That's what dreams are made from, It will sell and we can only hope the new owner/owners keep sharing it with the public for years to come, in the traditional hot rod & custom world the Hirohata Mercury stand heads & shoulders above the crowd as a iconic & historical treasure and will reflect that when the hammer falls. HRP
Maybe I'm alone in this, but if I had the money to buy the Hirohata car, I'd rather spend it to build something new. Not that my stuff is necessarily better, but it's mine, and I have more pride in stuff that I've caused to happen.
It's been for sale for a while privately by the family. They must not have had good enough offers trying to sell it on their own.
Nothing listed on the Mecum web site, probably too early for a lot listing. https://www.mecum.com/auctions/kissimmee-2022/lots/ "No lots found."
Be interesting to see what it brings seeing as the kookie car sold for ridiculous money In my eye . And the golden Sahara sold for a whole fist full of dollars and needed to be restored top to bottom. the hirohata merc was a watershed moment for customs .
If I bought it, I'd make sure it was bought anonymously, then I'd hide it away for 20 yrs and let the rumor mill on the interweb start then, give Mecum a call. Can't compare Kookies T to this car though. Kookies was a TV star. This is is a star to hotrodders so the money might not be there. Most hotrodders are cheapskates or 'I wanna/wish/if only', wolf cookie artists.
I have to agree with Stanlow69 The majority of cars sold at Mecum auctions have reserves on them. A lot may depend on how well they promote and advertise it though. Then throw in the actual auctioneer who is doing the car. Someone who doesn't understand the full story on the car may not make as much of an effort as an auctioneer who is very knowledgeable about the car or specific rods and customs with a lot of history. I'll tell ya, the clone rocked our socks at Hotrod-A-Rama
Your 100% spot on. the only reason I mentioned the Kookie car is if Jim Street didn’t buy it and the pedigree was unknown . what the kookie car ended up being was a joke. If the kookie was was sold a few times and turned into the 70’s street freak it was in the end it would of sold for project car money. Not the craziness it sold for. Only reason it sold for that money was it was know to be the original Kookie car . The Brizio and his team knocked the restoration out of the park. Would someone of bought that beaten down old 70’s street freak and spent the dough in the restoration if the pedigree was unkown ? The herohata merc, has a know pedigree and anyone into cars has at least heard about it snd seen pics of it. With all it has going for it I think it will pull in some big bucks. Now the reserve can be set at a billion dollars snd it will never sell, could all be a publicity stunt. Who knows. Time will tell.
I know that historical significance is cool and important, but if I were a rich fella I'd pay someone to build a clone, probably be a lot cheaper, and I can drive the wheels off of it and not worry about wrecking a national treasure.
Look at all the publicity Mecum is gonna get over this. Who is going to go see it sell (sell ?). I`ve seen the clone at least 40 times. But to see the original. WOW !
I saw it in the background of the Mecham Pebble beach auctions over the weekend and was wondering what it was doing there. IMHO they should have ran it across in Pebble Beach, no offense to the Florida crowd but there is way more money being spent at Monterey/Pebble over this past week.
The only thing I can see with a car of this nature, is what do you do with it after you own it, nothing. You might as well let the other guy buy it. Is there a value in ownership other than consideration.
Don't discount the phone and the internet bidders, I'm sure that with all of the advertising and exposure Mecum is giving, it may go for big bucks.
Wouldn't be fun to be rich enough, and cool enough to buy this car and then.... Drive the ever living piss out of it...Everyday! National Treasure???? Hop in, we're going to McDonalds.
you are the most knowledgeable and experienced person I know on customs, do you have any inkling or ideas of what the car will go for? Best guess?
if I were a billionaire I would buy it and paint it black or deep maroon. I have always hated that color. same green as a plastic shithouse at a construction site.... if I were going to buy a significant Merc I'd rather have the Sam Barris car..
Keep things in perspective, who ever buys it or even bids on it, probably has the spare coin to drop on it. I don’t think a rational person would sell or refi their house to own it. I/e they won’t be eating Mac and cheese to ease the load.
I'm with you. I've never seen a 'perfect' (to my eye) car that didn't have something I'd change, and that would be an itch I couldn't scratch...
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