Is there a living person who has not seen an image of Herb Thomas' Fabulous Hudson Hornet, the 1951 NASCAR Strictly Stock Champion tuned by Smokey Yunick? Those images were fading away quickly until the movie CARS came out in 2006 and those of us who remember the historical significance got to share it with our kids and grandkids. Paul Newman's "Doc Hudson" character drove the old Hudson straight into our hearts, old and young. The only known survivor, fully documented with the Thomas loan papers listing the vin, recently sold at auction for $1,265,000.
I would bet a LOT of money that Hornet would have sold for, who knows...$50k...if not for that Cars cartoon movie. So many cars like that over the years, one day you could buy it pretty cheap, then Smokey and the Bandit, Christine, American Graffiti, Dukes of Hazard, etc. comes out. Really, really strange phenomenon.
A Hudson ruled our dirt tracks until one Sunday a 49 Olds rolled in, ran like a bad boy and whipped the Hudson.
A few things. First, the car is not as solid (documentation wise) as it sounds. The “paper work” (one single page) was known for years before the car was “found”. The guy who found it also is the guy who received the paperwork decades before. I talked to him to get his story and he was like a slippery fish. He is a known story teller. When I told him I was going to bid, and bid high he almost sounded like he wanted to discourage me. He actually tried to talk me into buying the clone instead. When I asked around to several high profile Hudson people they also discouraged me based on their knowledge of the guy who “found” it and knowing him for decades. He also didn’t remember who he got it from and where. No names, no paper trail. It literally just appeared in the 1990s at a Hudson show after being restored. The bidders accepted the history of this car because they wanted to believe it’s the car, not because of hard proof. It’s really a strange situation.
Those guys deserve what they get. Oh well, they'll just sell it to another sucker at the next auction who will keep it for a few months and foist it off on another sucker and so on and so on and so on. Any body who believes that most of these auctions are about cars is making a big mistake. It's just a bunch of rich guys who got tired of playing with stocks and found something that was more fun to do. Plus, the drinks are free.
Ever watch Strange Inheritance tv show? The one interesting one was the super rare baseball card...then finding a lot of them they had to be so careful not flooding the market. I think I'm right in there are not one but several Batmobiles. I bid on a rare car a couple years ago but after talking to the owner got a really queasy feeling. Things just weren't right.
This particular car was part of a very large Hudson collection, maybe the largest, sold at no reserve. I don't know how long it had been in the collection but assume decades.
Maybe 20 years. The guy who appeared with the car sold it relatively quickly after its debut to the rich guy who was opening the museum.
I have long been amazed at the supposed "added value" of (claimed) celebrity ownership or movie prop status that people seem willing to pay in these circumstances. From my perspective, a car is either a worthy and desirable collectible car, based on what it is (year/make/model/coachwork/racing provenance ...etc.) or it's not. But having been owned by Marlene Dietrich, Clark Gable or Elvis...or being in a popular movie, really doesn't change anything of substance about the vehicle. Any perceived added value is all a consequence of emotion, and only emotion, which is a very ephemeral, fleeting phenomenon that has no intrinsic value. That said, I do understand the concept of 'bragging rights', but at what premium? 10%....15%...??...maybe. But a multiple of 10, 15, or more, times the otherwise 'normal' value of the base vehicle, absent celebrity status seems insane. Their money, their choice........... Ray
A number of the cars in the sale fetched staggering prices. Musta been good stuff. Today's buyers are sharper than the stereotypes thrown about.
Not challenging your comment, but do not understand what you are suggesting. Can you elaborate on that a bit? Ray
I guess I speak from within. I attend a few sales through the year, have quite candid conversations with a lot of folks. Most demand real, good history, and the guys who've been at it for the long term are making out rather well. This "market" inflated itself pretty bad right before the housing/Wall St. debacle. Those speculators are pretty much gone and the game is serious. The mopes and their schtick that drove that crash can't really touch the "real thing" and high end cars are and always will be tangible assets. I've never seen a stock certificate show. The minor sag in the price charts was largely panic driven or necessary liquidations for cover elsewhere. Didn't take long for good stuff to bounce back hard. The busiest market right now is the $50K types. Maybe I should say highest volume, and that sector doesn't want to miss a genuine dream with a rising economy. They have $$$$$ and have seen they can't get hurt. They've seen those $180K new Bentleys drop to 1/3 their MSRP before they top 40,000 miles. Even if a buyer lost $5,000 in 5 years on a $35K 65 GTO, who won? Some say certain era cars are dead. Lots of banter about 30s cars in that regard, "...nobody wants em any more..." ad nauseum. Kool, cuz I'm buying the 1st Duesenberg at $100K or the 1st Packard 12 at $20K. yeah, right. The serious collector knows what he wants, the "sucker" as referenced above is few and far between. As in any venue there will always be profiteers and they drive desire and price if their research and discipline are in check. The "pigs at the trough" are getting lonely. Just how I see it, and I service a few of the serious guys regularly with inspections, transport, etc. And Ray, I'm always open for some sincere discourse even if it does challenge a thought. We're good bud...
Hudson made some of the most beautiful cars on the road in the nineteen thirties. It is hard to believe a 1952 Hornet has sold for more than any of those beauties. $1.265 million is a new record for the brand.
While some where stupid high (like the clone car), some seemed a little low. That black roadster was SO worth two hundred and some. Man, I love Hudsons. One day I’ll own one.
I recently visited the Hudson Museum in Ypsilanti MI and one of the curators gave me a book called Total Domination. It is the history of Hudson's dominance in NASCAR and AAA in the early 50's. Nearly every race was a winner and more often Hudson 1,2,3 and sometimes 4. Of course Hudson as a Hudson finished in 54 and by then the V8's were starting to take over.
In my flat towing days I had to tow a couple of them. If they drive as nice as they tow they must drive nicer than most new cars.
When it comes to provenance, I'm reminded of the story of two Ferrari's, both denied entry to the Migla Millia as they had the same serial numbers, one from the U.K. and one from France, both cars had been rebuilt with parts from a single wreck and entire cars built around salvaged parts. I was once offered a complete title and data plate for one of my 55 Chrysler clones, which would have made it a genuine 300 those being the only real difference. The story of how the 300 came to be is far more interesting.
Ah...Ferrari...Google P3 0846 and get comfy for a long read down the rabbit hole of cars that were, then were not... and in all probability are not today.
Beyond fascinating! I'll be reading that for awhile. Years ago I met Mark Dees (Pres. Calif Ferrari club)who was navigating in a Hudson (Ivan Z) in Mexico, I heard he was killed in a Ferrari replica.
We do this with hot rods and customs too; "the Pierson bros coupe", "Doane Spencer's roadster", " Vic Edelbrock's roadster". Are these are just old hot rods? No, they are historic cars. Our society is infatuated with celebrities. Sent from my E6810 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
At one point there were three Bugatti 35's that claimed to be the same car. One had the body, another the frame and the third the engine from the original car. On a personal note, in the early 90's I was restoring/re creating a Ferrari 512M (a Scuderia Filipinetti car) from what was left after it crashed in the 70's. We had all of the original running gear and some correct body panels from the team but the frame had been scrapped after the crash that killed Pedro Rodriguez. Most importantly we had the original serial number tag from the frame. Part way through the project we were made aware of the fact that the car was being re created in England with plans to use that serial number. Legal correspondence followed and the UK car subsequently became a "clone/replica". There are also a pair of Ferrari 312PB's out there with the same serial number--the original and the clone that I built for the owner of the original who did not want to vintage race the real car any more. Both myself and the owner of the shop where I worked did not want to put the serial # tag on the clone but the customer insisted so before attaching it I engraved the shop name and the date on the back side of the tag so that if there was any question down the road as to the provenance of the car its origin could be proven. Roo
We may be more in agreement than not, hard to tell for sure. But, cars you mention as examples are iconic, I think, not because they were built by the now famous creators, but because the cars themselves were so well done and set the high standard for their type that they made the creator famous. Chicken or egg deal. But these 'one off's' are not so much what I was referring to. Their intrinsic quality seems to be what drives their value. It's the more generic cars, maybe modified somewhat, to be unique for their intended use, but the standards of design or workmanship were pretty ordinary, but they are some way associated with celebrity status. It is the stuff in that broad category that owners expect, and buyers sometimes agree, astronomical sums just because of the name association, not the actual quality or rarity of the vehicle. Mostly I am just 'whistling into the wind'.......the market place is what it is and is driven by multiple factors, some more understandable than others. Ray
On celebs and such, the cars that actually catch a real premium are quite unique and individual. It might be as simple as a color choice, it might be a one-off body, maybe some restrained customizing by a known venue (Dean Martin's Gen II Dual Ghia coupe for example). I'm troubled by infamy more than celeb status. Throwing out the likes of Al Capone, Dillinger, and anything from Nazi henchmen especially, fuck em. Glad their gone and they shoulda took their shit with em. I once tried to assemble some serious money folk and set up an event. Purchase some hateful Nazi car that was being auctioned. Once acquired set up a show of sorts and sell tickets. I envisioned some real "Carl Denham" shit. Set the car in the center of a field or an arena and destroy it. "A Piece Of History We Can Live Without" with proceeds going to Holocaust victims and family services. Strange? Maybe, but it felt right to me at the time. Obviously it didn't get done, go figure...
Any car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. The type car, the history of ownership, the accomplishments, etc, almost always factor into how much it sells for. But more so is how many buyers with ability want it. At auctions buyers usually have a maximum price in mind for the car they want. When it leaps past that price multiple factions kick in. How many buyers REALLY came for that car too! It must be worth more than my appraisal or my price would have bought it. I'll bid more. As it keeps going higher and higher-----OK, I REALLY came to buy this once in a lifetime beauty so I'll pay MAYBE more than it's worth today.......it's a good investment..... to finally "I'll show those SOBs who the boss is". It doesn't matter whether it's $10,000 or $1,000,000 but it seems the higher the more childish it gets.
The Jalopy Journal
