Mecum will return in 2020 to Kissimmee, Florida, to host a 1000-car live auction on the 27-29th August. The event will be held at the Osceola Heritage Park grounds where health and safety protocols that exceed national standards being adhered to. There will be enhanced bidding options including in-person, online and via telephone.
Highlights of the auction line-up will be the 14-car collection of auto enthusiast, Marty Nelson. Standouts of the collection include a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS Z28, a Nassau Blue 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible with Hurst shifter, and a 1938 LaSalle Coupe Street Rod.
In addition to the Marty Nelson collection, another highlight will be the auction of a B5 Blue Fire Metallic 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona. Being one of only 503 produced, the boldly styled aero-warrior was built in 1969, and hides a 440 CI V-8 engine beneath the hood which is mated to the car’s TorqueFlite automatic transmission.
440 CI, 1 of 503 Produced / Source Mecum
1968 Chevrolet Camaro RS Z28
In the wake of the trail left by Ford in 1965, Chevrolet was without an option but to develop a car to compete in the market against the Ford Mustang and Dodge Charger.
It took the better part of two years before Chevrolet unveiled the concept car for the Chevrolet Camaro; a front-engine rear-wheel drive, two-door hardtop with a powerful engine under the hood.
At the time, Chevrolet had a myriad of powerful performance engines and was widely known for it, inevitably, Ford had strong competition. About eight different engines were used in the Camaro for 1967, 10 in 1968 and 12 in 1969, ranging from a 3.6L straight-6 engine to the top of the line 7.0L V8, and all were mated to quite a number of transmissions also.
There was a myriad of option and appearance packages available to the consumers for the three years of production of the first generation of the Camaro.
The RS was an appearance package that came with hidden headlights, back-up lights under the rear bumper, RS badging, reverse tail light and exterior bright colours.
The Z28 performance package was a further modification of the Camaro to compete in the SCCA Trans-Am series. It had a solid lifter 302 cubic inches (4.9 litres) V8 mated to a 4-speed manual transmission and stripes on the hood and trunk lid.
302/290 HP, 4-Speed / Source: Mecum
The Z28 Camaro,which was conceived by Vince Piggins, was a race car direct from the factory.
It had a 4.9 litre V8, a Muncie 4-speed manual close-ratio transmission. The engine had an aluminium intake manifold, a four-barrel Holley carburettor of 780 cfm.
The whole package was designed specifically to meet the Trans-Am series regulations which is why the engine was 4.9L in displacement as this was the maximum allowed in the series.
Chevrolet advertised the vehicle as producing 296 horsepower at 5300 RPM, however, this was not true. A vehicle produced 360 horsepower or 400 horsepower at 6800 to 7000 RPM depending on whether it was a single 4 barrel carburetors on a dual 4 barrel carburetors respectively.
The 1968 Camaro was similar to the 1967 design. A few changes were made like the addition of side marker lights on the front and the rear fenders which were a government requirement for all 1968 vehicles. The 1968 Z28 Camaro is easily identified because they carry the emblem “Z28″boldly on the fenders instead of the “302”on the 1967 model.
More information on the 1968 Camaro being auctioned can be found at Mecum website.
1938 LaSalle Series 50 Coupe
In the 1920s, General Motors wanted to add companion cars to each of their divisions namely; Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile and Oakland.
At the top of the line, for the Cadillac there was the LaSalle, for the Buick there was Marquette, the Oldsmobile had Viking and at the bottom, Oakland had Pontiac; which is the only surviving of the four groups till today. These companion cars shared parts and platforms with their sister cars, the Cadillacs and others.
The LaSalles were an astonishing work of art. To commence the production of LaSalles, General Motors employed the services of Harley J. Earl as the design engineer.
The beautiful design of the LaSalle elevated him to the position of director of design for all General Motors products, as it was arguably the most beautiful of any American production for the 1927 model year. Harley J.Earl went on to serve at GM for about 32 years as the director of design.
By 1938, more than 10 years since its debut, the LaSalle had experienced two redesigns. The first took place during the Great Depression of the 1930s and was an economical move that required them to move the last cell from the Cadillac two-door Oldsmobile platform in order to save production cost and lower consumer-price. It also used the Oldsmobile Straight 8 power plant.
The second redesign had the LaSalle move back to the Cadillac platform as the economy began to pick up again.
500 CI, Automatic / Source: Mecum
The 1938 LaSalle shared a great resemblance to the Cadillac series 60. This was because it shared a lot of components with the car of which some were the elliptic leaf spring rear suspension, the Hotchkiss drive, the front coil spring independent suspension and the same but slightly detuned V8 engine from the Cadillac (from 340 cubic inches to 322 cubic inches) which produced 125 horsepower at 3400 rpm.
The 1938 LaSalle Series was very similar to the 1937 models with only a few notable changes. In the front, the egg-crate grille style remained the same but was two inches wider. The horns were mounted just behind the grille and the battery location changed. The headlights were mounted lower which caused the hood louvres to become longer more prominent and had an “alligator” front opening style.
The interior upgrades from the 1937 model included a total redesign of the dashboard and the gear selector was also moved to the steering column from the floor. All models showcased Fleetwood’s bodywork and rear-hinged front doors. Cadillac’s standard of quality and luxury were still rated as outstanding. The exquisitely furnished interior was carried over from the previous model year.
The coupes of the 1938 model were one of the rarest LaSalles ever produced with only 819 running off the production line. More information about this unique cars auction details may be found at Mecum.
Auction Details for Mecum Kissimmee 2020
The auction will be open to the public for participation with advanced bidder registration highly encouraged and is available online. If you are not able to attend in person it is possible to register for internet and/or telephone bidding. Doors will open each day at 8 a.m. with the vehicle auction beginning daily at 10 a.m. NBC Sports Network will be broadcasting parts of the auction.
To view the the complete auction list, visit Mecum.com.
