You can buy your dream car in Schaumburg, but first you gotta bid on it

Some are there for the nostalgia. Some come for the prestige. Others are looking for a project. Many are just there to look. And some don't know what to expect.

But they all come for the cars.

More than 1,000 vehicles are being auctioned off during Mecum Auction's three-day annual Chicago show, which opened Thursday at the Schaumburg Convention Center.

Some will sell for a few thousand dollars, while others will sell for more than average suburban house.

But Mecum Auctions CEO Dave Magers said he wanted to make sure there was something for everyone in the end.

"We have actually made a conscious decision to push the entertainment aspect of these," he said. "We don't want people to think of these as just auctions. We want these to be events that have auctions."

Chevy Corvettes and Ford Mustangs from almost every year and in almost every color imaginable are available to the more than 2,300 registered bidders.

Then there is rarer fare, ranging from the 1937 Western Clipper Motorhome that needs a little TLC to the pristine 1957 Chevrolet 210 that has been driven only 23 miles since it arrived at a Connecticut car dealership when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president.