John Bloom

OK, I like how you think.....this is how I think too. I realize the thread has mentioned the falling prices, but several have commented on a significant factor which is "sellers asking unrealistic prices for their cars". Looking at this from the buyers perspective.........If you're looking for a concours Bugatti, bargains are probably few and far between. However, there are so many great cars out there that have to be moved on to new owners and the opportunities are endless (pending cash and storage space 😉). I'd encourage those looking but frustrated by the asking price to just ignore the number the seller is putting out publicly. If you see a car you love and think it is worth 20K and you'd pay 20K, but the seller is asking 55K (and you and anyone else who knows that Make and Model know that no one will pay that), call him up, be friendly, compliment him on his great taste in cars, tell him that you'd love to buy it but when looking at the car and comps, you feel that the value is lower than that and if he'd consider something around 20K, you'd like to come see the car. It is possible, but unlikely, that he'll take it. Most likely, he'll say that he can't drop the price that much. Perhaps he'll even act insulted. No matter what the reaction is, keep the conversation positive, learn a little about him beyond the car he is selling (i.e. "Hey we were both in the Military", "We both like old trucks", "We both drove an old plymouth in high school", etc....) then end the conversation on a positive note and commit to staying in touch. I have found that the most likely outcome, is that in six months, two years, or at some point in the future, your phone will ring and you'll look down at the caller id, and it is the seller. After being insulted, told he's an idiot by people who haven't seen his car, missing dinner with friends for a potential buyer who is supposed to be at his house to look at the car at 6pm and never shows up or calls to say he isn't coming........ he has come to terms of the true value of his car, and you are the only nice person he dealt with. Then you have the opportunity to get what you wanted at a price you feel is fair. Most of the cars I've bought in this hobby over the last 40 years went down very similar to this with just a few exceptions.

Sounds pretty exclusive! I will wear it with pride.

Steve, I am a frequent buyer from marketplace, I don’t have an acct but stalk using my wife’s. Hemmings used to be at the epicenter of this hobby. Not so now. I appreciate the ability of FB to bring obscure things across my plate.

I totally agree with you on who should market the car. My comment wasn't an endorsement of Hemmings for this car, but more of a statement that I'm still a 13 year old kid waiting for the brown wrapper Hemmings to arrive ( a highpoint in the month) and stay up past midnight looking at it with my childhood friend John, who's father was a big collector. Those were good simple times. I still see facebook as I was first introduced to it many years ago. My wife showed the sight to me after she had signed up. I read a couple pages of her girlfriend's sharing publicly the irrelevant details of their life "going to the grocery store", "its cold out today", "had a great BM".............and didn't look at it again for 10 years. Crazy how much classic car stuff is on it today, and that used to be what Hemmings was to me.....40 years ago. That is a good looking Packard. No idea about the price.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is kicking Hemming's ass. Clearly I am part of the problem.....I too look at and search FB marketplace for cars quite a bit.

I don’t doubt a word you say and I find it encouraging, but the thread was asking about cars from the 30s and 40s....not Japanese cars in the last 30 years. Clearly there are young enthusiasts and I think that is great. As for “more car enthusiasts under the age of 30 than ever before”........not for cars in the 30s and 40s which is the thread topic. my hope is those young enthusiasts will have some changes in taste over the years and fall in love with the old stuff. I know my interests have changed from my 20s to my 50s.

Call me a curmudgeon, but i think a contributing factor is that young people today are less comfortable doing mechanical things than generations in the past. Old cars will need someone who at least has the curiosity and interest in "tinkering" with an old car to even consider buying one. I think that is rare in today's youth. I think of generations past, when thy type of guy who became an Engineer, was someone with a curiosity into how things work and they frequently dabbled with taking things apart or building things........They could easily apply their passion and skill into an old car. It is not uncommon today to see a young person who might study Engineering who can't "change the oil in a car", change a battery", "jump a car', Build a wooden birdhouse/doghouse, start a lawnmower and mow the lawn, etc......... They are smart and have a high ACT score, and are wizards on their phone, but aren't as curious with mechanical things as past generations. If you don't have any idea how to work on a car nor do you have any interest.......and have driven a reliable Honda/Toyota/etc....your whole life. The leap to buying and maintaining a Ford Model T is like some crazy idea to swim the Atlantic. Of course I realize that not all young people are as I described, but I bet in 1970 90% of the boys in high school could push start a manual car, Now 1% can.........the implications of that loss of basic "car troubleshooting skills" plays out in the hobby. Most old cars are projects, young buyers can't do the work themselves and they can't afford or find anyone to do it for them. There's a reckoning coming. HIGH end cars will still have deep pocket collectors buying them, but the run of the mill stuff probably has 10 old guys selling a car for 2 younger guys who are interested and the ratio is getting worse. A 50'd sedan with poor paint, that ran 3 years ago, in a model that is unremarkable and had high production numbers............if you are a seller of these, take any offer you get, the math going forward is against you.

Love them. you have our attention. Give updates as you can. I’d love to see a thread in the restoration forum if you’d consider sharing the experience. what is the car next to it?

PM me about T & C.

The absolute perfect car for a friend or buddy of mine to buy.

Great stuff Ed. Thanks for sharing.

“If you ain’t first, you’re last” “Here’s the deal, I’m the best there ever is” “I wake up in the morning and p*** excellence” -R Bobby We’ve got to get Ricky posting on the forum

This....., and then apply it to virtually every profession you can think of. I'm a dentist. I will not even begin to tell on a public forum the horrors that have walked into my office, only to be depressed even further when the patient told me how much money they have spent to get to this awful state. And to be fair, the other side of the equation is equally a problem, patients who do themselves no favors, and make it virtually impossible to work on them and do quality treatment. Car restoration, dental work, accountant, plumber ..............the list is endless but the principle and lessons are the same. Find good people, expect them to be busy, work with them and establish realistic expectations and a good working dialogue.

I always think of the Marmon Roosevelt, the Franklin Olympic, and the Stutz Blackhawk in a similar manner. each of them trying to bring a more value conscious model under their marquee. I do think though that maybe the Stutz Blackhawk is a CCCA approved classic.

I am curious to the stories behind these two relics. It seems some “broken dreams” could be buried in there somewhere. Along with some Clostridium tetani. hard to look away from them knowing what they once were.

Someone go grab those headlights..

Beautiful is a subjective term, but I can think of several before 32 that shouldn’t blush if that adjective was used on them. (734 speedster, 29/30 LeBaron model J dual cowl Phaetons come to mind) I do agree with the word “stately” to describe your car. It stands on its own even if there were a bunch of them still around, but the history and provenance and documented use at the auto show makes it extra special. update us on when we can expect to see you doing some top down touring in it?

Isn’t it funny how different a car can look at different angles, different angles of the sun and lighting, overcast or full sun? you have shared several pics of your Stearns Knight, but the proportions and stance look just perfect in this shot. Just love that long hood. they were throwing salt all over the place in Illinois this morning. No classic car driving for me for a while.... 😕

Do all 443-8's and 526-6's engines have priming cups without exception? Did they continue to the end of both series without any "late in production" omissions of them?

I don't want to hijack this thread, but this brings up a conversation I seem to be having a lot lately with friends.......The seller who is in denial of what their car is worth or what their car would sell for at auction. As this thread mentions, for run of the mill, interesting, closed cars with needs....prices are very soft. I'm not the kind of guy to tell someone who I barely know/stranger....."dude your car won't get a third of what you are asking". I had a friend looking at a Packard recently and the car is maybe worth 30% of the asking price. I sent him a comp of a much better car (paint, interior, mechanicals) and it sold recently for 50% less than the asking price of the car he is interested in. He forwarded it to the seller in a polite email showing this as a comp. The seller responded that he "may have to lower it to that price to sell it in the future". Total denial. The top stuff (desirable and in good shape, or very interesting and rare and worth the trouble to resurrect) does fine. So much other stuff seems to languish as sellers either ignore reality, or stubbornly can't accept the true market for their cars. I don't want to be trying to move a car and have it around for a long time for sale. I try to price it at a point that the first serious person who wants one, will think my price is fair and snatch it up. I'm sure I've left some money on the table, but I don't think I've ever needed even two weeks to find a buyer (And I'm usually excited about another car I'm buying or have bought and want the storage space). If you are advertising a car for sale on on the usual suspects (auctions, FBMarketplace, Craigslist) and no one has bought it for a year.........guess what? As the initial post here mentions, go to an auction and see what buyers thinks a car is worth. There are always exceptions at an auction of a few well bought cars, but they are very efficient at finding the point where buyer and seller meet.

I enjoy pulling out an old Hemmings Motor News in the old brown wrapper from the 70’s and looking at prices. U

your Dad’s might be a 35, here is my father in law’s 36 Ford. My wife and I surprised him with it on Father’s Day about 16 years ago. He was born in 36 and always wanted one.

If someone asked me to post a picture of great used leather seats with just the right patina, I’d like to submit a photograph of these bucket seats.

Thanks, I remember your words about a "nylon" or some other synthetic material used as a component with the water pump shaft, and that it was a PITA to take off components just to get to the source problem. Your number "if it was running and cooling as designed" is exactly what my number was. within the hobby, there is probably only a sliver of people who would write a check like that for this car in this condition.........coincidentally, many of those crazies hang out here.

An interesting car that I'm just posting for this Graham & Paige section of the forum. I have no knowledge about the car and it isn't my listing. I like it. As for the price, I'll politely pass on making any comments..........you know, if you can't say something nice,.......... With a significant reduction in price, it looks like something some guys on here could get excited about. I think is has nice lines. @Grimy has shared some great Paige knowledge on here before, maybe he can comment on this model. not commonly seen. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1002546320824080/