Dreams cost nothing at collectors' car auction

If phrases like "1969 Pontiac GTO Judge" and "Ram Air III 400/366 HP" spark your interest, this week's Mecum Auction in St. Charles may be for you.

Even if you don't have the bucks to buy the one-of-a-kind GTO convertible that is being sold, you can buy an admission ticket for $15 and look around during the four-day event Thursday through Sunday. And maybe you can pick up something at the memorabilia auction on Sunday, where gas pumps, oil cans, classic Schwinn bicycles, gas station signs, toy vehicles and more will be sold.

Doors open at 8 a.m. each day. The auction starts at 10 a.m.

On Sunday, there is a memorabilia auction from 9 to 11 a.m.

The auction is at Pheasant Run Resort, 4051 E. Main St., St. Charles. It is run by Mecum Auctions, a Marengo-based vehicle auction company.

The auction will feature about 800 vehicles, including a 1968 Chevrolet C10 pickup truck being sold by a member of the Jordanaires singing group, and a howitzer-armed Jeep used in the Persian Gulf War.

The vehicles up for bid can be viewed at mecum.com.

The auction house declined to provide an estimated value for the GTO, and there isn't a minimum bid. But at last year's auction, a 1971 hardtop Plymouth Barracuda - the last one of its kind to roll off the production line - had a minimum starting bid of $600,000.

If you can't make it to the auction, you can still see the cars roll down the red carpet to the auction block, via a broadcast of "Mecum Auto Auction: Muscle Cars and More" on Discovery Communications' HD Theater pay television channel. The show is on from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday.