Mecum’s April auction at Houston provided some interesting fodder for commentary. I’ll concentrate on the 1980s cars and trucks that actually sold (remember that this is not a no reserve auction) and add some of my opinions.
Thursday:
- 1987 beige/brown two-tone Dodge Ramcharger SUV—$7,500 hammer price. There were a lot of trucks at Houston, so kicking off with one for the 1980s vehicles fits.
- 1983 black Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible—$6,500 means that 380SLs don’t seem to do nearly as well as the later 560SLs.
- 1983 John Deere Green Toyota FJ-40 SUV—FJ-40s are really strong right now and at $20,000 this one was the first vehicle in this auction to meet my criteria for serious 1980s collectability of original cars or trucks: selling for equal to or above its original base list price. I’ll mark these vehicles in bold green.
- 1985 Silver/Gray two-tone Chevrolet Corvette mild custom coupe—$8,500
- 1981 Dark Blue Chevrolet Camaro Z28 coupe with 55,000 miles—$20,000. These late second-generation Camaros continue to sell for good numbers. According to Hagerty’s valuation tools, all the money for an 1981 Z28 in #1 condition is $25,400.
- 1988 Apple Red Chevrolet K5 Blazer SUV—$13,000
- 1986 Nero (black) Ferrari Mondial convertible—at $17,000 (about a quarter of the original base price), the Mondial remains the eighties Ferrari stepchild (along with the 400, of course).
- 1982 Silver Beige Chevrolet Corvette Collector Edition coupe—$13,500
- 1985 white Chevrolet K5 Blazer SUV with 25,000 miles—$19,000
- 1988 gray/blue two-tone Chevrolet K5 Blazer SUV with 92,000 miles—$13,000
Friday:
- 1981 silver (Of course! All but two …) DeLorean DMC-12 coupe with less than 5,000 miles—$26,000
- 1980 White Chevrolet Corvette coupe with four speed manual transmission—$9,500
- 1982 red Jaguar XJ-S Koenig Special coupe—at $7,000, ouch! The bodywork of this “factory special” is definitely an acquired taste, but the parts alone have got to be worth more than $7,000.
- 1985 white Chevrolet K10 pickup truck—$16,000
- 1981 Charcoal Gray Chevrolet Camaro Z28 coupe with 15,000 miles—$16,000
- 1985 Black Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z coupe with 7 miles—$34,000 is evidently the price for a brand new 1985 IROC-Z, plastic still covering the interior, front spoiler never installed.
- 1982 Silver Beige Chevrolet Corvette Collector Edition coupe with 2,000 miles—$21,500
- 1981 Autumn Red/Dark Claret two-tone Chevrolet Corvette coupe—$13,500
- 1981 blue Chevrolet Camaro Z28 very custom coupe—$32,500
- 1985 black Porsche 930 Turbo coupe—at $40,500, the highest priced stock eighties car in this auction, but not quite getting back to its original $48,000 base price.
- 1986 yellow Pontiac Fiero GT “resto-mod” coupe with supercharged V6—$8,000
Saturday:
- 1985 white BMW 635 CSi coupe—$18,000
What do you think of this auction’s results?
Eighties Cars 