i just got back from the atlantic city show. there were 2 studebakers at the show besides my 53 commander. one was a 1960? yellow/ maroon top/maroon interior lark convertible--v8 3 spd with ac. a beautiful car that was a no sale at 30k and a 57 to 61 hawk which i did not get a good look at but from a distance looked like a nice #3 driver. the auction which is managed by dean kruse is well run and appears to be on the up and up was typical of atlantic city ---everything from a pre war cord to hemi powered mopars, big block camaros , mustangs etc representing all facets of the hobby/business.
atlantic city car show/auction
Feb 26, 2007
9 Replies
So, how did your Commander do ?
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote:
after he got flack from selling his truck for a quarter mil last time, he may be reluctant to tell
His Commander was worth that, exceptional car.
Jeff Sheaffer wrote:
I agree with you John. It is a beautiful car.
and now for the rest of the story----because of a business related schedule conflict which i wasn't able to change until the last minute i was not able to register for a good time slot for the auction [saturday between noon and 8pm is considered prime time] so the best i could do was go on the block on thurs at about 3pm. the car was bid to
39k which didn't make my reserve of 44.5k. i figured that if it brought 39k on thurs it might have gone for above the reserve on saturday. i decided to hang around after the auctioneer told me he would like to rerun it on sat if they had a cancellation. i stayed around the floor hoping for a private sale which didn't happen and by saturday at 4pm they had no cancellations so with a bad weather forecast for early sunday AM i decided i didn't want to take the chance of not selling it on the block [if a cancellation had occured] and then having to trailer it back in the snow,sleet and salt early sunday morning. WTF the way i see it is a 53 commander [no rust ever] with less than 18k original miles, a 3spd, leather interior, bombay red, frame off restoration isn't going to get any less valuable sitting in my garage. ed
You're probably right. In one way I hate to see prices getting that high, because that's the kind of car I'd like to own someday, but it's hard to argue with it when I see prices for less rare Brand-X iron going higher.
nate
nate, as a hobbyist i share your concerns especially for the young guys like you trying to get started in the hobby but as a seller i am relieved to see the values of my studebaker collection finally catching up with the brand x vehicles. unlike the brand x guys most of us that have restored studebakers struggle to get our money out of them when it is time to sell. at 61 with 8 cars and trucks in the fleet i am fast running out of sunny weekends. i am gradually selling off most of the vehicles so that instead of spending all my weekends washing, polishing, changing oil, charging batteries, etc i will be able to have some fun with the 2 or 3 vehicles i intend to keep. ed
Nate, You should see about getting a good education and maybe a job as an engineer or so and not live on such a tight budget, or just marry for money!
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