As the Pandemic fades in the rear view mirror, life in many places in the United States has been returning to normal. It has been quite common in the last year to read about prices soaring in many collectibles during the pandemic. While shipping baseball cards and comics is rather easy, many car collectors need to be able to see and touch a car before the spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on a special collectors car.

Mecum is hosting its regular auctions in 2021. With much of the country now vaccinated, it is anticipated that the turnouts will be much stronger with many more people willing to travel and stay in hotels again. The May 14 to May 22 Mecum car auction is set for the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Collectors Dashboard took a look through the massive listings, with a focus on the “Main Attraction” and “Star” cars listed in this massive 2,500 car auction. It is not Mecum’s largest auction of them all, but this is currently expected to be the largest Mecum auction for the rest of 2021.

The large number of cars is making for the diversity of old versus new and making for a broad diversity in classics, one-of-a-kind, muscle cars and so on. This event is expected to draw a large group of bidders live at the shows and online. Many of the “Star” cars and others are also listed as “No Reserve” auctions. While this view does include the estimates of each car, some listings have a note to inquire for estimates.

All auctions come with surprises. It is not rare for some cars to be auctioned off at prices under the estimate, assuming the reserve has been met. It is also not uncommon to see some surprises to the upside where some cars just fetch much more than expected.

Mecum Auctions has strong expectations for Indy. The Houston, Texas event is a much smaller event based on the number of cars. Its aggregate $21 million in sales over a 3-day period was 43% higher than in 2020. That auction also saw 86% of the 726 offered vehicles sell and that was up 40% from a year earlier.

As with other collectibles, scarcity and condition play a huge role in collector cars. The popularity or historical significance of a vehicle can also play a huge role, particularly if a car was owned by someone famous.

The full action site has a much more expanded list of cars that can be viewed directly on their site. These are some of the major cars listed for the auction.

1969 FORD BRONCO ‘BIG OLY’
A ‘Parnelli Jones’ Baja 1000 Winner 1971-72 with a 351/390 HP engine, Automatic Transmission, and Gold/White/Black color. Estimate: CALL

1964 COOPER MONACO TYPE 61 SPORT RACER CM 3-64
1 of 6 produced
Estimate: $295,000 – $375,000

1963 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06/N03 SPLIT WINDOW COUPE
Bloomington Gold Certified, Duntov Mark of Excellence
Estimate: $425,000 – $475,000

2019 FORD GT LIGHTWEIGHT
18 miles, Rare 600A Lightweight Package
Estimate: $950,000 – $1,100,000

1931 CADILLAC SERIES 452A V-16 COACH SILL CONVERTIBLE COUPE
Built For and Featured at the Chicago Auto Salon
Estimate: $900,000 – $1,100,000

1965 SHELBY GT350R FASTBACK
289/325 HP 4-Speed Wimbledon White with Black interior
Estimate: $1,000,000 – $1,100,000

1934 PACKARD 1108 TWELVE DIETRICH INDIVIDUAL CUSTOM CONVERTIBLE SEDAN
1 of 12 Known to Exist, Multiple-Award Winner
Estimate: $1,200,000 – $1,500,000

2020 FORD GT MKII
15 Miles, One-Off Ken Miles Livery
Estimate $1,600,000 – $1,700,000

1930 DUESENBERG MODEL SJ ROLLSTON CONVERTIBLE VICTORIA J-272/ 2293,
Supercharged, Purchased new by Paul Whiteman
Estimate: $2,750,000 – $3,250,000

1957 SHELBY 427 S/C COBRA ROASTER CSX3042
1 of 27 Produced
Estimate: $3,500,000 – $4,000,000

1936 DUESENBERG MODEL J ROLLSTON CONVERTIBLE BERLINE J-586/261
The Final Duesenberg Show Car
Estimate: $3,500,000 – $4,000,000