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John Kraman spends his work career immersed in automotive auctions. He’s the lead TV commentator and analyst for NBCSN during Mecum Auction broadcasts. He can barely curb his enthusiasm.
There’s no doubt the broadcaster is ready for the return of the three-day Mecum Auction during Classic Car Week beginning Aug. 12.
Kraman is my guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-host Bruce Aldrich is on vacation, so Kraman and I discuss the upcoming Mecum Auction during Monterey Auto Week.
“This pandemic really hasn’t slowed us down,” said Kraman. “We have been on the go. Our foot has been on the gas pedal, making adjustments to scheduling and having some safety issues we’ve had to deal with at the venues.
Mecum Auctions Monterey: “Reset the Bar.”
“It looks like a lot of that has started to relax a bit and we are starting to get back to the way things used to be. I have to tell you, man, the upcoming Monterey auction is really about to reset the bar. It’s such a high profile and important event.”
Mecum Auctions will return to Monterey following a late July auction in Orlando, Florida. Mecum calls the occasion a “pickup auction.”
In previous years, the time slot would be reserved for an auction in Harrisburg, Pa. The city plans to return to the Mecum Auctions auction rotation in 2022.
“I have to confess, I have to tell you as much excitement as there is toward Orlando, it’s really all about Monterey in my mind at this point,” said Kraman.
Mecum’s auction at the Hyatt Regency is among its smallest with 600 vehicles. But its average price per sale is annually the company’s highest.
Kraman is my guest for third time. Here are links to previous occasions:
Episode #95: Mecum Auctions defines fun during Monterey Auto Week
Episode #45: Fast and Furious Monterey Auctions returns to Monterey
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Article Last Updated: July 13, 2021.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
