Event Coverage Jalopy Auction House: Auction ended...

Thanks for update

 

Maybe I'm out of touch, but at that number I would have thought the truck would have moved on to a new owner. Still, it was fun watching the auction and hoping for the continued success of the venture. Thanks, Ryan, for adding this to the site.

 

That truck is indeed upper crust in our world and has real "street cred" in today's vernacular. @Ryan you may have to stray out to the edges of our chosen community to build a well funded bidder base. We are but a blip in the specialty car market even though our style has steam rolled the hot rod life. News is out there, I'm hearing from folks who never heard of TJJ/HAMB but got wind of the auction house. More raw thoughts...

 

I agree on both. But then I think to myself, what it would cost to have one done like that, even with me doing as much as I could myself.

 

I too would have expected it to sell at that price. That’s a shame after all the work put into getting it ready for auction.

 

That's very true, but few cars are priced that way. My car would cost a lot more to build than it's worth.

 

@Ryan what do you need from us?

I'm not in the market for a vehicle but I deeply understand the pains of a startup.

I'm sure there are many HAMBers, like me, who would love to help.

 

Don't get too bummed, you're just starting out. Competing against eBay, BaT, Bids and Cars, and who knows how many other sites, it will take some time to get established.

 

I did some Google searching of 41s, and judging by the market asking prices elsewhere, 33.5 definitely seems on the low side for a nice truck....

 

Stock trucks laiden with what I call "old man goodies" are hammering close to if not over $50K at live auctions. Here's a truck you can verify, has a reputation, is better than just another bright red what-the-fuck-ever old truck for sale by any metric. The final number was light by ⅓ minimum. If it was mine I wouldn't have let it go either. I was out of my mind on the Gran Sport according to a few. Oh wait, it's sold. Never mind.

The prices of select cars is not hard to establish. A cpl cups of coffee and a laptop or a phone will tell you all you need to know. This venue, growing pains and all, will have some advantages. This truck? There's some build info right here on our pages. It won't be the last. Try that at a Mecum sale or BaT. I don’t have anything else at the moment but I'm sure I will have. I think there's some pretty sharp teeth to this idea.

 

As the owner of the truck in question - I'd first like to thank Ryan for his excellent photos and the ad narrative.

As for the value, I did research comparable trucks (there aren't that many) - and we agreed on a reserve that was on the lower end of what I wanted. This range was independently validated by a couple of experts in the hobby and they gave a comparable estimate without any prompting, so I think the reserve was very reasonable.

I tend to be overly critical of my cars and it is nice to see that some people get what I was trying to do with this truck. It was basically a stock old survivor when I got it and I did a mechanical restoration with a few added HP thrown in.

What's next? I don't *have* to sell - I am just looking to buy another project car and need to free up some storage space and cash for the purchase. I used to be into Mustangs and I want to build and modify another early car since I recently retired. I still have my other traditional cars and hopefully will always have a nice hot rod in my garage. For now, I am still driving the truck every day - look for it on the road.

 

As for the value, I did research comparable trucks (there aren't that many) - and we agreed on a reserve that was on the lower end of what I wanted. This range was independently validated by a couple of experts in the hobby and they gave a comparable estimate without any prompting, so I think the reserve was very reasonable.

The last two Mecom's auctions on TV sold beautiful 40 Ford Deluxe coupes with all the bells and whistles, excellent high dollar paint, etc for $32,000.00. Just sayin'.........

 

This isn't a coupe ...

 

My $.02...

Sellers having reasonable reserve prices is the ultimate issue. There are no shortage of people who throw cars out there with outrageous asking prices hoping that some dumb sap will bite. That's a fishing expedition, not a legitimate sale, especially when a bonafide purchaser for value comes around with actual money offered and is rebuffed. I've been following the new auction house here, and I like the concept a lot. But I also think that many of the alleged sellers have unreasonable numbers on some of these cars. They're never going to sell at those numbers.

The market dictates what something is worth, not the asking price. And anecdotally, almost every person I know that has been offered real money for their cars and passed it up for more money has come to regret the decision when the market changes and those high offers dry up.

Last point. When the prices of cars start to eclipse 30K, there seems to be a real opening up of what kind of cars become available. You can start to approach some real deal cars in this price range. Yes, a 40 Ford pick up is nice. But at $33,500, you're really not too far off of $40K, where maybe you can grab a deuce coupe, 57 Chevy, Merc... the competition for the dollar becomes much stiffer.

I've been through this myself, where I'd look at a car, and think that it's a nice car, but then also think to myself, if I spend another $10,000, what kind of car could I afford and could I turn the first car into the second car for the difference in $10K? The answer is almost never "yes".

 

So you think a pickup truck is more desirable than a Deluxe Coupe?

 

True but coupes usually bring the top money under a covert and usually more desirable. I like early pickups and had many but I do not fit in one like I once did. 10 years ago I came very close to owning a 41 one that a friend had for sale but we couldn’t arrive on a price.

 

Not my wheelhouse but I'll venture a guess and say the coupe for sale pool is deeper than the truck pool, so I'm thinking when a pickup as nice as this one comes available, a sale has a lot to do with the timing of more than a few variables, may take another run by on the site.

 

Speaking for myself, yes. I prefer pickups over cars, but as a seller it’s more of a niche market.
I understand it as a “whole” but if a
person in a “truck guy” and finds what he wants, that person doesn’t compare it to a car of the same year.

 

My observation of the market is that pickups are hot at the moment, and many cars that were traditionally expensive are much more reasonable. Early TBird roadsters, 40 coupes/convertibles, etc. can all be had at a bargain price in today's market.

We have a niche hobby. Not many people outside of our bubble can appreciate an 80-year-old coupe, but the average person knows/likes trucks and they have a much broader appeal.

 

Getting this truck as a listing was a coup. It is disappointing that it did not sell, but if there is going to be a market for HAMB-friendly auctions, then this seems to be a good way to get it started. You're right that patience will be required, but the audience will need to expand to include people beyond HAMB members. Do you have any way of knowing who the visitors to the auction site are, in terms of if they are HAMB regulars or are from "off HAMB"?

 

As nice as a coupe can be they aren't nearly as handy as a pickup for a run to Home Depot, Lowes, etc for project materials.

 

I’ll never understand why people get upset or criticize someone else’s asking price or in this case reserve, I would not have sold it for that money either.

 

"Hey man, that 34 3W you have is fuckin waaay over priced dude. Shoulda seen what Mecum got for all those 3W coupes." as if I didn't. I had "boots on the ground" too. 1st they had been sitting for who knows how long. Almost every one needed a full fuel system rework. 2nd, several were old 2nd rate reworks with mud and poor door fits, shitty rocker repairs and worse, but hot damn they looked good on a computer screen from 1000 miles away, or really good to the untrained eye. Mine was no-rust-never-had-none. Everything but the paint was wazoo beautiful and the paint wasn't that bad. Didn't need a strip to bare refinish, some judicious blending and love, done. And turn key. Get in and go, stop, steer, start hot, start cold, run cool, even the OG radio worked. No wonder I got my price. Yeah that's sold too. Last year I got 10 less for a 33 that was nowhere near as nice and almost as perfect sheet metal...with a phone call! Had it 3 days. I wanna trip in this Wayback Machine so I can bring back some of these bargains y'all keep telling us about. And Mecum "streetrods" that look like a bargain? If you like credit card chrome and last decade's reruns for engine dressing and wheels, well those are the car for you. "Yeah but wheels and stuff are cheap!" No they aren't, and why would you remove the cheapskate wheels for cheapskate wheels anyways. Perspective sucks sometimes but trust me when I tell ya most are not what they seem. Quality sells, so does opportunity. I've sold both in the last 6 months, quality and opportunity and I don't plan to stop any time soon. Anyone want a 41 Packard 160?

 

@theHIGHLANDER.....Please get back on your meds...

 

I like reading @theHIGHLANDER s replies, I think the same many times ( just kidding) but really dig how he says it like it is.
I’d hate to watch over the conversation when his lady asks him “do these pants make my butt look big”.

 

Cars VS pickups seems a moot argument to me. At the end of the day for an auction, seller wants top dollar, bidder wants a deal, unless you're at a mecum where things can go for way more than they're worth sometimes. But with auctions my experience has been everyone wants a deal. EBay shows this quite clearly if you look at hot rod bids.