Local Auction

William Kelchner

William Kelchner

Senior Member
Local auction coming up the 18th which offers two A's. One is a 31 Roadster and the other a 31 Phaeton. Curious about the Phaeton, I would imagine there will be some interest in this car. I am having a conversation with myself if I should attend this auction and maybe throw out a bid or two. :) What say ye. Cheers

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How deep are your pockets?? An interior alone will set you back a bunch, never mind everything else.

On the other hand you might get away by washing it and driving.
Good luck.
Paul in CT
 
The photo of the Phaeton with the blue tarp thrown off is very intriguing. It looks as if a bucket of water and some Simple Green would prep it for an afternoon under a tree with a polish cloth. On the other hand ...
You will never know unless you go get acquainted with the car. Take along your best Model A adviser -- or at least a friend with some mechanical ability.
Don't be shy. Look (and feel) it over carefully. Get them to crank it over and maybe start it for you.
Sit in it.
Figure your budget. Don't go crazy. Remember the axiom -- BUY LOW.
As my very wise father used to advise me, there will always be another car.
(But until you've taken a Model A apart, painted the pieces, put it back together, and driven it down the road, you haven't really had much fun!)
 
I'm like the government..........it's easy for me to spend someone else's money, so I say bid until you win.:D
 
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Is the Roadster about even with that Phaeton in looks? If so, looks like a good cleaning and some regular tuning and you have a fun driver at the least..............
 
I'm gonna side with Tom. If you like it make it yours!!!!!!
I hesitated a couple years ago on 65 GP I really liked , someone else liked it too and now I am waiting for a comparable one to come around again.
 
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In Australia one can look for a lifetime to find something as good as that and still not find it. Bid what you can afford. Just decide what your absolute top bid should be before you go to the auction. What you can afford and are prepared to pay is nobody elses business. All that counts is that you are happy with what you buy.
By all means take someone along with you to inspect the car prior to the auction as an experienced Model A person may see things that you don't.
Best of luck if you go ahead and bid.
 
Thanks for all the responses. Auction is Sat morning still wavering if my 30 Roadster needs company or do I want to double my trouble :D Cheers
 
with my limited knowledge of this type of model A,i think its worth about 8 grand.if you want it, make sure your first bidder &go for 8 or what you think its worth.chase away the lurkers,& the cheapo's.had a friend that went to all the hit&miss auctions with this strategy&did very well. tom
 
I just came home from a car cruise and saw a '31 deluxe phaeton very nicely done. There was a photo album for viewers to leaf through and there were pictures of the car being pulled out of the barn. And, pictures of the restoration process. It sure was a pretty car. Personally, I'd be all over it at auction and would find a way to bring it home.
 
Buy it,BUT,when anyone asks what you paid for it,Tell them $2,000.00 less than what you really paid...That will make you feel better,and the other guy thinking you got a bargain.
 
bambooboy said:
with my limited knowledge of this type of model A,i think its worth about 8 grand.if you want it, make sure your first bidder &go for 8 or what you think its worth.chase away the lurkers,& the cheapo's.had a friend that went to all the hit&miss auctions with this strategy&did very well. tom
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Yes I saw this strategy once at an auction and it was for an old car as a matter of fact. Friend of mine did it, saw a Ford convertible in pretty good shape was worth easily $7,000-$8,000 auctioneer started at 500 bucks and the looky- lou's were all climbing on board, fast, bidding was going like gang busters at a hundred bucks a pop.

Friend throws up his hand yells out SIX THOUSAND and you should have seen the brakes hit on that sale!! Auctioneer looked kind of surprised. No one else bid, he got the car. Cleaned it up a bit did some minor work to the car, looked like a million after he buffed it out.

Sold the car at a pretty big profit soon after that. I'm not one in favor of this sort of thing, don't care for the flippers running about, but what struck me was, how he killed off the other bidders with a high bid below actual value.

After the sale a guy came up to him, was very angry and wanted to buy the car. Friend said 'You had your chance to out bid me". I think what he did just kind of stunned the crowd.

Probably doesn't work all the time but he sure closed out that sale in a hurry:cool:
 
Stuff like this comes up all the time. "How much should I pay".

First what do you want to do with it?
Keep it for years?
Flip it?

If your answer is flip it then stay away from auctions.

That leaves keep it for years. My advice, like others above, is to bid as much as you can afford. What is the saying? "you can't spend too much only buy too early." If someone asks you later how much did you spend tell them "What I was comfortable in paying".

In the 1940's if you bought a Model A for $1000.00 some (most) would have called you an ***. Move ahead to today and if you said you bought the same original model A in the same 1940's condition they would be saying "oh my you 'stole' it at that price". It's just a matter of timing and money at hand.
 
Bruce said:
The photo of the Phaeton with the blue tarp thrown off is very intriguing. It looks as if a bucket of water and some Simple Green would prep it for an afternoon under a tree with a polish cloth. On the other hand ...
You will never know unless you go get acquainted with the car. Take along your best Model A adviser -- or at least a friend with some mechanical ability.
Don't be shy. Look (and feel) it over carefully. Get them to crank it over and maybe start it for you.
Sit in it.
Figure your budget. Don't go crazy. Remember the axiom -- BUY LOW.
As my very wise father used to advise me, there will always be another car.
(But until you've taken a Model A apart, painted the pieces, put it back together, and driven it down the road, you haven't really had much fun!)
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Dunno if i would start it without making sure there is some oil in the dipper pan.
 
I went down yesterday with a friend to see it. It's not that bad but they wouldn't start it said ran perfect.:rolleyes: I left.:mad: It did have oil in it.:D
Sewall Tyler
 
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