AT THE AUCTION
Worldwide Auctioneers
Weinberg Collection, April 3-4, 2009, Escondido, California
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF KOCH
Now that the recession is in full swing, and collector-car prices have largely come back down to
earth, there are bargains to be had if you
know where to look. Worldwide Auctioneers liquidated the Weinberg Collection
in Escondido, California, in early April,
and with a couple of notable exceptions
(including a record-breaking 1956 De
Soto Fireflite Hemi convertible hitting fl
$154,000), there were bargains to be had
all over the floor. Worldwide’s no-reserve fl
auction saw a 100 percent sell-through
rate, and with more than a hundred cars
and plenty of other antiques together,
netted $3.2 million on the weekend. Full
results may be obtained by visiting www.
wwgauctions.com.
LEGEND
Condition: #1–Excellent; #2–Very Good #3–Average; #4–Poor; #5–Major Project
Reserve: Minimum price owner will accept
Top price bid: The highest offer made
Selling price: What the vehicle sold for
Average selling price: Average market value of vehicles in similar condition
Year: 1937
Model: 812 Beverly Sedan
Condition: Restored/#2-
Reserve: None
CORD
Selling price:
$45, 100
Average selling
price: $53,000
Year: 1954
Model: Skylark convertible
Condition: Restored/#1-
Reserve: None
BUICK
Selling price:
$106,700
Average selling
price: $125,000
Year: 1957
Model: Thunderbird
Condition: Refurbished/#2
Reserve: None
FORD
Selling price:
$28, 600
Average selling
price: $32,000
Year: 1959
Model: Plus 4
Condition: Restored/#1-
Reserve: None
MORGAN
Selling price:
$35,750
Average selling
price: $54,000
It wasn’t supercharged, and it wasn’t
the sexy drop-top roadster that’s so
coveted, but it was still a Cord—long
recognized as both a style and a
technological leader in American
cars, with those pop-up headlamps
and the so-called coffin nose. This
one seemed well-bought, as the
money needed to fix the flaws would
still make it something of a bargain
purchase. Just 44,000 miles showed
on the clock, but this cream/oxblood
leather example displayed yellowing whitewalls, scratched rear glass,
some paint cracking and edgewear
around the door and hood seams,
and tarnish inside the bumpers.
From a time when GM stylists were
stretching their wings and coming
up with stunning show-car designs,
the Skylark was a show car that
actually got put into production.
Those first drop-top Skylarks created a sensation when they hit, and
the excitement around them has
never completely abated. Absolutely
perfect examples book for nearly
$150K, and minor quibbles on the
sale example like the chipped grille
support and air cleaner, and the
notion that this model displayed only
a single T3 headlamp, put it just a
skosh short of the top mark.
Our pocket snapshot of how an
auction is doing generally revolves
around a two-seat T-Bird (or else
a ’70s-era Mercedes SL); there
are plenty to go around, and they
show up at nearly every auction
we’ve been to. This one was a fine
driver: a tape deck and a leather-wrapped wheel resided in the cabin,
radial tires were on the wire wheels,
and the suspension we could see
through the engine compartment
(and its cracking jamb paint) looked
to have been used quite contentedly by a previous owner. This baby
blue roadster, with hardtop, came in
about 12 percent under book value,
which told us that there could well
have been some bargains to be had
elsewhere on the floor too.
This multiple Morgan Club award-winning machine featured 7,000
miles on the odometer (presumably
since restoration), the original numbers-matching engine, and a paint
job that seemed illuminated from
within, particularly in the dark-ish
corner that it was stuffed in; only
some yellow plug wires, possibly
meant to be color-coordinated but
coming off slightly dime-store, kept
it from being higher. We can only
figure that the crowd was looking
for more “classic” and perhaps more
contemporary iron; selling at just
two-thirds book, this Plus 4 was a
relative bargain and required only
a replacement set of plug wires to
look perfect.
