Year: 1911
Model: Model 33 Touring
Condition: Restored/#3
Reserve: None
BUICK
Selling price:
$27, 500
Average selling
price: $50,000
Year: 1953
Model: TD
Condition: Restored/#1-
Reserve: None
MG
Selling price:
$23, 100
Average selling
price: $27,000
Year: 1952
Model: 2. 5 Liter RMD
Condition: Restored/#2
Reserve: None
RILEY
Selling price:
$26, 400
Average selling
price: $19,000
Year: 1970
Model: Custom 500
Condition: Restored/#2
Reserve: None
FORD
Selling price:
$7, 150
Average selling
price: $4,800
On the one hand, you could immediately see a thousand things that
needed attention right now (or else
could have before it went on the
block): The brass needed polishing,
the older tires were balding, the
maroon paint was chipped near the
hood latches, and the engine, while
intact and running, wasn’t terribly
clean. An upgrade to 12-volt electrics made for better driveability, if
not correctness. A more egregious
issue, less easily fixed, was the
worn-out front-seat leather. On the
other hand, it was a 100-year-old car
that was clearly driveable, cost less
than a new Camry, and was all there;
it just needed some scrubbing and
TLC to make it look twice as nice.
Wondering how the U.S. carmakers
collapsed? Before VW had a hold in
America, MG was gaining strength,
and models like this charming wire-wheeled TD helped open Detroit’s
eyes to the potential of small cars.
This particular roadster might have
been one of the best-displaying
machines available on the weekend:
It was antiseptic inside and out and
featured recent two-tone paint;
only radial tires in correct wheels
and the unfortunate checkerboard
grille motif prevented it from looking absolutely as new. Yet the pricing—once again about 15 percent
below what the book said it should
bring— was more an indication of
what the crowd was looking for than
a reflection of the car itself.
On the one hand, the great old
English marque Riley, so diminished
in its late years as a part of BMC,
built a fine, rakish drophead coupe.
On the other, no one bought them;
just 49 Rileys came to the U.S. in
1952, and our pricing guide doesn’t
even list a drophead coupe in its
valuations. So either way, the buyer
was getting something special, and
as a bonus, it was in relatively fine
fettle: Only some patina issues kept
this one from being in #1 condition,
although the dummy exposed pipes
won’t be to everyone’s taste. Not a
bad price for a car that would draw
a lot of stares and questions at any
show.
Wow, are full-size Ford prices
nowhere compared to the others
made by the Big Three. This one, a
real Florida police car at one point
in its life, was actually restored to
the tune of $25,000, and came with
a brag book that showed the thing
torn asunder; only crusty exhaust
manifolds and a set of 6x9 speakers
punched into the parcel shelf took it
out of its period aura. A rare above-book purchase here (and at these
prices, how could they not be?),
doubtless in part for the work clearly
done to it, part for its history and
heritage, and part for the valuable
vintage police equipment attached
to it.
Year: 1958
Model: Bonneville
Condition: Restored/2+
Reserve: None
PONTIAC
Selling price:
$28, 600
Average selling
price: $40,000
Year: 1954
Model: Coupe de Ville
Condition: Original/#2
Reserve: None
CADILLAC
Selling price:
$15, 400
Average selling
price: $30,000
Year: 1949
Model: Custom
Condition: Refurbished/#2-
Reserve: None
FORD
Selling price:
$9, 350
Average selling
price: $12,000
Year: 1956
Model: Fireflite convertible
Condition: Refurbished/#2
Reserve: None
DE SOTO
Selling price:
$154,000.
Average selling
price: $35,000
Pontiac was just launching itself
headlong into earning its performance reputation in 1958, and cars
like the Bonneville would help it
get there double-time. A previous
20-year owner had the big Bonnie
restored, and then drove it quite a
bit, judging from the chips across
the leading edge of the hood. The
seller also had various bits of the
engine compartment chromed,
including the alternator. Beyond
these minor issues, it presented
well—although it still came in a third
under book.
Another one that looked perfect
enough to drive off the auction floor.
It looked original: The paint lacked
the clearcoat sheen of a restoration, the A-pillar chrome was on the
spotty side, and the paint on the
metal interior surfaces seemed to be
bubbling away (possibly at the spot
where someone hung his arm out
the window and his sweat reacted
with the paint?). Generous amounts
of patina inside, outside and under
hood were on hand, but it seemed
more at home here than in some
other cars we’ve seen. At any rate,
these were minor disses on what
was another half-price special.
For a car that supposedly fell apart
all too quickly, we sure see an awful
lot of ’ 49 Fords at auction. This particular example gave off the “honest
transportation” vibe in spades. With
eighty-some-thousand miles on the
clock, it retained its original flathead,
6-volt electrics and interior (with
seats wrapped in plastic, now that
the driver’s side of the bench was
getting threadbare). The chrome was
fading in spots, and both engine and
interior displayed patina, all of which
was easy to point out since it had
newer paint to contrast it. A sweetie,
purchased for a bargain price.
Okay. We understand that this one
was plastered on the cover of the
bidder’s catalog and got its own
page inside, rather than the two-a-page treatment most got. We know
that just 1, 485 were built that year,
that this was a total body-off restoration, and that dual fours on a Hemi
are dead sexy. And rare options like
Highway Hi-Fi don’t hurt. But the
carbs on that Hemi were dirty, the
chrome seemed indifferently finished
to our eye, and there were paint
issues around the hood. So where
did the vigorous bidding come from?
