Historic race cars to be auctioned by Mecum; Richard Petty to appear

1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Sox & Martin

(July 30, 2019) — Mecum Auctions is set to return to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex July 31 through Aug. 3 with the headlining Todd Werner Collection, which features a selection of investment-grade, historic race cars from the likes of “Dandy Dick” Landy, Sox & Martin, “Dyno Don” Nicholson, Hayden Proffitt and “The King,” Richard Petty.

At the top of the pecking order from Werner are two Richard Petty NASCAR icons: the 1970 Plymouth Superbird built to lure Richard Petty back to Plymouth for the 1970 NASCAR season and the 1971 Plymouth Road Runner NASCAR that won the 1971 NASCAR Grand National Championship.

Richard Petty himself will be on stage during the auction while the cars cross the block and available to sign autographs from 1 to 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2.

Other vehicles from the Werner collection, set to be sold mostly at no reserve on Saturday, Aug. 3, include the 1970 AHRA GT1 World Championship-winning 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Sox & Martin Drag Car, a factory-backed, 427 “Cammer” 1965 Mercury Comet driven by Hayden Proffitt, and the Dick Landy-raced 1964 Dodge 330 Hemi-Charger A/FX, considered by some to be the first “funny car.”

Richard Petty's NASCAR icons

Another first, the very first L88 Corvette, is also slated to cross the auction block in Harrisburg. The 1967 convertible was campaigned by Tony DeLorenzo in 1967 and is the only Tuxedo Black example built that year. Other main attractions include a rotisserie-restored, concours-condition 1967 Shelby GT500 Fastback, bearing Shelby No. 01807; and a 1970 Plymouth Cuda Convertible that is one of just 29 factory V-code Cuda convertibles produced that year.

Notable collections consigned to the Harrisburg event range from the 52-vehicle offering from The Boca Raton Collection, 25 of which will be offered at no reserve, to The Maxwell Collection of 28 vehicles including 12 at no reserve. Also on offer will be the Champaign Auto Collection of 16 no-reserve vehicles, the 12 no-reserve vehicles consigned from The Skook Collection and A Special Early Bird Offering at No Reserve, set to kick off the third day of auction action at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 2.

1937 Ford Deluxe Convertible Sedan

Among the more than 1,000 Road Art offerings to be auctioned in a separate auction arena is the 64-piece Curt Cunningham Neon Collection that was amassed over 30 years and the accompanying more than 350 Road Art lots from the Curt Cunningham Collection.

Cunningham’s collection is recognized for having superiority in quality and originality, with Cunningham credited for his pursuit of the rarest of items in the most pristine condition. Other Road Art collections include an assortment of 80 lots from the John Powers Collection that include classic Coca-Cola collectibles and three large-scale neon signs from Ford, the 22 consignments from the Bud’s Vintage Garage Collection of high-quality neon signs and gas pumps, and more than 40 vintage pedal cars from the Iowa Pedal Car Collection.