www.montereycountynow.com august 15-21, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 sets up in the Monterey Conference Center, sold a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO for a then-record price of $48 million. In all, 1,200 cars crossed the Car Week auction blocks in 2023, taking in just over $400 million—considered an off year. At each venue, the auctioneer shares the stage with the vehicles. Their role is unique, part salesperson, part amateur psychologist and all performer. “What I’ve learned is if I can communicate with each individual in the crowd, I can produce more,” Landis explains. “If I don’t produce, I’m not on the stand.” Two distinct styles of calling an auction are on display during Car Week. At typical American events, the auctioneer presents the audience with both the amount currently bid and the amount they are asking from the next bidder. In Europe, it’s more common to simply state the current figure—with no in-between to be filled with a staccato cadence. “There is dead space; there is not the patter,” says Eric Minoff of Bonhams. “The English style you see more frequently in fine arts. That’s how we treat cars.” There is an expected tone to high end collector gatherings. At Concours d’Elegance, the Car Week centerpiece at Pebble Beach, attendees don jackets and showy hats. For Concours d’Lemons, the free display of automotive failure in Seaside, many of these same people carouse in jeans and T-shirts. And so it is for the auction houses at events like Amelia Island in Florida or Monterey County’s Car Week. There is a different pace—a moment to admire the machine on the block, a briefing on its provenance. “One is dealing with higher-value items,” says Charlie Ross of Gooding & Company, which sets up in Pebble Beach. “You can’t rush a person who is spending $10 million. You try to push them to $11 million and you might annoy him.” Essentially there are competing logics at play, but both rely on similar tools. Auctioneers can use inflection or pregnant pauses. They can suggest different increments, as well—for instance dropping a $10,000 advance on the current bid to $5,000. “The auctioneer is driving the auction,” Minoff adds. “The auctioneer has a lot of leeway.” With both styles, however, is a form of communication that engages everyone in the room while focusing on the bidding action. “My job is to connect with people,” Ross observes. “My job is to make him want the car more than he originally did. I create a good atmosphere in the room.” The assumption is that emotion influences behavior, something confirmed by research into auction psychology and behavioral economics. What academics refer to as the endowment effect is known more colloquially as a form of “auction fever.” The adrenaline gleaned from a clamoring crowd and the competitive nature of bidding can cause both buyers and sellers in a moment of excitement to place greater value on an item. “If I keep the rhythm going, the crowd gets involved and the crowd stays involved,” Landis observes, to which Minoff adds, while it’s possible to purchase vehicles electronically, “No one is going to cheer you for buying online.” Minoff has been immersed in the world of upscale collector cars for some years. He joined the Bonhams motoring department in 2007 as a skilled appraiser and now serves as a senior specialist. He is also credited with growing the company’s auction presence in the U.S.—an enthusiast, collector and expert, as well as an auctioneer. When Landis says he was born into the auction business, he means it literally. His father was on the stand for some of the first collector car auctions in the U.S. A Pennsylvania native, he joined Mecum in 2000 and is the lead auctioneer for the events, which are also broadcast live on MotorTrend TV. Ross, meanwhile, is more general in his talents. He has overseen all types of auctions over a career he documents in a recently published autobiography, Sold! Ross may be best known as a presenter and expert on the long-running British television series Bargain Hunt. The first car he sold for Gooding at Pebble Beach in 2004—also Ross’ first trip to the U.S.—was a Duesenberg that gaveled for $4.2 million. “That made me happy,” he recalls. “I don’t need to be an expert on cars Right: Bonhams’ Eric Minoff, on the phone with a bidder, signals the intention to up the ante. Below: Jimmy Landis of Mecum Auctions entertains the audience in Monterey. At the time, Mecum’s events were televised live on NBC Sports Network. Now they are a staple on MotorTrend TV. Courtesy of Bonhams Dave Faries
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