Lee D. scores big

It was a dreary, gray and rainy morning in SW lower Michigan..... I was at a farm auction with, I'd say, 50-75 vehicles for sale and loads of tractors and implements. There were also two large tents set up that were packed with tools, household and miscellaneous stuff.

If I remember correctly, there were 17 Studebakers in attendance for auction, most of them were VERY big turds (as you will see in the pictures)......

There were two cars that caught my eye... the first was a '66 Daytona Wagonaire with bucket seats that was in quite good condition. I called our friend Fredd Mertz and told him about it as his dear, sweet wife likes them and ended up buying it for him.

As for my big score.... there was another Wagonaire there that was pretty complete and in good shape... its VIN was 63V15359 and had the engine number of JTS1403 coupled to a 4-speed transmission and a TT rear end.... Again, look at the pictures....... I was SO excited when the bidding ended and I was the winner that I damn near pissed myself!!! LOL As far as what I paid for it, I was the winning bidder so, apparently, I paid "Fair Market Value".... that is all I am going to disclose about it...

The pictues from the auction are here.........

As an aside, my '62 Daytona Convertible Pace Car clone is now available for sale.... A guy can only have so many toys and I've decided to keep the R2 Wagonaire, the R1 Marshal, and the R2 4-Speed Avanti.... If anyone is seriously interested in the ragtop, please give me a shout....

Thanks,

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

you done good!

if you get to the point where you want to sell that little red wagon, let me know.

BTW that shift ball looks a little large, does that have a Hurst shifter? if so could you let me know what lever?

nate

I've been looking through the other pics... I really shouldn't have... I wanna save that Terra...

nate

Damn N8, it is a Hurst.

Nate Nagel wrote:

Looks like you got the best of the lot. Did any of the rest sell for more than scrap prices?

You sure you want to sell the Pace Car? I'd keep it and dump the plastic car.

What tractor did you buy?

Lee

Glad both vehicles ended up in good hands.Nice to see those IH tractors too.

Bob40

All I can say is THANK YOU Lee for helping me!! It has been a busy day around here,prepping and painting the underside of my new hood for the

1. Paint fume buzz!!!!!! Bought a little 91 Cutlass,mint interior,112,000 highway miles,threw a couple of tires on it and cleaned it up.Purchase price was 400 bucks,put it out in a friends driveway on a very busy street for 1000 or best offer.Had a phone call in 45 minutes,a second in 1.5 hours,and a third in 4 hours,and he bought it! We have moved them in as oon as 24 hours,but this is a new record! ANYTHING we clean up and put out there for 1000 or less moves quick. I Love it!!! Thanks again Lee for the assist on the Wagon!

Thanks, N8! Actually, we've decided (or I have) that my convertible is going away and we are keeping the 2 '63 wagons, the cop car and the Avanti. I've got 3 other ragtops here so it makes sense for me to get rid of the clone....

it appears to be an original shifter. The ball does look big but, I believe it is correct. I'll verify that against the NOS shifter ball I have here when I get the car home in the AM.

Lee

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

Other than the intake manifold and the left head missing, that Terra was one HELL of a solid truck. Too bad the local scrap dealer bought it.

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

I definitely got the best of the lot, Lee. The '66 that I bought for Rich is actually a nicer car than I bought but I wanted the R2 car .... I think the next expensive Studebaker that sold, other than the 2 I bought, was for something like $300... Everything in that first row (the Larks and GT's) went for $150 or less... some at $10 (the '55 President Speedster).

I did not buy any tractors... I REALLY wanted that little International McCormic but cannot justify getting into tractors (yet).

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

It was a BIG sale, Bob.... Many tractor collectors were there and the prices were definitely a lot higher than the Stude stuff.

I think there were several factors working against a good turnout for the cars.... it was rainy and outdoors as well as the Omaha meet.... I am sure a lot of the people who would have been at the auction were on the road to Nebraska.

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

looks like a flat Hurst lever in the pix to me.

Lee wrote:

If it keeps Julie happy, it was well worth it, buddy!

See you in the morning to move those two beauties to their new homes!!!

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

I remember it being the specially bent bench seat round lever but I was high on a purchase buzz ... I'll verify what it has tomorrow... when I worked the shifter, it definitely felt like a Stude unit

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

I zoomed in, looks like factory now.

Lee wrote:

OK.... my full sized pix are still out in the truck on the laptop....

Lee DeLaBarre Daytona62

You landed an outstanding project and the numbers match too. It was ordered with the R2 engine, but without the extra "performance package". In 2002 the car resided in Algonquin IL. I do not know where you live, maybe somewhere close. When they did the repaint a number of years ago they painted it blue metallic. It originally came (BM) Blue Mist. Outstanding find !!!! Please keep it original/unmodified. Also I love the front bench seat. What a sleeper.

Score! Well done, Lee!

Lee wrote:

The Jet Thrust registry had it as a silver mist (SM) car. 4 speed, HD suspension, TT, tach disk brakes. A few months later and it would have almost have been a package car as ordered, but it was too early.