Auction:Who bought what?

[raymar58454]

Anybody buy anything from the wisconsin auction? Anyone know who bought the black coupe with the blown 409?:dunno
Ray

[Brian64SS]

I went Friday (parts day) only. There were license plates from New Mexico and Vermont and the auctioneer said there were bidders live on the internet.

I didn't take many notes but here's what I wrote down and some observations:

bare 409 car block: $935
nearly complete 409s: $3000, $3100, $3500
Chevy 302 engine: $2500
Chevy 265 engine: only $150
Ford 360(?): $2600

I counted 69 engines (6's, SBC's, BBC's, W's, others). At least 13 were W's from crusty bare blocks to nearly complete engines on stands. One dirty, nearly complete one was labeled as a 348 but after it went for $950 the winner proudly cleaned off the "X".

No one wanted decent body parts, factory or aftermarket wheels or hub caps. Nice '70 Chevelle hood: $10, Mopar muscle car trunk lid: $2.50, Full-size Chevy trunk lids: $5 each, decent Chevy bumpers: $5 each. A grill/radiator from a '30's Packard 12 went for $85 (probably worth $G's). VW Beetle doors and lids: $7.50 total. The 6's and the rough looking 283's didn't sell. Lots of PG's (iron and alum), 4-speeds made put together mostly of mixed and matched parts, manifolds, carbs, etc.

I only bought a new set of 4 shock absorbers for $30, a new 2.5" heat riser in a box of junque for $32.50 and saved a Willy's truck fender from the crusher for $2.50. Today I'm regretting passing up a rebuilt 409 water pump with the right casting number that went for $100 and an old alternator with the 409-style pulley that went for $5. Also, a 3-port fuel filter went for $140.

I've stopped at this guy's showroom/lot several times in the past and seeing all the leftover parts he had, I had his m.o. right all along. He found southern small block and 6-cylinder coupes, separate them from their original drive trains, had them painted and the seats reupholstered in non-original material, dropped in a 409 4-speed, and stuck on a $30K price tag.

Family obligations kept me from going back Saturday for the car auction (2-hour drive) but it would have been interesting to see what the cars went for, especially when so many are going all in one day. Like the non-409 parts Friday, I bet they practically gave away some of the non-409 cars Saturday.

I have pictures but don't have a hosting site. I'll try e-mailing them to one person tomorrow to share with everyone if someone is interested.

[Brian64SS]

I suppose the "348" with the "X" could have been a later replacement 348....

At any rate, it was quite an interesting day.

[Tom Kochtanek]

I missed the Friday "parts festival", but did lurk all day Saturday watching the activity on the vehicles. I was fun. I had signed up for bidding purposes, but wasn't planning on bidding on anything, and I didn't. I suspect the floor bidders had the advantage in terms of seeing and scooping good deals. Tought to compete with a live auction with an Internet bid, unless you go way high...

I posted the results for the two 1962 Bel Air (or was one an Impala-turned-Bel Air?) sport coupes at $15K and $18K (as I recall) and watched several of the other interesting cars go across the block. One that surprised me was what must have been a really nice 1961 Bonneville sport coupe that went for $18K. I tagged a few selected sales via Ebay, so I may have those recorded in My Ebay. If anyone is interested, I can post those links, which gives the # of bids and the final price.

Cheers,
TomK

[Brian64SS]

Tom,

I wish I would have looked at the VIN's to see if there was a typo on the one description. The light blue '61 Bonneville (389) was restored as nicely as the Chevys. He had probably 150 cars there from ordinary to probably 25 that were excelent.

With one person beating the bushes here in Wisconsin for 348/409 stuff full time, no wonder it has been hard for us ordinary hobbists to find anything. Swap meets used to be fun but there hasn't been anything available at them or in the backwoods junkyards for a while.

About a year ago there was a story circulating on line about a different guy also in the Green Bay area who had hoarded semi trailers and sheds full of all the big block cars and parts he could find including Yenkos. Odd that 2 of the biggest stories like that came from the Green Bay, WI area.

At least there's still e-bay for us regular folk. :grumble: