Eighties Vehicles at the 2015 Mecum Harrisburg

In its second year, Mecum’s three day auction in Harrisburg included a lot of cars and trucks from the 1980s—fully 9% of the lots. As always, I’ll concentrate on the cars and trucks that actually sold (remember that this is not a no reserve auction—a 1981 blue Porsche 930 Turbo coupe with 47,000 miles was a no sale bid up to $75,000) and add some of my opinions. Where I have covered the specific year and model of a car in this blog, I link to it.

Thursday:

• 1985 black Jaguar XJ6 sedan with a tan interior and 77,000 miles—$5,000 hammer price for this handsome Series III car.
• 1981 white Chevrolet Camaro Z28 coupe with a blue interior and 71,000 miles—$6,500 for a somewhat beat-up example of the breed.
• 1984 yellow Chevrolet 1500 custom pickup truck with a tan interior, a crate engine, and air ride—$10,250
• 1981 champagne Rolls-Royce Silver Spur sedan with a chocolate interior—an ouch! at $5,500; Hagerty’s valuation tools see this as below #4 money.
• 1982 white Cadillac Eldorado coupe with a blue interior and 70,000 miles—$4,000
• 1986 black Buick Regal custom coupe with a black interior and a 609 bhp turbocharged V6—$15,500
• 1988 white Chevrolet Corvette 35th Anniversary coupe with the Z52 “sporty” suspension, that white Cadillac leather, and 83,000 miles—$8,250
• 1981 beige/dark bronze two-tone Chevrolet Corvette coupe with a camel interior—$10,500 for this first year Bowling Green car.
• 1989 blue with woodgrain side panels Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV with 68,000 miles—$14,000
• 1987 white/blue two-tone Dodge Ramcharger LE SUV with a blue interior—$6,000
• 1985 red GMC High Sierra 1500 pickup truck with a red interior, the 4.3 liter V6, four wheel drive, and 29,000 miles—$12,500
• 1984 white Jaguar XJS coupe with a tan interior—$4,000 for this set of electrical problems waiting to happen.
• 1987 white/blue two-tone Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck with a blue interior and 13,000 miles—$16,000
• 1983 red Porsche 911SC coupe with a black interior, five-speed manual transmission, and 79,000 miles—$29,000
• 1989 white Pontiac 20th Anniversary Turbo Firebird Trans Am coupe with a tan interior and 10,000 miles—$23,500 for this one-owner car.
• 1986 blue Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z coupe with a gray interior, the LB9 5.0 liter tuned port injection V8, and 7,000 miles—$13,000 for this sharp looking car.
• 1986 silver beige/medium brown two-tone Chevrolet Corvette coupe with a bronze interior and 3,300 miles—$12,000
• 1989 blue/gray two-tone Ford Mustang GT 5.0 hatchback with a gray interior, a four-speed manual transmission, and 2,600 miles—$13,500
• 1987 black Buick Grand National coupe with a gray interior and 95,000 miles—$18,000 for a Grand National that was actually driven. This is also 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.
• 1987 medium gray Chevrolet Camaro coupe with a gray interior, a 5.0 liter LG4 V8 with 4-barrel carburetor, and 20,000 miles—$6,000
• 1983 black/tan two-tone Lincoln Mark VI Bill Blass Edition coupe with tan interior—$3,500
• 1983 gold Chrysler LeBaron Mark Cross Edition convertible with a brown interior and 51,000 miles—$5,000
• 1986 blue Jeep CJ-7 Renegade SUV with a black interior and 30,000 miles—$19,000

Friday:

• 1985 red Peterbilt 359 Day Cab truck with a gray interior, air suspension, and 800,000 miles—$39,000
• 1980 red BMW 320i coupe with tan interior and a five-speed manual transmission—$11,000
• 1982 red Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible with a tan interior and 32,000 miles—$15,000
• 1989 black Toyota LJ-70 Land Cruiser with a blue interior, a  turbo-diesel, and a five-speed manual transmission—$9,500
• 1980 gold Triumph TR8 mild custom convertible with a black interior and a five-speed manual transmission—$12,500 for what was probably the most interesting eighties car at this auction.
• 1980 blue Jeep custom SUV with a black interior—$24,000
• 1989 gray Mercedes-Benz 560SL convertible with a gray interior, hardtop, and  67,000 miles—$24,000
• 1987 black Buick GNX coupe with a gray interior, the rare sunroof, and 48,000 miles—at $69,000, the highest eighties vehicle sale of the auction.
• 1987 red Chevrolet Corvette Callaway coupe with a graphite interior, the Z52 suspension, and the correct Dymag wheels—$14,000
• 1988 red Chevrolet Corvette Corvette Challenge race car (#36: Bill Cooper) with a black interior and 8,600 miles—$13,000. Will Corvette Challenge cars ever bring real money?

Saturday:

• 1987 black with woodgrain side panels Jeep Grand Wagoneer SUV with a tan interior—$8,000
• 1983 maroon Jeep Scrambler pickup truck—$19,000
• 1984 silver/black two-tone Oldsmobile Hurst/Olds coupe with a red interior, those lightning rod shifters, and 688 miles—$32,000
• 1988 red Cadillac Eldorado Designer Edition coupe with a tan interior and 13,000 miles—$10,500. These fairly unsuccessful ninth-generation Eldorados seem to have at least some fans.
• 1989 red Mercedes-Benz 560SL convertible with a black interior and 72,000 miles—$19,500
• 1985 gray Buick Riviera coupe with a gray interior and 5,000 miles—$15,500 is about $5,000 over what Hagerty thinks is all the money for an ’85 Riv non T-Type coupe.
• 1987 white Buick Regal T-Type coupe with a blue interior and 17,000 miles—$23,000 for this unassuming looking car.
• 1987 black Land Rover Defender custom SUV with a black interior, a turbo diesel, and a five-speed manual transmission—$33,000
• 1985 gold Chevrolet C10 custom pickup truck with a tan interior and a 454 cubic inch V8—$16,000
• 1983 red Porsche 911 convertible with a brown interior, a slant nose, a wide body, and 77,000 miles—$33,000

What do you think of this auction’s results?