Bel Air Auto Auction Turns 69

Bel Air Auto Auction brought the gavel down on sixty-nine years in the auction business with their anniversary sale this past Thursday, April 21. Dealer, fleet-lease, and institutional vehicles filled the lanes.

The late Paige Richardson of Bel Air MD started the first Bel Air Auto Auction in a former livestock auction facility in 1947. After many years in business, it was sold and later acquired to become a part of BSC America’s business group.

R. Charles Nichols, president of BSC America, recalls that BSC America originally opened as Nichols Auction Company by his parents, Raymond C. and Elaine G. Nichols.

BSC America companies are owned and operated by Raymond C. Nichols, along with son, Charles, and daughter, Michelle.

At the same time that their anniversary sale was gearing up, other gears were turning in nearby Riverside, as construction continued on Bel Air Auto Auction’s new 175-acre facility. Bel Air Auto Auction's future home at 4805 Philadelphia Road in Belcamp, Maryland will boast a 75,000 square foot, 10-lane auction house accompanied by a 45,000 square foot Mechanical Shop, Body Shop and Recon Center.

Raymond C. Nichols, CEO of BSC America companies, adds, “Next year we will be celebrating our 70th Anniversary at our new facility.” Nichols continued, “We like to say ‘The Excitement is Building,’ because it truly is! We will continue our successful strategy of bringing buyers and sellers together in ways we never imagined when Nichols Auction Company sold its first asset!”