Prestigious road art collection coming to auction

(September 12, 2016) More than 1,200 of the finest collectible Road Art items ever offered at public auction will come together this Oct. 20-22 in Walworth, Wis., as Mecum Auctions hosts The Road Art Collection Auction at the company’s Badger Street Facility.

This assemblage comprises an array of investment-grade porcelain signs, neon signs, gas pumps and globes, oil cans and other such automobile-related relics.
 
Mecum Auctions has long been known for offering high-quality road art. The signature and trademarked term is exclusive to the Mecum brand encompassing a segment of the collector market that includes a host of products and advertising components used in the last 115 years to endorse, promote and celebrate the automobile and all things related. With recent offerings of road art that have set world-records, Mecum continues to build exponentially upon its reputation for bringing fine collections to auction. And yet The Road Art Collection Auction takes it to a new level entirely, transcending mere collectability.
 
The graphics, the colors and the innovative designs of these collectibles exist today as markers in history and tell the story of this country’s growth from the Industrial Revolution forward; these items are American treasures.

Items such as the extraordinarily rare Kelly Lotta Miles Tires double-sided porcelain sign with a 42-inch diameter, the Musgo Gasoline double-sided porcelain sign and vibrant Husky Gasoline Motor Oils sign (pictured at top) — they present in a condition of such high quality that they take a step beyond the traditional ideas of desirability among collectibles and cross over into uncharted territory.

Even the oil cans, including a 5-gallon Shell Motor Oil Rocker Oil Can with the early logo, are of an unparalleled quality.
 
Together, the road art items in this collection create a colorful timeline through the past; as individual items, these artifacts today stand definitively as works of fine art.
 
“We are honored to present this prestigious road art collection at Mecum’s new Badger Street Facility in Walworth,” said Dan Mecum, president and founder of Mecum Auctions’ Road Art division. “If you’re looking for a superior selection of investment-grade items, many of which you’re unlikely to ever see again—this will be the place to find it.”
 
To allow for personal inspection, the Mecum Badger Street Facility will host preview hours beginning four weeks in advance of the auction to give potential buyers the opportunity to grade these incredible items in person. Buyers, sellers and spectators are invited to attend this unprecedented event. Doors open each day of the auction at 8 a.m. Auction hours areThursday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, Oct. 21-22 at 9 a.m.