June 2019 brought the MECUM Auction Company to Portland Oregon again for another nationally televised collector car auction. For us old car nuts, these are always exciting with hundreds of collector cars in one place to view and to buy.

I sold my 66 Biscayne at the Las Vegas Mecum Auction last year. That was exciting and I can tell you that these folks are absolutely great to work with, very professional, very helpful and full of integrity.

This years Portland Auction saw hundreds of cars “cross the block,” and by my calculations had nearly a 59% sell through. The Mecum auction is a “reserve” auction, meaning the owner can put a minimum amount he or she will accept for their car. Of course, the owner can “lift” the reserve as the car is on the block if the bid doesn’t reach their minimum but gets close, spurring him or her to do so. If you are in attendance you might hear “the reserve is off.” This sometimes causes the bidders to increase their bids/efforts since now they know they are going to actually buy the car of their dreams. Many cars cross the block with “NO RESERVE.” You’ll see a sticker, usually in the upper center of the windshield, with a capitalized NR. This means these cars will sell to the highest bidder.

Speaking of Dream Cars… Too bad I’m not rich. I would have bought a few cars at this year’s auction. There was a Nova SS that I particularly liked. Coincidently, a friend of mine liked it too and was watching it closely. The bid went higher that he and his wife were willing to go but it sold and went to a new home.

There were what I would call some “real deals” there too. One I liked was a 49 or 50 Studebaker with a later Studebaker V-8 engine, updated newer Cadillac interior and flames. It was an older build, showing some use but I thought is was a deal for around $6500 at the hammer. One could have driven it to a cruise the next day after the auction. Instant fun for that low of a price, what a deal.

I anticipate the Mecum Auction Company will be back again next June so if you’re selling or looking to buy, plan on getting your car consigned early, in the spring 2020 or if your in the market for another addition to your stable, mark you calendar for next year. You can find consignment info etc. at www.mecum.com.

Recently I talked about “Bucket List” items. Probably many of us have such a list and the things we want to do of course varies. A lot of the things on my list include car events and activities, surprising I know. But, one of those events has been the Grand National Roadster Show, sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts, presented by Meguiar’s Premium Car Care Products, and as of late, held at the LA County Fair Complex in Pomona California. This show has been going on for a lot of years and this year was the 70th Annual.

The fact that this was the 70th is significant. Another significant thing about this show is the AMBR Award, Americas Most Beautiful Roadster. This “Class” is open to all United States built roadsters, roadster pickups and touring cars 1937 and older, including designer roadsters that resemble a 1937 or older roadster. This special class has awards for Display, Engineering, Undercarriage, Paint, Engine, Interior and detail. The winner has their name applied to the perpetual 9-foot-tall trophy, a $10,000 cash package and the title.

Among the names shown on the trophy, some with connections to the Northwest are, Blackie Gijeian, George Barris, Leroy “Tex” Smith, Bob Tindle, Lonnie Gilbertson, John Corno, Dennis Varni, Boyd Coddington, Darryl Hollenbeck, dating all the way back to the first “Grand Daddy of Them All” show in 1950. It has a distinguished history.

There were 6 buildings each with their own ‘theme,” filled with fantastic vehicles, living up to the “Grand Daddy” moniker. Outside in the open areas between and around the buildings, on Saturday and Sunday, there were cars displayed that were driven to the show by their owners, like a cruise-in. Many of these were included by their owner’s club affiliations. They numbered in the hundreds.

There were as many as 300 vendors displaying anything and everything you might need to help you build your “AMBR” for next years show.
My friend Jim Estes and I drove down to Pomona from Portland, Oregon in his new diesel-powered GMC pickup. Amazingly, it got a best MPG of 21.9 on one leg of the trip. I was surprised and glad since we shared the costs of the trip. After we got back though, I checked to see what the trip costs would have been if we had flown and rented a car. Of course, it would have saved us two travel days each way and it would have cost about the same. I think next time we’ll fly and rent. Another “bucket list” show happens to be at the same place over Father’s Day weekend in June each year, The LA Roadster Show. We’ll have to try to make that one, one of these days.

This year I wanted to go to the swap meet in Medford, I had never been before. At the last minute, one of my friends became available to make the 5-hour drive with me, he hadn’t been either. We rolled out headed south on I-5 around mid-morning I think, on the Friday before the Saturday-Sunday meet and I delivered papers in Salem, Albany, Eugene and Springfield on the way down. My friend, Jim didn’t know we were taking the “scenic route,” but he didn’t demand to let out once we were in Salem, some 40 plus miles from home.

Rich Wilson, the promoter for the meet and for the Big car show in the spring, always puts on a great event and treats his guests very well. I wanted to go so that I could “cover” the swap meet here in the paper and I’m glad I did.

The meet was small, or should I say the venue, the Jackson County EXPO, right off the freeway in Central Point offers plenty of free parking and room to grow bigger in years to come. Though small there were lots of enthusiastic vendors on hand with some great treasures. I didn’t go to find stuff necessarily, but I did have a couple things I intended to look for. I didn’t expect to find them really, one was a Nova door and the other was a Bose Accus-ti-mass in home surround sound system and surprise, I found them both! I’m just kidding about my looking for the surround sound system but, there was one there and the price was right, so it came home with me, whadda treasure!

Jim came with a small list of miscellaneous things he needed for his current Model ‘A’ project, not necessarily expecting to find them but he found them ALL, brand new, and cheaper than he had recently priced them all at other vendors on line. And all from the first two vendors that he came across after entering the building. He was tickled.

I’ve been going to swap meets for years. I used to find NOS cool stuff a lot years ago but not so much anymore. I was totally surprised to see a pair of brand new, in the original boxes, Corvette aluminum valve covers with the staggered holes! NOS! And then a little later an NOS pair of chrome 327 stamp steel valve covers like would have come on a ’66 or ’67 L-79 Nova, in the original boxes. Impressive! I have never seen either of these items, NOS, before.

Rich also promotes the “Medford Rod & Custom Show at the same location in the spring. I’ve been going to that one for a few years now and it’s always worth it. Keep both of these events in mind for next year and plan to attend. You’ll like what Southern Oregon and Rich Wilson have to offer.

One of the fun weekly events that we have in the Portland, Oregon area is “Beaches Summertime Cruise-in. It happens every Wednesday June through September at Delta Park from 3pm till dusk. Usually the first one in June is simply massive. All those latent “gotta go cruisin’” juices just waiting to get out, I guess.

The same is usually true for the last one of the year as well. This year though, because of the unseasonably nice weather, I think, someone made a command decision to bump it out one more week making the last one October 3rd. The turnout was good, but I’m told the last one in September was huge. Oh well. If you’ve never been or if you go every week, don’t forget to the first Wednesday in June 2019. It’s impressive…
These a pics from the October 3rd Beaches, 2018.