Featured Gallery
In just a few weeks, Mecum Auctions will be selling off cars at its Kissimmee, Fla., event, and there will be some truly amazing machines available. We’ve rounded up six lots of vehicles that are some of the rarest and most interesting examples of their respective makes. Click on to see the different lots, and if you have the scratch, maybe consider signing up to bid at the auction that occurs Jan. 3-13.
Mecum Auctions
Arguably the highest of this auction’s highlights is the 1965 Ford GT Competition Prototype Roadster GT/109. Just about any original Ford GT40 is a special car, but this is particularly attention-getting for its lack of a roof. These models were particularly rare, and this is one of only two surviving roadsters, according to Mecum. On top of that, it’s the only roadster to have raced at Le Mans, having entered the 1965 24-hour race. Unfortunately it dropped out after the 11th lap with gearbox trouble. The car recently underwent a three-year restoration commissioned by current owner Dana Mecum. It features the original 289-cubic inch engine courtesy of Carroll Shelby who gave the engine to former owner Dean Jeffries. The car won second in class at Pebble Beach in 2016, further adding to its great history.
Mecum Auctions
Being sold as a pair are these two early-’60s Chevy Corvettes. The one on the left is a 1963 Corvette convertible that was built by GM Design for design legend Harley Earl. It featured an array of special touches such as exhaust piping exiting the front fenders and leading into side pipes, and a custom interior with blue and white leather. The dashboard has a massive array of gauges including altimeter, accelerometer, oil temperature gauge, vacuum gauge, and interior and exterior thermometers. Under the hood is a carbureted 327-cubic-inch small block Chevy V8. Earl drove the car for two years and even used it as a parade car at the 1965 Daytona 500.
The car on the right is a 1964 Corvette Coupe built by GM Design for also-legendary designer Bill Mitchell. This one is more subtle, but has its own unique touches. In particular, it has triple taillights on each side of the car, plus a custom grille made to match the fender vents. The entire interior is blue leather matched to the exterior color, and under the hood is a small block V8 coupled to a three-speed Turbo Hydramatic automatic transmission. It’s controlled by a shifter designed to look like the same one in the Mitchell-designed ’60s Buick Riviera.
Mecum Auctions
Possibly the strangest of the cars featured here is this 1970 Ford Torino King Cobra prototype. According to Mecum, it’s one of three prototypes built to counter the aerodynamic Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Road Runner Superbird in NASCAR, with this example portraying a possible homologation model for consumers. But Ford pulled its factory backing from NASCAR, and thus shelved the project. This one is the only one of the three that had a manual transmission. Under the hood is a Boss 429 engine, which replaces the original Cobra Jet 429. It also comes with the original bill of sale from Ford to Bud Moore Engineering, the Ford racing team that bought it.
Mecum Auctions
A lot of Shelby Cobras go for auction every year, but this one, model CSX2588, has a particularly special claim to fame. It’s the last of the 289 models that was sold to the public, with the following one, CSX2589, going directly to the Shelby family. It’s also the last one with a manual transmission, since 2589 was built specifically for Carroll with an automatic. This special Cobra also features matching numbers on the body, chassis, engine and drivetrain.
Mecum Auctions
This is one of the kings of the Corvette line, and the originator of the Z06 code for today’s high-po Vettes. This 1963 Z06 is one of 199 ever built. It has the 360-horsepower fuel-injected 327-cubic inch V8 coupled to a four-speed manual transmission with a limited slip differential and a 3.70 final drive ratio. The package also added upgraded springs, shocks, a thicker front anti-roll bar, finned brake drums with air ducting and a dual-circuit brake master cylinder. Mecum notes that this particular Z06 is unique for having the optional 36-gallon gas tank. So this one was either ready for long road trips or the occasional endurance race.
Mecum Auctions
We round out our list with one more Chevy icon, the Camaro ZL1. Like the previous Z06, this car’s moniker has come around today for the hottest road-going Camaros. Back in the day, though, the ZL1 featured a naturally aspirated aluminum 427-cubic-inch V8. That’s roughly 800 CC more than the current ZL1’s supercharged V8. According to Mecum, this ZL1 recently completed a five-year restoration. The big V8 is coupled to a Muncie four-speed manual transmission and has power front disc brakes.
Mecum Auctions