Eighties Vehicles at the 2017 Mecum Kansas City

The March auction at Mecum Kansas City provided some interesting fodder for commentary. I’ll concentrate on the at least fairly stock 1980s cars (and a few trucks) that sold (remember that this is not a no reserve auction—a black 1987 Buick GNX coupe with black/gray cloth seats was a no sale bid up to $42,500) and add some of my opinions. Eighties vehicles were about 9% of the lots in this auction.

Friday, March 24th:

• 1983 brown/tan Datsun 280ZX coupe with a tan interior, seats obscured by seat covers, a 145 bhp 2.8 liter/168 cubic inch inline six with Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection, an automatic, and 75,000 miles—$7,500 hammer price.
• 1980 red Chevrolet Camaro Z28 mild custom coupe with a black interior, a modified V8, and an automatic—$13,000
• 1982 white Chevrolet Corvette coupe with red leather seats, a 200 bhp L83 “Cross-Fire” 5.7 liter/350 cubic inch V8 with throttle-body fuel injection, and an automatic (no other engine or transmission options in 1982)—$13,000 for this car in the Corvette heritage colors.
• 1989 blue/gray two-tone Ford F150 pickup truck with a blue cloth bench seat, a 150 bhp 4.9 liter/300 cubic inch inline six with fuel injection, and a five-speed manual—$7,500
• 1988 black Ford F250 XLT Lariat pickup truck with a gray interior, a 7.5 liter/460 cubic inch V8, and an automatic—$8,000
• 1981 wine red metallic Porsche 928 coupe with black leather seats, a 231 bhp 4.5 liter/273 cubic inch V8 with fuel injection, and an automatic—$9,000
• 1984 red Chevrolet C10 pickup truck with a red vinyl bench seat, a 5.7 liter/350 cubic inch V8, and an automatic—$13,000
• 1985 white Buick Riviera convertible with a red top, red leather seats, a 190 bhp 3.8 liter/231 cubic V6 with a turbocharger and fuel injection, an automatic, and 61,000 miles—$18,000 for this rare car, one of 49 Riviera convertibles built with the turbo engine in 1985. This was the highest eighties vehicle sale of Friday.

  

• 1983 gray Chevrolet Suburban custom SUV with a black and gray interior, a 350 cubic inch V8, an automatic, and 67,000 miles—$6,000
• 1981 gold Pontiac Firebird Trans Am coupe with a light sandstone interior, a 150 bhp L37 4.9 liter/301 cubic inch V8 with Rochester four-barrel carburetor, and an automatic—at $14,000 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.
• 1988 red/cream two-tone GMC Suburban 2500 SUV with red cloth seats, a 7.4 liter/454 cubic inch V8, and an automatic—$6,750
• 1989 red Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z mild custom convertible with a black top, gray cloth seats, a 305 cubic inch V8, and an automatic—$8,000

Saturday, March 25th:

• 1983 dark blue Chevrolet K10 Silverado custom pickup truck with a gray interior, a 350 cubic inch V8, and an automatic—$21,500
• 1988 black Nissan Safari Patrol SUV with beige cloth seats, an 80 bhp SD33 3.2 liter/185 cubic inch diesel six, and an automatic—$21,000 for this right-hand drive vehicle imported from an unstated location.
• 1982 guards red Porsche 911SC very custom coupe with black leather seats, a 180 bhp 3.0 liter/183 cubic inch flat six with fuel injection, and a five-speed—at $31,000, the highest eighties vehicle sale of the auction. Hagerty’s valuation tools see this as strong #3 money for a stock coupe.
• 1980 cameo white Pontiac Firebird Trans Am coupe with blue cloth seats, a 150 bhp W72 4.9 liter/301 cubic inch V8 with Rochester four-barrel carburetor, an automatic, and 6,400 miles—$25,000
• 1987 blue Toyota pickup truck with blue vinyl seats, an unstated engine (likely an inline four of some sort), a five-speed, and 14,000 miles—at $15,000, perhaps the most interesting eighties vehicle at this auction.
• 1981 white Pontiac Firebird Trans Am coupe with blue leather seats, a 145 bhp LG4 5.0 liter/305 cubic inch V8 with Rochester four-barrel carburetor, a four-speed, and 36,000 miles—$14,000
• 1986 matte black Chevrolet K10 custom pickup truck with a tan vinyl bench seat, an unstated engine, and an automatic—$8,500

Late second-generation Trans Ams and SUVs were fairly strong, but Mecum Kansas City once again lived to its bargain reputation. What do you think of these results?