Log in

Business

Classic car auction comes to Glendale, Sun Cities residents to drive

Todhunter collection to be featured

Posted 2/27/21

Mecum Auctions will host its third annual auction in Glendale and the anticipated 1,200-car lineup will be headlined by the awe-inspiring collection of Steve Todhunter.

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor
Business

Classic car auction comes to Glendale, Sun Cities residents to drive

Todhunter collection to be featured

Posted

Mecum Auctions will host its third annual auction in Glendale and the anticipated 1,200-car lineup will be headlined by the awe-inspiring collection of Steve Todhunter.

Some Sun Cities residents are looking forward to this event because they could be a part of it as they have in the past.

The auction is scheduled 10 a.m. Thursday-Saturday, March 18-20 at State Farm Stadium, 1 Cardinals Way, Glendale. Preview gates will open 8 a.m. daily.

“Did this auction a couple years ago,” Sun City resident Carol McDade stated in an email. “Just wanted opportunity to drive cool cars!”

Sun Cities drivers will again be part of the show, according to Sun City West resident Danny Gayhart.

“Mecum Auctions require approximately 150 drivers per shift each day of the auction,” he stated in an email. “I recruited more than 90 drivers from our club and with the help of then president Tom Jones another 30 members from the Vintage Vehicles of Sun City Club. The ARCS of Sun City West participated in the 2019 and 2020 auctions as drivers and is scheduled to drive in the March 2021 event.”

Mecum Auction officials give different car clubs in the area of an event a chance to participate, according to Ms. McDade. Minimal pay for drivers of $10 per day, she added.

“But we weren’t there for pay,” she stated.

While Ms. McDade chose not to drive in the 2021 event in Glendale, she has fond memories of her past participation.

“The rides were exciting. Different transmissions, different dashboards, different stances. All of us were in awe!” she stated. “Just another thing for us car people to talk about!”

Mr. Gathart attended several Mecum Auction events as a bidder and most recently as a driver. He attended the Mecum Monterey Auction in the summer of 2018.

“The purpose of my visit, in addition to seeing the event in person, was to deliver two ARCS ball caps to the NBCSN ‘on air’ personalities Scott Hoke and John Kraman,” he stated. “I discovered, while speaking with CEO Dana Mecum in Monterey, that Mecum company was in the planning stages of producing a Phoenix area auction in Glendale. I told Dana of our 500-plus member club in Sun City West and how we all loved his auctions. He asked me if we would be interested in driving his cars across the auction block.”

Mr. Gayhart stated most of the driver and club members keep coming back every year. 

Mr. Todhunter’s collection to be featured in the Glendale auction in March comprises 20 vehicles ranging from seven pristine, low-mile Ferraris to a 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra FAM previously owned by late actor Paul Walker.

Not only is Mr. Todhunter a car collector, he is perhaps the quintessential example of such and a man with an eye for evolution, according to a Mecum press release. From the humble horsepower heavyweights of the golden era of muscle to the rarest of the Mopar machines and, ultimately, to Ferrari, Mr. Todhunter’s preference for powerful and impressive automobiles has followed a path of development focused on quality over quantity. Instead of continuously adding to and growing his collector car stables in numbers alone, Mr. Todhunter poured his efforts into raising the bar in regards to the rarity and desirability of the collector cars within, according to Mecum officials.

Among the group are to be featured in Glendale are seven extremely low-mile Ferraris wearing Rosso Corsa red, ranging from a 175-mile 2011 599 GTO to a 2,254-mile 2018 812 Superfast. The GTO is one of just 599 produced and one of only 125 exported to the U.S. Also included is a one-of-499 2009 F430 Scuderia Spyder 16M with just 1,866 miles, a 2016 Ferrari F12tdf showing just 449 miles and originally owned by Roger Penske, a 2,017-mile, Cavallino Classic-winning 1992 Ferrari 512 TR, a 1,344-mile 2005 Ferrari 575M Superamerica with Ferrari Classiche Red Book and a 1,497-mile 2001 Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina.

The purpose-built 2006 Saleen S7 Twin Turbo from Mr. Todhunter’s Glendale offering is one of just 14 produced. Other unique offerings from the Todhunter assemblage include a 1965 Shelby 427 Cobra FAM CSX1010, previously owned by Paul Walker; a 1969 Dodge Daytona; a pair of 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastbacks, one wearing Grabber Blue and one wearing Grabber Green; as well as a handful of modern, low-mileage muscle cars and a selection of Triumph and BSA-brand antique motorcycles.

Bidder registration for Mecum Glendale 2021 is available online in advance and on-site at the auction for $200, and it includes admission for two to all three auction days. For those unable to attend in person, enhanced remote bidding options are also available, with options for both online and telephone bidding.

Visit Mecum.com, which is updated daily with the latest consignments and includes detailed descriptions and photographs of the vehicles to be offered.

Call 262-275-5050.