Car Auction

[James Landi]

Art,

These are sad narratives about old guys who, when pressed, are unable to emotionally part from things that rust and ultimately are rendered useless.   I have some old stuff too, and I have emphatically told my family that when I croak, put my toys up for sale, and get rid of material burdens!   Happy day, James

[fishnjim]

Pictures are now posted for ~200 cars.   

I don't care for online from pictures auctions.   
22% is well above the online premium going rate.   I maybe could use some of the packard parts, but passing on this one, too short notice and no inspection.

GAA is going on now.   They do it right, with inspection days.  I've looked at stuff there that looked good and had billing, enough to gowt me to go look, but was not up to muster at inspection.   If I'd just bid based on catalog, I'd not be satisfied at all.   Auctions are tough calls as you always find things out after the sale...   Bid accordingly...
An old co-worker(deceased) was often quoted to say, "photons are better than electrons."   as in: go out and look!
I'm happy that these depression era people saved things.  Not always stored in the best way.   We're a throw away society today.   Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles were all from that era and they had a different view of material things.   Once they're gone they're gone and auctions will disperse what's left, making it harder to find things down the road.   Kinda what we're seeing with covid, lack of availability, but was much worse in the '30s.

[fishnjim]

The rest of the story(part).
This was first posted at another car site back in July but they didn't put the name of the collection or have any pictures, give any details, just seeking potential buyers.   The guy was helping digest/assist with the sale at that time.   But there is more coming for sale later but nothing has been announced and the logistics are making it tricky and why there "oozing" out the vehicles and you have to pick up immediately or may not be there.   Actually in/near Utica, NY.   Apparently they have a certain time period/crunch to clear the bldg, so they must have sold/foreclosed(?) the real estate, prior to the cars.

[Bryan J Moran]

I would like item #5, a supposedly a 1946 Fleetwood.  I love the post war Fleetwoods to 1949, but would prefer a 1946-47.   Being in Iowa, it is impossible for me to entertain bidding on a car that will be pulled outside on or around December 1.  I would need arranged transport to Iowa, at about a current rate of $2,000 or so.  Just not worth it. 

But for those close by, this would be a consideration. 

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Here is#5....

https://www.collarcityauctionsonline.com/servlet/List.do?auctionId=727&page=info&lotId=5&startLotId=1&direction=next&categoryId=&filter=&showThumbNails=true#maincontent

Looks pretty solid.....but your right Byran, they're going to drag them outside into a small parking lot....where it sits until your guys come and pick it up.....

It all sounds kinda iffy to me...vandals, stolen, damage after your purchase??

Mike

[Bryan J Moran]

Crazy auction.  1st, I would love this to be a "live" auction but frankly there probably is not enough room for that.  2nd - this seller and family likely are hoarders in a good way and I'll bet a lot of the neighbors and community knew about the cars, inquired but were rejected.  Just a hunch. 

It was fun browsing through.  The Packards he has are truly cool, even in this sorry state.  Just the number of Caribbeans he has!   

I am essentially out of the hobby but I looked for "affordable" Caribbean projects probably 10-15 years ago and cars in similar condition as these were too high.  Now I have no place to restore, and probably no time, and most of my tools are sold, and here this pops up!

To keep this Cadillac focused, he has a lot of Cadillac convertibles.  Bidding is soft, but then with the conditions and the inclinations for last second bidding, we will see what the results are.  If I had some spare time and lived in the neighborhood, this would be a pop the popcorn, grab a chair show when these cars come out. 

And keep in mind, many may have high bids from crushers.  I saw a 1966 75 series that is surely restorable that probably weights 6000 pounds and likely will get crushed. 

[Big Fins]

I'm going to get old. I may not have a shop to do a restoration and I may not be able to even do the restoration, but my tools will be with me until I die.

[harvey b]

This auction is over,the prices are posted,seems like some real bargains,some went for retail?.Wish i was there to see them,places like this are getting few and far between. harveyb

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Guys,
I just figured it out!! Where did most of these cars come from??? No keys, no paperwork & odd parts missing. He bought them from JUNK YARDS!!! At least they got saved.
Bob

[Bryan J Moran]

Agreed Bob.  He saved them, and sometimes we question why these hoarders don't sell off their cars rather then let them deteriorate further.  I think that it is because we are in America, and we should be allowed to do what we want with our personal property as long as it's not infringing on others.

A few of those are definitely going to the crusher, but many seem like they are going to buyers who will part them out or attempt restorations.  Let's just say that 1 in 10 end up restored and enjoyed, that's still a win.

To me this more of a rare and somewhat desirable Packard auction as he had a lot of Caribbeans and 356 powered cars.  But there were a few Cadillacs and many brought strong money for full on projects.

[Mike Baillargeon #15848]

Was the average $1000 per car times 236 cars?

Was it worth the effort of collecting, storing etc.?

I don't know.....

Mike

[fishnjim]

Let's wait for part 2 & 3 for more Xcitement!   Lots of buzz over on the "P" forum.
Top seller "P" carribean conv.   That one probably will be worth the cost, even at $14+K for the bones.   Conv's widely again out sold hardtops.   
Where you going to get a Pierce Arrow for $1500 or less?
I only eyeballed one or two I'd even consider 4 resto.   There's the point of no return in rust.   But if you can buy a hulk and rescue a few parts and make more than your money, there's a swap meet clientele and seller groupees that haul this stuff around looking for the right buyer.  The issue, where to store? because outside causes more rust.
If the junk yard theory prevails, those early '50s Cads were crushed up like ice cubes during the '70s scrap crunch even at low scrap prices ~$125/ton. They had to be there a long, long time.   Car scrap only $225/ton right now and dollar has devalued a bunch since then.  I remember I got $180 for my '68 catalina 4dr with the blownup motor.     
ps: someone may spreadsheet all that data, it be valuable info.   I don't have time.  I think $1000 is a bit rich but don't forget the 22% buyer fee. 

[Caddy Wizard]

The car I tried to buy 10 years ago was worth $5-10K ten years ago.  It is in roughly the same shape now as then, only with 10 years of dust on it.  Sold for about $2K.  But when I was trying to buy it, the title was available.  Now gone.  So some of the price difference it in the title...

[fishnjim]

Can always apply for a new title in most states.   It's easier, if there was a title and you know the state it was titled in.

[Bob Hoffmann CLC#96]

Hey Fishnjim,
In  many states it's very hard or near impossible to get a title starting with nothing. I'm sure you've read the horror stories on this board. So... don't make it sound easy & no problem. I'm sure that some of the cars had titles or a valid BOS  but the auction boys didn't want to take the time to sort them out. Typical crap. And more crap is the 22% buyers "premium" plus the % they charged the seller.
Bob

[Larry Savino]

What a sad situation. Can you imaging the cost to house these treasure for  the decades he did only to have the majority of them sell for scrap metal prices

So I am 58 and I have a small collection of some items (I won't say what) but as i mature I realize that this will have no value to my family and will actually be a burden for my family to liquidate , And when they do have to liquidate it will also be sold for pennies on the dollars as we have seen with this auction . That being said I will start to thin my collection ,even though I just added another item to the collection, I have to learn to say NO , and just keep what i will use at least yearly.

Again this is a saddening action to me to see a mans treasure go for scrap metal pricing

[76eldo]

Louis Abelove was a very successful attorney in Utica, NY.  He is now living in a care facility.  This was unfortunately the way he enjoyed the hobby.  I was at this building a month ago retrieving a 56 Caribbean that luckily was stored in his other building since he bought it from my brother in law in 1987.  It's an all black paint car.  Very rare as most of the 276 built were tri color cars.

The kicker to all of this ios that up until this year his wife never knew anything about this building or that he had over 250 cars.  That's pretty funny.

There are literally tons of parts that will also be up for sale and an entire room of unopened boxes of parts he purchased from ebay and other places.  TONS of parts on shelves too.  It's a shame because a lot of the stuff cant really be identified and will take a lot of work to identify.  I don't know how they will be handling that.

By the way my brother in law won 3 auctions and bought 2 Packard clippers and a 55 Caribbean.  I may be back up there helping him get these.

Brian

[TonyZappone #2624]

As I had mentioned before, Louis was a nice, nice man, and apparently a great lawyer from reports I have heard.  Somewhere in all those wrapped parts is a 46-49 series 75 rear bumper that I had replated, not know it wouldn't fit a series 62

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The kicker to all of this ios that up until this year his wife never knew anything about this building or that he had over 250 cars.  That's pretty funny.   Brian 

Such a shame but this happens a lot, and usually, the one left behind hasn't a clue what the value is, and just tosses everything out.   Or, gives it away.

Bruce.

[Bryan J Moran]

As I had mentioned before, Louis was a nice, nice man, and apparently a great lawyer from reports I have heard.  Somewhere in all those wrapped parts is a 46-49 series 75 rear bumper that I had replated, not know it wouldn't fit a series 62

Tony,

I am on both sides of this thought process.  Having collected many rare cars, interesting cars, without the means to restore them and changing courses, I see where he was coming from.  Yes, he should have stopped at 10 or so, and had them expertly restored.   

But it sounds like he grew up realizing how special a car was when it became available, and saved it.  When I would get a neat old car, or even go look at one, I would just sit in it and take in the significance of that. Perhaps he did too, but you knew him better than most. 

I'm 57.  From approximately age 40 to 50, I had a heated 3 car garage man cave.  In that time, I would have registered for this auction and bid aggressively, I think on a few of the Cadillacs, Packards, and /or Oldsmobiles.