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Hundreds of classic cars to hit the auction block in Anaheim

By W.J. Hennigan
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The red carpets are rolled out at the Anaheim Convention Center as more than 800 muscle cars, classic vehicles and hot rods cross the auction block during a three-day event that begins Thursday.

Mecum Auction Inc. will sell off millions of dollars worth of autos.

Gates at the convention center open at 8 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Tickets are available at the gates for $15 per person. Children younger than 12 get in free.

Bring a checkbook, though. The rare cars, some of which have been featured on the covers of glossy magazines, run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Take hot rodding legend Tom McMullen’s 1932 Ford Deuce roadster, which appeared on the covers of Hot Rod, Street Rodder and Popular Hot Rodding magazines. With a tricked-out paint job designed by “Big Daddy” Ed Roth, the roadster set a speed record of 167 mph for its class on a dry lake bed in El Mirage near Palmdale.

PHOTOS: 1932 Ford McMullen Roadster

Also up for auction is the 1936 Ford Jack Calori Coupe, a best-in-class winner at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, Calif. Calori, a Long Beach native and World War II veteran, was searching for a tow car for his famous Clay Smith-prepared 1929 Ford Model A racer when he discovered a 1936 Ford three-window coupe for sale by its original owner in 1947.

The sleek black car features a chopped top, dropped front axle with stalking stance that earned it a cover of Hot Rod magazine in 1949.

PHOTOS: 1936 Ford Jack Calori Coupe

Another main attraction is the Le Mans blue 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible. The car’s first owner was Richard Thomas, a soldier from Georgia who ordered it while stationed in South Korea. It is factory optioned with the 427-cubic- inch, 430-horsepower engine, four-speed manual transmission, tinted glass, shoulder belts and auxiliary hardtop.

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PHOTOS: Le Mans blue 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Convertible

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W.J. Hennigan

W.J. Hennigan covered the Pentagon and national security issues from Washington, D.C., before leaving the Los Angeles Times bureau in November 2017. While there, he reported on war, counter-terrorism, and the lives of American service members from more than two dozen countries and previously covered the aerospace and defense industry from Los Angeles. Hennigan earned awards from the National Press Club, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation, and was a contributor to the Los Angeles Times coverage of the terror attacks in San Bernardino that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2016.

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