Expect some serious flexing when Mecum Auctions brings a strong crop of American muscle cars, including competition stars, for its annual Harrisburg sale. Among them, the 1970 Plymouth Superbird raced in NASCAR by Richard Petty and the first-built 1967 Corvette L88.
The 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 is the 427 roadster campaigned by Tony DeLorenzo, one of the most successful Corvette race drivers in history. The only Tuxedo Black ’67 L88 convertible, the restored Vette has in recent years become a multiple award winner, including Bloomington Gold certification and multiple NCRS Top Flight awards.
The car was specially modified by Zora Arkus-Duntov’s Corvette Engineering Group for DeLorenzo to demonstrate the L88’s capabilities on the track, which he did repeatedly.
“The first of 20 L88s produced in 1967, this car boasts a very impressive racing career that has made it one of the most historically significant L88s in existence,” Mecum says in its catalog description.
“Restored to concours-quality standards by the Naber Brothers and documented with the original title, Protect-O-Plate with Al Grenning affirmation and a Letter of Testimony from Tony DeLorenzo Jr., this L88 certainly qualifies as the centerpiece of any collection, a premier example of the most powerful and dominant production Corvette racer of its era.”
The 1970 Plymouth Superbird featured at Harrisburg is the No. 43 racer that lured Petty back to Mopar after a NASCAR season with Ford.
“The Plymouth Superbird was only legal in NASCAR for one season, and this example is Richard Petty’s No. 43 car from that year,” according to the catalog description. “Drawing upon the Dodge Charger Daytona, the Superbird package was released to get ‘King Richard’ back into a Plymouth after the team had switched to Ford for 1969.
“Restored by Petty’s Garage and signed by Richard himself, this may be the most famous Superbird of all.”
The Superbird is part of more than 40 primo examples of street muscle and track performance from the Todd Werner Collection, plus a couple of custom motorcycles, that will be auctioned in Harrisburg.
Some of the other significant racing Mopars in the Werner collection include Petty’s 1971 Plymouth Road Runner, the 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Sox & Martin drag car, the 1964 Dodge 330 lightweight “Snorkasaurus” and the 1964 Dodge 330 Hemi-Charger Dick Landy A/FX, known as the first “funny car.”
Street muscle among the Werner cars include a 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda hardtop, a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette fuel-injected roadster, a 1957 Ford Thunderbird E-code, a 1962 Chrysler 300H convertible, a 1973 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty (the earliest known example), a 1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaro RS, a 2006 Dodge Magnum SRT-8 wagon and a custom 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Baldwin Motion Phase III GT.
Another great collection crossing the block in Harrisburg is the Jerry Lyndon Corvette Collection, featuring seven fine examples of the Chevrolet sports cars as well as a Corvette 427/437 horsepower V8 engine and 4-speed transmission on a stand.
Mecum expects 1,200 collector cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles, as well as a horde of automobilia from a number of collections, at the auction, held July 31 to August 3 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex.
For more information, visit the auction website.
