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1991 Pontiac Tojan Knightmare

Offered by Mecum | Kansas City, Missouri | March 24-25, 2017

Photo – Mecum

Ford Mustangs have their famous aftermarket tuners, specifically, Saleen. General Motors never quite had the same thing (they did in the 60s, with Yenko and the like). But for more modern Camaros and Firebirds, you were pretty much left to either DIY or hope GM put out some factory monster. Most GM tuners were focused on Corvettes.

Enter Nebraska-based Knudsen Automotive (who also built a low-run neo-classic). They lent their hand to turning third generation Pontiac Firebirds into more exotic-looking sports cars. Between 1985 and 1991, they made 133 Tojans. Only three of those were “Knightmares.” Powered by Pontiac’s 5.7-liter V-8, this Knightmare also features the optional rear wing that looks like it was plucked directly off a Countach.

The point of the Tojan was, for some serious cash (about $55,000 in the late 80s), give you an American sports car that could keep pace with a Ferrari 308. This 41,000 mile car with cousin-to-KITT appearance is pretty rare. I saw a red Tojan at a car show once and it definitely got my attention. Click here to see more about this car and here for the rest of Mecum’s Kansas City lineup.

Update: Sold $13,500.

This is our final Scottsdale auction recap. It’s been weeks since it happened but we finally caught up. Russo & Steele sold a wide variety of cars from the affordable (the lowest seller was a 1978 Triumph Spitfire 1500 Convertible that sold for $4,675) to the super expensive – the top sale was this 1968 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Roadster that sold for $687,500. It was one of only 216 built during three years of production.

The second top seller was a 1965 Shelby GT350 that was once used as a race car at the Carroll Shelby School of High Performance Driving. It has a fresh restoration and looks amazing. I could easily imagine myself tearing around a racetrack in this car. But for $467,500, it’s a little out of my range.

Our two featured cars from this auction, a 1973 Mercury Cougar XR7 Convertible and a Ketchup & Mustard-liveried ’96 RT/10 Viper both sold. The Cougar brought $17,600 and the Viper $39,050.

Other highlights included a pair of rare Mopar’s: this 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona:

sold for $118,800. And a blue 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda sold for $115,500. And finally, probably the rarest car in this sale was this 1984 Knudsen Baroque Cabriolet – 1 of 2 such cars built. Knudsen built 11 total Baroques in Nebraska in the late 70s and early 80s in a variety of bodystyles. When new, these cars cost between $80,000 and $225,000. According to the consignor, this car cost $86,000 in 1984. It sold for only $12,100.