Worldwide Auctioneers Auburn 2012 – Auction Report Page Two
Lot # 12 1936 Ford Deluxe Coupe 5-Window; S/N 183313512; Dark Blue/Beige cloth; Estimate $50,000 – $60,000; Recent restoration, 2+ condition; Hammered Sold at $32,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $35,200 — Banjo spoke steering wheel, crank out windshield, black steel wheels, wide whitewalls, rumble seat, enclosed rear spare, bumper overriders. Hydraulic brakes. Restored better than new without going overboard. Excellent, fresh cosmetics. A Dearborn Award winner and about as good as it gets. This is a little more car than the money it brought, especially for the quality of its restoration and the restoration’s preservation. Still, the result is fair for both the buyer and the seller.
Lot # 13 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 Fastback; S/N 0F02Z110869; Blue/White vinyl; Estimate $190,000 – $230,000; Older restoration, 2- condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $140,000 — 429/375hp, 4-speed, Hurst T-handle shifter, Magnum wheels, F60-15 Polyglas GT tires, pushbutton radio, P/S, P/B. Replacement ‘correct, date code’ engine. Restored like new with excellent paint, chrome and interior. Engine is dusty and a little oily. Underbody soiled with some muddy residue. A little detailing will go a long way. Until this Boss-Nine gets the attention it needs the seller should not expect to get more for it. A $5,000 detailing would make it a $160,000 car in today’s market but it’ll never be a primo collector car with the replacement block. The Auburn bidders were not paying premium money for a sub-premium car.
Lot # 15 1941 Ford Special Coupe; S/N 186364354; Black/Beige cloth; Estimate $50,000 – $60,000; Recent restoration, 2- condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $29,000 — Steel wheels, hubcaps, blackwalls, no backseat. Good paint with some flaws. Good interior and chrome. A rare sub-base model car with an unusually good restoration. Ford responded to the increasing focus on economy with the Special Coupe, a counter to Chevrolet’s Master Deluxe. Built for only one year and was severely ‘de-contented’ in modern parlance. Even the bumpers were carry-overs from 1940. Rarely seen, and never in this condition, it is a choice piece for a specialist Ford collector but less desirable in the mainstream. Apparently the only Ford collectors in the Auburn Auction were mainstream and they didn’t like this stripper, price-point Ford very much. It is a missed opportunity for someone who understands.
Lot # 17 1957 Ford Thunderbird Roadster; S/N E7FH281008; White/Red vinyl; Black top; Estimate $110,000 – $130,000; Recent restoration, 1 condition; Hammered Sold at $95,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $104,500 — 312/270hp dual quads, automatic, Town & Country radio, chrome wire wheels, whitewalls, P/B. An over the top Amos Minter restoration. Better than perfect. Sold at Mecum’s Indy auction in May for $108,650, this illustrates the difficulty of flipping a top car from one auction to the next. Its value, however, isn’t going anywhere and recycling it for cash makes sense in the right circumstances.
Lot # 18 1963 Ford Fairlane 500 2-Dr. Hardtop; S/N 3F47F194841; Black/Black; Estimate $20,000 – $30,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 4 condition; Hammered Sold at $6,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $6,600 — Started life with a base 260/164hp V-8 but now has a warmed up 302 with cam, dual point distributor and Edelbrock 4-barrel intake. 4-speed, cheap alloy wheels and tires. Dull repaint, rust blisters, thin, pitted chrome. Ugly and awful. This was a late replacement for the cataloged lot, a 1963 Lincoln Continental Convertible. A sad and despicable little car, it would have been better to reject it at check-in since it didn’t measure up to its decidedly optimistic owner’s description. It’s amazing it brought this much.
Lot # 19 1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria 2-Dr. Coupe; S/N U5DW158778; Black, White/White vinyl, Black cloth; Estimate $55,000 – $65,000; Older restoration, 2+ condition; Hammered Sold at $34,545 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $38,000 — 272/162hp, automatic, factory A/C, P/S, P/B, skirts, wire wheel covers, whitewalls. As good as it gets and an old Amos Minter restoration, beautifully maintained. AACA Senior award winner, meticulously maintained and presented. Bid to $34,500 on the block and closed later with this result, a modest result for a meticulously maintained high quality older restoration of a desirable body style mid-50′s Ford.
Lot # 20 1967 Sunbeam Tiger 1A Roadster; S/N B382002093LRXFE; Dark Blue/Black pebble grain leatherette; Black leatherette top; Estimate $60,000 – $70,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 3 condition; Hammered Sold at $52,727 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $58,000 — 260/164hp V-8, 4-speed, Minator 8-spoke alloy wheels, blackwall tires, Motorola pushbutton radio. Cosmetically restored with overspray in wheel wells. Decent interior, paint and chrome. Power brake booster disconnected. Straight body with uneven sill joints but even door gaps. A mediocre driver. Replacement for the cataloged lot, a ’70 Shelby Mustang GT500 Convertible, it was bid to $53,000 on the block and closed later at this negotiated price. Tiger values are shadowing Cobras, albeit at a great distance, and represent something of a hidden value today (especially for those who think a street 289 Cobra is really worth near 7-figure money.) This Tiger brought all the money its indifferent presentation warranted. The seller was wise to make a deal.
Lot # 21 1920 Ford Model T Touring; S/N 4224820; Black/Black; Estimate $12,000 – $18,000; Unrestored original, 3- condition; Hammered Sold at $12,000 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $13,200 — One family owned for 91 years, all original and reasonably well preserved with original paint and upholstery (under seat covers). Proceeds to the ACD Museum and Early Ford V-8 Foundation. No Reserve. Restoring this Black T would ruin it, and add nothing to its value. Running and driving, it can be toured happily and needs nothing to continue its nearly century-long history of care and stewardship.
Lot # 22 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible; S/N 6F08C168236; Vintage Burgundy/Black; White vinyl top; Estimate $30,000 – $40,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 3+ condition; Hammered Sold at $27,500 plus commission of 10.00%; Final Price $30,250 — 289/200hp, automatic, spinner wheelcovers, narrow whitewalls, no console, power top. Good paint, chrome, interior, top and glass. A usable and presentable cosmetic restoration, but not the nut-and-bolt restoration it claimed. No Reserve. This is, in my opinion, the ideal entry level collector car. It’s not expensive, the top goes down, there’s a V-8 under the hood, parts are readily available, there are active owners’ clubs, and it can be flipped at a fair price any time the owner wants the cash. It’s hard to beat this car from any number of points and its price is right.
Lot # 23 1934 Ford Standard Estate Wagon Strathglass; S/N 1223550; Black/Brown leatherette; Estimate $100,000 – $150,000; Visually maintained, largely original, 3 condition; Not sold at Hammer bid of $70,000 — Stretched chassis with seating for 12 in the rear on center-facing benches. Single sidemount, with 5.25-5.50-17 tires, fog lights, beige vinyl side curtains, rollup front door windows with badly cracked safety glass. Custom built in the 30′s for Hugh Chisholm to transport guests and their luggage to his estate and yacht. Later 1946 Ford V-8. Paint and wood varnish have been redone but the upholstery and paint look original. Sound body and wood. Never restored and a choice piece. This is modest money for a ’34 Ford Woody Wagon, let alone for one custom-bodied in period and so sympathetically maintained in largely original condition. The consignor’s decision to decline the money is entirely understandable. The bidders’ decision not to offer more for it isn’t reasonable. This is a choice Ford.
About Rick Carey
Rick, I’d like to suggest a change in the format for your reports. It is jarring to me to be reading your narrative and see the name of the collector or collection selling the car stuck haphazardly in the middle of it. Why don’t you put it up front, in the basic description of the vehicle – maybe just after its year and description?
Also, do you HAVE to go through all the machinations of how the bidding went and how much the commission was? It matters not to me whether the commission was 12% or 15% – just the sale price.
Thomas,
Cogent observations and suggestions. Long answer follows.
The auction reports are contained in a database which has two narrative elements: Notes where the cars are described and Comments where the observations on the transaction itself go. They are merged in the final report you read on SCD.
I’ve always dropped the collection identity and when applicable ‘No Reserve’ in at the end of the Notes where they finish off the facts before getting to the subjective observations.
In fact, you’re right, though, they really relate to the transaction data at the beginning of the report.
Point well taken, and I’ll endeavor to implement it.
As to the transaction details (hammer bid, commission, final price) we differ.
I think the details, the hammer bid, the transaction results like hammered sold on the block, post-block sale, charity transaction and several more — including the dreaded ‘No bidding interest shown’ — and the buyer’s commission paid are important to presenting the transaction in context.
My feeling, and the point of view I’ve taken in the auction reports, is that the hammer bid relates to what the buyers think the car is worth. The commission paid is part of the buyer’s process costs, like transportation home, related taxes, the cost of travel to the auction, etc. It’s no different than hitting five stores (including gas and time) or canvassing websites for an hour in search of an object that is both right and at a price that makes sense. Or paying a broker, agent or inspector to find, vet and inspect a car before it is bought. The process costs, in this case the commission paid, is relevant, but not the only element in the buyer’s process.
Furthermore, if you’re a prospective buyer, telling you a car sold for, say, $117,000 by itself might lead you to conclude that’s where the bidding stopped. Not knowing the commission would obscure the information that the successful bidder in fact stopped at $100K at a Bonhams sale, $106,400 at RM or Gooding, or $110,400 at Mecum.
In other words, both numbers — hammer bid and final price including commission — are relevant. It’s why the summary numbers in SCD auction reports reflect lots sold for hammer bids under low estimate and over high estimate, not the final, commission-included, amounts.
In this presentation format, if hammer bid and commission don’t matter to you, you can ignore it. The data is there for either point of view and I’ll continue to present it that way.
Thanks for opening my eyes on the first point, and giving me an opportunity to elaborate on the second one.
You’re welcome, Rick.
I did not mean to imply that I’m the only one interested in the price and circumstances surrounding the auction of the vehicle. However, I think that those who are – whether first timers or grizzled old pros – understand the mechanics of the auction, and the fact that a buyer will pay a commission. So, spelling it out is fine, but may be a bit of overkill? As to the process of the bidding, and your comments concerning the proces (no interest shown, not sold, etc.), they must be in your report, and we don’t differ on that one iota – or farthing, depending on your location.
I will continue to read the reports for your concise analysis and commentary – plus the occasional dash of humour, which is reflected also in your response!
Thanks for doing the job you do so well.