McNamara 1967 Corvette Coupe Brought $725,000 at Mecum Auction in Houston

1967 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe (Lot S128) Photo by David Newhardt, Courtesy of Mecum Auctions

1964 Ford GT40 Prototype (Lot S147.1) Photo by David Newhardt, Courtesy of Mecum Auctions

WALWORTH, Wis. – April 15, 2014 – Mecum blasted into Houston this past weekend with a gigantic sale dominated by a $7 million hammer price for the 1964 Ford GT40 Prototype, GT/104. Overall sales reached $33,633,058 with 765 of the total 1,085 vehicles offered changing hands, achieving a healthy sell-through rate of nearly 70 percent.

“Our Houston event is one of the fastest growing auctions on our calendar,” noted Mecum President and Founder Dana Mecum. “The quality of collector cars continues to rise year after year here in Houston, and the people of this great car town are what keep us coming back to the great state of Texas. Attendees witnessed so many great cars sell at this year’s auction, and several will go down as some of the most memorable in our company’s history.”

On day three of the auction, the highly anticipated offering of the 1964 Ford GT40 Prototype GT/104 (Lot S147.1) took place in front of a bidding arena that was filled to capacity. After more than five minutes of suspenseful bidding, the hammer dropped at an astounding $7 million, securing the top sale of the entire four-days of auction at the Reliant Center and marking itself as what is certain to be one of the top sales of the year in the collector car market and, perhaps, what will be the highest price paid for an American race car at auction this year. GT/104 is one of only two famously prepared and raced by Shelby American for the 1965 season and is one of the first race cars of any kind to benefit from computerized missile aerodynamics technology and the budding field of telemetry. As the first-ever 1965 Shelby American-specification GT40, chassis GT/104 is widely regarded as the most original and correct prototype Shelby American team car.

In addition to the memorable GT40 sale, the second highest seller was an emotional one as the now famous “McNamara Corvette,” an original and unrestored 1967 Coupe (Lot S128) with just 2,996 miles on the odometer, brought $725,000, resulting in another record-setting Corvette sale by Mecum Auctions as the highest price ever paid at auction for a 427/390-horsepower example of America’s sports car. Its unique story is one that tickles human intrigue, involving a private man who hid the car from the world for nearly four decades in his climate-controlled, single-car garage. The highly documented Corvette was unveiled and displayed at Bloomington Gold in 2012. The sale of the car included extensive documentation and photos of its discovery and history.

The complete top 10 sales list for Mecum’s Houston auction includes (all individual sales reflect hammer prices):
1964 Ford GT40 Prototype, GT/104 (Lot S147.1) at $7,000,000
1967 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe (Lot S128) at $725,000
1968 Chevrolet Yenko Camaro RS/SS (Lot B4) at $450,000
2008 Ferrari 430 Scuderia Coupe (Lot S189) at $170,000
1934 Cadillac Fleetwood V-12 All-Weather Phaeton (Lot S153) at $165,000
1968 Toyota FJ-44 (Lot S228) at $150,000
1932 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Huntington Limousine (Lot F200.1) at $145,000
1960 Porsche 356B Cabriolet (Lot S107) at $145,000
1970 Plymouth Superbird (Lot F274) at $135,000
1967 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (Lot F215) at $127,500

Immediately following the classic and collector car sale held Thursday-Saturday, Mecum held a motorcycle-exclusive auction on Sunday that included an offering of 174 vintage and antique bikes, 125 of which hammered sold for an impressive 72 percent sell-through rate. With a total of $1,337,965 in sales, the event was another pronounced success for MidAmerica Motorcycles presented by Mecum Auctions.

For access to complete auction results and other member benefits, signup for the free InfoNet service offered at www.mecum.com. Mecum’s next classic and collector car auction will be held at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Mo., this April 24-26, followed by Dana Mecum’s 27th Original Spring Classic in Indianapolis this May 13-18. For more details on an upcoming auction, to consign a vehicle or to register as a bidder, visit www.mecum.com or call (262) 275-5050.