Now in its third year, Mecum’s three day auction in Harrisburg included a lot of vehicles 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 1989 white Porsche 911 Speedster convertible with a blue interior and 11,000 miles was a no sale bid up to $160,000) 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, July 21st:
- 1981 light brown/dark brown two-tone Jeep J20 pickup truck with a tan interior, 360 cubic inch V8, and 28,000 miles—$5,500 hammer price for this unusual truck.
- 1984 white Buick Riviera Olympic Commemorative Edition coupe with a gray cloth interior, 307 cubic inch V8, and 23,000 miles—an ouch! at $4,000. Hagerty’s valuation tools see this as below #3 money.
- 1989 red Chevrolet C1500 custom pickup truck with a red interior —$11,000 for this truck which Pocono Raceway used as a support/track vehicle on NASCAR event weekends.
- 1986 red Jeep CJ-7 Laredo SUV with a black top and a black interior—$8,500
- 1987 black Buick Grand National coupe with a gray interior—at $20,000, 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 black Buick Riviera coupe with a gray interior, 307 cubic inch V8, and 83,000 miles—$2,000. Eighties Rivieras were getting killed in the early portion of this auction.
- 1981 blue Pontiac Firebird Trans Am coupe with a blue interior, 305 cubic inch V8, and a four-speed manual—$13,000
- 1985 black Chevrolet El Camino mild custom pickup truck with a gray interior—$4,000
- 1988 white Chevrolet K5 Blazer SUV with a gray interior—$6,500
- 1983 black Chevrolet C10 mild custom pickup truck with a black interior—$12,500
- 1980 red Pontiac Firebird Trans Am coupe with a tan interior, 301 cubic inch V8, automatic, and 91,000 miles—$11,000
- [one year early] 1979 white Lincoln Continental Mark V coupe with a cream interior and 25,000 miles—$7,000
- 1981 red Chevrolet Corvette custom convertible (yep, that would make it custom) with a red interior and a four-speed manual—$18,000
- 1985 silver green Alfa-Romeo Spider Graduate Edition convertible with a black top, black interior, a five-speed manual, and 39,000 miles—$8,500
- 1987 red Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z coupe with a gray interior and 22,000 miles—$13,000 for this well preserved car with the 215 bhp TPI/automatic combination.
- 1986 black/silver two-tone Chevrolet El Camino mild custom pickup truck with a gray interior and a 350 cubic inch V8 crate motor—$10,000
- 1985 white Ford Ranger custom pickup truck with a gray interior and 302 cubic inch V8—$7,500
- 1988 blue Oldsmobile stock car raced relatively successfully by Butch Miller in the Busch Series—$5,000. In general, race cars seem to do poorly at auction.
Friday, July 22nd:
- 1980 orange Chevrolet Camaro Z28 custom coupe with tan interior, 350 cubic inch V8, and four-speed manual—$10,000
- 1988 burgundy Ford Bronco custom SUV with a gray interior—$5,000
- [one year early] 1979 sand Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II sedan with a beige interior—$25,000
- 1988 red Cadillac Eldorado Designer Edition coupe with a tan interior, 4.5 liter V8, and 13,000 miles—$9,500. This same car sold at the same auction in 2015 for $10,500.
- 1985 red Jeep CJ-7 Laredo custom SUV with a red interior and five-speed manual—$17,000
- 1987 white Land Rover Defender SUV with a black interior, 2.5 liter turbo diesel, and five-speed manual—$27,500
- [one year early] 1979 black and gold Pontiac Firebird Trans Am coupe with a black interior, a 403 cubic inch V8, and an automatic—$25,000
- 1983 red Aurora Cobra convertible with a black interior, a V8, and a four-speed manual—$31,000 for this Shelby replica.
- 1989 maroon Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z coupe with a tan interior—another car with the 215 bhp TPI/automatic combo, but, at $6,500, half the price of the 1987 sold on Thursday.
- 1984 red Jeep CJ-7 Renegade mild custom SUV with a black interior, 4.2 liter inline 6, and a three-speed manual—$15,000
- 1987 maroon Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA coupe with a tan cloth interior and 6,300 miles—$17,500 for another well-kept F-body with the 215 bhp TPI/automatic combo.
- [one year early] 1979 silver/charcoal two-tone Pontiac Firebird Tenth Anniversary Trans Am mild custom coupe with a silver interior, a four-speed manual, and 51,000 miles—$33,000
- [one year early] 1979 silver/charcoal two-tone Pontiac Firebird Tenth Anniversary Trans Am coupe with a silver interior, an automatic, and 40,000 miles—$20,500
- 1987 black Buick Grand National coupe with a gray interior and 2,900 miles—at $46,000, by far the highest eighties vehicle sale of this auction. According to Hagerty’s valuation tools, this is just a little below #1 money, but only a third of what a GNX in the same shape will fetch.
- [one year early] another 1979 silver/charcoal two-tone Pontiac Firebird Tenth Anniversary Trans Am coupe with a silver interior, an automatic, and 17,000 miles—$21,500
- 1983 burgundy Porsche 911 very custom convertible with burgundy interior, a steel “slant nose” conversion, a Paxton supercharger, a five-speed manual, and 44,000 miles—$24,000 for this car that in no way resembles its original configuration.
- 1985 brown/tan two-tone Chevrolet K20 custom pickup truck with a charcoal interior, a 5.7 liter V8, and four-speed manual. $22,000 for this replica of the truck featured in Lee Majors’ Fall Guy television show.
- 1984 blue GMC Sierra custom pickup truck with a blue interior, a 5.3 liter Vortec V8, and an automatic—$13,500
- 1987 black Buick Grand National coupe with a gray interior and 44,000 miles—$19,000
Saturday, July 23rd:
- 1983 red, white, and blue Honda CB1100F motorcycle—$2,800
- 1988 white Jeep CJ-8 custom SUV with substantial real oak “woody” touches inside and out and a canvas top—$18,000
- 1982 gold Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible with a brown interior, both tops, and 49,000 miles—$12,500
- 1980 black MGB Limited Edition convertible with a tan interior, four-speed manual, and 20,000 miles—$20,500
- 1985 gray Buick Riviera coupe with a gray interior, 307 cubic inch V8, and 16,000 miles—$14,000. Why did this Riviera do so much better than the two coupes on Thursday?
- 1981 black Chevrolet Corvette coupe with a tan interior and an automatic—$11,000
- 1980 black and gold Pontiac Trans Am custom coupe with a tan interior, an LS V8, and an automatic—$22,000 buys one late second-generation Trans Am that is likely as fast as those iconic looks imply.
F-cars, SUVs, and trucks looked strong at this auction. What do you think of the results?
Eighties Cars 