Mecum’s Kissimmee sale is already known as the biggest collector car auction of the year, but 2026 is operating on a different level. This collection is sending some of the most important machines in racing history across the block in Florida, and each one represents a moment where performance, competition, and identity all lined up. This is the kind of lineup that doesn’t just draw bidders. It draws crowds. If you’re serious about the market—or thinking about consigning your own car—this is where you show up.
Let’s talk highlights.
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO // Lot R834 // Crossing Saturday, January 17
This is the car everybody in the room will stop to look at. Chassis 3729GT is the only Ferrari 250 GTO finished in Bianco by Ferrari, known as “Bianco Speciale.” One of just 36 GTOs built from 1962–64, and one of only eight originally configured in right-hand drive, it’s a car with continuous history and real competition pedigree.
Originally delivered to privateer team owner John Coombs, the car was raced by names that defined the era: Graham Hill, Jack Sears, Roy Salvadori, Mike Parkes, Mike Salmon, Richie Ginther. It ran with success in period, including a class win at the 1963 Guards Trophy at Brands Hatch and multiple second-place finishes in the RAC Tourist Trophy at Goodwood—races that counted toward the FIA International Championship for GT Manufacturers.
This GTO wasn’t a garage queen. It was used. Developed. Loaned to the Jaguar Competition Department for aero and performance testing in 1962, where Jaguar put it up against their own E-Type. The car kept evolving under Coombs, who added details like the hood louvers, the third fender vent, and even a fresh-air hose plumbed from the fog light opening straight into the cockpit.
The car has never been fully torn apart and “over-restored.” Instead, it has been maintained, repaired, and refinished, but never restored, retaining its Coombs-era interior. Under current ownership in the Jon Shirley Collection (since 1999), it was refinished back into its original white Goodwood livery and shown on the world stage—Pebble Beach, Cavallino, Goodwood Revival, Monterey Historics. It carries a Ferrari Classiche Red Book, and it comes with both the Colombo 2953cc Tipo 168/62 Comp V-12 race engine and an additional GTO-spec V12 for touring and event use. Original 5-speed gearbox, Weber carbs, dry-sump system, Borrani knock-offs, Veglia instruments—the works.
In short: this is motorsport royalty. It’s the car collectors talk about owning in theory. Here, it’s actually crossing the block.
1965 Ford GT40 MkI Coupe // Lot R721 // Crossing Friday, January 16
The Ford GT40 is already one of the most important race cars America ever produced. This one goes a step beyond that.
Chassis P/1018 is one of only 48 GT40 MkI race coupes built, and according to GT40 historian Ronnie Spain, it’s one of just two GT40s known to have been driven by Carroll Shelby himself. Delivered new to Shelby American on November 9, 1965, it was kept by them through 1968—not as just another chassis in a race trailer, but as a show and demonstration car.
Within hours of landing in Los Angeles (literally after fixing nose damage from transport), the car was rolled in front of cameras with Carroll Shelby for a promo shoot. It then went on a high-profile tour of the Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland auto shows, became a rolling PR weapon for Shelby, and even made a public appearance with Shelby driving it at the opening of a new section of the Santa Monica Freeway in January 1966—with Miss Santa Monica riding shotgun.
The car’s story doesn’t end there. It was briefly leased to MGM and driven by Bob Bondurant for camera testing ahead of John Frankenheimer’s film Grand Prix. It made a cameo on NBC’s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. It went on showroom tour duty. Later, it raced in historic competition across Europe, including Goodwood Revival and the Le Mans Classic, where it notched 11 wins in 13 starts. It even beat a Noble GT in a comparison filmed at Dunsfold for Top Gear.
Mechanically, it’s classic GT40: 289 CI V-8, ZF 5-speed manual transaxle, Weber carburetors, that unmistakable bundle-of-snakes exhaust, 4-wheel discs, independent suspension, and period-correct details like the battery behind the passenger footwell panel. Recently repainted in its original Maroon, P/1018 retains its original chassis and includes a full documentation file compiled by Ronnie Spain.
This is a GT40 with Shelby DNA, Hollywood mileage, and real track history. It’s the kind of provenance you simply can’t fake.
1965 Shelby GT350 Fastback // Lot R939 // Crossing Saturday, January 17
If the Ferrari 250 GTO is the European dream and the GT40 is the American revenge story, the 1965 Shelby GT350 is the birth of American street performance as we know it.
This car, SFM5S051, is an early-production street model—the 51st GT350 built. Delivered new to Tasca Ford in Providence, Rhode Island, it carries the formula that made Shelby a household name: a HiPo 289-cubic-inch V-8 rated at 306 horsepower, backed by a 4-speed manual. All the Shelby hallmarks are here: Wimbledon White paint with Guardsman Blue Le Mans stripes, side-exit exhaust, wood-rimmed steering wheel, bucket seats, tach and oil pressure gauges, and finned Cobra valve covers. It sits on Cragar Shelby five-spokes, and it has the stance and presence that basically defined the mid-’60s American fastback.
Cars like this weren’t built to be gentle. They were built to be driven hard on Sunday and driven to work on Monday. That’s exactly why early, well-documented GT350s are so heavily watched anytime they come to market.
These three cars—Ferrari 250 GTO, Ford GT40, Shelby GT350—aren’t just desirable. They’re foundational. Each one helped write a different chapter of racing culture, and all three will cross the block at Mecum Kissimmee 2026, Mecum’s largest sale of the year.
You can be there. You can register to bid. You can walk the grounds in Kissimmee, Florida and see not just these cars, but other headline collections and historic machinery on offer.
This amazing collection is being sold at Mecum’s largest sale of the year in Kissimmee, Florida. Visit there to see other collections and vehicles on offer. Better yet, consign your car or collection today!
Eve Nowell