. And while Fenet is also new to her role at Amelia Island, she’s been center stage as an auctioneer for more than two decades and remains an ambassador for Christie’s. Conversing with, Fenet explains the way she found her calling early on, her greatest challenge in the industry and how humor helps her bring stalled bidding back into high gear. When did your love of cars first develop, and how?
Cars that will soon cross the block through Broad Arrow Auctions are currently on display at the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.My parents were not art collectors and I didn’t know anything about the auction world, but I had an internship in college and became an auctioneer when I was 24. I tried out; tryouts last about four days and are a little bit like. You get voted off the island day by day, and then the last one standing really just gets thrown on stage anywhere in the country.
I think the greatest challenge in my career path was being a woman. I can remember going to auctions in my early days as an auctioneer and having people openly question whether or not I should take the auction or if they should just hand it off to someone else. They weren’t sure I could handle a “noisy room”. This even happened to me in 2018 at an auction in Germany.
The 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Disc Brake Roadster offered through Broad Arrow carries a high-end estimate of $1.55 million.My style over 20 years has evolved as I realized that it had to be more performative. It has to be performance. [You] can’t be standing on stage when you’re selling something that someone doesn’t really want, unless you make it fun. You really make it about the audience, which is what I love about car auctions—the audience is ready.