A collection of over 200 vintage Fords, some dating to the 1920s, will be one of the top draws when Mecum Auctions brings its annual car collector sale to Dallas next week.
The collection, amassed by the late Rhett Butler over 20 years, includes what organizers describe as the Texan’s favorites – almost two dozen 1933 and 1934 three-window Ford coupes. Mecum estimates each is worth $40,000 to $80,000.
Butler, who made his fortune as a cattle rancher in Paraguay, also owned a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr, one of only 640 convertibles made that year, and a 1932 Ford Hi-Boy Roadster.
His collection was stored in five climate-controlled buildings in the Hill Country and he built a track on the surrounding property so he could drive the cars, rather than take them on the road, according to an article in Mecum Magazine.
Many of the antique Fords were purchased in Uruguay, where Butler owned a vacation property, the magazine said. He befriended an auto restorer there and together they would find and buy old cars – often still in use in the South American country – and restore the good ones, using original parts from the junkers.
Butler died in March 2021.
His full collection is up for sale when Mecum runs more than 1,500 muscle cars, classics and trucks under the gavel Sept. 7 through 10 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.
Mecum is shooting to top last year’s record for Dallas, when more than 1,100 vehicles brought in $36.8 million in sales. The company’s auctions across the country in 2021 totaled $578 million in sales.
Cars being auctioned in Dallas include a variety of modern, low-mileage muscle cars, such as:
—A one-owner 2006 Ford GT Heritage Edition with just 420 miles.
—A 2006 Ford GT with a Tungsten Grey exterior and white stripes, and only 513 miles.
—And a 2007 Ford Shelby GT-H convertible with 4,176 miles.
Other featured vehicles range from a one-owner 1969 Dodge Daytona, one of only 503 produced that year, to a pair of 1969 Shelby GT500 Fastbacks with 428 Cobra Jet V-8 engines. See the show’s full consignment here.
Bidder registration starts at $100 and can be done online in advance and at the auction. The show also offers remote bidding.
Admission is $20 a person in advance and $30 at the door. MotorTrendTV will broadcast the auction live Sept. 8 to 10.
