photos by: the author
As much as we highlight Mecum Auctions‘ lots in our magazine on a regular basis, your author personally never had the opportunity to cover the coveted classic car auction prior to this year’s Harrisburg event. Chalk it up to scheduling conflicts, missed opportunities or a lack of manpower, we were finally able to commit to a Mecum event relatively local to us!
Spanning an entire three days, from July 30 – August 1st, the show was filled with plenty of fun, excitement and some of the most beautiful cars in the world – all up for grabs through the hosted auction. The highlights include our Top Ten that you can read about here, among many, many others.
What ultimately surprised even us, was the vast array of vehicles that were available for bidding; from councours-restored classics, to full-tilt pro-touring machines and everything in between, there was certainly a car for everyone. Among our favorites was the one-off ’69 Camaro Z/28 that left the factory in a hue of Evening Orchid and without the usual rally racing stripes and the ever-so-popular cowl induction hood.
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- This 2,000-mile ’79 Trans Am SE didn’t sell on the block, but eventually sold once the seller and the bidder came to an agreement of $52,000.
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- Probably one of shockers of the show, this 16,000-mile ’78 Trans Am SE brought in just over $80,000 once the hammer dropped. Big bucks for a smog-era T/A, but ultimately, the seller essentially lost some cash on the deal.
We also caught a glimpse of a pair of Bandit-era Trans Am Special Editions; one with just over 2,000 miles that sold for $52,000 and another, fresh out of a reported $80,000 rotisserie restoration, bring in enough to cover the cost of the resto. It’s certainly a lot of cash for a late-’70s Trans Am, but we have a feeling the seller wasn’t too happy about losing money on that deal!
We couldn’t get a moment alone with this car, no matter how hard we tried! Pretty much everyone at the show came to evaluate the one-off Evening Orchid ’69 Z/28.
However, despite some of our personal favorites, there were ten cars that resulted in bringing in the highest bids of the show. Those cars were:
- 1968 Shelby GT500KR Convertible (Lot S25, $190,000)
- 1931 Bugatti Royale Replica (Lot F212, $147,500)
- 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe (Lot S138.1, $138,000)
- 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (Lot S186, $132,000)
- 1957 Ford Thunderbird (Lot S174, $127,500)
- 1968 Shelby GT500KR Fastback (Lot S26, $120,000)
- 1941 Packard 110 Station Wagon (Lot S173, $120,000)
- 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (Lot S250, $115,000)
- 2015 Ford Mustang Stage 2 (Lot F172, $102,500)
- 1970 Shelby GT500 Fastback (Lot S121, $94,000)
But no matter where we turned, there were collector vehicles everywhere! Held in three separate buildings and covering a large area of the parking lot outside beneath a tent, spectators, tire kickers, collectors and wholesalers were on hand to mingle, bid and hopefully, take home the car of their choice. Perhaps several, in some cases. It was certainly an experience, and we highly recommend Mecum Auctions for your next collector car purchase or sale. Until next time!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
