INDIANAPOLIS_From May 13-21, Dana Mecum’s 35th Original Spring Classic auction at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis was held before the famous annual race. The sale touted 3,000 collector vehicles, some of which came from 20 different collections on offer, plus 2,400 pieces of “Road Art” and memorabilia items.
Mecum Auctions touts the sale as its flagship event, and for good reason — the sheer quantity of cars and trucks, masses of which seemed to appear around every corner of the fairground buildings employed during the sale, and outside every exit of those buildings. The crowd was thick around the cars staged to cross the block, yet still not as crowded as around the bidder seating areas.
The top 10 sellers at the auction were led by the 1965 Brawner Hawk Ford “Dean Van Lines Special” Indy car ($2.2 million), followed by a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster ($1.375 million); 1965 Eagle Weslake Ford “Santa Ana” Indy car ($1.375 million); a single lot constituting a collection of 17 different Corvette pace cars ($1.375 million); a loaded 1969 Dodge Hemi Daytona, which set a new record for the model ($1.32 million); a 2019 Ford GT Carbon Series ($1.21 million); a 2020 Ford GT Mk II ($1.21 million); a 2020 Ford GT ($1.21 million); a 1965 Shelby 289 Cobra roadster ($1.1 million); and a 1971 Corvette ZR2 convertible ($962,500). The preceding prices include Mecum Auctions’ 10 percent buyer’s premium.
Old Cars was at Mecum Indy to cover sales on the types of vehicles listed in Old Cars Report Price Guide. Below are surveys of 22 of vehicles from Mecum Indy. Prices cited in the following surveys do not include the 10 percent buyer’s premium paid by the successful bidder.
1982 AMC Spirit DL GT 3d Fastback, Old Cars Price Guide cond. #3. SOLD at $17,000.
Unrestored with 16,000 miles. 258-cid six-cylinder, two-barrel, automatic transmission, AM/FM, air conditioning, tilt steering column, power steering, power disc brakes, window sticker. Olympic White with light brown rally stripe and caramel-colored vinyl bucket seats. AMC products seem to have a relatively low survival rate, and those from the 1980s that remain are often still working daily. Those factors combined to make this 1982 Spirit liftback survivor a truly rare example. Having been sold new in Florida helped explain its general lack of lower body corrosion. The body showed no signs of rust, not even in high areas where salt air can attack metal, and the
