Car enthusiasts flocked to the John D. Bradley Centre in droves Saturday to take in a classic and custom car auction.
Dan Spendick of Collector Car Productions of Blenheim said turnout, in terms of cars for sale and the number of people who attended, exceeded expectations.
He’d hoped for about 50 vehicles, but said 92 went up for auction.
“We had an absolute blast. The crowd was happy, the parking lot was full,” he said.
Spendick said about 55 vehicles sold Saturday, and expects a few more deals to be finalized in the coming days.
“We’ve got a couple of deals pending, so we’ll probably be close to 60 cars when we’re all done,” he said.
Spendick said there was also spin-off spending that benefitted local businesses.
“I know the community benefitted. Out-of-town clients came and stayed overnight and a lot went out to dinner,” he said. “Bringing people into town is always good for the local economy. It’s not just about us. It’s about the community.”
Will the auction return in 2016? Spendick refused to say definitively just yet, but he did book space at the convention centre for next July.
“I’m 90% sure we’ll be back again next year. Honestly, what I’m going to do is once I get the real, hard numbers and analyze them, I’ll know,” he said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be happy with what I see and we’ll be back next year.”
That should be good news with the majority of people in attendance Saturday, especially the ones who have classic vehicles they’re looking to sell, but didn’t take the plunge this time around.
“There was a lot of feeling in the community, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to book my car (to be auctioned off), but I’ll go and see how it goes,’” Spendick said. “The feedback I got throughout the day was everybody came and said, ‘Wow, this was great.’”
