There are a lot of big-name collector car auction companies that we all have heard of like Barrett-Jackson and Meecum Auctions. Many of us have heard of these auctions due to the television coverage they both receive. There is another Arizona based auction company named Leake Auction that is actually the first collector car auction company in the United States.
Leake Auction was established in 1964 and in January 2018, Leake was acquired by Ritchie Bros., a global asset management and disposition company. With Ritchie Bros.’ online audience of 3.9 million registered users, Leake has one of the largest potential buyer bases in the collector car industry.
Like many other auction houses that have had to turn to virtual online-only auctions, Leake Auctions is doing the same. Chances are they won’t hold a live event until January of 2021 during Arizona Auction Week. Until then, Leake has committed to offering around 100 cars for online bidding every other Monday through the rest of the year according to Gary Bennett, general manager of Leake.
They recently held their first online auction and had a few technical issues that needed to be worked out, but have since worked out all of the bugs in the system and expect to have a glitch-free second auction on August 17, at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
To make the event feel a little more normal, Leake has opted to have a live auctioneer to announce and accept bids. The 68 vehicles on the docket will cross the virtual auction block where they will be sold to the highest bidder.
When Bennet was questioned about these online-only auctions he had this to say… “I don’t believe the virtual world will ever take the place of the live-event world. We’re not selling commodities. This is an emotional, passion-driven hobby. However, with a live auctioneer and a live-auction-style format, this is pretty exciting, it’s a reasonable substitute.”
These online auctions will have to do for the rest of 2020. Leake Auctions had an arrangement with the Texas Rangers baseball team to use its brand-new baseball stadium, Globe Life Field, for a live collector car auction in September. Unfortunately, with the pandemic hitting hard right now, especially in Texas, that event has been cancelled. There is just too much risk involved for both the public and the employees to host live in-person events at this time. There are hopes of resuming those in January 2021.
This collector car auction will be unique because it will be conducted on a global platform in real-time with live auctioneers, and attendees will bid via simulcast online bidding. Leake is the first noteworthy collector car firm in the industry to conduct an auction in this manner.
You can see the entire docket of vehicles here and if you wish to get in on the action, you can register to bid here. We are looking forward to hearing the results of the August 17th auction and applaud Leake for making a bad situation better and introducing a new live-auction-style format.