The yearly auction season starts earlier than ever now. For many attendees on the weekend following the start of the new year, the warmth of central Florida was an added reason for heading to Mecum’s Kissimmee car extravaganza. Held in the Silver Spur Arena inside Osceola Heritage Park, this year found over 3,000 cars offered over 10 days. While there are hundreds of possibilities from prewar classics to European supercars, what Dana and Frank Mecum have been best-known for is raw American muscle. For 2017, they pulled out all the stops with two great collections of vintage racecars, plus added highlights from prestigious noted accumulations nationwide. These are displayed throughout buildings, tents and in Mecum’s exclusive ‘glass house,’ where some of the most desirable cars could be viewed.
So what if you had unlimited resources to go and buy your dream machines? Let say you headed into the double-weekends event with the plan to buy a dozen Car Craft-worthy cars. We assembled a list of 20 ‘highlight’ machines from this event, making the criteria a mix of rarity, desirability, and cool factor. We will show you these cars and give you our reasons for picking them; you can narrow that down to your dozen. Some of the machines did not meet the owner’s reserve; we added a plus (+) to the final price so that you know that was the case. Those cars actually remain available for possible purchase thanks to Mecum’s special ‘The Bid Goes ON’ program, where potential buyers can make counter-offers to the owner above the highest final bid through Mecum representatives. If a deal can be struck this way at the event or afterward, the title paperwork can be completed immediately and everybody is happy.
Meanwhile, you can go to mecum.com and look at the extensive list of cars that were available during this event and some upcoming auctions; it is possible you might find your own dozen, but we think this is a pretty good list…
This car crossed the block as part of the spectacular cars from the Gary & Jackie Runyon Collection, and was a huge highlight. In 1965, Chrysler went to racing war with altered-wheelbase, acid-dipped monsters. These cars featured radical changes and were immediately tossed from NHRA FX racing. In fact, detractors called them ‘funny cars.’ There were six Dodges and six Plymouths under factory direction that year; just two Plymouths remain – the car of the Golden Commandos and this one, raced by Moline, Illinois Lee Smith. Smith had some factory help but never toured the car as extensively as some of the others. Yeah, that one would have gone into the garage as well, just to say we owned a real one.
Say, you plan to go cruising and want something that will make people look twice. How about this 1970 Cougar? This version featured deluxe XR7 equipment, a 428 Cobra Jet and four-speed transmission, high-back buckets, T-handle Hurst shifter, and console. The 428 has fresh air and a hood scoop. Mercury only built two of these in Competition Blue, all verified by a deluxe Marti report, and the more you look, the cooler it gets. It was restored but showed less than 36,000 miles on the odometer.
OK, so this is not a classic ‘60s muscle car, but it is a legendary vehicle. The GNX would be the ultimate finale of the Buick Regal rear-wheel drive platform, which would disappear for 1988. Rather than being your father’s Buick, they built a nasty, intercooled turbocharged version, and this example was the final one Buick built, number 547, showing just 68 miles on the odometer and a $10,000 dealer mark-up in 1987. In climate-controlled storage since delivered with some of the dealer prep coverings still intact, it was from the Colts Neck Collection of New Jersey. It was the cover car on our sister magazine, Muscle Car Review, on the same day it sold!
Tom Lembeck brought out some serious machines for this event, and this 21,000-mile winged Hemi Dodge is a terrific car with excellent owner history. The exterior was repainted once, but original paint exists in the engine bay and other non-exposed areas, and only two of these cars were built in F6 Spring Green Metallic. Featuring all of the aero changes the Daytona was known for, plus a numbers-matched Hemi, makes this car a winner. Tom chose to hold on to it, even when the bidding reached $750,000, but the bid goes on…check, please!
Even if money is no object, we have limited ourselves to choosing 12 cars from this auction, meaning we have to choose among one of the three Cobra Jets in the Fezell collection. Ford’s Cobra Jet was the special drag package with 428 power. The most famous was Phil Bonner’s car, restored to as-raced in early 1968 condition. Then there was the unique ordered-in-red Bill Ireland version, also in race proper paint as when it was campaigned on the west coast. Finally, the third was in white, just as delivered. Hey, if we built a second garage since money is no object, can we buy 24 cars?
There is always a huge variety of Camaros here, but we liked this one for sheer groove factor. Showing 2,878 miles and owned by its original purchaser for 43 years, it was bought new from a dealership in Brooklyn, N.Y. as a L78 396-375-hp SS/RS. However, that buyer soon replaced some of the factory gear with hot parts like MT valve covers, a Stinger-type fiberglass hood, and Cragar mags. Recently restored in this configuration by the Super Car Workshop in Pennsylvania, it was a real head-turner inside and out.
Notable Mopar collectors Tim and Pam Wellborn had 10 great cars crossing the Mecum block. This Charger in B5 Blue with the toothy Air Grabber hood led off the pack and hammered home a nice selling price of $220,000. A big reason for that was its terrific condition. Roger Gibson recently repainted it only because buffing had worn through to primer in some spots, but the car’s engine and driveline body was all-original. The R/T meant nice options, but the car was built with the unique AM/cassette/microphone. Hmmm, what could you do with that? Let’s give it to the passenger, hit the loud pedal and find out!
Another one of Don Fezell’s gems, this 1967 Fairlane 500 was equipped with the rare R-code 427 8BBL race engine and still retains the original factory Candy Apple paint, driveline, body, and interior. Raced briefly early on, then put into long-term, indoor storage, Don bought this car in 1989 and continued preserving it. By all estimates, this is the best original R-code Fairlane in existence, and we would have spent that $135,000 on it instantly.
This was a hard one, as there were two lightweight Pontiac racecars on hand- this one from the Runyon Collection and the 1962 Tonto II example in the Fezell collection. We chose to go with the notorious “Swiss cheese” frame on this documented car. Raced out of Detroit by Howard Masales, this car is the best one in existence as it raced in Stock on narrow tires as opposed to FX, which is what trashed the frames on the others. Refreshed beautifully, it would have been an honor to own this car.
One of the highest-selling lots of 2017, this car was stunning for every reason: condition, rarity, provenance, and curb appeal. Great paperwork and the all-important tank sticker are present. The only 427/435-hp example built in Tuxedo black with blue stinger and interior, the side pipes take life seriously, while nothing tops that sound of three two-barrel carbs going to wide open throttle.
We wanted one more ‘not seen every day’ car in the mix, so how about a second W-head Chevy to be different. This is a 409 8BBL combination from 1962, but it is packaged in a four-door body style. With the old ‘she’s so fine, my 409’ tune in our heads, everybody would wonder why this thing is in our great garage just like they did when Don Fezell owned it. They would wonder until the hood was opened, then they would understand.
So that is our top 12 picks, but maybe you need some more choices, so here are eight more just for fun…
This was a real surprise, and based on the parts, we understand why the owner probably waited to sell. You had to ‘get it’ with this car. Buick got the performance thing right with the Stage 1 development program, but the Stage 2 race hardware was dealer-only stuff, and the parts are super rare. The owner took a real 1969 GS 400, not the most common body, and swapped in a 455 with all that rare gear including dual quads, special heads and Kenne-Belle covers. We have that last GNX already, but prototype equipment on this stealthy body says Car Craft all over it.
It was hard to show the exquisite metal work and paint on this one, but since we had picked so many racecars in our top 12, maybe we would want something a little more streetable. This dragster for the street had four-wheel brakes and treaded tires, two inside seats, and a custom cooling system for street use. A blown, early 354 ci Chrysler engine with resonator-filled zoomie headers topped by a Weiend blower gets respect, while a Tremec five-speed overdrive transmission gives it a little running room. Looking like something come to life from CarToons magazine, this one is truly unique and even a little practical.
So you need to have a way to get to the parts store, right? It would be hard to find a more stylish ride then this 1957 D100 ‘Sweptside’ pick-up. Yet another vehicle from the Runyon collection, what sold us on it was the physical size, two-tone orange and white paint, wood-slatted factory bed, and Forward Look tail fins. Powered by the poly-head 315-ci small-block and a typewriter Torqueflite, it is maintenance-friendly and one of less than 200 produced that year. A curbside head-turner, these are pretty hard to find in any condition; this one deserved its final price.
Because we are partial to big blocks and wanted to add another Ford to the group, this freshly-done and fully-documented Boss 429 might be in our dream garage. After all, Ford released only 13 in this color combination of red with white interior, and it is one of four still known to exist. Expert Ed Meyer made sure there was no funny business with it, and not only was it just completely refreshed with NOS stuff, but has become known in the hobby as a restoration reference. A multi-award winner in a color combination that cannot be topped, this Boss is a keeper.
There were several highly visible cars that didn’t sell on the block, but we would have grabbed this one using The Bid Goes On buying process. Provenance being important, this GTO was converted to 428 power by Royal Pontiac, showed up on the cover of Popular Hot Rodding, and was tuned by none other than Arnie Beswick. After restoration, the graphics were replicated in vinyl so that they could be removed if you wanted it to look stock.
We have not included a Mopar E-bodies or even any small block cars yet here yet, so we chose one that was both subtle and significant. Painted in black without billboards, it gives off a monochromatic appearance, but still has Rally wheels and a power bulge hood. A 340/four-speed combo, this car is unrestored and shows 46,000 miles since. However, restoration expert Roger Gibson detailed it and noted it was a remarkable example of preservation and runs like a top.
If money were indeed no object, it would be hard to turn down the ultimate classic in a pre-war Duesenberg. On display in the main exhibition hall, it drew stares of appreciation and awe all week long. This car is well known in the exclusive air of Duesenberg museums and collections, first built for a young Hollywood actress at the height of the Depression, 1933. The car showcases the talents of 1930s-era West Coast coach builders Bohman & Schwartz and is literally art on wheels. Once we get it, all 153 inches of wheelbase, we will need a bigger garage, and some sort of platform so we can just look at it.
This car was auctioned for charity, and Mr. Petty showed up on Sunday afternoon to oversee its sale. This was for a good cause, and technically your accountant could probably deduct the donation. Starting with a GT, Petty’s Garage added a Whipple supercharger, modified the suspension, and added custom paint and interior accents. Before the hammer fell, Mr. Petty added the HAT right off his own head. Sold, Sold, SOLD!
We all like to have few bits and pieces to impress our visitors, so we could have probably added in some stuff from Mecum’s Road Art area after picking our 12 vehicles. This year, in addition to his vehicles, Don Fezell sold his immense parts collection, one that he began growing in the ‘70s. This included stuff like Chrysler cross-ram intakes, boxes of NOS components, dealership display stuff, and body panels. After looking it over, we think we will take that complete 1963 Z11 Impala aluminum conversion front end to display on the wall, please. Just add the $11,500 to our bill.
The post Car Craft’s Picks of the 2017 Mecum Kissimmee Auction appeared first on Hot Rod Network.