Bidding on the dealers' deal. (Business Beat) (company profile)

The bidding at this auction is fast and furious. First an eagle sells. Then a rabbit. After that someone snatches up a cougar, and then a Mercedes. Wait a minute, a Mercedes? Yes, a sparkling fire-engine-red, late-model Mercedes Benz. We're talking cars and trucks here.

Tucked away in Dartmouth, N.S.'s Burnside Industrial Park, cars and trucks of every make and model nearly 400 of them - are auctioned off at the speed of sound in a marathon eight-hour auction held in Burnside each Tuesday

This is the home of HalifaxDartmouth Auto-Auction Limited. Auctioneer and co-owner, Gord McComb, is one of four auctioneers calling the shots at the auction. With an average of two cars sold per minute during the auction, McComb is one fast-talking used car salesperson. But then again, so are his customers.

The auctions are only open to licensed, bonded car dealers. In fact, it's against the law for the general public to bid on vehicles here. This is strictly a car dealer wholesale bonanza and dealers from as far away as Sydney, N.S., make the six-hour trek to Dartmouth to buy used cars for resale on their car lots.

There are ...