Despite the popularity of websites like eBay, the world’s largest auction house for collector cars never really embraced online bidding.

Not until the Covid-19 pandemic stepped in. What started as a survival tactic — a failsafe in case live events never came back — turned into a strategy that helped Mecum Auctions bring in a record $675 million in revenue last year, according to CEO Dave Magers.

The business, based in the small town of Walworth, Wisconsin, has been around since 1988. It wasn’t exactly a small company pre-Covid: In 2019, it brought in more than $400 million in revenue from live auction events around the country. The auctions can attract anywhere from 20,000 attendees to 100,000 apiece, the company says.