From: Julian Burke (julian@knology.net)
Date: Fri Oct 22 2004 - 16:54:33 PDT
I see the rumors have started again so let's nip this one in the bag here
before it turns out to be another new $50 jeep in the crate theory. HUMVEES
sold to or auctioned to civilians from the gov't = WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
WRONG WRONG!!!!!!!!! This isn't happening.
Real Story: Five or so years ago the Marine Corps bartered about 975
each M998's to the United Defense Corporation for electronic equipment.
They all had 97's depicting such for the sum of $1 each on every form for
transferring. United Defense then turned them over to Manheim and these
were not auctioned to people off the street. Manheim Auction Company (who
has wholesale auctions all over the country) auctioned them to people who
had car dealers' licenses and the bill of sale stated "For Off-road Use
Only". The day of the auction in Atlanta, (I was there) 198 units of about
700 went through the sale. Of those, about 75 were sold at a starting price
of $15,500-$17,500. They had two that were painted, one in fire engine red
and the other bright yellow that fetched about $22,000 each. Dean Echols
who was calling the auction got up and opened the sale by stating: "If you
think there are going to buy $3000 (or less) Humvees, you may go home now!"
There is a reserve price on all of them. After the singles went through,
the bulk sales started in 6 or more lots @ $15K each and two lots of those
were sold. You couldn't pick and choose those either. You took them in
their order of numbering.
This is the only time in history this has happened and hasn't happened
since. The remaining 200 of the almost 1000 units went to Riverside,
California for auction and to everyone's surprise, they moved very slowly
and was disappointing to say the least. All of them have been sold but
someone in Atlanta bout a quantity of them and still has them for sale. AM
General had a lot of heartburn over this for liability reasons and they
still say they refuse to support those units!
One time some guy stopped me on the street with my M1026 and said "he
understood that if you buy 6 or more from the gov't, they let them go for
$500 each" so he and his friends wanted to go in together and get some.
DREAM ON!!!!!!!!!!!! Where in the heck would he get or where would that
rumor start???
The gov't doesn't sell them to anyone except other Federal or State
entities. Humvees that are unserviceable or junk are cannibalized and/or
scrapped by mutilation. That's the story. Julian Burke
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat May 07 2005 - 20:36:52 PDT