To celebrate the grand opening of Manheim Auction’s newest Texas facility, the Texas Hobby Auto Auction hosted a successful commemorative sale on April 26, showcasing the new facility and selling 2,000 vehicles to dealers. More than 1,000 dealers attended the sale, bidding on cars in the new, 10-lane auction facility. Dealers were also able to participate in drawings for such prizes as a horse and trailer, dude ranch trips and custom-made boots and cowboy hats. Now located at 8215 Kopman in Houston, the Texas Hobby Auto Auction has grown from a 55-acre location to a more spacious 80-acre site, an expansion that will allow the auction to greatly increase its current business. With the addition of four extra lanes, the new facility now has 10 lanes that allow nearly 3,000 units to run per sale, with the capacity to run many more. The new facility now has in excess of 3,000 paved parking spaces, including a dealer parking area that has doubled to more than 800 parking spaces. In addition to the paved parking, 2,500 unpaved spaces are available for sales. The old facility, located at 800 Brisbane Road, is now being renovated to become a state-of-the-art two-lane auction facility to host Texas Hobby’s Ford factory sales. Renovation of the body shop is also under way. The body shop will almost double in size from 25,000 square feet to 40,000 square feet while adding an additional 80-foot downdraft paint booth. The mechanic shop will also be upgraded from 12,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet.