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Every January, a quiet corner of central Florida turns into the largest gathering of collector cars on Earth — thousands of vehicles, nearly two weeks of bidding, and a sales tally that regularly tops $400 million. Here’s how Mecum’s Kissimmee auction grew from a handful of tents into the event the entire muscle car hobby watches every year, and why it matters even if you never plan to bid.
Ford has built a full-size, rear-wheel-drive Falcon continuously in Australia since 1960, and most American muscle car fans have never seen one. It played Mad Max’s own car on screen, runs down speeders as an Australian police interceptor, and in 2014 offered a turbocharged six-cylinder quick enough to embarrass plenty of V8 rivals. Read on to find out why this nameplate’s long run was already nearing its end.
The Jaguar XK120 began life as a one-off testbed for a new engine, but the reaction at its 1948 debut convinced Jaguar to build it — and the resulting car became the fastest production car in the world at the time. This 1952 example carries the original 3.4-liter inline-six good for 180 hp and a genuine 120-mph top speed. Jaguar built just over 12,000 XK120s between 1949 and 1954, with alloy-bodied cars now among the rarest of the breed.