,500 was announced.

"I love putting it together and meeting all the people," Smith said.

And the Shelby Cobra GT500? That car is going to a buyer in Dallas, Texas. "Shelbys are just bringing crazy money now," Smith said.