Yesterday I had a customer come in with a pair of Appletons, stiil in the boxes. They even had the paper templets in the box. The story is that his cousin had a car with Appletons on it back in 56. Someone stole his spotlights so he bought replacements, then someone stole his car before he installed them. He has had them in his garage ever since. How do you tell the different ones apart?
A reasonably fair price for one NIB 112 (chrome version, not the painted ones), your definately in the $800-1200 range depending on the market. A pair of NOS 552's in tattered ruined boxes went for $4300 on ebay 6 months ago, and the 552's are actually more historicaly correct for a 50's custom, but the 112's still fetch more money. If the right guys were bidding, a pair of NOS 112's on ebay would go sky high. If they are unmarked on the spotlight bucket, but still have the deep 112/552 bucket, you still have a bery valuable piece, and the correct spot for a traditional custom. If its the shallow boddied 451, 550, or unmarked in that shape, your in the $200-250 range for NIB.
is ther any appletons that are shaped like the 552's but have no number stamped on them. ive seen some good shape appletons with no number or badge, they still said " appleton on the hadles
112 look a little bit taller to me, thats why i asked if there's one that looks like a 552 with no marking on the bucket
Im still doing research on this, but The 112 came in both pointed and blunt end buckets: The 552 only came in the blunt version. The unmarked ones you see are always the pointed end type, and all Appleton handles are marked Appleton (unless they were sold for another brand, and marked as such, i.e. Cadillac, Hudson, Firestone). The unmarked deep bucket were only made in the pre-war era, when the 112 were made, in the bulb and reflector era. I have never seen a sealed beam (552 style) unmarked Appleton. Here is an unmarked pointed "112" style appleton from my collection:
that more pointed 112 is what a thought were taller, i wonder if the blunt 112 are the same size as the 552
They are the same size. The bulb retainer ring is bulkier on a 552 to accomodate the sealed beam lamp. I have a 112 with a 552 ring on it. someone modified it to use a sealed beam.
Its the standard "shallow bucket" type, not what is appropriate for a period custom, and really the only guys that are heavily seeking appleton brand spots are the custom guys, so anything thats not a 112, 552, or unmarked 112 style bucket, is not of much value. 550,551, and 451 go for $10-100 usualy, $100 buying a mint out of box one. Id say average value is $25-50. When a NOS in box 550/551/451 comes up, it will fetch $150-250.
I don't get the hot rodder attraction to Appletons for nostalgia. When I grew up in the 60's ( in Southern California) if you had Appletons you were a lowrider with likely a six cylinder "short" and a pampadour and hated greaser/hot rodders.
It's not a hot rodder attraction. It's a custom attraction and most customs built in the 40's and 50's had appleton spots on them. It's a traditional look on a custom car.
Yea, Im not really looking to sell any. I am on my quest to find a pair of perfect chrome 552's actually. All of my paired 112's have a few light dings, and driver quality chrome. My unmarked one is in pretty good shape though. I have one pair of pointed 112, one pair of blunt 112's, and one unmarked pointed one. I dont want to break up any pairs, and Im actually looking for another unmarked one to make that one a set. But I have my radar on a set of perfect 552's that Id actually like to be the ones I run on my car. I never intedned to be an appleton spotlight collector, untill I got my first one. Its my absolute favorite custom accessory, and Im addicted!
Hey Chad s,do you know anything about these dummies.They are not Kustom Krafts and I have been told these were made late 50's.Pillar mounts looks a lot like Unitys.
Wow, never seen those before. The mounts do look like Unity's, but the through hole is bigger. The buckets look like unmarked blunt buckets (which appleton never made), and the mounting flange on the bucket looks just like appleton, untill it tapers down to where it mounts to the post. The retainer ring for the glass lens looks like appleton, but the screw tightening mechanism would be on the side of the ring on an appleton. So its deinately all specific made parts for those spots, and not borrowed or recycled parts. You do see real appletons with the handles removed to use as dummies now and then, but these surely are not that. I have no idea who made these, but I dont understand why all dummy spots wernt made like that. It thought that it wasnt untill the Kustom Kraft ones released in the 80's that a dummy spot looked like a real appleton was available, but if the pair you have really are from the 50's, that would make the above assumption false. Sorry I cant tell you any more, perhaps 00Mack can chime in.
That ain't the pair I have.I have these.They are missing lenses and rings that hold the lenses.I have also a pair of real 112's.112 lenses and rings do fit in these.One odd thing about this pair is that not all the parts are chromed.
I called the guy who has them to see which ones they were. He didn't see a number on them. He said it said catagory# L-3800, Series 33, the lense has a W in it & there is a red dot on top of the housing. Any ideas???
That is a Lorraine model 33. Lorraine was manufactured by Appleton, and even says appleton electric on it, but its really doesnt have any link to traditional customs. Its a flatter bodied spotlight bucket, and a totaly different mounting post than the 112/552 uses. I would say that NOS in box however, you could definately be looking at around $200-300 each if they were sold on ebay (asuming they have all the paper work and hardware). http://public.fotki.com/Rikster/11_...stom_idears/appleton_-_lorainne/lorainne_s33/
I would say those are priced kind of high. On ebay, high opening prices scare bidders it seems anyway. The only ones that really will command high dollar is the Appleton 112 and 552. The Lorraine line isnt that popular. Most of the people spending big money for appleton brand spotlights are custom guys, and none of the Lorraine or non 112/552 Appletons fit in with a traditional custom. So that leaves some antique stock collectors to buy the non 112/552 spots, and not many of those guys really seem to care for them, and dont want to drill through their cars A pillars. They just dont have a huge market to push the value up. By the way, those dont appear to be model 33's. Now they could sell, as they are NOS, but I think $500-600 is where they should be at. Dont feel bad you cant grab those, wait it out to find a pair of nice 112's or 552's. You should be able to get a nice pair of 552's on ebay if your patient, for around $500, and you will have the correct spot for a 50's period custom.
The Jalopy Journal
