Latest news with #Mecum
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
From School Bus to Showstopper: ‘Yeti' Skoolie Rolls Into Mecum's Summer Auction
'Labor of love' is a phrase that doesn't really do this auction-bound build justice. It was somehow bigger than that—driven by a force arguably even more powerful than love. This was an act of survival—a defiant stand against death itself, or at least against the death of one man's heart and soul, and what could be more powerful than that? This custom-built 2006 Thomas Freightliner FS65 Skoolie Mobile Home, now headed for the Mecum auction this July in Kissimmee, Florida, was born of the tumultuous time when the COVID pandemic was at its peak, an event that forever altered the course of human history in ways both big and small. They were difficult years for many, and transformational ones for many others. But for each and every person alive on this earth, something shifted; few emerged unchanged, and for better or worse, things have never been the same. Eddie Kreder was living in Florida with his wife, Sherrie, and son, Nicholas, when the pandemic hit. He'd made a career remodeling homes, owning and operating his own very successful remodeling company, called Veterans Home Improvements LLC. It was a skill that he'd picked up after high school, when he was hired by a local Tour de France cyclist named Joe, who'd been paralyzed after being struck by a car while biking. Joe purchased an old sprawling colonial home that he wanted to renovate from the ground up. He had the skills, but not the physical ability, so he brought in Eddie right out of high school to serve as something of a surrogate and protege, and he taught him many of the skills he still uses today. Eddie didn't set up shop as a home remodeler right away. He first served in the United States Army as a paratrooper, and he served most of his tour in Panama, Central America. After being Honorably Discharged from the military, he earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education and then taught for a handful of years. However, the creativity that was required by the remodeling industry was something that continued to call his name. Eventually, Eddie got back into remodeling homes and quickly earned a solid reputation as a project manager at Grayhawk Remodeling in Bradenton, Florida. As most creatively driven individuals can attest, there is a lot of inspiration to be found in the art and accomplishments of others with like minds, and Eddie soon found a pivotal source in the work of one now very popular YouTube channel, 'The Nomadic Movement.' 'I started following 'The Nomadic Movement' on YouTube just before COVID,' Eddie explained, 'and I also started following a bunch of other nomads who were transforming buses and vans and traveling across the United States. I was checking it out to see how they were doing it and the lifestyles they were living. 'Jordan and Kaylee started 'The Nomadic Movement.' They traveled all over the United States, and then they traveled down to Panama, Central America, and ended up in a small mountain town called Boquete, which I'm very familiar with because I was stationed in Panama in the military. It's a small mountain town; it's like 3,000 feet above sea level, and it's like 70 degrees all year long. Jordan and Kaylee ended up creating a homestead down there, and they're thriving. So that's what got me the bug, and I hope to meet them both someday as well.' Just before COVID hit, Eddie said he went out in search of a bus to begin converting. He contacted a company called BGA School Buses in nearby Hudson, Florida, as the company is solely dedicated to purchasing decommissioned school buses from around the country and claims to seek out the absolute best available examples anywhere. With a mission to specifically serve both churches and the 'Skoolie' bus-RV conversion community, the company even offers titling services that allow purchasers to title their new-to-them bus as an RV right from the point of sale, saving them the trouble down the road. 'So, I bought this bus,' Eddie said with a smile, 'and I named it Yeti. It's a 24-foot school bus. It was yellow. It had all kinds of seats—it looked like a school bus!' Eddie said there are a couple of key things that attract devotees of the so-called 'Skoolie' community to school buses instead of RVs, aside from the obvious creative customization opportunities. 'You can roll a school bus, and it won't disintegrate like an RV would, because they're made to protect kids,' he said. He also noted that they tend to decommission school buses long before their engines are spent as a further safety measure. 'And diesel engines can go for like 500,000 miles,' he said, 'so 100,000 is nothing.' Eddie had one special request for BGA before he took delivery of the bus: he wanted it painted in the ultra-cool all-black finish that it currently wears today. The company obliged, and Eddie took on the rest of the work himself. 'The only thing I didn't do,' he noted, 'was the electrical, the plumbing, and the gas. I wanted a licensed electrician and a licensed plumber to do all that, so that it's all certified.' To create his dream skoolie, Eddie first had to strip the bus down, including the seats, insulate the heavy-duty steel walls, and then build something of a framed-out interior using 2x4s and plywood, as he said he didn't want to use prefab materials that often lack in quality construction. As a result, the entire interior of the bus is custom-built, from the custom cabinetry with soft-close hinges and the cedar tongue-and-groove ceilings, to the diamond-plated shift column and driver-side floor. And it's not just pretty finishings either; the functionality is just as well thought-out, with stunning custom modern appearances. The back of the skoolie bus houses a full-size bed with storage and water tanks underneath, along with one of the bus's two air-conditioning units mounted to the ceiling above. Next comes a functional water closet with a custom cedar barn door on one side of the bus and a full stand-up shower directly across, which includes a convenient instant water heater. Beyond that are large sections of drawers and cabinets for an abundance of storage needs, and then comes the most welcoming part of all: the skoolie's custom kitchen and adjacent sitting area. A full-size sink, two-burner stovetop, brand-new mini fridge, and tons of additional storage make the space exceptionally practical, while a black granite countertop, rustic multicolored barnwood backsplash, white cabinetry, and wide-plank wood floors give it a stunning modern appearance that is hard not to swoon over. Eddie said that although the build took considerable time to finish (on and off for a year), there weren't too many hiccups along the way, at least not with the bus itself. The world around him, however, was undergoing dramatic changes, and none of it was going as smoothly as the building of his skoolie. COVID struck first, and as the global landscape seemed to crumble before his eyes, Eddie found that his job and family were far from immune to its effects. Throughout the earthly upheaval, his job shut down temporarily, and his family's dynamics would also suffer. While Eddie and his wife, Sherrie, managed these difficult times, they weren't destined to make it through the changing landscape as a married couple. Eddie was able to help his son, Nick, establish his own remodeling business called Shooting Star Home Improvement LLC, which is doing very well. 'Nick and I had a couple of difficult years; however, we worked through it. He even helped me out with the build, which helped strengthen our relationship again,' Eddie said. 'Now, he has his own business doing renovations, and he's doing amazing.' Eddie said his ultimate goal for the bus was to serve as a retirement plan, not to make money off it, but to take him around the country to see as many national parks as possible. 'So, then what happened was,' Eddie paused to collect himself before continuing, 'I had it all done, and I was looking forward to retirement and everything, and then my mom, Mary, had a severe stroke.' Sadly, instead of a joyful ride into retirement, his maiden voyage in the bus became a trip to visit his mother in the hospital in upstate New York, where she was recovering from her stroke. 'They didn't think she was going to make it, but she proved them all wrong,' Eddie said. 'It took like 30 hours to get there from Florida, and that bus ran like a champ.' Equipped with a Mercedes-Benz MBE-900 4.8L inline 6-cylinder diesel engine and a new alternator and starter, Eddie pointed out that he didn't 'cut any corners on anything, because it was going to be my personal RV. I never had any intentions of selling it!' But sometimes, life has other plans. Eddie's mother soon asked if she could move down to Florida to stay with him, as she was now struggling to live on her own. A man of honor and duty with great respect and gratitude for his mother, Eddie agreed without hesitation. As something of a last hurrah with the bus, Eddie took his mom on one trip in the skoolie. The two drove up to Memphis, Tennessee, together to visit Elvis Presley's Graceland. He said his mom was a massive Elvis fan in her youthful years, and while she did have tickets to one of his shows, Elvis passed away shortly before the concert was to take place. 'So, I took her up there, and it was an amazing experience,' Eddie said. He added that at one point, his mom exclaimed, 'If I die tomorrow, it would be okay!' While the trip was a success, Eddie said his mother's limited mobility makes the bus a difficult accommodation for her to enjoy, and so traveling with her more regularly isn't really an option. It's just one more reason that selling the bus now is the right move for Eddie. Once the skoolie sells, Eddie and his mom plan to go on a few more adventures, sans skoolie, while she still can. At the end of the day, Eddie said building the bus was nothing short of a deeply therapeutic exercise for him and a truly life-changing experience. In some ways, it has served to help save his life and some of those around him, carrying them through possibly the most difficult periods they'd ever experienced. While he may not get to enjoy it in all the ways he'd imagined, it's already made a world of difference in his life, and he hopes that now, it can show someone else a bit more of the world. 'I just hope that whoever buys it will just appreciate it and enjoy it and use it for what it's for,' he said, holding back tears. A labor of love, an act of survival: whatever you decide to call it, this skoolie is a bus with a whole lot of heart, and some new nomad is soon going to inherit a rolling work of art when it crosses the block this summer in Kissimmee. It may even have a few lives yet to save or at least a handful of hearts to inspire. In any case, it's a bus that's bound to go far. This one-of-a-kind Skoolie hits the Mecum Harrisburg Auction July 23–26, alongside hundreds of other head-turning rides. We hope to see you there! Special thanks to Mecum Auctions for allowing us to share this feature. All photography by Matt Mahan, courtesy of Mecum Auctions, Inc. This article has been syndicated with permission. All rights reserved by Mecum Auctions, Inc.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Market Collapse: Hemi Superbird Goes For Cheap
Read the full story on Backfire News After auctioning in 2022 for a whopping $1.5 million, setting a world record, a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Superbird just auctioned again with no reserve on May 17, bringing in a measly $380,000. While the latter price is still insane, it's also just a quarter of what the classic muscle car pulled in three years some serious price depreciation. You could chalk it up to just a bad showing at Mecum Indy 2025, but we've been seeing this trend building of late. This Hemi Superbird is just a symptom of a larger problem developing in the car collecting hobby. Fifteen years ago, many enthusiasts could still afford to buy at least one of their dream cars. Today, unless they're an insurance or private equity executive, most enthusiasts have found those same rides are well beyond their reach. Values have soared as the affluent discovered they could use classic and even modern exotics as investments. Many have little interest in the vehicles themselves, other than displaying them as works of art in their gallery-like garages, treating the machines gearheads adore as if they were part of a real estate investment portfolio. This trend intensified during the covid era, likely for a number of reasons. Many gearheads bitterly decided they could never afford the car of their dreams as they watched even some dogs get pricey. The market was out of control. Now we're in a period of correction, or what some would call a crash. Just how big it is and how long it will last isn't clear. And we don't know if investors will flood it yet again, pumping up values in a sick game once more. But many, not all, collector cars are seeing their values plummet. We've noticed a curious trend among auction houses. Instead of openly publishing individual results, many are putting such information in hard-to-find places, requiring users to register for access, or are just plain not releasing the numbers at all. If we didn't know better, we'd say they were trying to hide something. The fact this Mopar Wing Car saw its value on the open market dive 75 percent in just three years shows how bad things have become. At this rate, we just might be able to one day afford a dream car after all. See this Superbird's lot listing for yourself here. Images via Mecum Auctions
The Drive
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
This Plymouth Superbird Sold for $1.65M in 2022. It Just Brought $418,000 at Auction
The latest car news, reviews, and features. In 2022, car collector Bobby Knudsen bought a 1970 Plymouth Superbird—you know, the one with the massive rear wing—for a record-breaking $1.65 million (after buyer's fees). Unfortunately for Knudsen's family, its value took a massive nosedive when they sold the numbers-matching muscle car at the Indy Mecum Auction over the weekend without reserve, as its new owner only paid $418,000 for it. Knudsen passed last December, so his family sold off 25 cars from his collection, including a few racing Pontiac Catalinas, a 1959 Nash Metropolitan, and, of course, the aforementioned Superbird. I'm not sure I've ever seen a classic car drop in value as much as Knudsen's Plymouth, but that could be because he massively overpaid for it three years ago. Even in its incredible unrestored condition, with 33,085 original miles, and rare automatic transmission (only 77 of these came with autos from the factory), this Superbird wasn't worth the $1.5 million Knudsen bid on it. At the time of his July 2022 bid, the priciest Superbird was $990,000, according to Hagerty. During the auction, this Superbird looked like it was going to sell for around $1.1 million, when Knudsen jumped up to $1.5 million to seal the deal. It's doubtful that the car realistically leaped half a million dollars in value during those six months, but he wanted his badly enough to knowingly overbid for it. Knudsen's Superbird wasn't the only one to sell at this past weekend's Mecum auction in Indy, though. The other sold for $550,000, with just under 21,000 miles on it. His family seems to have gotten the fair market price for his car, which proves just how far values have fallen in only three years. Mecum With its short-lived NASCAR pedigree, monstrous 426 cubic-inch Hemi V8, and iconic tall wing, it's easy to understand why the Superbird is so desirable. Still, this car's story is a painful reminder that everything has its fair price, no matter how desirable it may be to someone. Got tips? Send 'em to tips@ Nico DeMattia is a staff writer at The Drive. He started writing about cars on his own blog to express his opinions when no one else would publish them back in 2015, and eventually turned it into a full-time career.
The Drive
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
This $24,000 'E-Wagon' Golf Cart Is Basically a Power Wheels for Grown-Ups
A country club membership can make you feel elite, like you're a class above the plebs who get stopped at the door. But what if you're elite even by country club standards? What if you're at the tippy-top of the financial food chain, a real one-percenter? You can't be slumming it on the green with every dentist and lawyer in regular golf carts. Instead, you need to get a Bodo E-Wagon golf cart, like this one that recently sold at a Mecum auction. OK, so aside from the fact that this is essentially just a rich grown-up version of a Little Tikes car, it's kind of fun. At a very quick glance, it could pass for a real Mercedes G-Class, at least until a human stands next to it, for scale. The proportions have clearly been tweaked for golf cart duty. Bodo has also traded Merc's three-pointed star logo for its own, but of course, anyone determined enough could always just change it out. Especially if they desire that badge as much as, or perhaps more than, the vehicle itself. Mecum The E-Wagon (or 'G-Wagon'—the official name and even solid info on the company that makes it is, perhaps unsurprisingly, hard to find) is a bit more sophisticated than what golfers normally use from tee to tee. For starters, it's fully enclosed, with power locking doors and even power windows. As someone whose allergies would be running wild on a golf course, that sounds nice. Once inside, it has caramel-colored leather seats, heating, air conditioning, four-wheel disc brakes with a brake boost, a backup camera, and entertainment screens for backseat passengers. So it ain't just for looks—the E-Wagon is a genuinely luxurious golf cart. It's nicer inside than my actual car. Speaking of actual cars, this E-Wagon is capable of driving on some public roads. Some states allow for low-speed vehicles (LSVs) to drive on streets with speed limits of 25 mph or less. That said, it's actually too fast for states like New Jersey, which only allow an attainable top speed of 25 mph, and this faux Merc golf cart can do 35 mph. But if you do drive it on the road, it has fully functioning headlights, turn signals, and even windshield wipers. Mecum You can drive it pretty far, too. Its 10-kWh battery gives it an impressive 80 miles of range. That's about as much as the original BMW i3. Of course, it only has a 20-horsepower electric motor, and it's considerably smaller and lighter. Still, not bad at all for a fully loaded golf cart. This specific E-Wagon recently sold at a Mecum auction in Glendale, but there are others available at Florida-based dealer Gulf Carts. And not only G-Class replicas, either; you can get Range Rover, Porsche Cayenne, and even Ram TRX-themed carts, too. Perfect for those kings and queens of the green who want to flex their pockets at the club. Got tips? Send 'em to tips@ Nico DeMattia is a staff writer at The Drive. He started writing about cars on his own blog to express his opinions when no one else would publish them back in 2015, and eventually turned it into a full-time career.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Streamer Duke Dennis Tracks Down His Stolen Dodge Challenger Black Ghost
Read the full story on Backfire News Online streamer Duke Dennis has millions of followers, but that fame comes at a price, like having his Final Call Dodge Challenger Black Ghost stolen from his house. But the guy didn't get famous by just playing victim, so Dennis tracked the limited edition muscle car down and had the thief began for Dennis after he said some fans figured out exactly where he lives. That's when people started camping outside his house and a couple of his vehicles were broken into. But thankfully the man had a plan in case someone swiped his pricey Mopar. Dodge only made 300 of the Challenger Black Ghost Last Call muscle cars, using the Hellcat Redeye Widebody as the base vehicle. Output is dialed up to 807-horsepower, but what really makes the Mopar hot are the unique aesthetics. Each one was designed to look like the famed Black Ghost, a 1970 Dodge Challenger RT SE which would race others on Woodward Avenue in Detroit back in the 70s. Supposedly, the mysterious muscle car never lost, often disappearing for months at a time, hence it being called a ghost by other street racers. While the original Black Ghost sold for over $1 million back at a Mecum auction in 2023, these limited edition tribute cars aren't worth nearly as much. But they're still pricey, with listings for those still at dealers sitting around $130,000 or so. MSRP for the Last Call model was announced at $100,000. With the Mopar muscle car worth that much, one would think the owner would have some extra security. We know Dennis had a couple of trackers installed, which he used to see where the Dodge was after the unnamed thief swiped it. Hopping on streaming, he declared that he was on his way to get the Challenger back and that police were called, later saying the thief was busted and his ride was recovered. Now the streamer is apparently considering moving so he isn't targeted again. Image via dukedennis/Instagram
