{"id":100692,"date":"2025-05-02T09:45:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=100692"},"modified":"2025-05-02T09:29:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:29:41","slug":"rare-race-ready-pontiacs-headline-the-bobby-knudsen-collection-at-mecum-indy-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/rare-race-ready-pontiacs-headline-the-bobby-knudsen-collection-at-mecum-indy-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare Race-Ready Pontiacs Headline the Bobby Knudsen Collection at Mecum Indy 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
1961 Pontiac Ventura Royal Super Duty Photo: Mecum Auctions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For fans of Pontiac performance and serious collectors of drag racing history, Mecum\u2019s 2025 Spring Classic in Indianapolis is shaping up to be a landmark event. One of the standout features of this year\u2019s auction is the Bobby Knudsen Collection, an expertly curated group of rare, race-bred Pontiacs that reads like a greatest hits album from the golden era of factory performance.<\/p>\n

\"\"
1963 Pontiac Catalina Super Duty Swiss Cheese Photo: Mecum Auctions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the heart of the collection are eight Pontiac Catalinas, including two of the ultra-rare 1963 \u201cSwiss Cheese\u201d factory lightweight models\u2014vehicles that are legendary in drag racing circles for their stripped-down, performance-first construction. Built by Pontiac to dominate NHRA competition, these cars are among the most sought-after factory hot rods ever created.<\/p>\n

The collection doesn\u2019t stop there. Among the heavy hitters is a 1962 Catalina Super Duty, equipped with a dual-quad 421 cubic inch V-8 and a 4-speed manual transmission. With an estimated auction value between $160,000 and $180,000, this Catalina is a textbook example of Pontiac\u2019s no-nonsense, go-fast engineering from the early 1960s.<\/p>\n

Also crossing the block is a 1961 Pontiac Ventura Royal Super Duty, a car with real track pedigree. Campaigned by none other than Jim Wangers\u2014the father of Pontiac performance marketing\u2014this Ventura earned its stripes with NHRA Top Stock Eliminator wins, making it a significant piece of muscle car and motorsports history.<\/p>\n

\"\"
1959 Pontiac Bonneville Safari Sport Wagon Photo: Mecum Auctions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adding variety and vintage style to the lineup is a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville Safari Sport Wagon, one of just 4,673 units produced that year. Under the hood sits a Tri-Power 389 CI V-8, paired with power brakes, power steering, and plenty of mid-century American charm.<\/p>\n

Each car in the Bobby Knudsen Collection tells its own story. Whether built to light up the dragstrip or turn heads at a concours event, these Pontiacs reflect a deep commitment to preserving high-performance American automotive heritage. Best of all, every vehicle will be offered at no reserve during Mecum\u2019s Spring Classic, May 13\u201318, 2025.<\/p>\n

This is more than an auction\u2014it’s a rare opportunity to own a slice of racing history from one of the most respected collections in the country.<\/p>\n

For more information and to view the full lineup, visit the official Mecum Auctions page for the Bobby Knudsen Collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For fans of Pontiac performance and serious collectors of drag racing history, Mecum\u2019s 2025 Spring Classic in Indianapolis is shaping up to be a landmark event.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":100693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3447,5044,3470],"tags":[11849,11840,11851,11845,1953,11854,11841,11850,11852,11847,11853,11844,11842,11843,11848,11846],"class_list":["post-100692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classic","category-cool-cars","category-news","tag-1963-catalina-lightweight","tag-bobby-knudsen-collection","tag-classic-pontiac-collection","tag-jim-wangers-ventura","tag-mecum-auctions","tag-mecum-indianapolis-2025","tag-mecum-indy-2025","tag-muscle-car-auction","tag-no-reserve-collector-cars","tag-pontiac-catalina-for-sale","tag-pontiac-racing-history","tag-pontiac-super-duty","tag-rare-pontiacs","tag-swiss-cheese-catalina","tag-tri-power-bonneville","tag-vintage-drag-cars"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/61-ventura-e1746202970647.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-qc4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100692"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100696,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100692\/revisions\/100696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}