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All images courtesy Mecum Auctions
To the best of our knowledge, Craig Breedlove, Mickey Thompson, and Don Prudhomme never went head-to-head-to-head, even though all three competed in their respective motorsports in roughly overlapping time periods. Later this year, however, cars that all three legends piloted will come together in a different sort of competition – for enthusiasts’ dollars – at Mecum’s Indianapolis auction.
Certainly the most colorful of the three is Breedlove’s Speed Spectacular Javelin, one of three similarly equipped cars that AMC entered in the C/Production class at Bonneville in 1968. To fill out the crew for all three cars, AMC sponsored a contest that would pick nine winners, three for each team. The crew for the fastest Javelin of the three would then win all three cars. Though poor weather pushed the contest date back to November, car No. 2 still reached a speed of 161.73 MPH, setting a record that, according to the auction description, stood for a number of years afterward. Still motivated by its 343-cu.in. V-8, complete with Edelbrock cross-ram intake manifold and Joe Mondello-massaged cylinder heads, No. 2 allegedly remains the only of the three Speed Spectacular Javelins to survive.
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A completely different beast built for an altogether different venue is Don Prudhomme’s Pepsi Challenger 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Funny Car. Described by Mecum as “one of the most historically significant automobiles in NHRA history,” the Pepsi Challenger holds the distinction of being the first funny car to top 250 MPH in the quarter-mile and the first to make a pass in less than 5.7 seconds. Perhaps even more astounding than those accomplishments is the fact that it’s still powered by its original Keith Black 484-cu.in. Hemi V-8, it still wears its original H&H Racecraft body, and it’s still in the possession of Prudhomme himself, complete with matching racing suit, helmet, and promotional materials.
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Last but not least is a car that would be plenty significant even without its connection to Mickey Thompson. A 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, the Corvette features an L84 fuel-injected 327-cu.in. V-8, M20 four-speed transmission, F40 heavy-duty suspension, J56 heavy-duty brakes, and the so-called “big tank” option, the N03 36-gallon fuel tank. Though owned at the time by Norm Burger, Thompson borrowed it in 1964 to test Sears’s Allstate 6.70×15 bias-ply tires, ultimately running 158.45 MPH on the tires at Bonneville.
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Mecum’s Indianapolis auction takes place May 15-20. For more information, visit Mecum.com.
UPDATE (22.May 2012): Mecum reports that the Breedlove Javelin sold for $85,000 and the Prudhomme Pepsi Challenger sold for $250,000. The Mickey Thompson Corvette appears to have been withdrawn from the auction before this past weekend.
UPDATE (13.November 2013): It appears the Pepsi Challenger is going up for sale again, this time at Mecum’s 2014 Kissimmee auction.
