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A lot of the cars today were the "new" lo mile cars - 3 highest were :
1958 Chevrolet Cameo Pickup 1.3 mi $140,000
1963 Chevrolet Impala 2dr HT 11 mi $97,500
1978 Vette 4 mi $80,000
all lot of the 60s-70s Chev sold for around $20,000
I watched it long enough to know the prices were unrealistic . The people paying the prices have NO knowledge of the real world collector car market....no idea but cash to burn.And some of those cars that supposed to have had 20 miles or less sure had what looked like 100.000 miles of road rash????? The whole thing was a fantacy
I was in Pierce, NE this morning. My impressions are SIGNIFICANTLY different from what some of the people posted above. For the record, I was there from 9 am until 1 pm.
1) There was not ONE car that I saw that could remotely be in "ready to drive". For example, there was a 1982 Chevrolet Chevette, untitled with 85 miles. It had been in that field for about 30 years. The tires were rotten. There was so much dirt on the vehicle that it was hard to see what color it was. That car was in better shape than most.
2) At east 20 of the cars were cars that had been totaled in accidents over the years.
3) Many of the "newer cars" were leftovers - new cars that were never sold.
4) Parking in a field 1.5 miles away was $20 per day. They had three or four shuttles BUT it was quicker walking.
5) Yardsticks with the dealer's name went for $100 each, which angered a lot of the locals.
6) Unlike traditional car auctions, where the cars are brought through a line, this one was done in place. It was hard to het within 100 feet of the auctioneers.
7) Nearly everything had a 30-45 minute line - the porta-johns, the concessions, the registration. They advertised and promoted the heck out of this auction but were largely UNPREPARED for the crowd.
8) Every garage queen within 75 miles was parked all around the towns of Norfolk, Wayne, and Pierce. A lot of the cars with for sale signs parked all over town were in much better shape than the cars at the auction.
9) A good number of attendees - myself included - think that the auction was way overhyped.
10) The best part of attending was meeting the locals - who had a much different view of the dealer. One guy told me that he traded in his muscle car to Lambrecht in the 80s. Since he saw it sit there for 10 years and rotting, he wanted to buy it back but the dealer never sold used cars.
11) The general impression of a lot of visitors was "what a waste". Couldn't the dealer had dumped some of the cars years ago.
I have a feeling that the real expert buyers will be there tomorrow after the euphoria has passed.
I have about 50 pictures of the auction and I might post a couple in a week.
I personally would never buy at a heavily advertised public auction, too many idiots with paddles overpaying for anything just to be in it.
Exactly. Just like the real estate bubble hype from 2001 - 2006 where people were paying half a million for a crap cod I also heard now was a good time to buy gold
I was in Pierce, NE this morning. My impressions are SIGNIFICANTLY different from what some of the people posted above. For the record, I was there from 9 am until 1 pm.
1) There was not ONE car that I saw that could remotely be in "ready to drive". For example, there was a 1982 Chevrolet Chevette, untitled with 85 miles. It had been in that field for about 30 years. The tires were rotten. There was so much dirt on the vehicle that it was hard to see what color it was. That car was in better shape than most.
2) At east 20 of the cars were cars that had been totaled in accidents over the years.
3) Many of the "newer cars" were leftovers - new cars that were never sold.
4) Parking in a field 1.5 miles away was $20 per day. They had three or four shuttles BUT it was quicker walking.
5) Yardsticks with the dealer's name went for $100 each, which angered a lot of the locals.
6) Unlike traditional car auctions, where the cars are brought through a line, this one was done in place. It was hard to het within 100 feet of the auctioneers.
7) Nearly everything had a 30-45 minute line - the porta-johns, the concessions, the registration. They advertised and promoted the heck out of this auction but were largely UNPREPARED for the crowd.
8) Every garage queen within 75 miles was parked all around the towns of Norfolk, Wayne, and Pierce. A lot of the cars with for sale signs parked all over town were in much better shape than the cars at the auction.
9) A good number of attendees - myself included - think that the auction was way overhyped.
10) The best part of attending was meeting the locals - who had a much different view of the dealer. One guy told me that he traded in his muscle car to Lambrecht in the 80s. Since he saw it sit there for 10 years and rotting, he wanted to buy it back but the dealer never sold used cars.
11) The general impression of a lot of visitors was "what a waste". Couldn't the dealer had dumped some of the cars years ago.
I have a feeling that the real expert buyers will be there tomorrow after the euphoria has passed.
I have about 50 pictures of the auction and I might post a couple in a week.
How are your impressions different? Most of the posts say everything was overpriced, and that the auction was overhyped, which is exactly what you said.
How can a dealer stay in business without selling the trade-ins?
How can a dealer stay in business without selling the trade-ins?
Rumor was he had 2 objectives:
1. He wanted everyone to drive new cars
2. He thought the used cars would be his retirement someday
He also sold a ton of cars out of a tiny dealership in Nebraska but was famous for throwing out his lowest price first and challenging customers to find it cheaper elsewhere....... Not sure how you turn a profit if you work on low margins and never sell trades! He got the last laugh though on all this rusty junk bringing big money too bad he is 95 yrs old! Guess the buyers were crazier than he was!
One thing I have noticed over the years by watching these auctions is that Chevy guys will pay over the top prices for anything with a Chevy engine in it. Doesn't matter if it's Ford or a non numbers matching Corvette. If it's got a Chevy engine they will pay stupid money just to own it. (Anybody watch BJ lately)
Why a person would pay 4 times the price of a nice restored DRIVEABLE car for a rusty junker that will require a COMPLETE disassembly that in itself would cost thousands I will never know.Vintage /collectable cars are priced according to their grade. A number 0ne is like new all the way down to a number 5 which is a rusty field find. People are paying much more than a number one for cars that are number 5. Are those farmers that stupid?
Low miles and being the first owner only mean something if the car is mint. The only good thing is that YearOne etc should have their phone ringing off the hook for weeks to come and these fools dump more money restoring these never titled low mile finds.
I doubt that's farmer money that drove up the bidding. Some some dumb city slicker who thinks he or she is going to flip these cars GMG style in two weeks.
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