MECUM KISSIMMEE 2020
IT WAS JANUARY. That meant the New Year’s Eve hangovers had finally dissipated and collective minds had swiveled back toward normal concerns, like cars of the past. That’s why Mecum’s first sale of 2020 was so significant. The Midwest auction giant’s opening event of the year in Kissimmee, Florida, was a chance to shake off the cobwebs and do some serious buying, this time with the whole world looking on, thanks to the presence of the actual 1968 Ford Mustang that Steve McQueen immortalized in Bullitt as the unquestioned star of the sale. That car brought more than $3.7 million, a world record for Ford Mustangs, and one of the highest amounts ever paid for a muscle car at auction.
That sale price for the Bullitt car incidentally erased the previous Mustang record, which was also set by Mecum at last year’s Kissimmee auction when a 1967 Shelby G.T. 500 Super Snake rang the bell for $2.2 million. McQueen’s ride was a long way from being the only highly appealing performance piece seeking a buyer at Osceola Heritage Park. More than 2,100 of the claimed 3,500 vehicles offered in Kissimmee were sold, representing more than $105 million and a 66-percent sell-through rate. Among muscle cars, more than 500 found new homes, with sales topping $36 million and a sell-through rate of 61 percent.
