Most major-city auto shows are designed to showcase the newest vehicles available in local dealerships, and even concept cars hinting at what’s coming down the road several years in the future. But the recent Cleveland Auto Show included a special feature — a classic car auction.
Forty vehicles were shown throughout the show and then were put up for bidding by Rubber City Classic Car Auction, which is based south of Cleveland in Akron. The sell-through rate was 51 percent and sales totaled $483,100, according to Heather Marks of the auction company.
The classics were showcased and then sold in the South Hall of Cleveland’s I-X Center, with more than 1,000 people attending the auction. A 1974 De Tomaso Pantera sold for $72,100, a 1969 Dodge Charger “General Lee” clone brought $57,500, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird went for $43,000 and a 1946 Harley-Davidson 45 Flathead brought $19,530.
Rubber City Classic Car Auctions was created in 2013 in response to a change in Ohio law in 2009 that finally allowed consignment auctions of classic cars, though those cars must be at least 26 years old (don’t look for a late-model Ford GT) and auction companies are allowed to stage only three sales a year, Marks said.
“We started with a partnership with another auction company, Akron Auto Auction,” Marks said, adding that Akron Auto Auction wholesales used cars to auto dealers in a six-lane facility that moves some 1,200 cars every Tuesday.
The classic car company stages an annual fall sale at the Akron Auto Auction facility.
“You have to do a spring one,” Marks said consignors, buyers and spectators urged. “We had an opportunity to partner with the folks from the Cleveland Auto Show to offer 40 vehicles. We’re very happy. Our sellers are very happy. We’ll likely be back next year.”
In the meantime, Rubber City Classic will hold its third annual fall sale September 18-19, kicking off the weekend with a Friday night cruise-in car show in conjunction with the auction vehicle preview.
For more information, visit the Rubber City Classic website.
