Confessions of an Automationeer, Part 33: Under the Hammer
The idea of taking part in a car auction within the Automationverse is a relatively new one; it arrived shortly after the UE4 version had been updated to R5. However, given that such a challenge is an opportunity to show a wide variety of cars with historical significance, I am quite surprised that large-scale auctions like the one currently in progress have not happened earlier, especially in the pre-UE4 era. This is a shame considering that it was already possible to come up with design masterpieces using the Kee engine version. But the commencement of this first auction has really made up for lost time, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Unlike most real-life auctions, every (virtual) car that would be sold would be auctioned off at no reserve, and hence would eventually find a buyer by the time bidding had concluded. It's no surprise that I decided to enter the auction almost as soon as it was announced, and I opted to sell a restored example of one of the first cars I made in the UE4 version: the 1967 Morton Corsair. The car in question was finished in Flame Orange and powered by a 7.5-liter V8 engine.
The '67 Morton Corsair in question.
In addition to selling the Corsair, I also chose to bid on a wide variety of cars. However, having registered as a medium collector, with paddle number 009, I immediately realized that I had to choose the cars carefully so that I would not use up my cash reserves too soon. Speaking of cars, the ones present at the auction provided a mouth-watering section too tempting for me to overlook.
I was ready to take the plunge by bidding on the cars I liked the most, and as soon as the first batch of cars went under the hammer, I began with a bid for a dark red Tishillyman Sagata. After just over a day, I was outbid by a small margin, but the message was clear: I was a serious collector willing to pay top dollar for quality classic cars, which would be auctioned off in batches of up to three at a time.
The next batch of cars included a bright red RCM Regal TSI. This was another desirable classic, but much more expensive, and not just because it was a whole decade older than the Sagata. It also looked better in my opinion, and was rarer to boot. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be coveted even more, and it wasn't until I bid $600,000 for it that I finally won the auction for the Regal TSI. But why didn't I place any bids for the only other Regal on auction? It turned out that the TSI was not the first Regal to go under the hammer; that honor went to the dark green LXI that was put up for sale earlier, and since I was only interested in the higher-performance variants, I passed it up. Nor did I bid on the La Serenissima Quattrocento, for fear that I would have to pay too much for it if I won its respective auction. At least my purchase of the red Regal motivated me to be more ambitious in the auctions that followed.
And the madness didn't stop there. For the third batch I upped the ante by bidding on a silver Mitsushita Boarilla RX Turbo 4x4 and a maroon Scagliati Marghera, but I walked away empty-handed in that round, although I didn't feel too bad about it, considering that I had forced other bidders to up their game by then, and besides, I had already bought a four-door car (the Regal TSI) at the auction. So, for the next round, I was determined to push the envelope even further with my bids.
This time, I would be bidding on exactly one car from this lot: the Mosport Motorworks Helix. Like the Marghera, it was a mid-engined two-seater, but this one had a racing livery, which made it even more tempting for me. However, it turned out to be even more prized. After a period where the highest bid was $1,500,000, I raised the stakes with a $2,500,000 bid, but a subsequent bid from another collector at $2,800,000 prompted me to make a final last-minute bid at $3 million - and this time I succeeded in buying the car. It was worth it, though, considering that the Helix was even rarer than the Marghera, and better-looking to boot. But then again, you'd expect that for something that turned out to be the most valuable car at the whole auction.
After this frenzied scramble for a piece of motoring history, I decided to take a break from the auction for a while, having just realized that I was not interested in the next trio of cars. Considering that one of those three was too similar to the Helix I'd just bought, skipping this round was understandable. But it turned out to be the first of three consecutive rounds where I did not submit any bids, for this pattern repeated itself for the next two batches. All the while, I waited for my Corsair to go on the auction block.
As I rechecked the auction catalog, I began mapping out my plan for the remaining cars. Among them was the dark green Bonham Fleming V12 Drophead. It looked the part for sure, but the high estimate made me nervous, but I chose to keep an eye on it anyway. There were also two Erin Laganas - a road car and a race car, although I preferred to bid on the former. And there was also an RCM Alouette as part of the final batch of cars - I would have considered it a fair trade if, after selling the Corsair, I successfully bought the Alouette. But that sale would have to wait for later; in the meantime, I had a Fleming to consider bidding on.
Time went by and, sure enough, people were beginning to show an increased interest in this latest batch of cars, especially the Fleming. With bids now approaching $2 million, I changed my mind and chose not to submit any further bids for it, preferring instead to save my money for other, more affordable cars. And there were still a few of those yet to be auctioned off. Speaking of which...
...Erin provided another one in the form of a light blue Merna Touring. For well over a day, I was uninterested in this tiny little car, until it dawned on me that I wanted to buy an Erin or two to complement the other cars I had bought. After some hesitation, I finally took the plunge and made a bid for it at $42,000. However, another bidder upped the ante to $45,000 within a few hours, prompting me to do likewise. Towards the last few minutes of the auction the bidding went to and fro, and I was right in the mix. Ultimately, I prevailed with a bid worth $81,000, which was submitted with just a few seconds to spare.
Then came the time to bid on the first of two Erin Laganas. This one was a road car; the only other Lagana on auction was a race car. However, I was sure to be happy if I snagged either of them. So, naturally, I began with some relatively modest bids on the road car, raising the stakes every so often to keep ahead of other potential buyers. After a brief period where the price rose drastically to well over $1 million, I upped the ante yet again, but only by a moderate amount. Eventually, another collector managed to snag the first Lagana with a last-minute bid of his own - but he had to pay a much higher price for it than anyone expected, for it was sold off for a whopping $1.3 million. And besides, there were still plenty of cars for me to bid on and hopefully buy, with the second Lagana among them.
In the meantime, I watched the auctions for the next two batches with interest. The second of those would feature my bright orange Corsair, but before that, I had three more cars to keep an eye on. As expected, they sold for immense values, all of which exceeded their estimates. And then came the time for my Corsair to go under the hammer - the moment I had been waiting for.
The first bid for the Corsair was valued at $205,000, but it was obvious that this was merely the beginning. Over the next 36 hours, other users pushed the sale price higher and higher. Meanwhile, the other two cars in the batch attracted just as much interest, if not more. In particular the silver Propeller Eins was considered to be hot property. Eventually it sold for a very princely sum of nearly $2 million, while my Corsair sold for just $280,000 - a bargain for a collectible, but still a hefty sum nonetheless in absolute terms.
As the penultimate batch of cars went under the hammer, I came out swinging, initially with gradual increases and later with much larger jumps in price, in response to a desperate bidder's frenzied attempts to claim the cars at very inflated prices. Towards the end, I shocked everyone with a trio of high-value bids, one for each car in the batch. Among them was the second Lagana and the bright red RCM Alouette. In the end, while I was outbid on two of the cars I placed a bid on (of which one was the Lagana), I managed to buy the Alouette, although having to pay over the odds for it speaks volumes about how competitive the auction turned out to be. Then again, I had no choice but to put other bidders in the exact same situation after realizing how intense this auction would be.
Although I was not interested in the remaining cars which were sold at this auction, I paid attention to the bids anyway. 36 hours later, the first auction in the history of the Automationverse came to a close - but not without tens of millions of dollars' worth of coveted classic cars changing hands. However, this would only be the first virtual auction to be held on these forums. Another one was announced right after the last few cars had been sold. And so I look forward to the next auction, where more cars will go under the hammer. Until then, I will be waiting... and watching.
This wild wagon was the first car from the auction I bid on...
I was ready to take the plunge by bidding on the cars I liked the most, and as soon as the first batch of cars went under the hammer, I began with a bid for a dark red Tishillyman Sagata. After just over a day, I was outbid by a small margin, but the message was clear: I was a serious collector willing to pay top dollar for quality classic cars, which would be auctioned off in batches of up to three at a time.
...but this big red brick is the one I ended up buying.
The next batch of cars included a bright red RCM Regal TSI. This was another desirable classic, but much more expensive, and not just because it was a whole decade older than the Sagata. It also looked better in my opinion, and was rarer to boot. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be coveted even more, and it wasn't until I bid $600,000 for it that I finally won the auction for the Regal TSI. But why didn't I place any bids for the only other Regal on auction? It turned out that the TSI was not the first Regal to go under the hammer; that honor went to the dark green LXI that was put up for sale earlier, and since I was only interested in the higher-performance variants, I passed it up. Nor did I bid on the La Serenissima Quattrocento, for fear that I would have to pay too much for it if I won its respective auction. At least my purchase of the red Regal motivated me to be more ambitious in the auctions that followed.
These are the ones that got away... for now.
And the madness didn't stop there. For the third batch I upped the ante by bidding on a silver Mitsushita Boarilla RX Turbo 4x4 and a maroon Scagliati Marghera, but I walked away empty-handed in that round, although I didn't feel too bad about it, considering that I had forced other bidders to up their game by then, and besides, I had already bought a four-door car (the Regal TSI) at the auction. So, for the next round, I was determined to push the envelope even further with my bids.
The Helix in question - no wonder I snapped it up!
This time, I would be bidding on exactly one car from this lot: the Mosport Motorworks Helix. Like the Marghera, it was a mid-engined two-seater, but this one had a racing livery, which made it even more tempting for me. However, it turned out to be even more prized. After a period where the highest bid was $1,500,000, I raised the stakes with a $2,500,000 bid, but a subsequent bid from another collector at $2,800,000 prompted me to make a final last-minute bid at $3 million - and this time I succeeded in buying the car. It was worth it, though, considering that the Helix was even rarer than the Marghera, and better-looking to boot. But then again, you'd expect that for something that turned out to be the most valuable car at the whole auction.
After this frenzied scramble for a piece of motoring history, I decided to take a break from the auction for a while, having just realized that I was not interested in the next trio of cars. Considering that one of those three was too similar to the Helix I'd just bought, skipping this round was understandable. But it turned out to be the first of three consecutive rounds where I did not submit any bids, for this pattern repeated itself for the next two batches. All the while, I waited for my Corsair to go on the auction block.
As I rechecked the auction catalog, I began mapping out my plan for the remaining cars. Among them was the dark green Bonham Fleming V12 Drophead. It looked the part for sure, but the high estimate made me nervous, but I chose to keep an eye on it anyway. There were also two Erin Laganas - a road car and a race car, although I preferred to bid on the former. And there was also an RCM Alouette as part of the final batch of cars - I would have considered it a fair trade if, after selling the Corsair, I successfully bought the Alouette. But that sale would have to wait for later; in the meantime, I had a Fleming to consider bidding on.
Time went by and, sure enough, people were beginning to show an increased interest in this latest batch of cars, especially the Fleming. With bids now approaching $2 million, I changed my mind and chose not to submit any further bids for it, preferring instead to save my money for other, more affordable cars. And there were still a few of those yet to be auctioned off. Speaking of which...
An oldie but a goodie - the Merna in a nutshell.
...Erin provided another one in the form of a light blue Merna Touring. For well over a day, I was uninterested in this tiny little car, until it dawned on me that I wanted to buy an Erin or two to complement the other cars I had bought. After some hesitation, I finally took the plunge and made a bid for it at $42,000. However, another bidder upped the ante to $45,000 within a few hours, prompting me to do likewise. Towards the last few minutes of the auction the bidding went to and fro, and I was right in the mix. Ultimately, I prevailed with a bid worth $81,000, which was submitted with just a few seconds to spare.
I came so close to getting this one... but surely whoever bought this car may end up regretting paying over the odds for it?
Then came the time to bid on the first of two Erin Laganas. This one was a road car; the only other Lagana on auction was a race car. However, I was sure to be happy if I snagged either of them. So, naturally, I began with some relatively modest bids on the road car, raising the stakes every so often to keep ahead of other potential buyers. After a brief period where the price rose drastically to well over $1 million, I upped the ante yet again, but only by a moderate amount. Eventually, another collector managed to snag the first Lagana with a last-minute bid of his own - but he had to pay a much higher price for it than anyone expected, for it was sold off for a whopping $1.3 million. And besides, there were still plenty of cars for me to bid on and hopefully buy, with the second Lagana among them.
In the meantime, I watched the auctions for the next two batches with interest. The second of those would feature my bright orange Corsair, but before that, I had three more cars to keep an eye on. As expected, they sold for immense values, all of which exceeded their estimates. And then came the time for my Corsair to go under the hammer - the moment I had been waiting for.
The aforementioned Corsair.
The first bid for the Corsair was valued at $205,000, but it was obvious that this was merely the beginning. Over the next 36 hours, other users pushed the sale price higher and higher. Meanwhile, the other two cars in the batch attracted just as much interest, if not more. In particular the silver Propeller Eins was considered to be hot property. Eventually it sold for a very princely sum of nearly $2 million, while my Corsair sold for just $280,000 - a bargain for a collectible, but still a hefty sum nonetheless in absolute terms.
Above from top: RCM Alouette, Mont Royal Montcalm and Erin Lagana GTS-R
As the penultimate batch of cars went under the hammer, I came out swinging, initially with gradual increases and later with much larger jumps in price, in response to a desperate bidder's frenzied attempts to claim the cars at very inflated prices. Towards the end, I shocked everyone with a trio of high-value bids, one for each car in the batch. Among them was the second Lagana and the bright red RCM Alouette. In the end, while I was outbid on two of the cars I placed a bid on (of which one was the Lagana), I managed to buy the Alouette, although having to pay over the odds for it speaks volumes about how competitive the auction turned out to be. Then again, I had no choice but to put other bidders in the exact same situation after realizing how intense this auction would be.
Although I was not interested in the remaining cars which were sold at this auction, I paid attention to the bids anyway. 36 hours later, the first auction in the history of the Automationverse came to a close - but not without tens of millions of dollars' worth of coveted classic cars changing hands. However, this would only be the first virtual auction to be held on these forums. Another one was announced right after the last few cars had been sold. And so I look forward to the next auction, where more cars will go under the hammer. Until then, I will be waiting... and watching.
