Five to Watch at Mecum Indy

The Indy sale has a long history as a top performing event for Mecum. For years, Indy was where Mecum brought some of the best muscle and sports cars on its consignment list, and that’s helped to drive the event forward, even in the midst of a growing calendar of events and ever-more-impressive consignments appearing even at the regional level. 

Indy continues to be a huge performer, and this year is shaping up to be bigger than ever. Here are five early consignments to check out.

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Lot R444

1967 Chevrolet Corvette convertible

This may not seem like a very special car — it’s a 327/300 convertible in triple black with a 4-speed and a few good options, such as a hard top, power steering, headrests, etc. But it’s also one of just 815 Corvettes painted black in ’67, and better than that, it’s the final 1967 Corvette built — making it the final midyear Corvette ever produced.

The market loves firsts and lasts, especially when we’re talking about a popular model. It doesn’t get much more popular than a ’67 Corvette, and this one is in great overall shape, showing just 44,168 miles from new. It’s a numbers-matching NCRS Top Flight award winner, and it has Al Grenning/CCAS trim tag and engine block affirmation. In short, buyers can be confident that it is what it claims to be.

With the market still cooking on high heat, this will be an interesting Corvette to watch, as the value here falls down to condition and rarity — but not due to muscle performance, as you’d see in an L71 or L88.

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Lot R335

1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS/SS Pace Car convertible

While we’re talking about 1967 Chevrolets, check out this legit Pace Car. And when I say legit, I mean it actually paced the 1967 Indy 500. This is Pace Car #1, offered to A.J. Foyt after the race. He turned it down because it didn’t have a/c or a power top. Go figure. Of course, he won the race driving a Ford-powered car.

The Indy 500 was a big deal for GM — this was a place to put their then-new Camaro in front of a huge audience, so they cut no corners. GM Engineering downgraded it from its original 396/375-spec to a 396/325 setup for better reliability on race day, and all its suspension components were Magnafluxed and X-rayed prior to the race to ensure no embarrassing failures on live television.

This car then spent a number of years on display in a GM showroom, and has plenty of paperwork to back up its story. It’s also very original, including all its finishes and interior components.

Other than the one other backup car built to pace the 500 in ’67, every other 1967 Camaro Pace Car is a replica.

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Lot R451

1969 Dodge Hemi Daytona

When it comes to Chrysler’s winged wonders, there’s a hierarchy of scarcity. None of the Superbirds or Daytonas are common, but there were far fewer Daytonas than Superbirds built. And on top of that, there weren’t many Hemi-powered Daytonas built in the first place. Of the 70 Hemi Daytonas built in 1969, just 22 had the 4-speed manual. 

This F8 Dark Green Metallic example has a bunch of good options beyond the engine and transmission, including the Super Track Pack 4.10 Sure Grip rear axle, power steering, power disc brakes, center console with woodgrain, tach, AM/8-track, remove left-hand mirror, max cooling and more.

It’s said to have been an Arizona car that’s restored using its original sheet metal. 

With Mopars again on the rise in the market, this one should be instructive. 

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Lot R538

1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV

Is a late 1980s model the best Countach? Well, we can argue about that. But this is from the proper era of the poster car — in fact, that’s why current owner Asi Sheikh bought it. It was the match to the poster he had on his wall as a kid.

This car has just 16,018 kilometers on the clock and is said to be totally unrestored. It’s optioned with the rear wing — a must for most poster car kids-turned-collectors — and it comes with service records. All in all, it’s a lot better than most poster cars are, and that should translate to value here.

So, is the power of the poster going to keep things rolling through the middle of 2022? We’re about to find out.

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Lot R692

1935 Auburn 851SC Boattail Speedster

The Gordon Buehrig-designed 851 Boattail Speedster was launched in 1934, and it ended up being the final production model for Auburn.

The 851SC featured a Schwitzer-Cummins supercharger to help boost power — and it worked. Ab Jenkins took 70 records with a similar 851 in 1935, including 1,000 miles at Bonneville with an average speed of 102.77 mph.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the power of Full Classics in today’s market, and I think we’re going to see some of that here with this Auburn. The SC is a top-tier car for American pre-war collectors, and this one has some good history and a great overall condition.

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Mecum’s Indy sale takes place May 13-21. Learn more about the sale here.