rackops

This is a great thread...I was looking at transporting a car across several states and didn't want to invest in an enclosed trailer for the one-time transport. I've worked in industry where we had heavy machinery transported without issue being covered by heavy tarps, so I figured I'd try something like 68LTD mentioned above. After a lot of thought, I thought the best of it and opted to go for a commercial hauler with an enclosed trailer...but I'm curious how the crash tape would hold up on a road trip if I ever need to do it again.

The only vehicle I've ever visited was a 1943 GPW that we sold to a collector in the UK (it was a California Jeep at the time). He was a friend of a friend, so on a trip over to the UK years later, I got to visit it. He had done a frame off restoration and it looked fantastic - far better than it ever had while we owned it. So, kudos to him for certain. My other old cars...no clue where they ended up...they just kind of vanished into the world of antique cars and haven't appeared since.

Digging around, and sure enough, there was already a thread on it:

I truly enjoy the conversation - this thread is really great. Thank you to everyone who has replied! As long as people are offering opinions (and they are sincerely appreciated) does anyone have an opinion on this car? I've done a bit of digging into Chandlers and they seem to have been built to be pretty solid cars. That said, this one is also like the Nash at the beginning...I have no clue what the comps are on it and since he's already come down $15k in his asking price, I'm assuming he doesn't know the comps either (no idea what he paid for it, though he bought it, restored, from an estate sale in Wisconsin with very little history behind it). Any good/bad/ugly thoughts on this one?

Thanks again all! I was pretty comfortable hitting the high 40s, occasionally the low 50s (downhill with the wind behind me) in my Phaeton...my Fordor could do about the same, but both were best around 40 or so. Luckily, most of the roads around here are pretty rural, so needing to get up to 50 isn't a normal requirement. Below is my Phaeton with my kids (now in college!). Some of their best memories are with that car in the local parades and driving around town, which is why I'd like to get another of similar genre (they won't make the same memories again, but hey...doesn't mean I can't enjoy it! And for what it's worth, my wife is still a bit miffed that I sold this car...and that was ten years ago...) Oh, and it did take a couple months of meetings with the local club to finally stop having other owners tell me "I have grandkids your age!" Thanks again- Dave

Thank you all so much for the advice! I sincerely do appreciate it. Question, since we're all here and on this topic: what's the best way of establishing a rough value of these lesser-known makes/models? Like this Nash, I have looked through closed auctions, cached classified ads and so on, but have found very few that would provide a "comp" (as my Realtor wife would call it). Obviously, I don't want to spend way over value, but I don't mind going at least a bit over value to get something I really like and want to keep. My experience (as I mentioned in the beginning) has been with Model As, having owned several of them. The ones I had were great drivers (well, one of them became a great driver after rebuilding it...but that's another story...) and they are sufficiently common to where it's easy to establish a range of values (ironically, what I paid and sold my Phaeton for a decade ago is the range they're still running...so not a great investment, but still enjoyable) and perhaps more importantly, getting parts for them is pretty much like falling off a log...multiple dealers are out there with every part imaginable. So these are probably my two biggest considerations when looking at something more unusual than a Model A...being drivable is probably primary (we have some great roads out here and being close to Kitty Hawk, it's ideal for a convertible that can maintain road speeds) followed by parts availability (while I'm pretty handy working on these, I don't want to become a frequent flier at my local machine shop every time something breaks...) I do agree too with shopping around (e.g. waiting), but that's actually what I have been doing for the last year or so now since retirement. I've bounced around from various types of cars, but have pretty much settled on the style (four-door convertible) and price range ($30-40) that I want to stick with (or perhaps better said...what my wife is okay with...) 😁 Thanks again - this has been a great discussion!

Yep, that's it. I'm working on the price...he's basically fishing at the moment...and trying to get it into the realm of reasonableness. If I can't get him to where I think I'd want to be on it, I'll pass. It's a pretty car, for sure, but I agree with your assessment on value. I don't mind spending extra since this will be a "keeper" for me, but keeping it within what I consider to be reasonable is key. At the current price point, I have some other very nice options available to me, all of which I would be very happy with. So we will see.

Between the Carlisle auction and the current seller, the only difference is it appears that someone rattle-can painted the engine...

And, for what it's worth, here's the listing when it was sold at auction from the Museum.

All: Thank you for all of your posts - you've given me some great things to think about and look into. Very much appreciated! As far as some of the questions, I think this car was pretty much bought to flip...the current seller is making a pretty penny on the sale (and that's even with negotiating) but at the same time...I like the car and if I plan on keeping it for the next 30+ years (I'm still relatively young) it will work itself out in the long run. That said...I also don't want to buy something that's going to be a headache either, so I'm trying to do as much due diligence as possible (and there are a lot of great options out there for cars to buy). Here's a photo of the car on display in the museum (below). If you google the car, it's pretty much the only one being offered for sale right now, so there are plenty of photos of it on the internet. Thanks again for your advice! Dave

Thanks for the welcome, John! I didn't think to ask about the maintenance schedule for the car. I did ask the seller for whatever paperwork they have on it, as I hope that all of the documentation has been kept together, but I've learned not to assume anything...people are sometimes strange when it comes to keeping old paper like that (particularly when it has people's names/addresses and such on it). Depending on what paperwork was conveyed with the car from the auction, I'll contact the Museum and find out what they still have on record about the car. As far as I can see, the car was gifted to the Museum back in about 2007 or so following the death of the widow (the car is mentioned in her obituary...first time I've seen that!) and then the Museum sent it to auction this last year, where it sold. I'm now trying to connect the ownership/care dots to establish the history of the car, and trying to make sure I'm not buying a headache (been there, done that already...). The current seller has kept the car in almost the exact condition as when it was sold by the museum (comparing listing photos), though they are definitely wanting a premium for it, being formerly on display in the Museum (it is a bit ironic, since it was the Museum that sold it!) Thanks again for the welcome and advice. Much appreciated! Dave

Greetings all: My first post - be gentle! In the past, I've owned a few Model As and really enjoyed them. Now that I've retired from the military and settled down a bit (it was a pain moving cars and car parts!) I'm looking at buying another antique car. I've run across one I really like and found out it used to be on display at the AACA Museum and was relatively recently deaccessioned. I have some experience in the museum business as well, so I am familiar with museums "refocusing" and so on. I've also searched on here and googled the museum and discovered the large amount of heartburn between the Club and Museum. That said, what I'm looking for is if there's any rhyme or reason why the AACA Museum deaccessions vehicles. Could it be that they got a "better" example of the vehicle? Or perhaps they were running low on funds? What I'm trying to figure out is if there's any other reason why they'd deaccession a vehicle...in other words, were I to buy this car, am I buying a ticking time bomb where they got rid of it because of issues it may or may not have been having? Is the original owner/donor's estate going to take me to court to get their vehicle back? Or is it pretty straightforward and above board? Thanks in advance for your advice! Dave