Article and photos contributed by Steve Burns
The atmosphere at this year’s Bloomington auction was interesting. The tent was generally full of bidders and spectators all weekend. Surprisingly, though, bids were hard to come by at times. This can be seen in the numerous cars that sold for less than $10,000. On the flip side of this were the high-end cars. The 1971 ZR2 opened and bidding promptly stalled at $400k. A few moments later the bid was raised to $410k, the reserve was lifted, and the ZR2 was off to its new home.
The 1957 first fuelie Corvette saw pretty heated bidding up to its $250,000 max before bidding was closed. The auctioneer stated that the reserve was closer to $500,000.
One of the lighter moments of the weekend occurred when the David Burroughs-restored 1967 coupe crossed the block. Tension in the auction tent slowly increased with the rapid-fire bids as they crept up past $100k, $150k, and finally stopped at $170k where the bid was closed. The auctioneer then mentioned that it took closer to $190k to buy the car which elicited a collective groan from the eager crowd. To this the auctioneer replied “boy you guys turn quickly” in regards to the crowd’s fast switch from excitement to frustration.
In terms of sales specifics, we counted 246 Corvettes crossing the auction block with 119 listed as sold. That’s a sales success rate of 48%. Corvette sales totaled $5.6 million and when combined with memorabilia sales, the show total was $5.8 million (excluding buyers commissions). Although the ’71 ZR2 reached “big money”, much of the action was at the lower end with 20 Corvettes selling for under $10,000 and 39 Corvettes selling for under $20,000.
Another group of Corvettes worth noting was the 23 Black Corvettes from the Bill Mullis collection. The collection was broken up and the cars sold individually at no reserve. As a group, their combined sales totaled $1.6 million.
Here are the top 10 Corvette sales from Mecum’s Bloomington Gold Auction
LOT | YEAR | MODEL | SOLD |
S99 |
1971 |
Corvette ZR2 Convertible 454/425 HP, 4-Speed |
$410,000 |
S68 |
1958 |
Corvette Convertible 283/250 HP, 4-Speed |
$142,500 |
S76 |
1967 |
Corvette Convertible 427/435 HP, 4-Speed |
$132,500 |
S115 |
1967 |
Corvette Convertible 427/400 HP, 4-Speed |
$115,000 |
S35 |
1965 |
Corvette Coupe 327/375 HP, 4-Speed |
$110,000 |
S90 |
1958 |
Corvette Convertible 283/270 HP, 4-Speed |
$110,000 |
S87 |
1966 |
Corvette Convertible 427/425 HP, 4-Speed |
$105,000 |
S123 |
1962 |
Corvette Convertible 327/360 HP, 4-Speed |
$100,000 |
S22 |
1958 |
Corvette Convertible 283/270 HP, 4-Speed |
$97,000 |
S85 |
1957 |
Corvette Convertible 283/245 HP, Automatic |
$96,000 |
Here are some photos from the auction:
Mecum’s next auction is the 17th Annual Millers at Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car Event on July 9, 2011 at the Milwaukee Mile Oval Track, Wisconsin State Fair Park. For more information visit www.mecum.com.
Source:
Mecum Auctions
Related:
Mecum at Bloomington Gold: Race-Ready Corvettes
Corvette Auction Preview: Mecum at Bloomington Gold
Black Corvette Collection To Be Sold At Mecum’s Bloomington Gold Auction
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