The fourth annual Mecum Glendale, Arizona, auction at State Farm Stadium, held March 16-19, became the most successful iteration yet as $66.3 million in overall sales was achieved. The total marks a 53% increase over last year’s Glendale auction, and sell-through for the reservebased auction reached 78% as 1,285 of all 1,657 lots offered ultimately hammered sold.
Record attendance, up 37% from 2021, led to strong individual sale prices in addition to the record overall totals, with the top 10 sellers at the auction led by the impressive $3.03 million sale of a Ferrari Classichecertified 1967 275 GTB/4 (Lot S152.1), S/N 09495, followed by three more seven-figure sellers. The diverse selection included an AACA National First Prizewinning 1929 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Convertible Coupe (Lot S149) that brought $2.37 million, a 182-mile 2005 Porsche Carrera GT (Lot S145) that sold for $2.2 million and a 1,270-mile 2020 Ford GT (Lot S160) that achieved $1.1 million.
Private collections were responsible for nearly $20 million of the $66.3 million auction total, with the headlining Mile High Collection seeing 100% of its more than 50 vehicles sell for a total of $5.9 million, while the main-attraction Hooked on Vettes Collection achieved sales for all 13 of its Corvettes as well as for all of its 180-plus largescale neon signs for aggregate totals of $1.5 million and $1.7 million, respectively.
Mecum auctions have seen an ongoing string of successful, record-setting results regarding attendance, individual sale prices and overall sell-through rates with seemingly no end to the growth in sight. Glendale 2022 furthered the trend with even sponsors like Dodge reporting record engagement with its pre-auction Power Parties and popular Thrill Ride attraction. Mecum auctions in Houston, Texas, and Indianapolis are up next, and results from both of those events are expected to follow suit.