Car auctions are exciting and full of energy. The shiny, detailed car rolls under the spotlights onto the stage. The auctioneer/announcer gives a background on the vehicle and starts the bidding in a mellifluous, musical cacophony. The excitement builds and the bids start coming in until you hear the auctioneer bring down the gavel and say, “sold.” Some deals are great deals favoring the buyer, and other bids are funneled by excitement, competition and the desire of the bidder to add this precise vehicle to their collection, and end up favoring the seller.

That excitement is on the bidder/buyer’s end, but what does the seller do to consign and sell their vehicles? Sellers can consign their vehicles at this year’s Fall Carlisle Collector Car Auction, Sept. 30-Oct.1 at the Carlisle Expo Center, 100 K Street in Carlisle, PA, across from the Carlisle (PA) Fairgrounds. The Auction is an accompaniment of the Fall Carlisle Collector Car Flea Market & Corral, but it is also a stand-alone event of its own merits.

Carlisle Events held its first Collector Car Auction in 2006, but the modern-day incarnation of Carlisle Auctions began in 2013 in Zephyrhills, Florida, and has seen unprecedented success from the opening gavel. Carlisle Auctions’ home base of Carlisle, Pennsylvania has been a sell-out from a consignment standpoint, with millions of dollars in sales taking place at each event. For sellers, supported by Carlisle Auctions’ “FREE UNLESS SOLD**” guarantee, 400-500 high-quality classics plus memorabilia cross the block, and each auction welcomes even more bidders and excitement as brand awareness continues to grow. Certain restrictions apply for the FREE UNLESS SOLD** guarantee.

(FREE UNLESS SOLD** means that if a consignment does not sell, the consignor is refunded most, if not all fees associated with the consignment. That means a higher caliber of car crosses the block and even more cars can be part of the Auction. Vehicles 25 years and older are the ONLY consignments available for the FREE UNLESS SOLD guarantee. All vehicles are welcome, but consignments 24 years and newer will be subject to all applicable fees associated with the auction.**)



Carlisle Auctions has been featured on Fox and Friends as well as multiple Velocity TV programs. Carlisle Auction has sold cars for Burt Reynolds, private collectors and has even done charity work on behalf of those in need, while keeping its loyal enthusiast base a priority.

At last year’s Carlisle Fall Auction, 191 vehicles sold – a 56 percent sell rate – for an average sales value of $16,335. The lowest price sold was $800 and the highest sale hammered down at $114,000 for a total sale figure of $3,120,000. Some of the top sold vehicles included a 1967 Chevrolet Corvette for $114,042, a 1935 Packard 8 Sport  Phaeton for $99,008, a 1947 Chrysler Town and Country for $97,280, a 1969 Ford Mustang for $74,297, a 1970 Dodge Challenger for 73,398 and a 1965 Corvette for 70,905. It wasn’t all muscle cars, though as 1955 and 1957 Bel Airs went for more than $50,000 each, as did a 1932 Ford 3-Window, a 1956 Chevy Nomad and a 1958 Chevrolet Impala.

So, what’s the best way for you to consign and sell a vehicle at Carlisle Auctions?
Tony Cline, Director of Auction Operations for Carlisle Events said, “Do your homework and let us do the rest.” Cline said this is the easy part. “Call me at the Auction Office at 717-960-6400,” he said. “We can discuss what it is you’re selling, and put together a plan for success.”

Cline joined Carlisle Events in 2013 after 25 years of automotive experience and is a graduate of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Dealer Academy. He said, “We consign 400-plus vehicles for each auction -- anything with a collectible flavor. We consign vehicles from the 1920s through modern day, from sports cars to muscle cars, trucks, SUVs and one-offs. We discuss the options with the seller and together, we can sell it to the right bidder.”

Historically, the truck and SUV sectors do well, but anything can sell if it is packaged and priced well. Cline said the most common price of a sold vehicle is $20,000, but sales have gone from $500 to hundreds of thousands. “A few years ago we sold a 2006 Speed Yellow Ford GT for just under $300,000,” he said.

Cline said the Carlisle Auction bidders are a broad mix of collectors, hobbyists, enthusiasts, and dealers. He said, “I lightheartedly say that we welcome all speculators and accumulators.”

What is the best way to sell your car?

Cline believes that the best way to sell your car is at auction. He said, “The auction environment is clearly the best scenario in which to sell your vehicle. We will market it nationally via the web, social networking, direct mail, email, etc. We have in-person bidders, phone bidders, and online bidders. We have assembled one of the top auction teams in the country who drive to sell your vehicle, and we have proven, result driven processes.”

What are mistakes to avoid?

Cline said, “The number-one mistake that folks make when attempting to sell a vehicle is not having it priced correctly to market. One of the most important aspects of my day, is helping people to price their vehicle properly, I liken it to, if you were going to sell your home, you probably would call a Realtor. They would come look at your home: age, dimensions, upgrades, needs and conditions. They then would look at comparable homes that have actually sold over different periods. The same practice applies to selling your car. We can look at similar examples that have sold nationally and determine an average transaction price. At that point, we would determine where your car falls relative to that average price. I cannot over stress how important correctly pricing your vehicle to the market is.”

Energized about this year’s show, Cline said that many exciting consignments will be on the block at the 2021 Fall Auction. “One in particular,” he said, “is a 1963 Chevy Corvette Convertible, and we have a powerful and awesome-looking 2019 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Callaway Coupe. We also have a 1949 Ford F1 truck, 1971 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler, 1970 Chevy Chevelle SS and a 1961 Cadillac DeVille. There are lots of great ones from vintage to late-model to see and bid on.”

Whether you are a bidder, consignor or just an interested car fan, the place to be is the Fall Carlisle Collector Car Auction, Sept. 30-Oct.1 at the Carlisle Expo Center, 100 K Street in Carlisle, PA. Call Carlisle Auctions today at 717-960-6400, the Carlisle Auctions team is standing by ready to answer questions about the process and the events.

> Visit www.CarlisleEvents.com for more on the automotive hobby.

Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He's been a "car guy" since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years. </I>

Want to contribute to All About Cars?

E-mail Us