A 2006 Ford GT with only seven miles on its odometer, a bright-red 1970 Plymouth Superbird with a 440 cid V8 and four-speed stickshift, and a 616-horsepower 2006 Calloway C16 Corvette – the first C16 convertible built by the custom-performance specialists – are some of the highlights of Mecum Auction’s sale at the Anaheim Convention Center from November 13-15.
About 750 muscle cars, street rods, classics, exotics and other popular collector cars will cross the block during the Southern California auction by Mecum, the Wisconsin auction company that calls itself the world’s largest seller of collector cars, motorcycles and automobilia. Mecum auctions average one per month with more than 15,000 vehicles sold annually, the company says.
The ultra-low-mileage Ford GT should attract plenty of attention, judging by recent sales of these “instant classic” sports coupes that have rung up $400,000-plus results at auction. At Mecum’s recent Chicago event, GTs ranked as the top three sellers, with a 2006 Heritage Edition painted in classic orange-and-blue Gulf racing livery reaching a remarkable $475,000, not including auction fees. The second- and third-place GTs hammered at $335,000 and $300,000, before fees.
Another highlight of the Anaheim auction is the restored Superbird, a rare high-performance version of the NASCAR homologated supercar with its towering rear wing, powered by the 440 V8 with triple two-barrel Holley carburetors. The award-winning Plymouth is documented by its original broadcast sheet.
The limited-production Callaway C16 Corvette, serial number 003, was built in 2007 to customer specifications and sports a custom body in Tangelo Orange with German-made Carbon Black interior. The engine is a 6-liter Calloway-modified LS3 with Eaton Rootes-type supercharger that generates 616 horsepower, connected with a six-speed manual transmission. The super Vette has traveled just 5,785 miles.
Other featured cars include a 1957 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, one of 630 produced in the first year of production, a 1954 Buick Skylark convertible and a 1940 Ford Deluxe Coupe street rod built by Lonnie Gilbertson and shown on the cover of Street Rod Builder magazine.
Portions of the three-day auction will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network with a live stream of the entire auction presented at Mecum.com. Automobilia auctions will precede each day of vehicle sales.
