Update 9/30/13: The majority of the collection has been auctioned off and many of the cars are already off to their new homes. It seems the event was a success for the Lambrecht family and many happy buyers. There were a few good deals over the weekend, but a couple of the low mileage cars reached the six figure marks! You can find a link to the results below.
From 7/1/13: Recently, there have been quite a few large collections coming up for auction, with several being old dealerships. The Lambrecht Chevrolet dealership is another large lot set to go to auction in the coming months and has been causing a stir on the internet. The owner of the Pierce, Nebraska dealership opened its doors in 1946 and over the years acquired a large collection of cars. Some were taken in as trades, while others were new cars that never sold. There are over 500 cars being offered, with the auction being handled by VanDerBrink Auctions on September 28th and 29th.
While a number of these cars were parked in the dealership, most were taken to the owner’s home and left outside. Most of these were used cars that were taken in on trade. The elements have taken their toll on many of these cars, with the auction house describing them as project cars. The auction house didn’t provide any photos of the entire collection, but it would be difficult to take a photos of all of them.
Most of this collection’s hype is over the cars that the dealership never sold and subsequently stored inside. Many of these cars have less than 10 miles on the odometer, with a few still wearing the protective plastic the factory installed to the interior before shipping. It might be an interesting and incredible story to find a car with just 5 miles since new, but that doesn’t mean that these cars are still new. Any car that has been parked for 40 or 50 years is going to need a lot of work before it can be driven again.
Given all the interest and hype surrounding this auction, we doubt this will be the one to go to if you’re looking for a bargain. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth taking a look, even if it’s just to kick some old tires. If money wasn’t an issue, which of these old cars would you like to have in your collection? The complete list can be found here.
Click here to view the final auction results and here for the story about Ray Lambrecht.
I’m starting to realize it’s better to go and look at others cars they have restored and spent tons o’ money. I wouldn’t mind having that work area.
Amazing story written by the owners daughter in the auction listing, or here:
http://www.vanderbrinkauctions.com/auctions_details.php?detail=135&allimages=NO
You know it is really a shame this piece of history is to be lost via auction. If I had the $$$ I would buy the whole lot including buildings then restore the dealership as it was in it’s heyday and open it again as a historic motor vehicle
dealership museum ! Oh well dreams are free
The family was offered 5 million and turned it down
The auctioneer was featured in a back story at The Wall Street Journal today? It’s worth reviewing her site fr past unique auctions and….another auction is coming up wi 3 days in small town Minnesota: Nashes, Packards.
~ Thomas; please post your blog link, looking forward to your first-person remarks.
I didn’t give this much thought the first time I heard about these cars and why/how they came to be. But as nice as these folks sound they were terrible at business. 500 cars at $500 a pop trade-in value (I am averaging and the unsold new cars will even it out) is $250,000 (and if you figure that in 1980 dollars – just a guess – it comes to $706K today). Man!
Anyway, just shows how many different kinds of people there are and what they choose to do with their money.
This isn’t the first time a car came up for auction with unbelievable low miles in this provincial cornfed part of the world (…”let’s just park the car and admire it as garage art”…). The Anniversary Corvette Pace Car….that model, more than any other car, is more likely to be preserved as “parked and admired art” rather than a driveable feast (reference to Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”). Don’t ask me why, some guys like to play the “invest in a collectible” game.
Agree with Livermoron…..not good at inventory control. Could have wholesaled the excess or put a large ‘blowout’ sign out front to move the excess. With the ease of paying for a Chevy back then—one of the lowest cost vehicles around—it’s a puzzle why good, or even brand new cars have sat around for decades unsold.
Well, I CAN understand the ’70s Vega wagon with 17 miles on it……
Its very obvious these folks were “small town” people, the location and available clientele were very limited. This couple provided a nice resource for the area, not a great money making operation but that came with a totally selfless attitude. Having only one employee (not mentioned much????) gave them low overhead to operate as long as they did. HATS OFF to the definition of American backbone, heartland resolve….
The used to have Zeibart rust proofing outlets…to undercoat cars long ago. What happened to that? Anyway…vega’s…hmmm….uh….that wagon is rare in that most vega’s rusted away. I might bid on that car and make it a summer daily driver.
Cars no longer need undercoating, but some of the older ones here might benefit.
That is a later-model Vega: the rustproofing and engine were improved in the later models.
Typically cheap cars have a short, tough life, because people don’t want them, and either don’t want to spend money on maintenance and repairs, or else don’t have the money (or else they would buy a more desirable car).
I want the 62 , four speed
A 73′ Vega with a 396???? #64
Is that possible? Not factory installed is it? A vega that isn’t rusted…is more rare then Ivory Billed Woodpecker.
@Thomas No, not factory. From what I know Chevy stopped putting a true 396 into any car around 69-70” after that it was labeled (badges) a 396 but really a 402 e.g. 70′ 396 Camaro. The 72′ “Heavy Chevy” Chevelle was finally labeled a 402. The engine was then retired with increased emissions but they kept the 454 going for years mainly I think because of truck/motorhome use and in the occasional Corvette/Chevelle itself until the early production run for 75′.
~ the 366, 396, 402 427, and 454 each overlapped production with one or more of the others. the exception, as i understand, is the 396 became 402, as Jeff confirms, never overlapping each other.
i’ve heard several speculative reasons. strike, flood, fire, who can fill in the facts??
If I could figure out how to post images here…..I’d show you a Maroon Vega panel wagon I found at The Moab, Utah, Spring Car Show: even had the old school “slotted dished mag” wheels, just like in the day when most small town South Dakota high school boys flipped a coin over buying “Keystone Klassics” or “Cragar SS” rims.
i want all the ones that were stored inside. i don’t know what there business model was, but the end result is a lot of interesting cars even if they need work.
I agree…It’s a good thing they had a slack business model…..more for us to pick and choose….
A 63′ Impala that was stored inside went for 97K, still had the plastic on the seats.
~ had the management followed the business plan and inventory control measures touched on above i (and many others, i presume) would not have these remarkable fantasies tonight.
Make me cry that I can’t have that 62 Impala !
A lot of you are wondering WTH they did to have so many unsold cars and the must have been terrible at business but… From what I can see (I’ll use the pick up as an eg) these vehicles have some damage. After they roll the truck outside and its in the sunlight, I can see a fair sized dent in the roof right above the windshield. I also noticed some crooked bumpers and lifted trim. What I’m getting at is.. It appears that these cars didn’t move due to cosmetic eyesores, not cause they were bad at sales/inventory monitoring and control.
I’d love to get my hands on that coke dealers Vette..IF it was manual!
I’ve also wanted a ‘well before my time’ pick up truck! I’d love that Heavy Chevy!!
You’d have to PAY ME to take the Corvairs LOL
actually the truck you are speaking of, and others stored inside were hurt in recent years when the roof of the building they were in collapsed under heavy snow… and in terms of this fellow being “bad” at business, actually even what they are getting for rough 50s cars that have been in the field outside is amazing so I guess he could have sold off his excess inventory back then for cost, or let it sit around for 60 years (with no storage costs other than taxes on his own land) and get $10,0000 a piece even for many of the outside cars…. The red 63 Impala with the plastic still on the seats / 11 miles on it/ stored inside went of $97,000, and the cameo pick up with one mile on it, with the dented roof that you note went for $140,000…. even old four door rusty 57 chevys in the field brought 7-9 thousand… look at the on-line bidding…
WOW! What a story! Amazing! I’ve always dream of owning a Dealership and putting me a few old corvettes back so when I retired (if ever) I could tool around town. The story their
daughter wrote was such a joy to read. I feel like I knew them. Hat’s Off to her parents, hardworking and nice, what a team. Marriage is not only a Marriage License’s, You have to be bestfriends! and they certainly were that. I hope I can come to the auction. Amazing!
The ’58 Cameo is my choice, smashed roof and all. As far as the dealership accumulating all those vehicles, I read about a Ford dealer (in CO I believe) that started storing all his unsold cars and trucks in sheds on his property outside of town. That began sometime in the late twenties and continued on into the 50s. He had amassed one huge collection by then. I don’t have any idea what happened to that collection (it was about 40 years ago when I read the article) but it would be something to see if it were still around.
I’m going to try to make it to THIS auction. I doubt if I’ll come home with anything other than the listing but it will still be quite an experience.
~ that’s the right idea. an auction brochure and a photo album to remember the incredible experience! double thumbs up, geomechs!
Geo, if you want to go, plan way ahead. Its a very small town, pop. 1748 and ONE motel, a couple cafes. By now that motel and anything within 60 miles is probably already booked. Google Pierce NB
If you’re going on this bizarre Holy Grail quest with adventure in mind…you might camp 30 miles North of Pierce at Niobrara State Park (not a lot of people visit until the weekends, so if you check in Thurs, Friday (day of the official viewing) thru Saturday to Sunday morning….you could save some money. Hotels up prices on every weekend, and this auction qualifies as an added mark up since it’s a celebration in this part of the lonely, isolated, farm belt. You can try either Norfolk, Nebraska (home of Johnny Carson) or Yankton, SD, for better hotels with better amenities. I plan on covering it for my blog, and I’ll shoot it like a wandering bishop of “street photography” to catch “the salt of the earth” coming together for final closure on their Chevrolet existential dreams.
Hey Thomas, would you mind sending us a few photos and details so we can do an update too? We were going to make the trip over, but might not be able to. Let me know. Thanks.
Of course Jesse. We will have to wait til early October for results. I think I’ll do a post at my blog summarizing VanDerBrink’s past auctions and the goofy protocol to get results: photo, description, and price realized at auction. Once that post is up…there will be a link. But right now….it’s time for me to start scrutinizing past auctions at Yvette’s tricky site and I’ll bring some light to this serendipitous gold mine known as small town midwest-farm belt-great plains car auctions. Initially, this auction site doesn’t look like a diamond field of dreams….but…a review of past results by Yvette has revealed a lot of rare and intriguing vehicle dreams from a region that is relatively isolated, sparsely populated, and somewhat forgotten? Any photos And copy I conjure up…is considered community property. Did a street photo shoot at Marion, SD’s farmyard drag strip: Thunder Valley raceway and campground. Surprises were plentiful. http://sutherlandsalute.blogspot.com/2013/05/thunder-valley-drag-strip-south-dakota.html. Cheers.
Well it is something we would think was a tale. My wife and I have a room booked for the experience and the closest we could get is 100 mi. away. I’ll drive it!
~ @ Thomas Bean; i look forward to your coverage. hope the event is as enjoyable as it seems to promise.
I grew up in Yankton, SD, and went to some of these rural farmbelt auctions…and they are a hoot. The cranks, characters, collectors, and junk vultures come out of the woodwork. Half the fun is talking to people and listening to their provincial narrow views. Auctions are considered events. This auction also offers NOS parts and the automobilia signs, posters, etc. If anyone needs help with anything, I’ll serve as unofficial roving tour guide host. If anyone wants to do it on a thin dime budget….I’m your guy. There are ways of guerrilla camping without paying fees (boon docking 101).
oh wow jst so very amazing,i lov classic (real) cars!
I am having a spirited discussion with a car buddy friend on these super low milage cars. He thinks the NOS cars with just a little bit of “encouragement” can be started and driven off. I say the engines are probably siezed and will need major work, major rebuilding and certainly new rubber all around. What do you folks think?
Either, or and anything inbetween.
Given the fact that nobody even walked into these buildings in years and the fact that these cars didn’t even get a wash in decades is not really a good sign.
Doesn’t matter if 1 mile, 100000 or a million, condition is what counts at this point
New brake lines. Rusty fuel line and tank. I’d bring a trailer. Too bad we got to wait for the auction result prices. And, at that auctioneer site (this is a difficult site to deal with) there was another auction before this listing for “Hudsons, Nash, and Packards “Saturday, September 14, 2013, in Donnely, Minnesota . No photos, inventory, etc…is up yet? Takes a while for this auctioneer to get the photos up despite listing the auction? It’s a small midwestern town thing: “we’re in no specific rush here”.
~ paste URL in comment,
ie; R click image, click copy, paste.
http://www.barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/lambrecht-chevrolet-company.jpg
self-check;;;
copy,pasteURL in browser Be FOrE you click ‘post.’
Hard to say ‘Dickie’, …I would be more inclined to agree with your friend about the cars stored inside and actually ‘new old unsold’ status. There havwe been many times that I have found and bought an ‘OLD’ car that was stored inside, that I have checked the oil, (sometimes even adding a little Marvel Mystery oil to the cylinders before first turn over,…depending on the situation) put some water in, a new battery, disconnected the tank gas line at the fuel pump and rerouted a new line to an anti-freeze jug with about 3/4 gallon of gas, and cranked a car that some said would never crank… without being torn down or rebuilt…air up the tires or swap to the ones I usually carry to buy any old car,…check the brakes, …about a good hour or so worth of work, to be able to drive up on the trailer instead of winching…and tell the guys when I get home, “Yeah,…it runs and drives…LOL… !”
I think those cars inside the dealership would be some of the easy ones to get going…
I agree with you. These cars are shot, mechanically speaking.
Almost nothing mechanical on them will work. Engines stuck, seals shot, electrics not working, totally corroded.
I saw a 1972 Cadillac Eldorado convertible about 15 years ago, which a junk car hauler had drug out of a collapsing barn at the request of the owner. It had a November 1971 Oklahoma state inspection and 17000 miles on the odometer. Someone “saved” it, and saved it to death. The engine was stuck, and nothing on it would work without being rebuilt, even though it was literally almost new. It had all 5 original tires.
It went to the shredder. A total waste of money.
I agree about condition. It doesn’t matter if it’s got one mile on it. If it’s a piece of crap, it’s not worth 50k. They will have a hard time getting 50k out of the Pace Car. Or even the 100k for the Cameo. If they were mint, in a controlled environment it would be possible.
I was wondering about the value of these cars while I was watching the video.
Do you think that these cars would have more value if it was cleaned up or left as a ‘barn find’ ?
In this case I don’t think the seller would spend anything to ‘fix’ or clean these up. I think that the auction house would advise them if it was worth the investment. Or even do it themselves to increase their commission.
My conclusion is that the value of the story is worth more than a cleaned up or even restored car. And as noted on the site numerous times,it is only original once. More so these have so low miles that it makes them VERY unique. As in there is only 1 ’58 Cameo that has 1 mile on it. You CAN’T buy another one like it. It probably will never be driven. (Actually I am shocked that they didn’t have it on rollers to move it around – all of the low mileage cars should be)
To me that holds no value, but to certain collectors it is priceless. It doesn’t matter if it would even start, it is worth more to them than a restored version.
I will be curious to see what these cars really sell for. I hope that I (or barn finds) can follow up after the auction.
Raz, I really agree……….OK OK show one picture of a real barn find car in filthy, dust covered condition, and then at least wash it for all the other pictures. But WHY have ALL the pics in such dirty condition? This prevents the interested buyer from seeing what is really there. I am not talking just this auction but ALL barn finds. Also haven’t you often wondered if all that barn find filth is really authentic?
Perhaps the oddest car auction ever? This dealer used a true Christian perspective as a sales philosophy (“give the lowest price on a new car, and that’s it…treat others the way you’d like to be treated”).
The dealer sold a vette to a guy from Sweden, and actually drove all the way to Omaha, to pick him up?
Yvette’s site (this auctioneer) is pretty good at catologuing past auctions with photo, description, and price realized…..so don’t worry…it will be up. There is a bit of a tricky protocol I discovered the hard way to get past auction results at this site (I found 30 past auctions going back at least 2 and a half years). She’s moved some interesting cars (Brass Car Auction in Spearfish, SD). I enjoyed reviewing past auction results, more than bidding online. I thought this market might get you some lower prices than ebay or Craigslist. Depends on the car. One man’s junk (a retro 70’s pinto wagon with funky porthole windows?) is another man’s project. I’ve posted that protocol (past auction results with prices, photo, description) before at “The Johnson collection” post. I’ll post it again if anyone wants to see what else Yvette has moved.
Here’s a good way to follow up on this auction: this auction site (VanDerBrink Auction) is pretty good and quick at putting up the results of an auction within 48 hours. Hard part is figuring out how to negotiate the maze of confusing menu’s to click on? Most give up and don’t see “all the fascinating auctions” from the last 3 years? So…here’s my protocol for finding Past Auction Results with photo, description, and price realized at auction. There are at least 30 past auctions showing results?
1) Go to site at http://vanderbrinkauctions.com/
2) On right hand side, notice “UPCOMING AUCTIONS” and gaze down on right to a green box “CLICK HERE FOR ALL LISTINGS” Click this box and wait for a slow load time.
3) You’ll see auctions are listed with 5 green boxes below each listing….click on the far right green box with yellow letters saying “ONLINE AUCTION”.
4) Auctions are listed and to the right of each is larger Blue lettering telling you how many days and hours until the auction: “6 Days 8 Hours” for each auction coming up. Don’t click yet. Gaze down and to the left (yes left) of this list to see a grey bar with darker grey lettering “Show archived events”. CLICK ON THAT and wait for load time.
5) You’ll see 30 past auctions with a grey bar on right saying “VIEW AUCTION RESULTS” Click there to see what sold and for how much with the photo and description.
http://madison.craigslist.org/cto/3886791997.html
I would take the Pontiac tempest, dodge coronet, Pontiac Catalina, Oldsmobile cutlass, Plymouth fury III and the ford Torino.
I hate to see them stacking hubcaps and other parts on top of these cars. I wouldn’t want to see them get scratched up! Hope they leave them as is with dust and all for the auction…
I dont understand the thinking…..why do do “barn finds” have to be left filthy dirty….
My first impulse is to wash them all, but folks get excited to see the barn find, dust and all.. Like a time capsule.. Ask Wayne Carini, lol
You are right…….Wayne Carini would be the ultimate source. I love that show,
All I can say is holy crap! & I would kill just to walk around the place.
I agree. “Gadzooks” or “…Holy Barnfinds, Batman…” seems appropriate. What we haven’t seen from Yvette in the form of photos or video, is the lesser attractions (500 other cars that sat outside in the grass). I’ll try to bring that together in the future as a roving, half assed, auto press reporter. I kind of like old rusted project cars, as a photo subject like so many others who shoot rusty old trucks. Speaking of which, I shot a wonderful yard full of old lumber trucks with great patina (which seems to be a growing custom trend at “Fast and Loud” and rat rodding). I’ll put that spread of patina trucks at my blog….and link it here, and if Jesse wants those photos and a little copy, he can “borrow my archive” anytime (since I consider it all “community property” for those joining this “cult of the classic car”…that we all seemed to have created?).
I hate to sound like a crank…but you know what they say about things that seem too good to be true. I suspect that even the low-or-no mileage cars are going to be troublesome. It’s very possible that these were factory lemons that simply couldn’t be sold, so they got shunted onto the back lot, and eventually into the boondocks. I think a lot of people are going to get caught up in the excitement and bid big money for cars that aren’t worth the price. But after all, that’s what auctions are for–to make the most money possible. If that means traps for the unwary, too bad for the unwary.
However, from the point of view of rebuildable cars, this is a stellar find. I’d love to be there for the auction, just to see the cars themselves.
Karl I think your a little naive, cars aren’t lemons at 7 miles, as for some of these or for that matter all of these finding there way into peoples hands to be used as every day drivers I think not, most will end up in private collections & never used the question will be if they will even be washed or will they sit complete with dust, I am sure that there will be a few that might be used for shows but make no mistake any car that sits as long as these if you did want to drive it aside from all the fluids , rubber parts , brake systems etc. would have to be gone through which would then devalue their worth.
Ya know…you two both (Karl and Paul) bring up good points that contribute to my sense of utter confusion at reviewing perhaps “the oddest car auction” I’ve ever heard of? You could get the cars up and running…drive them for years…and they’d still be the lowest mileage version of that car? I’m a little hesitant and shocked that some of those engines haven’t been turned over at least to idle for a half hour every three weeks? For God’s sake….you can’t let an engine or car just sit…it has to be driven a little bit to keep it alive.
A lot of base 4 door cars and trucks, not much worth anything. buying some of these for parts is your best bet.
NAME……….wow, thats sure the truth. No really serious car collector will go after these , but maybe a private car museum might. But some crazies will come forth and bid these low mileage jobs out of sight! Just like the FOOL that paid 4.5 million for the Batmobile. Guess why Barrett-Jackson serves free booze to the registered bidders? Same reason Las Vegas does.
Look for a full auction report in an upcoming issue of American Car Collector.
I was wondering myself about these cars. Probably need to drain/flush gas tank. Change all the rubber on the fuel and brake lines. New tires, change oil and filter, trans and rear end. Pray the engine hasn’t seized. Buy a battery, probably cap and rotor. Start it and see what happens. I also noticed most of the new low mileage stuff are 6 cylinders
~ belts, hoses, fasteners, filters, sparkage,
stopage, go-power, directional control. that and a bunch of good luck might get
you home. make sure to have an escort, particularly if after dark..
WOW !!!! Now you have heard of finding cars in really good shape but NEW !! NO !! And with people paying up to $5000.00 for a 65 Mustang from a junkyard this is going to make history !! People are going to think you went back in time and brought the car into the future somehow. This is about as close to time travel as you can get !! Anyone ship to Canada ?
A lot of good dialogue here, about this action. I’ve looked at all of the pictures available, and have realized that most of the cars for sale are in really poor condition, regardless of the mileage on the odometer. My guess is that the only car that has a ghost of a chance of starting and running is the Corvette Indy pace car. It’s the newest and has been stored inside. I also did some research on that car and discovered that another one with only 13 miles recently sold for only $30K. Knowing that, I’ll be watching to see how much that car sells for. The 58 Cameo is anothe one. Is that truck worth $100K? It’s going to be the first vehicle sold, so we’ll see what people are willing to pay for a rare, but badly damaged pickup truck with a 6 cyl. engine and a 3 speed stick. There are a few Impalas with big-blocks in them that will probably get some big money, but the rest is anyone’s guess?
CNN has a video of this auction on their website today.
I was on Vanderbtinks website the other day. It has some new pics up and evidently quite a few of the new cars were hauled out to the field and just left. Many appeared to be vandalized or storm damaged with the windows broken out and would need to be totally restored.
I’ve made my plans and have 2 motel reservations (Friday at Norfolk, Saturday at Yankton) and am looking to bid on the ’62 blue Impala, the ’63 Red and White Impala (I had one just like it in ’64) and the ’79 Caprice. But, the 10 times sticker price or more is absurd, and I’ll not get carried away. I’m a former GM and Chrysler dealer, and will enjoy the 2d look at the cars of my youth. See you there! (I’ll be the guy with the 25th Infantry Division cap)!
Is there a list of the cars & trucks
I am interested in 58 & 63’s
What may be the minimum price
There is a list of cars for sale and lots of pictures at http://www.vanderbrinkauctions.com She claims that she will be updating the list regularly, until the auction. As far as pricing, the information on their site states that this is a “no reserve” auction, so you will just have to see what people are willing to pay. As many others have already stated, there will probably be a few nutty people willing to pay ridiculous money for these old cars, but that’s the collector car biz!
Has anyone found out whether this auction is going to be televised? I would thing Wayne Carini from the Velocity channel would be all over this event. I understand that we will be able to view the auction from http://www.proxibid.com, but I don’t know if that will be a live video stream? Any information would be appreciated.
Hello, again: I just reserved my parking spot at the Pierce Community Golf Course, right next door to the auction site, $ 50.00 for 3 days. Hurry, as there are only 400 spaces available, reserved parking only! See you there!
Nice Morris, perhaps you could send some photos in so we can share the experience with everyone. Should be interesting. We were going to try to make the trip ourselves, but we might be too late already.
History Channel…to my stunned surprise…actually dedicated 3 hours of coverage to this auction? And video is at this link:
http://www.history.com/shows/history-made-now-wheels-of-fortune
If you didn’t make it to Nebraska…don’t worry…grab a six pack and sit down at your computer desk and start drooling like Pavlov’s dog. The big surprise was the auction reported 1.8 million in sales before the first day was over? Somehow…that old German car dealer…knew what he was doing…no?
I cancelled my reservations. most of my cars I wanted to bid on are yard cars. Gotta pay to park? Sorry I’m out of here.
You can bid online. There will be parking along side the road or within two blocks.
You can bid online also. It’s worth it all the way….hotels in Yankton or tent camp at Niabrara State park.
It’s a small town. I hear there are limited hotels, campsites and parking. There are still rooms and campsites available at http://whiteswillowrose.com. Should be pretty exciting! It’s a time capsule worth seeing!
It looks as though Van Der Brink has posted a TON more pictures of their auction. One thing I am very curious about is: Why do most of the cars have hoses cut and the radiator removed? Is it for the scrap resale value of copper; stolen by poachers? If anyone has an opinion about this, I’d like to hear it.
Sounds like you are right Radiator theft
this guy must have been sitting on a big stack of cash. sold no trade-ins. wouldn’t sell a vehicle after end of model year. really a shame the condition they are in. weird.
There has got to be an explanation like: did Chevrolet send him damaged in shipping cars that they lost track of…with the dealer putting up no money or risk for allowing them to just sit??? Did Chevy forget about a category of slightly damaged cars that were off the books at some point???!!!
Thomas: Mr. Lambrecht obviously did not “floor plan” (that is, use GMAC to finance his inventory) but paid cash for his cars. As he was a very low overhead dealer and had farm income also, he was able to afford to keep new MSO cars and many trade ins, and just let them rot. I assume some of the visible damage (like on the “new” 79 Caprice) was vandalism. I’m sad to see the beautiful ’54 Pueblo Tan Bel Air 2 door hardtop neglected, as well as the ’79 new Caprice. I’m still looking forward to being there and seeing the cars. I hope Mr. Lambrecht will get some good money from this sale! See you there (look for the black 25th Infantry Division cap – that’s me!).
I read that the new unsold cars were taken from the dealership and stored in a warehouse at the end of each model year. At some point, the roof of the warehouse collapsed after a snow storm, resulting in much of the damage. From there, some of the cars were stored inside the dealership and the rest went outside.
So, yeah, I would say he had a bad business model. He never sold a new (lets say) ’63 car after the new ’64s were out and he never resold trade ins, they all went to the farm!
I can understand keeping a handful of left over new cars around; but keeping 50 new and 450 used cars around for 50 years seems, well, nuts! Didn’t they have dealer auctions back then??
It will be fun to see how much people will be willing to overpay for these cars.
I would rather have a nice, restored car with 60,000 miles on it for $8,000 than an nonrunning project car with 2 miles on it for $7,000! Plus, after its restored, I would feel like a sinner to run up the miles!
…but that just me.
I guess you could say he was a “car hoarder”? Methinks…cars are fetishes of power that can result in what appears to be irrational and dubious behavior to the casual observer, but…actually makes intrinsic and idiosyncratic sense to the possessor of auto manna power. Behavior stoked by illusions is an attempt at resolving existential angst? I think you’ll see the usual bargains, restrained sober bidding, and of course…some wild competitive foolishness when fantasies come to the surface. Quite a few car guys….stabilize their life with hobbies so they can stay busy restoring a vehicle where the gain in mental health is sometimes ignored because it doesn’t make fiscal sense. And who can reminisce about better times, without anchoring your thoughts with a car (perhaps the most powerful fetish used to stoke memories).
Thomas,
I think your correct with your psycho/social assessment, although I would add that you can replace cars with anything else (stamps, coins, dolls, record albums, etc). Cars get the worst rap because most car hoarders park them in the yard or other areas of high visability and let them rot before everyones eyes. I would prefer to be a car hoarder with a warehouse, alas, I have the funds for neather!
As far as bidding, I think your gonna see alot more foolishness than restraint. I think even the 1977 Impala wagons are gonna sell for alot more than they should.
If you can’t make it to the sale, fear not. Most of these cars will be available for sale in Hemmings next year!
Some people are free spirits; they don’t run with the crowd, and they do things which are unusual. They either have their reasons, or they don’t but sometimes it’s theirs to do with as they like. No doubt Mr. Lambrecht could afford to do what he did, he probably bought his cars and paid for them and did what he wanted. It’s not mentioned that he ever went bankrupt or failed to pay his bills.
There’s a guy in our area who goes to auctions and buys odds and ends of all types, and stacks them out behind his house. He might put out a for sale sign, but everyone knows he never sells anything. I hate to think the cleanup his family faces when they have to settle his estate. But that’s his business.
Has anybody been watching this, the auction is tomorrow, the Cameo is already up over 47k . & a couple of Corvairs are in the 13k range. The 2 dr Impala’s are also getting up their in the 20k 30k range.
I can almost see the Cameo going up. I wanted an Impala till I saw some decent pictures. Glad I stayed here in California, that’s crazy, I can buy a very nice turn key car for that and drive it away!!
Just saw an teaser here in Calif for an upcoming news story on the sale. They said some of the cars were expected to get six figures!!!
My prediction of the Cameo going for 6 figures came to be, sold 140k.
Wow! I just watched some of the live footage and there are hoards of people there. Looks exciting, but it is probably better that I’m home and sick in bed. Money is flying like crazy there and I am sure a few of them will regret it later. The real winner here is the auction house. They are going to make out like a bandit!
Well…the first day is over and all of the high-dollar cars are sold. I kinda’ thought the Cameo would go for more than 140K and that the Vette would go for less than 80K. Just goes to show you what I know about collector cars. I was really amazed at how much people were willing to pay for pickups! OMG…lots of money for a pickup that needs a complete restoration…go figure. I was also amazed at what was paid for the red 63 Corvair. That’s a LOT of dough. But all of us who love old cars are a little bit “touched” anyway; so spending money for something you really want is not unusual. Tomorrow will be much more under control. Lots of parts cars and derby cars. All good fun, though… I read a report that claimed 10,000 people at the auction. That’s over five times the population of the town! Where are they all going to go out for dinner???
I’m kicking myself for not setting up a hotdog stand out of the back of my truck?
I’ll bet I could have cleared 1,000$ profit before the sun went down.
Anyone know what the cheapest car sold today was and for what price?
70 Ford Torino 4 dr $450.
The Ford Pinto sold for $350. There were several other cars that also sold for less than $500. A lot of cars sold in the $1,000-3,000 range.
The only Pinto I saw was white with blue stripe sold for $650 & I didn’t see all that many under 3k.
Oops…you’re right, Paul. I saw the $350 bid on Proxiebid before the auction closed. I didn’t go back to check on it after it closed.
Pretty amazing when you start to think about the fact that the Cameo alone pretty much covered the cost of most or all of what Mr. Lambrecht paid out for all this inventory all those years ago. I suspect the AMC guy could do the same thing & do very well judging by the $’s paid here for some very needy cars.
Watced auction this morning for a few minutes. Still can’t see what they are selling but camera coverage is improved a little. I printed the auction list out some time back they seem to be all over the place and not following that order. Still wondering what a few of the cars I was interested in sold for, guess I’ll have to wait.
I’m wondering how many buyers are feeling remorse right now. I’m guessing the guy that paid so much for the Corvairs will never see that money again. Not knocking Corvairs here, but come on??
I watched the auction on TV and was glad I didn’t waste my time going there. When a base model work truck that has been sitting in a field for 40-50 years is going for $20-40k, you just know people have auction fever. I mean, other than the odometer, everything else is probably worse than a decent running example that can be found for around $10k. There just wasn’t any logic to the prices most of those vehicles were selling for.
You know…there just wasn’t a whole lot of logic involved at that auction at all. I watched the auction on the history channel and listened to the interviews of all of the buyers. For the most part, the buyers were there because they were EMOTIONALLY attached to whatever car they were going to buy. I listened to the guy who paid $10K for a Vega. He said that he owned one when it was new and just wanted another one. A lot of guys told the interviewer that they remember their dad having one, just like the one they just bought. A lot of buyers told the interviewer that they wanted one more old piece for their museum. There was a guy that paid $5,000 for that old tow truck. He’s going to put it in his museum in South Dakota. Lots of buyers were of that ilk. My favorite car of the auction was the 65 Impala with the 396. It sold for $72,500. Too rich for my blood, but it would be a nice car to clean up and just drive!
The auction made me wonder. If I had somehow consigned the black mold covered white Geo Metro (original paint, zero rust or accident damage and stored properly) that has taken up residence in my back yard, what would someone have paid for it? Right now it’s probably only worth a little more than it’s weight in scrap (there is a small but rabid following for these cars), or about $400. However, at the Lambrecht auction it probably would have fetched $4,000!
In all seriousness though,I would have really enjoyed the chance to get one of those vehicles running again. There’s just something satisfying about making an old piece of machinery live again. However, part of that fun is buying it cheap and leaving plenty of meat on the bone in case all is not as well as you hoped. This auction seems to have reversed that metric and thus destroyed the reason for buying a barn or field find.
Sports Car Market had this to say in an email today:
“Over 500 cars from Ray Lambrecht’s closed Chevrolet dealership sold this past weekend at a Vanderbrink auction in a field outside of Pierce, Nebraska. Final totals are not yet in, but early reports put the total sales in the six figure range. High sales included a 1958 Chevrolet Cameo pickup with 1.3 miles that made $140,000, a 1963 Chevrolet Impala with 11 miles that made $97,500, and a 1958 Chevrolet Apache with 5 miles that made $80,000.”
They had people there and say they will cover the auction in their mag on American cars.
This is for information purposes only, and I have no material interest in their magazines other than as a reader.
If a 55 year old Chevy is sold to it’s first owner on an MSO, is it under warranty by GM?
Yes, the old GM is responsible, but not the current GM. File your claim with the bankruptcy court..
Great point, Peter. Then again, what WAS the manufacturer’s warrnty in 1955? My guess is that it was probably 90 days or 3,000 miles, whichever came first. Then the question becomes, is what’s wrong with the car now a manufacturing defect? But it does make one wonder???
I’ve never been to a car auction but at estate sales/auctions, there always seems to be a few things no one wants. Is this true at car auction? What I want to know is, were there any cars or parts, etc. left over after the auction closed?
I was wondering about that too.
According to Yvette Van Der Brink, if anyone were to buy a car for parts, they could remove the parts they wanted and leave the rest; which would then be hauled off for scrap. I believe she said that there would be a $200 scrapage fee for this circumstance. I’m certain that a few cars ended up in that situation.
But did anything fail to bring any bids at all?
I did read that there was a 58 Chevrolet cab & chassis that did not sell. One would think that a buyer would be able to part out the cab, doors, etc. for some good money.
You know…I watched that truck on Proxibid on Saturday morning, as the auction was going along. According to Proxibid, there was over $10,000 bid on that truck, but later on, noticed that it had not sold. I really don’t know why. I looked at the pictures of the truck, and it was in good shape, with almost no miles on it. So I am at a loss as to why it didn’t sell??? As of yesterday, Van Der Brink Auctions had not posted the results on their website, either. So we may never know???
That’s interesting to hear. I’m guessing the cab must have been BAD if nobody wanted it, as in the “Tulsa 57 Plymouth” bad!
Listening to this lady saying the same thing over and over and over and over again and again gave me a headache!!! Nice fined! Shoot that woman!!!