Ultra-rare ’69 Trans Am convertible originally sold locally could fetch millions
This 1969 Pontiac Trans Am will be up for auction today is Kissimmee, Fla. The rare car is expected to fetch upward of $1.2 million. It was orginally sold at Arnold Motor Co. in Houston for $3,295 in 1970.
This 1969 Pontiac Trans Am will be up for auction Friday is Kissimmee, Fla. The rare car is expected to fetch upward of $1.2 million. It was orginally sold at Arnold Motor Co. in Houston for $3,295 in 1970.
The interior of the 1969 Pontiac Trans Am, which will be up for auction today
One of only eight Trans Am convertibles produced by Pontiac in 1969 is expected to fetch at least $1.2 million at auction today in Kissimmee, Fla. The 1969 muscle car, with its unique triple-white exterior and interior color scheme and sleek, blue racing stripes, originally was sold at a Washington County car dealership for $3,295 in 1970.
“It was a General Motors executive’s car. We got it in 1970, sold it to a Robert Lauze, then it ended up in Wheeling, (W.Va.), then it kind of fell through the cracks,” said Robert Arnold Sr., 80, of Arnold Motor Co. in Houston.
Arnold’s son – who shares his name – is slated to drive the 335-horsepower, four-speed vehicle up onto the stage floor, an honor organizers wanted to give the original handlers of the car, Mecum Auction officials said. Florida weather means Bob Jr. has a good chance of leaving the top down for the short demo drive.
“This thing is so sleek, so fast looking. And I just love the color scheme of it. This is the only one of the eight Trans Am convertibles built in 1969 with this white exterior-white interior color scheme. And the others have fetched at least a million each when they go up for bid. So I’m expecting to see it go well past that. I’m thinking at least $2 million,” Bob Jr. said.
Bob Sr. said neither he nor his son would have had a chance to drive and touch such a rare gem if he wasn’t adamant about tracking it down.
“I tried to buy it back from a guy in Akron, Ohio, in 1989. I lost track of it again until it turned up in a collection in North Carolina in the ’90s. The asking price was $150,000. It had been restored. Then it changed hands a couple more times,” Bob Sr. said.
The last exchange was in Las Vegas in 2006 when Brett Torino bought it for an undisclosed price, according to Mecum Auction records, and there it sat in his Trans Am collection until 2015. The car has been driven just over 320 miles since its restoration. There were a total of four owners, according to auction records.
Both Bobs said they were leaving by Thursday to get down to the auction, which will start at 10 a.m. and is open to phone and online bidders out of state, with pre-registration.
“This Trans Am is in lot F115, so I would expect it to go up on the block around noon. But they clear between 20 to 30 cars an hour. Serious bidders will want to go to Mecum.com and pre-register so they’re eligible to bid,” said Mecum spokeswoman Christine Giovingo.