Auction June 19th and 20th

[Ron Keij]

On June 19th and 20th there will be a classic car auction in Birmingham Alabama. Two 59 Plymouths will be auctioned there and ond of them is my dream car, a Sport Fury convertible.

http://www.wwgauctions.com/details.cfm? ... 1117&pic=1

http://www.wwgauctions.com/details.cfm? ... 1155&pic=1

Ron

[Denver 59 Fin Convert]

Ron, should we have the Convert car shipped to Denver for you and Marjo then to drive it to Carlisle or will you be picking it up in Alabama and then driving it to Carlisle? You know Marjo wants a convertible bad.

John Q.

[Ron Keij]

I can't drive it to Carlisle as it would to too long to get the car back home, my shipper is in Texas

Ron

[rogerh]

The convertible looks authentic and "original". The hardtop has a wierd power brake set up, someone painted the dash all one color, and put an ugly dashpad on. Are those door panels original-looking? Both cars selling at "no reserve". I wonder what they will sell for..
Roger

[Faulkner]

I got this message from Bob Hinds (1959 Technical Director for the Plymouth Owner's Club):

From: ROBERT S SR HINDS
Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 3:59 PM
To: Morton, Dan
Subject: Re: Old Car Heaven auction in Birmingham


Dan,


During the Old Car Heaven auction, I was one of eight drivers starting the cars (sometimes a challenge, two mechanics were on duty to help), driving them from storage, across the auction block and back into storage. Few of the cars had power steering and some of the larger ones took a lot of "elbow grease" at those slow speeds. There were a total of 120 cars and it took eight hours to sell them all. The drivers were paid $10 per hour and got a T shirt to wear, free admission, food and water (Birmingham was having a heat wave, it was 97 degrees and only the auction floor was air conditioned!). I only heard the selling price of the cars I was driving so I don't know how much the two 1959 Plymouth's sold for. However, the 1957 Fury I did take across the block and it sold for $38,000! A high price for a car painted the wrong shade of off white, the engine was painted the wrong color, the carpet was not right and the upholstery fabric was incorrect, but it did run well, except for the brakes, which were dragging the whole time.


I got a close look at the '59 Sport Fury convertible. It was complete (all the hard-to-find bits were present) but needs a new interior as the old foam is gone from the seats and it's quite worn. The body looked as though it has had past rust repair so it might need to be done again. The top was down so I could not tell its condition. Overall, at right price, it would would be a good buy and I hope that whomever bought it appreciates what they have and properly restores it. It's too rare a car to modify!


I will try to send you the photo you asked for soon.


Bob

No auction prices posted yet -- if someone sees them, please update.

Dan

[Faulkner]

Bob Hinds writes this summary about his experience working the auction:

Ever wonder who drives cars onto and off the auction block?

June 19-20, 2009, Old Car Heaven Museum, Birmingham, Alabama held an auction, conducted by Worldwide Auctioneers, to reduce their inventory of collectable automobiles. There were five European cars, the rest were American, mostly Mopar. Two 1959 Plymouth’s were part of the total of 171 cars were to be auctioned, these including a number of rare Chrysler 300 letter cars from the 1950’s and ‘60’s. Most cars were condition 3 or 4, a few were #2 and most were original or restored authentically.

I was tempted to attend as a bidder, as I was sure the cars would go for reasonable prices. Instead I accepted a job as driver knowing it would keep me from bidding, as I don’t need any more Mopars.

After a brief training session we were issued Worldwide Auctioneers T shirts (so the security guards could recognize us) and white gloves, then the fun began. The cars were stored in the warehouse at the rear of the museum and all had recently been professionally detailed and started to assure they would run. Two mechanics, from Hesco, were on duty to assist with a supply of “jump” battery boxes and gasoline for priming. The oldest car to be sold was a 1924 Dodge Brothers Roadster and the newest was a 1995 Ferrari F355 Spider. There were about 10 drivers moving the cars, mostly men and all but two recruited locally. Friday evening 60 cars were to be sold, Saturday would see 111 more go across the block (about 20 per hour).

Because of the confines of the storage area, the cars had been parked in auction order with the first nine already on the platform just outside of the entrance door. There was a key board under the supervision of a “car key” person. He handed out the first set of keys to us and we climbed into our waiting rides. When it was our turn we maneuvered into position at the entrance door, this required a tight 90-degree three-point turn. Since many of these cars were pre-power steering, long wheelbase heavy luxury American cars, it often took strength to get into position. I overheard one of the drivers say he now has more respect for Granny.

Once inside the building and on the “block” the engine was stopped. After the bidding we were pushed out of the auction. Friday night the cars were pushed outside where they were restarted and parked behind the museum. Saturday, since there was now space inside the warehouse, we were pushed into an easy 90-degree turn then restarted our cars for parking. The keys were returned and we were given the keys to our next ride, (the cars were numbered as were the keys.)
As you would expect, some cars were reluctant to start and the mechanics had to assist us. The smell of stale gasoline and unburned hydrocarbons was in the air, so all doors were open and fans were used to help keep the air fresh. All but three cars were successfully started, those had to be pushed into the auction. We were supplied with bottles of water and free lunch food. It was unusually hot and humid for June so we drank a lot of water, as only the auction floor was air-conditioned. The few cars that had working air conditioners could not be used, as the windows were to be down. I don’t know who bought the ’59 Plymouths or the amount of the final bid, as I did not drive either of them across the block. We only could hear the bidding on the cars we drove.

Now you know who drives cars onto and off the auction block. It was an enjoyable way for this “car nut” to spend an evening and a day plus we were paid for our effort.

Bob Hinds