Time to let you in on a not so little secret… I’ve always loved a good road trip and done my fair share around both Australia and America, but between auctions we actually hit the road and sight cars to pre-qualify what comes into 782. This is just something we do to make sure we have the right cars and have done this for years and is our normal… but it’s not normal and a lot of people may not understand why, how it works or that we even do it. So here’s a lil over view of just a couple of weeks of my life between auctions as Chick Durbz and myself jump in the Silverado and take off to build our August 19th auction line up.
So, this trip had me out of the office and on the road for 16 day, leaving the Gold Coast to head North with a long list of cars put together by our boi Shaun: AKA Rowdy Wallace, back in the office… We do 6 auctions a year and he takes all the calls and consignment inquiries to compile the info for me to review and build my trips off. As the business owner I have many rolls but after the auctions I jump back into consignments for about 3 weeks. Typically, I go where the cars take me… this how this trip rolled out. Ben Atkinson
This run had me go more North than usual as we worked our way through the Gold Coast cars, Brisbane cars, Sunshine coast cars and went all the way to Airley Beach north of Mackay doing stops along the way seeing all our QLD sellers.
100 PLUS CARS OVER 16 DAYS
Once we’d gotten as North as we could make viable and checked off all we could see we turned around to head back South to Sydney. stopping at those we couldn’t connect with on the way up through QLD, and then into new territory as we rolled into NSW down the coast road into Newcastle and into Sydney and back up inland and North to get back to the Gold Coast.
MY 5 STAND OUTS FROM THE TRIP
So not only do we see some amazing cars on these trips meet amazing people and catch up with regulars and get into some incredible collections I’m super privileged to be invited to. Typically, I make close to 100 stops/visits over the trip and see a couple of hundred cars. These are just a few stand outs.
MINI MAKE OVER
This 56 Chevy 3100 pick-up isn’t one I saw on this trip but still a good example of the service we can provide to point out… So, wind the clock back about 10 years and I found this truck on another trip all the way over in California! I imported it for some friends at the time and sent it to Perth. Speaking with them recently and it was mentioned it was time to move it on but it was a little dated and he wasn’r sure if it suited our shop… It was a simple conversation. “Just send it and my boys will sort it I said”.
Our boi Dan from Dan’s Enclosed Towing scooped it up in the big 6 car enclosed trailer and hauled it over to us in the Gold Coast. Once it got the 782 garage it got sorted pretty quickly, it just needed styling… New wheels, added a new and tucked rear bumper, new steering wheel, dash and gauges, engine bay tidy up, paint correction and its stance sorted. And now she’s all ready to hit the floor as a NO RESERVE car in our August auction.
DAN’S ENCLOSED TOWING
Speaking of Dan running around for us, if you need anything you have moved professionally, Dan generally runs the East Coast of Australia and hinges off our auctions… He’s out the front waiting after the auctions and hauls out the cars in batches to where they need to go… The big rig also follows us when i do these road trips and he tracks behind us with about a week of grace and hauls all the new cars in.
Between all that he sometimes gets a run into Perth or back up the East Coast so if you need him you can call 0423 239 936 and get quoted or book through Hannah at the office… But remember, the truck and shedual revolves around us first 😉
DONE AND DUSTED
With the road trip behind me and a heap of cars in my head it’s time to get back into the office and build our auction line up. This one’s a fun one for many reasons but August is our shop’s 18th birthday as SEVEN82MOTORS was registered in 08-2006.
Come celebrate with us on our open days, we have 75 amazing cars in this auction you can come view in person… and make sure you join us on Monday the 19th from 6:30pm as we walk you through the cars as Locky McCann and myself live stream the cars as the online bidding closes.
Good job if you made it all the way to here!
Owner and operator, Ben Atkinson.
NOTE: And while you may just hear from or see myself and Locky in socials ect there’s a bunch of us here every day that make all this happen, I have an amazing team, and they are all A players and make the business what it is. Add up everyone’s years of experience and skills and factor in that’s just part of what you get when you use SEVEN82 to market and auction your vehicle. Hope this helps you get a little insight into our world, what we do and a part of how we do it.
