Internet auction of antique cars in Minn.

I don't have any connection with this, but the e-mail came to me and I spent an hour looking at the auction photos last night and wishing I were closer to Minnesota. The entire auction is on-line, and appears to be a salvage yard going out of business in Minnesota. There are lots of significant cars here, lots of engines, lots of parts, and so far, prices are dirt cheap.The cars are all projects or parts cars, but get a load of some of the prices: $100 for 1957 Chevrolets; $120 for 1963 Rivieras (and there are several of them); oldest Buick I saw is a 1937 sedan and it was still under $200 as of last night; engines already pulled from cars for $20; dozens of wheelcovers for $5 the dozen; on and on. All makes, all models; I saw a '65 Electra convertible; 1968 Wildcat 2-dr hardtop that looks to be complete; 1956 Special 2-dr. hardtop (one of the most expensive cars at $450 as of last night); 1962 LeSabre 4-dr. hardtop; 1957 Super 4-dr. hardtop that is nearly complete and appears to have a good body for less than $150; two or three 1958 Buick parts cars; 1954 Super 2-dr. hardtop for less than $150--over 450 cars in this auction--lots of Corvairs, lots of VW beetles, 1963 Skylark convertible--an amazing number of these cars are convertibles but all are stored outdoors so the weather has gotten to most of them, but most of the cars are under $150 apiece. On-line auction ends May 16th. For someone who lives nearby, this is a gold mine.

Oh yeah, go to Fahey Sales Agency Inc. - Belle Plaine, Hutchinson and New Prague Minnesota. and look for the old car estate auction. One of the headlines in the auction says "1951 woody" which is what got my attention first. Had to scroll through 300 or so of the auction listings before I found it--a rough 1951 Ford Country Squire, so no Buick woodies.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Leonard, TX.

Some of us Minn guys recall this place. I haven't been to Bill's in many years and recall that the cars were mostly 'locked in' this yard with no aisles or driveways-thus no real way to get much out-maybe a helicopter and sling! -looks like the time has come to unlock the puzzle. As Pete said, these are mostly rusty cars that have been sitting for a long time-

Yep, been there. Pretty much cars for parts only. Been laying on soft ground near the Mississippi too long. Seems to me it was muddy there in the hottest days of August. Lots of trees there dropping organic material to rust the upper surfaces as well. Could be a couple gems in there, maybe.

Lot #307 is a `66 Wildcat convertible. The pics are not the greatest but it sure looks like it has a Gran Sport emblem in the grille. If so, that`s a rather rare Buick. Anyone close who can inspect it?

Tom Mooney

Tom,

I thought the same thing when I saw that photo--that would be a rare beast if it is...!

Pete Phillips

The 54 Super pictures are now viewable. Man it does look like a swamp. A little too far me though. I like to go to these kind of places, buy a for sure unrestoreable car, spend a long day stripping it and next day before heading home, drop it off at the local crusher for what I paid for it.

http://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=527&aid=36293&lid=10404481#1

Since Pete posted this, I have been following it and bidded on a couple of cars. It is interesting to note that the bidding has picked up and there are some prices I would not chase.

This is as noted, a yard with many cars that are too far gone, with tires/rims half way into the Minnesota ground. Yet I have seen some bids double in the last day.

Monitoring today, the last day, shows a lot of multiple car bidders with names like "scrappy" and "fastway49" that seem like they are scrappers. Most of these cars will be crushed BUT it appears that 54 Super has a legitimate bid.

The rare (we think) 66 GS Wildcat convertible appears to have a scrapper bid on it.

Also, there may be some other salvage yards in Minnesota bidding as they would have the equipment to haul these cars out, remove some valuable parts then still sell the carcuss for scrap.

I bid on a couple cars but have been outbid bt scrappers in the $300 to $375 range, which to me means this is the scrapper price. The auction is adding some fees which would push a $350 car over $400 so I am not sure how the scrapper think they are going to make much money per car.

OK Brian: I have a friend who scraps cars here in Oakland, CA. He's a very short distance from Schnitzer Steel. When he told me of some of the prices he has gotten for big 70's cars my jaw dropped.

Because he has the credentials he can scrap cars. He drops the tank, takes off the tires and does a few other small things and brings the vehicles to the yard. They take them off his flat bed and he gets a check.

Between old timers leaving the junk yard business, their families not wanting to deal with everything related to operating that type of business and the fact that scrap is incredibly high it's no wonder that all these cars will be gone.

We have discussed several examples of yards going bye-bye in the rust belt. The really hard thing to swallow are the yards going away in the dry parts of the country. I visited Pierson's Wrecking Yard in Mariposa, CA several years ago. It was a time warp to say the least. To see a 55 Plymouth with beautiful chrome and no rust anywhere was a sight for sore eyes and now it's all gone. Oh well, we do what we can. I happen to appreciate your efforts. Mitch

Thanks. Yes we do what we can and can't take it personally. I have 5 old cars, only one runs and it still needs restoartion. I am looking into local off site storage because I really shouldn't have any more at my house. My 3 car garage is packed and the other two occupy the north side of my garage. I have 3 places obviously in the driveway between the alley and my garage (as Pete Phillips knows) but if I put non runners there I would be too constricted.

Hopefully I haver 3-4 more cars coming in 2011, then I'll have to quit as storage will cost money.

The NEBRASKA auction I posted which is dropping down here - that would be a dry auction, west central Nebraska. I hope to attend that one.

Yes, I visited Brian Moran recently. He's doing his part to save old Buicks in central Iowa! He has a '71 Centurion 2-dr. hardtop sitting outside, and it is a real gem. Shows 3x,xxx miles, and after looking at it, there is NO QUESTION in my mind that this is the actual mileage. Brian, invest in a really good car cover, and it will help preserve the car for years.

I agree, it is a crying shame that so many of the cars in that Minnesota auction are pretty obviously being bought up by scrappers. Places like this are disappearing in every part of the country. I can think of two wonderful old salvage yards that disappeared in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the past couple of years. I wish we could figure out a way for all of us old car people to collectively buy some vacant acreage in the central part of the U.S., where we could rescue and keep all old cars that are in danger of being scrapped, just as these are in Minnesota. The cars would be available for parts to anyone, as needed, with the income being used to pay land taxes and bring in more cars. Whoever invented condominiums 30-40 years ago needs to think up a similar scheme for collective ownership of an old car bone yard. There was a thread on this a year or two ago, lots of positive comments, but nothing came of it. With $4/gallon gas, moving ANY old car ANY distance is now a depressingly expensive proposition.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

i bid on as many as i could and figure the cars for parts cars only, but the MN scrappers i am sure got them all

the price of scrape is at $340 a ton right now

you can't buy a parts car for the scrap price and go and get it

a guy might as well watch ebay then for parts needed

Greg

Yes, I visited Brian Moran recently. He's doing his part to save old Buicks in central Iowa! He has a '71 Centurion 2-dr. hardtop sitting outside, and it is a real gem. Shows 3x,xxx miles, and after looking at it, there is NO QUESTION in my mind that this is the actual mileage. Brian, invest in a really good car cover, and it will help preserve the car for years.

I agree, it is a crying shame that so many of the cars in that Minnesota auction are pretty obviously being bought up by scrappers. Places like this are disappearing in every part of the country. I can think of two wonderful old salvage yards that disappeared in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in the past couple of years. I wish we could figure out a way for all of us old car people to collectively buy some vacant acreage in the central part of the U.S., where we could rescue and keep all old cars that are in danger of being scrapped, just as these are in Minnesota. The cars would be available for parts to anyone, as needed, with the income being used to pay land taxes and bring in more cars. Whoever invented condominiums 30-40 years ago needs to think up a similar scheme for collective ownership of an old car bone yard. There was a thread on this a year or two ago, lots of positive comments, but nothing came of it. With $4/gallon gas, moving ANY old car ANY distance is now a depressingly expensive proposition.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

What a brilliant idea!

We need INDOOR storage to preserve the cars Iof course, I'm thinking mid-west, but I'm sure there are places that's not necessary)...maybe GM or one of the other Big 3 have a warehouse, production facility or something similar to use?

This could even be an extension of the AACA.....antique cars parts...inventoried and sold off at market prices to prevent scrapping.

Someone with deep pockets or great connection would have to take the first step, then it could branch out from there. I would donate time, and I'm sure there are haulers out there that would donate empty space to help get the cars there.

An in-house team of people to determine what should be kept intact and what should be parted out.

Hell, I'm looking for a job! If we can find a couple hundred thousand square feet of indoor storage locally, I'll administrate!

Pete and Brian

I was the one that created the post regarding a national clearinghouse salvage yard for Buicks. Not trying to pat myself on the back, just one of my quirky ideas.

The discussion was...interesting. The problem is not necessarily the cars but the land. We would need "seed money" to purchase a dry location centrally located (meaning Kansas / Nebraska / eastern Colorado) or a Buick or old car lover in this area would need to allow a Buick non profit to 'lease' the land for $1 a year or such.

The cars are plentiful. I would be glad to purchase up to 10 cars per year and 'put' them there for restoration projects or for parting out. I can get 50 plus cars a year off craigs list for $500 or less and I am sure a lot of you can too.

The restoration culture has changed due to the high cost of restoration and the wife saying "not in my garage, next to my new SUV!".

But guys still buy these cars then get buyers remorse. This past year I can't tell you how many time I have seen in Craigs List ads "JUST NEED IT GONE!"

Or -- we have these yards going out of business.

Take the 63-64 Buick Riviera ad lower down. I could easily buy that complete white 64 and then transport it to the central salvage yard. I do not have a truck and trailer but I have been mulling buying one for this purpose since getting transport is getting very difficult.

I wonder if Wheatbelt would agree to such a 'national clearinghouse yard' idea if he would get a cut of the money raised? Just think outside the box, there are no right or wrong answers but one thing is for sure -- thousands of usable parts are disappearing each year.

Heck, I would even take a weeks vacation to go and just strip parts off a car for inside storage. A nice week on western KS or eastern Colorado, drinking beers and stripping Buicks for salvageable parts sounds like fun. Then, the hulk could be crushed for a $400 which could go back into the kitty for sustainability of the yard. See-coming up with ideas on the fly....

A nice week on western KS or eastern Colorado, drinking beers and stripping Buicks for salvageable parts sounds like fun.

Yep.

Ken is getting older, I wouldn't get him involved, though he would certainly be a valuable asset.

It does seem like a decent idea, though.

I did my part, I probably overbid but I bought the '37 Special for parts. By the time all the fees were added it cost nearly $800 plus $200+ in gas to get it. I wanted a few parts off of it and will be parting out what I don't want and scrap everything left that is not usable. I was hoping the price would stay below $500. My local scrap yard is offering $200/ton so I figure I'll get around $300 for scrap. With a quick look around it I think I'll be able to get most of my expenses back, it has many good parts left. If not, I still got two trim pieces that are hard to find in decent shape. I also got the clear title which I didn't expect to get with it.

I had a couple different guys on the HAMB board offer to independently take pictures of the car for me on Thursday before the auction ended before I started bidding on it. They sent some very large, close up pictures of the car and I wasn't disappointed when I got up there to retrieve it out of the yard. I strongly believe my car was the most complete, solid car there on Tuesday. On Tuesday they yard was still pretty well packed with cars, most I saw weren't parts cars, only scrap. The car that was loaded before mine was a '42 Ford four door sedan that they had to pull out of the woods and as they were carrying it down the lane parts were dropping off of it. After it was loaded on the new owner's trailer I saw him ripping the fenders off because they were almost completely rusted off.

While I was there the auction company was loading cars on trailers using a big front end loader with forks. They were lifting the cars from the sides and gently dropping them on trailers, doing it as fast as they could. I asked them to lift my car from the front with chains around the bumpers brackets so I could slide my tilt bed trailer under it, I didn't want them mangling the under carriage or running boards.

That front clip on the '37 is worth what you paid for the entire car.

Pete Phillips

Nice buy, bobj. Wouldn't two restored '37s look good in your drive????????????????

Ben

I'm hoping to get a decent price for the clip. Both fenders are very straight and solid, the worse part is the very bottom edge, there is some rust through in that area.

Bruce, tell that to my wife. She wasn't too happy I bought this one.

I started cleaning the car out last night, the body is pretty bad. The floors are completely rusted through. I did find a very nice battery cover which I understand is a hard part to find. I didn't have any in the other three '37 Buicks I've bought in the last two years. I also found the four hub caps, all of them were covered in crud but two are in pretty good shape, two have some dents, all will be good enough for my car which is going to be a driver. I also pulled the trunk floor out, it also was completely rotted out, and checked the gas tank. So far it looks pretty solid, another part I know is hard to find.

Bob

Thanks for saving this car. Imagine the other scenario where a scrapper gets it and it's crushed within 2-3 weeks. I think the positive part about buying these as parts cars is that in the end you can still send the carcuss to the crusher and recoup some of the money whereas if it gets crushed, they take many good usable parts.

I don't think you can get cheap aftermarket battery covers or gas tanks.

I would buy your seats front and back if you don't need them. I need them for cores for my 36 Roadmaster, even if I have to fabricate to fit. Unless the springs are rusted through and frames are junk, otherwise consider me a buyer for you seats if you don't need them.

I purchased a 36 Buick Roadmaster 4 door but the seats are missing.

Yep.

Ken is getting older, I wouldn't get him involved, though he would certainly be a valuable asset.

It does seem like a decent idea, though.

Good thought about Ken being a good advisor. I think that just as some donate media to the Buick Heritage Alliance and the AACA, a system could be set up to donate cars. They donate cars for other causes.

I think if I bought a car I wanted to be placed in the 'national Buick salvage yard' then I would transfer ownership to the yard, be it by title or contract.

Good thought about Ken being a good advisor. I think that just as some donate media to the Buick Heritage Alliance and the AACA, a system could be set up to donate cars. They donate cars for other causes.

I think if I bought a car I wanted to be placed in the 'national Buick salvage yard' then I would transfer ownership to the yard, be it by title or contract.

And if it was set up as a non-profit, the donation would be tax deductible, correct? (not sure how this works with the new regulations, since cars donated for sale are now credited based on auction price, not valuation)

Sounds more and more like something the AACA and BCA should get behind!

While I was there the auction company was loading cars on trailers using a big front end loader with forks. They were lifting the cars from the sides and gently dropping them on trailers, doing it as fast as they could. I asked them to lift my car from the front with chains around the bumpers brackets so I could slide my tilt bed trailer under it, I didn't want them mangling the under carriage or running boards.

I emailed back and forth w Fahey (auction guys) regarding pick up and decided to limit my bidding to an amount that could include a quick transport run. They said no guarantees after this Friday the 20th.

I said to them, 'how in the heck are you going to move all those cars out in such a short amount of time?"

I'll bet quite a few are still there.

I have a thought. I am wondering if "we" * could partner with Easy Jacks in Junction City, KS area. They have the land, they could make money off the cars, it's fairly "dry" there and they are already an established salvage business. The sons took over for Easy Jack so it appears there is a new generation so the project might last another 20 years.

* not an affiliation with the BCA, just a mention of possible interested parties, maybe calling itself the Buick Parts Cooperative or something. I want to make it clear I am not inferring the BCA in this think-out-loud post.