Mecum Auctions howls into the Windy City this week for their second to last collector car sale of 2019. Between October 24th and 26th there will be 69 examples of America’s Sports Car (70 are listed but one is a misguided (and pretty heavily modified) 4th Gen Camaro up for grabs with a 50 year range of vintages spanning from 1956 to 2016 and Desirability Ratings running the gamut from highly to very and down to meh.
This list contains Mecum Chicago’s Corvette Consignments that most caught our eye.
1969 Corvette
Lot F358
Let’s start with one of the craziest ‘Vettes in the entire sale. If a 1969 Corvette Coupe with a custom “shooting-brake” body style and fuzzy seats is something you have only been able to dream about up to this point, then empty your bank account now because this interesting specimen is being sold as a part of the extremely eclectic Rankin Collection. Seriously, you have to click through this assemblage of unique metal! The Rankin’s obviously live in a world of pure imagination and we dig it!
1975 Corvette
Lot S106
Keeping with the red C3 theme; crossing the block on Saturday is an unrestored 1975 L82 4-speed with just 967 actual miles! Obviously, when a car has this level of originality (it is still sitting on the same set of Firestone steel radial 500 tires that it left the factory with!) it is going to garner some recognition. Bloomington Gold Benchmark, BG Special collection participant, and a VetteFest Triple Crown Award have all been bestowed upon this Mille Miglia Red example of what was, at the time, thought to be the final model year of drop-top Corvettes. Also included in the sale are the original window sticker, tank sticker, build sheet, and warranty booklet.
1959 Corvette
Lot S159
Any car quick enough to demand the inclusion of a parachute just to help scrub off some speed is automatically cool. When it is also comfortable enough in its own skin… errr, fiberglass to pull off a bright purple shade of paint, it becomes even cooler! Lot S159 is a heavily modified 1959 Corvette drag machine that backs up all of its cool with impressive stats. Under the hood of “The Instigator” sits a Sonny Leonard V8 displacing an outrageous 655 cubic inches! Some further research reveals 180+ MPH trap speeds during high-7 second quarter mile runs, around 1,000 HP, and, most surprisingly, a street-legal registration!
1966 Corvette | 1967 Corvette
Lot S101 | Lot F126
Lots S101 and F126 take us back to the final two years of C2 production. S101 is a gorgeous Ermine White 1966 L79 327/350 Coupe with side-pipes and a four-speed! Estimated to hammer between $55,000 and $75,000, this ’66 looks to be an incredible value and possibly the perfect foil for our founders’ ’66 Convertible!
The 1967 Corvette that will be changing hands is a Marlboro Maroon L71 roadster with only 14,560 original miles! It comes with its original dealer invoice and order sheet, Protect-O-Plate, and a tank sticker that has never been removed from the tank! It was with its original owner until 2003 and features a black stinger and interior, side exhaust, F41 suspension, power brakes, and more. These two mid-year ‘Vettes could be the beginnings of a fantastic collection!
1957 Corvette SRIII
Lot S108.1
We will close with what Mecum is hailing as a Main Attraction of their Chicago sale. Up for your consideration is SRIII number 0001, a 1957 “milestone development in the history of the Corvette hobby.” SRIII VIN 1 is widely recognized as the first Corvette custom built on a tubular space frame designed to use modern Corvette suspension and drivetrain components. The brainchild of Corvette enthusiast and Chicago-area native, Ken Hanna, this 1957 Corvette recreates the ’57 Sebring livery of Glasurit White with Royal Blue stripes and polished side coves. Power comes from the legendary DOHC LT5. The, then brand new) 1990 ZR-1 also donated the majority of the modern running-gear that underpins this famous, multiple award-winning C1.
You can watch the Chicago auction on NBC Sports Network. All Lots can be viewed here. What do you think? Do you have a favorite that we missed? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned in to CorvetteBlogger for the most comprehensive coverage of Corvettes for sale on the web!
Source:
Mecum Auctions
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