90-car Meurer collection consigned to RM’s Auburn sale

In 1958, Ed Meurer Jr. bought a worn and paint-chipped 1936 Ford cabriolet and spent four years restoring it to concours condition. That project finished, he started collecting, and over the Labor Day weekend, more than 90 vehicles from that collection will be offered for sale at RM Auctions annual Auburn Fall event in northeast Indiana.

In addition to the vehicles, an array of parts and automobilia from the Ed Meurer Jr. Collection will be on the auction docket, RM Auctions said.

“In 2001, Ed built an extension to his publishing company (Rex Publishing) in Metro Detroit large enough to house his entire collection of antique vehicles and memorabilia, inadvertently becoming the fifth largest private collector car museum in Michigan,” RM Auctions noted. 

“By 2015 his collection had expanded to more than 90 motor cars, consisting largely of fine American classics spanning the 1930s to 1980s, and 4,000 sq. ft. of memorabilia, including vintage neon signs, gas pumps, and rare automobile parts. 

“Well known and respected in hobby circles, Ed’s garage became a must-see destination for dozens of car clubs wishing to marvel at his eclectic car collection.”

The collection comprises an all-star lineup of Detroit and American vehicles from manufacturers such as Cadillac, Buick, Chrysler, Packard, Nash cars, Studebaker, but also Jaguar. Most will be offered for bidding with no reserve, RM added.

Among the Meurer star cars are a 1938 Chrysler custom limousine by LeBaron, originally owned by U.S. ambassador to England Joseph P. Kennedy, father for the future president, and a 1958 Imperial Crown limo by Ghia, one of 31 produced and believed to have been originally owned by the Eaton department store family of Toronto and loaned to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Canada in 1959.

Also coming out of the collection are a 1935 Packard Twelve convertible by Rollston, a 1931 Auburn Phaeton, 1937 Cord 812 Beverly, 1930 Cadillac V-16 7-passenger Imperial sedan and 1956 Continental Mark II, as well as a group of Ford woodie wagons.