14th-Annual Muscle Car Mayhem Auction in Murfreesboro

There was a rumor last weekend that a bunch of nice old cars were going to be offered for sale at the Dealer’s Auto Auction. Naturally, we had to head to Murfreesboro to check it out. And guess what? The rumor was true. Saturday was the 14th-Annual Muscle Car Mayhem event, and about 100 muscle cars, specialty cars, and classics were sent across the block in search of new owners. There was a little rain, which could have been a bit of a downer. I actually enjoyed it, because there were less people standing around the cars that I had to dodge to get pictures. There was a pretty good selection here. Check these out.

Here’s a ’54 Oldsmobile Super Rocket 88 convertible. I think this was the prettiest car of the bunch. It was finished in Flare Red with a white top and red and white interior. It had been restored awhile back, but it looked like nice work, and everything was still holding up well. I used to kind of think 1954 was one of the least attractive years for Oldsmobile because of that sad, catfish grille. But now, you see so few of these that they really stand out. This was a great car, and I hope that it turns up again around town at some point, because I’d love to study it some more when it isn’t raining.

And now for something completely different. This ’79 Pontiac Trans-Am was appropriately named “Show Time.” Built in 1986, it’s typical of the cars you’d see at high-end indoor car shows at the time. For all I know, I probably saw the thing at World of Wheels. This car is all kinds of fancy, with a reworked nose, gold-anodized Cragar wheels, and etched glass. And that blower—that’s a big blower. I never was a big fan of this Corvette Summer style of customizing, but I appreciate its place in history. If you were going to deck out a car with an unlimited budget 30 years ago, this very well be what you might end up with.

As impressive as that Firebird was, this ’69 is probably more my style. This was an exceptionally nice little car, with Limelight Green paint and Midnight Green vinyl. There wasn’t anything flashy about it. Equipped with a Pontiac 350, automatic transmission, and no air conditioning, the stat sheet looks pretty basic. But it was so neat and tidy. The condition won out on this one. It supposedly only has 83,000 miles on it, and it doesn’t even look like that many. I caught myself walking by this one a couple of times before the day was over.

This 1989 Bentley Turbo R was once owned by none other than Farrah Fawcett. Today, this sort of seems like a dowdy lump of major repairs and exorbitant service costs, but in 1989 these were the ultimate performance sedan. These had a 6.8-liter V8 that was good for more than 300-hp, which was unheard of 25 years ago. Sure, the average value of one of these is less than a used Corolla, but Farrah shelled out nearly $200,000 in 1989 for this baby. It would be scary for most people to own a car like this, but if it was as reliable as an old Chevy Truck, it would be undeniably cool.

If you think the Smokey and the Bandit-style Trans Ams were the only cool black and gold vehicles from General Motors in the 1970s, you’ve never seen a “Gentleman Jim” GMC pickup. They only made 1,000 of these for the 1975 model year, and they were fancy. Not only did they have all those shiny decals and gold trim, but they came with sporty bucket seats and rich wood trim. I remember them from back in the day, but they were few-and-far between. I’ve seen this truck before, and it is as nice as you’d ever want to see. Love those spotlights and bed rails.

Believe it or not, a big old Eldorado convertible like this paced the Indianapolis 500 in 1973. They only built 566 pace car replicas, so if this is the real deal it’s pretty rare. This one was a little rough, but I still liked it. These were only the second front-wheel-drive car to ever pace the Indy 500, behind the 1930 Cord. The color on these was Cotillion White with Scarlet Sierra Grain leather. The actual pace car even had white letter tires. Sure, that’s a long hood. But there’s a 500-c.i. big block Cadillac V8 under there. Old pace cars have always interested me, and it’s always neat to see something that isn’t your typical Corvette, Camaro, or Mustang.

I took about 200 pictures at the 14th-Annual Muscle Car Mayhem auction. You can see them in the slideshow below, or click this link for a nicer version.