Road Art Primed to Set Records

Looking to bring more style to your garage space? Here’s your chance.

From June 20-25, Mecum Auctions will host what it’s calling the world’s largest road art auction in the company’s hometown of Walworth, WI. An estimated 3,000 items will be on offer, from neon to tin and wooden signs, gas pumps, globes, pedal cars, posters and more.

Automobilia (or road art) has become a big business for companies such as Mecum, but this is the largest such event yet scheduled — and it should prove to be one of the highest-grossing.

Among the headliners is a 1940s-era Rocco and Cheater’s Speed Shop Double Sided Tin Neon Sign from a repair shop that opened in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944 and became a popular local racing destination. The sign is 10 feet by 4 feet in size and has two different colors of neon.

A 1950s porcelain neon sign for Sam’s Auto Parts will also star here, featuring a 1950s Cadillac that’s crashed into a wall and has a wrecked front end, flat tire and a neon headlight that blinks. It measures out at 11 feet by 8.5 feet.

If those aren’t quite large enough for you, the Wolf Chevrolet single-sided neon bowtie sign is nearly 30 feet long and features two colors of neon — just the thing for a Chevrolet fan with a lot of available real estate.

Other special items include a set of 1960s-1970s Baruffaldi Italian glasses that, according to Barbara McQueen, were owned and worn by late actor Steve McQueen while driving his motorcycles and sports cars and while flying his planes. The set includes clear, yellow and smoked switchable lenses, a carrying case and a certificate of authenticity signed by Barbara McQueen.