The Antique Auto Club of America holds its East Coast (National) event at it’s headquarters in Hershey, PA every year in October. This event has been happening for many decades and is an extravaganza of everything about the automobile from a gigantic swap meet to a high-end auction culminating in a car show of epic proportion. I had the honor of being invited as a guest of GTM member Allen R who brought his 1937 Cadillac Coupe to show in the Historic Preservation class as well as to participate in the swap meet.
Day 1 – Tuesday, setup
Arriving on Tuesday afternoon, we first made the rounds of the swap meet grounds to locate our vending spots. To call the swap meet enormous would be an understatement – it covers the entirety of the Giant Center parking lot (see cover photo) with vendors selling anything from mild to wild. If you want a supercharger for a 1936 Graham, it’s out there, along with enough parts to build a Model T. There is enough memorabilia to fill several hundred tractor trailers with signs, toys and even vintage clothing!! It’s difficult to see the entire swap meet even with a scooter in a very full day.
Day 2 – Wednesday, start of the show
Resetting on Wednesday morning, the swap meet started off a bit slowly as participants were starting to arrive. The most fascinating part of the event is the worldwide draw – I spoke with attendees from France, Spain, Norway, Sweden, German and more. It was fascinating to see how the automobile has such an international appeal. As the swap meet closed for the day, we returned to the Hershey Lodge which would be the site for the RM-Sotherby’s auction on Thursday and Friday evenings. We took the opportunity to preview the auction cars, many of which were fully restored although some were very well preserved and several being either ultra rare or impeccably restored. Among the well preserved was a 1914 Buick that wasn’t flashy but very clean and original in appearance. Of the impeccably restored was a bright red 1931 Cadillac dual-cowl Phaeton with the venerable V-16 – talk about stunning!!
Day 3 – Thursday, the Auction Pt.1
Thursday was a bit busier as the weekend neared. Many clubs that are associated with the AACA hold their annual meeting at the East Coast National and the Oakland Club is no exception. GTM’s venerable Allen R is a member and volunteered to put on a tour in May 2020. This tour will be similar to the CCCA (Classic Car Club of America) tour in May 2019 although more relaxed partly due to older and slower cars.
After the day’s Swap Meet activities was the first evening of the RM Auction which was quite an eye opener. RM Auction provides bidders with booklets of all the items (cars and memorabilia) in each evening’s auction in addition to the previous evening preview. Having watched auctions but never having attended one live, it wasn’t nearly as frantic as those shown on TV. It is amusing to watch the bidder calling out numbers and gently cajoling bidders to spend their money – $50,000 – do I hear $55,000? $50,000, now $55,000. You sir – you’ll be out if you don’t bid – $55,000 to buy this beautiful Geo Metro Convertible. $50,000 is the current bid – going once, going twice at $50,000. Anyone? SOLD for $50,000
Day 4 – Friday, the busy one & Auction Pt.2
Friday is likely the busiest day for the Swap Meet but after having staffed our spaces for 2 days, I wanted to look around so Allen and I shared the time and also left the booth in the hands of our kind and gracious neighbors. I took advantage of the show to buy some tools and some new tie-downs for my trailer – the prices are very reasonable and it’s amazing just what kinds of “stuff” is available. No, the tools aren’t Snap-On – but for my needs, the price was good and they work just fine! I then took the opportunity to walk the Car Coral filled with “used cars” that spanned the gambit.
Remembering that the majority of this show is antiques, cars over 25 years old, most of the cars in the Car Coral were newer antiques – ’60s and ’70s cars. My tastes are a bit eclectic and I found myself drawn to the 1976 Sedan de Ville in bright white with a white leather interior – some folks also looking at the car seemed a bit concerned when I commented that I liked the car because it was easy to put dead bodies in the trunk without having to remove the legs. The one vehicle I wanted to take home was a 1965 GMC C10 truck – nicely repainted but not overly restored to the point that it would become a garage queen.
The Friday night auction was the “big show” with the high dollar cars interspersed throughout the night. Unlike the first night, Allen was more antsy than usual and beat me into the room. I found a seat and recorded sales amounts but didn’t see anything too exciting. As I stood up to leave, I ran into two friends of Allen’s – Norm and Sherrie who are business partners in a car collection and a vintage race team based in Reading, PA. I joined them and we started a rolling commentary on the events which we are glad was NOT captured on tape. I learned quite a lot from them about antiques and the importance of color and appearance at an auction. Several cars that we saw sold well below estimates which we attributed partly to color choice –
For example, a 1914 Buick (above) that we’d seen in the preview was very nice but very plain in black with black wheels. When it crossed the block, it brought a lackluster response even though it was an early car in what appeared to be either un-restored or lightly restored condition.
The V-16 Cadillac Phaeton (above) was estimated to sell for $1m and it was certainly exciting to watch the bidding as it ultimately sold for ~$1.2M!!
Then there was the infamous Marmon coupe that Allen STILL regrets not buying. The irony is that neither of us remembered seeing it in the previews but the days were LONG and we were certainly tired.
Day 5 – Saturday, show day
Saturday was Show Day for the event. We were up early to drive to the field – en route, we passed a fellow we’d met earlier, John M who was DRIVING his 1906 curved-dash Oldsmobile the 3 miles to the field. It isn’t fast but it was interesting to watch him steer the car with a TILLER. The show field was also immense with an interesting mix of “antique” cars. We were on Avenue 14 where the Preservation cars were parked. It’s fascinating to see the progression of the automobile from the brass-era to the pre-war to the ’50s to muscle cars and into the ’70s (yuk) and ’80s. While I enjoy “things with wheels,” – I’m not much of a Q-tipper and virtually every vehicle here was spotless and “perfect”. As a Miata owner, it was more than amusing to see a couple proudly displaying their 1990 Piñata with 40K miles that looked like it never left the showroom – I understand the concept, I just prefer to play with my cars rather than polish them with a diaper.
The AACA maintains a museum in Hershey, PA – this could certainly be a tour destination if there is interest from the GTM community.
