(Words and photos by Bret Voelkel) – I love buying cars! (doesn’t every hotrodder?)

I have justified my car buying activities to this point by using these cars for product development, promotional activities, product demonstrations, etc. At one time we had 27 (mostly) running, functional cars in the ridetech stable. We have a team of guys whose main job description is to build and maintain this fleet. It was like herding cats!

Selling a car is fun as well, but much more work! I can’t bring myself to let a car go that is “in poor health”. I have to make sure everything works and that it is roadworthy for the long term for a new owner. This typically means there is little profit in this activity!

I also like to build cars. Like most hotrodders, I’ve been building cars since high school. My responsibilities at RideTech have prevented me from getting my hands scratched on a car build for quite some time. In November I decided I was going to let go of a really nice all original big block 4 speed 67 SS Chevelle. Of course, being original, it drove like a 45 year old car. We can’t have that…not when the solution is sitting right there on the RideTech shelf!

A couple more calls had a Vintage Air A/C system and Frontrunner, Baer brakes, Holley carb MSD distributor. And a GearVendors overdrive unit sitting on my doorstep ready for installation.

During my 6 week endeavor to get all this stuff installed I discovered a couple significant things: I LOVE working on my cars…and the fit and quality of performance equipment today is truly nice. I had so much fun piddling in the garage in December and January that my guys at the shop thought I had a new girlfriend or something!

My children had not seen me do any serious work on a car and were a bit impressed that I actually knew where those dusty wrenches in my garage were!

Humans love when a plan comes together and I am no exception. We got the Chevelle all done and took it for a drive. It never ceases to amaze me how a few boxes of bolt on parts can transform a wallowing sickly pig into a crisp powerful performer!

There is a problem, however…now I really want to keep the car!

I’ve taken several cars to the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. I wanted to try the Mecum event this time for a couple reasons…Kissimmee is a lot closer than Scottsdale…and the Mecum auction is a reserve auction…I can decline to sell the car if it doesn’t bring some minimum amount.

I arrived in Kissimmee on Tuesday afternoon and spent the rest of the day feeling my way around. It’s an impressive array of cars! The prices seem fair to high so far, the weather is great, and the next few days look promising. I’ll get some more pictures and notes and report back again tomorrow.

Until then…have fun!

This is the shot you see on TV. One critique...they need an elevated stage!

The Mecum polishing crew works on this big block Mopar in the staging lanes. It looked solid and sold for $22,000.

Mecum is more than just "normal" Hotrods...lots of busses, tow vehicles, and trailers.

Tuesdays cars won't knock your socks off, but this Monte Carlo turned down $22,000. Lots of cool parts on this one.