Event Coverage Big "Barn Find" Auction

My brother and I went to the big "barn find" auction at Hastings, Nebraska yesterday. Of course his air conditioning had broke in his Chevy pickup, he bought a brand new compressor and found out it was locked up when he went to put it on the night before so we ended up driving his Caprice. So if we bought anything we were going to have to go home and get a trailer.

My brother was interested in the pink and white 1955 Ford 2-door sedan. It was in fairly decent shape for a 57 year old car but of course it did look worse than the pictures, isn't that the way it always is? They had the trunk open and the trunk floor looked real solid. It looked like there was a little rust in the floor of the passenger compartment. The front fenders were fairly decent but they still needed patching around the headlight area, most of these fenders are usually a lot worse though. The Y-block was locked up.

Just before they began to auction it off I overheard this gal talking on a hands-free device telling someone that the car was in great shape and it still had the plastic on the seats. Apparently she was some kind of buyer, possibly working for or running a buying service. We decided she might have been too young to know about those heavy diamond plastic seat covers people used to install in their cars since that was what the plastic was on the seats.


When they began to auction it off and they were looking for a opening bid the buyer chick made an opening bid of $4100 making it a one bid car. We think that was probably the guy she was buying for's top dollar and she opened with it. I'd hate to have her buying for me at an auction. I've seen a few one bid cars over the years, it's generally an inexperienced auction goer that makes that move but this was the first time I've ever seen someone that was obviously a buyer do that. It always makes me wonder what it would have went for if they would have started low. Hard to say, it could have been the guy's strategy.

My brother was also interested in a 48 to 50 Ford pickup if they had decent running boards and front fenders but they brought more than he wanted to give.

On the way home he asked me why we didn't bid on the 1958 Ford 2-door hardtop. He said that car had a lot of potential and it would have been cool to own. That's life, we are aways second guessing ourselves.


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thanks for sharing would have been a fun auction to attend.

 

We did have a good day. It was a fun day spent with my brother.

 

I really appreciate the post and the videos. There's always posts about upcoming auctions but rarely any follows.

What I find amazing about the old car auctions I've attended, this type, not the BJ type, is the prices people usually pay for rusted out hulks with no title. Many times there are guys who will buy numerous cars and load them on to goose neck trailers with out of state plates. The funny thing is it seems the vast majority of the rumbling in the crowd is about how these guys way over pay for most of these relics. As a hobbyist I can see buying a junk car for the few parts that might be on the car that you need for your project and then selling off the rest. I can see overpaying for something like that if you really need those few parts but as a business man I see absolutely no profit in traveling 2-3 states over, renting hotel rooms, standing around for a day or two and overpaying for a car. Maybe I'm not seeing something.

 

We did talk to several people from different states. The o/t 1968 Cougar GTE was purchased by a guy from Oklahoma for $5500. The way it was in the ad we were expecting to see a 427 sitting under the hood but somewhere over the years it had lost the 427 and gained a 302, right car, wrong engine. We were surprised how much worse it looked in person but it still would have been worth more with the 427. The guy that bought it told us he was going to have a hard time finding a 427.

I think the GTO was bought by some guy from Ohio.

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Ya'll enjoyed a little summer shower!

 

spending time with your brother and having a good time is priceless

 

That's right! It came down pretty hard for a while.

That's what makes it all worthwhile. My brother is the guy trying to get the door open in the video above.

 

Did any one listen to the chant on the Elcamino? Was looking for $800. suddenly it's $1500. Then it's at $1800 looking for $1900. gets struck down at $1700. I think someone need lessons on counting.
I am an avid auction goer. Always makes me wonder when things like this happen. There was only on voice shouting out numbers to the auctioneer. I imagine it was someone working the phone bids. I would place a bet that this car never leaves the property.

 

Auctioning a 1950 Ford two door sedan.


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Did anything go cheap?

 

I just looked at the auction results on Proxibid. It says they passed the 68 Cougar Eliminator. In fact it says they passed nearly all of the early Fords, some 50's Fords, early 50's Mercs, and 50's Buicks, as well as a few others.
I know that sometimes they'll pass something online and just let the bidders in attendance and phone bidders bid if there is a discrepancy between the online description and the actual condition. Do you know why so many were passed online this time?

 

They had a computer on a stand with big wheels on it that they rolled around. I suppose that was for computer bids.

I wouldn't consider anything I watched sell cheap but everybody has a different idea of what cheap is. A guy told me that most of the 52 to 54 Fords that sold before we arrived went cheap.

Does Proxibid have someone on premises inspect the cars before the auction and not let you bid on the items that are not quite as described? I know the Cougar wasn't in nearly as good of condition when I saw it in person. In fact I was a little shocked how much different it appeared. I was also expecting it to have a 427 residing between the shock towers instead of the 302 that was there. So the guy that bought it is looking to restore it will have to find a 427 and a FE transmission. I thought a lot of the other stuff looked worse in person as well.

 

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Yes it is!

 

No, Proxibid doesn't have anyone on location. Sometimes auctioneers realize they've made a mistake in the listing or found out there isn't a title or some other issue so they don't allow internet bidding on those items because the internet bidders don't have the revised info.

 

That might explain it then, there did seem to be quite a few sold without titles.
It could be that they thought they had the titles and they were lost or damaged somehow, I went to an auction once that a lot of stuff was sold without titles because a mouse got into a box the titles were stored in and ruined a bunch of them.

 

Everything had a minimum bid of 375 bucks, scrape price. A few cars didn't even get that for a bid some were pretty rough. Was pretty cool to see all the old cars auction off though.

 

Do you know what the 58 Chevy cameo truck went for?

 

I suppose the ones that didn't sell will end up right there in that scrap yard. There was some old stuff in there also.

It was fun to watch.

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I think you are thinking of the Chevy dealer auction that is coming up in September. That one is going to be two days. We are thinking of going to that one also, the biggest problem with that is that harvest will be in full swing at the end of September and I'll have a hard time getting away.

 

Yes, your are correct. Thanks and great harvest.

 

Even in rough shape, $5500 for that Cougar isn't out of line. Those are extremely rare cars, but yes, it will be a chore to come up with the correct engine, its a one year only hydraulic lifter 427.

 

I think it would have went for quite a bit more if it had the right engine. I wish I knew the story behind it.

 

On the Cougar didn't the ones early in the model year have a 427 and the later ones a 428 CJ?

I read on here recently the owner of the auction company is also in the scrap business so that's where the minimum bid comes from, and also why they tell you, you can pull the parts you want and leave the hulk.

 

Looks like it opened at 800, went to 900, then an online bidder jumped the bid to 1500 (via the gal behind the elco looking at the computer monitor) probably in an attempt to shock everyone long enough to keep them from bidding in hopes it would close at 1500.

Things move fast so you have to really be on your toes. When bidding you have to listen closely to the auctioneer AND watch where he is looking to see if he is actually getting bids on what he calls. You could raise your hand at 800 and he'll point to you and say 900, now 1000.
I always try to spot the shill bidders. They'll jump in for awhile in the middle, then jump back out prior to the close and will never actually win an auction.
Having said that, most auctions are straight up, but I've attended a few that had some obvious shady stuff going on.

 

Hotrodstohell - good points - love going to auctions - all kinds....you got's to know when to fold em' .....sometimes it's just fun to watch those that don't....

 

hoe about that 40 coupe?

 

Yeah, I always wonder about that but how do you prove it or if you really want the item do you just set the price for yourself what you are willing to pay and be happy with that if you win???