ATLANTA – On Tuesday, Aug. 21, husband and wife dealership owners Mark and Carole Oliverio of Slidell, La., drew the lucky key to a bright red 2001 Corvette Z06, the grand prize in Manheim’s Simulcast 10th anniversary contest. The Corvette was identical to the first car ever sold on Simulcast, and it fit perfectly with the Oliverios’ inventory at Mark Anthony Sports & Performance Cars, an independent dealership that exclusively sells late-model American muscle and sports cars.

This giveaway concludes a monthlong celebration of Simulcast, Manheim’s cutting-edge virtual auction platform. During the 10th anniversary celebration, one lucky Simulcast user won a free iPad each week in July. At the end of the month, the Oliverios and four other finalists were randomly selected from dealerships that had purchased a car via Simulcast in July and invited to participate in a contest for a chance to win the Corvette.

Manheim President Sandy Schwartz and Manheim Orlando General Manager Butch Herdegen co-hosted Tuesday’s festivities before hundreds of dealers who were on hand for Manheim Orlando's weekly sale. Many others across the country watched the giveaway live via Simulcast.

“First, we’d like to thank our customers who have helped us sell nearly 4 million cars to-date through Simulcast, making it the phenomenal business success it has become,” Schwartz said. “Congratulations to Mr. Oliverio and the other finalists, who represent more than 13,000 dealerships from across the nation that rely on Manheim Simulcast each week.”

Simulcast is a classic American business success story. This product harnessed the power of state-of-the-art technology so that dealers could locate and buy the inventory they needed without ever having to leave their offices. It leveraged the supply and demand of vehicles across the country, thus expanding the marketplace from a local to national level and forever transforming the vehicle remarketing industry. Simulcast’s growth has been as remarkable as the platform itself. Since the year after its debut, Simulcast has grown from less than 1 percent to roughly 16 percent of Manheim’s sales.

“Hosting the giveaway at Manheim Orlando is a bit like history repeating itself,” says Herdegen. “Back in 2002, that first Corvette sold via Simulcast was from one of our lanes.” The sense of déjà vu grew when Oliverio decided to run his dealership’s prize Corvette through Manheim Orlando’s next sale of rare and exotic vehicles.

Although the 10th anniversary celebration is over, Manheim is continuing its legacy of innovation by pioneering new ways to make buying, selling and managing vehicle inventory increasingly easier. The latest product release, Simulcast Everywhere, allows dealers to market their vehicles in virtual auctions without ever moving the vehicles from their lots.

For the latest news and information about the automotive remarketing industry, follow Manheim on Twitter at @Manheim_US or “Like” Manheim’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Manheim.