Art & Inspiration What do you do with a 1 of 3 110 year old car part?

Well you just upstaged my ridiculous thought.
What if someone is out there running it, ***led as a Ford with a Deuce grille shell?

 

It only has REAL value to two people.... the two that own the existing cars. The value to them is as a backup... Its other value is to someone who would like to scratch build a car around it or hang it on a wall. In either of those two cases, the value isn't too high (anyone wanting to build around it faces the possible issue of it needing repair and where would you find someone with the knowledge and skill for that?). so that leaves.... try to contact the owners of the two existing cars and get what you can for it (remember it's a small market, so it probably won't fund your next vacation).
Rare isn't always valuable....

 

I have a buddy who has a Tucker front fender that his grand father (or great great grand father) stole from the Tucker factory (he was working there) when they closed it down (I guess he was afraid that he was not going to get paid). My buddy took it to the Imperial Palace casino in Las Vegas that has the old car museum with a Tucker on display. The guy there told him, yea you have a very rare part but even rarer is someone who what's to buy it. When his family found out that he try to sell the fender, they just about dis-owned him. So I guess that fender will hang in his garage until the next family member takes upon the ownership responsibility. Is is like owner a flyable B-36 bomber, what do you do with it.

 

Well, if one was to contact the auction company, and if they were auctioning of both cars about the same time, then auctioned the grill set up, could be both winning bidders would have a fight to get a piece for their car.
They always say it “takes two who want something “ to drive up the price

 

How could I have misread the article, I quoted it verbatim.

I was merely pointing out that as many as 65 cars were built before the factory closed in 1912. HRP

 

edit.

Just saw what they previously ran at auction for. Not too impressive for the rarity.
Roadster sold for 16k, the teardrop sold for 78k, I expected better honestly but the Low HP and rarity of them they are mainly display pieces these days more suited for manicured gr*** hills.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/20...ese-roadsters-head-to-auction-in-philadelphia

Id still put some feelers out but may be worth making a boat tail if the offers on $ are low... There is no data on if the third has been found or not. Interesting but I think a well built tribute with maybe Model A driveline or late model DOHC 4 banger would be ***s... Boat tail is a must....

Its your time and money...

 

If you don't need the couple hundred dollars, keep it. It's worth a fortune as a conversation piece

 

I can see any museum that has French cars from that era in it would have some interest as it could be a wall display with history of the make. A lot of museums have displays with only portions of cars especially if they are relatively rare.

 

Reminds me of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

 

I’ll give you $100 for it.

 

My broke *** would give you 500.00

 

sell it to Jay Leno

 

If 65 were built, maybe one of them is out there in a shed somewhere, hoping beyond hope, that someday they'll run across a grill for theirs so it will be complete,

 

Guys I just want to point out....the 61 or 62(sources vary) built after the 3 prototypes were never sold as they were all lost on a ship in the Atlantic.

 

From Hemmings:

"A minimum of three Breese automobiles were produced as prototypes, including one boattail roadster (later rebodied as a simple speedster), a teardrop roadster, and a racing variant, since lost to time ... There are different versions of Breese’s efforts following the construction of the prototypes. Some believe that building cars was little more than a hobby for the affluent Breese, who quickly lost interest after realizing the effort and expense involved. Others insist that Breese produced an initial batch of cars -- either 61 or 62, depending upon account, which were lost at sea when the ship transporting them from Europe to America sank."

I agree that the most logical explanation is that we're looking at the shell from the racing variant. It does not appear to be made of br***, like the others, which might support that.

 

Just an update. I did reach out to the previous owner that sold them at Bonhams in 2018. I have gotten a response. But still kinda working on getting to the cars... I won't divulge the story. But selling them sounds like a sore subject. So still trying to feel him out if he wants to talk about them.

 

Also I was thinking about the value of the cars recently sold. I think they have some desirability issues with the major big money investors....mainly they're a French built car, named after an American driver and meant to be sold in America. So they're not really French or American.

 

Sore subject? When dealing with museums (if that's the case) they are usually in tight financial restraints, relying on donations and will always suggest that route. It's enough to just leave them contact info.

 

The two cars sold for considerably under the auction estimate in 2018, as far as I can tell.

 

looking at the two cars on Hemmings, the tear drop roadster has a flat spot at the top of the shell
where it meats the core of the radiator. Whereas the racer has a full radius at that point and looks
to be fabricated from steal. Is your shell br***?

 

Danny, Using the references to each car in the Hemmings article, it states that the auction was August 8, 2018. It's not an upcoming auction. The only thing Bonham's has going on August 8 of this year is a sale of rare and fine wines. There are several others who have posted here who seem to think that these cars will be sold by Bonham's on August 8, 2022 and the OP's grille should be sold there at the same time. I think @moriarty's idea of an ad in Hemmings has merit.

Personally, I'd like to go to the wine sale just to see if there's a bottle or two of 1968 Mad Dog 20-20 or Silver Satin and what they would cost these days.

 

This little thing is so sweet, even if Sperraza did do some goofy things to it like the Model A headlights with sealed beams. The article indicated that parts of it like the OHV 4 banger was post teens, so I guess even the original builder Breese wasn't done fooling around with it.

For $16k I'd have a new oddball parked in the garage, I love the **** out of it.

 

"Saleroom notices
Close examination of the running gear of this car leads us to believe that it consists of proprietary running gear supplied by French component manufacturers to Robert Breese, such as Malicet et Blin for the ch***is frame and gearbox and S.C.A.P. for the engine which seems to be a rebadged version of their model Y overhead cam unit. In each case there is no evidence to suggest that these companies supplied such components before the 1920s and therefore it is likely that the car dates from the post teen era."
They are basically saying it isn't the 1911 car it is ***led as. Since there is no history before 1926, this is a bitsa, not a Breese. Thus it sold for much less than the early car. Bonhams claimed the car is essentially like it was when Breese owned it (late 20s or early 30s to 1958), so you can't blame the Sperazzas for the sealed beams.

 

From what I can tell, Breese bought that car back. And then modified it for use in a race honoring the Vanderbilt Cup that took place in 1946. It also appeared in a movie I believe.

 

1 of 3? Hmmmmnnnnnn I got an idea. What is your Holy Grail car? Just out of reach, right? Sell it and build the car you always wanted but could never have.

 

I've gotten a few inquires on what it would take to own this thing...and I'm just gonna put it out there that the only thing I would be interested in trading for would be an original 32 Ford grill.

 

That should,nt take long . I,ve seen enough garages/shops here on the hamb with multiple '32 grilles on the wall or hanging from the rafters . Bet one of the collectors can miss at least one '32 grille .

 

LOL I know where I could unbolt one of those and you are far enough away that you would never get caught using it.

I would just about bet that some high roller would love to own it for their "Man Cave" and you could buy 2 or 3 deuce grills complete for what they would be willing to give for bragging rights. It looks almost like a Whippet grill shell. It would be cool on someone's rod.

If I could afford to not loose it I would use it.

BTW in case no one noticed it is a damned cool piece of car history.

 

Sell.

 

Strange that these were intended for sale in the USA but are right hand drive. When did car makers in the USA settle on left hand drive?
It would make a great radiator for a roadster but will it hold water? I think it makes more sense as wall art with the history and pictures arranged around it. Maybe for a car museum or a bar.