Could be expensive ??

[Guest francisco]

This is the information what I got

Dodge Bros. started by making parts for other car manufacturers. After some years they decided to start making their own car. It was made on an assembly line like Fords. First one brother died, then the other brother, until one wife remained to run the business. She sold the DB business to a "holding company" in New York Cityh in August of 1927. The "holding company" sold DB to Chrysler Corp. in May of 1928. That is how Dodge got started.

Talking to an antique car appraiser, he said there are only three other DB's known in existence, built during "holding company" ownership, and they are all in museums. He doesn't know what the price would be for mine. He suggested $39,000.

28 DB

Motor # J45-759

Body # J33968

A plate on the front floorboard says built Oct 1927

any comment will be appreciated

[Matt Harwood]

I hope I'm not bursting any bubbles, but there's no way that car is worth $39,000, even perfectly restored. Yes the story is a bit interesting, but there's really no way to document how many were built and how many exist, and even if it was one of one, it's still a Dodge 4-door sedan in need of a full restoration. It looks complete and would be a worthy restoration project, but there's probably not a financial upside to it.

I talk to a lot of guys who mistake rare with valuable, and while it's one factor, it's not the ONLY factor. I'm afraid this one won't ever be worth a big pile of money, but as I said, it's a worthy car for someone with a passion for early Dodges.

Good luck!

[keiser31]

I hope I'm not bursting any bubbles, but there's no way that car is worth $39,000, even perfectly restored. Yes the story is a bit interesting, but there's really no way to document how many were built and how many exist, and even if it was one of one, it's still a Dodge 4-door sedan in need of a full restoration. It looks complete and would be a worthy restoration project, but there's probably not a financial upside to it.

I talk to a lot of guys who mistake rare with valuable, and while it's one factor, it's not the ONLY factor. I'm afraid this one won't ever be worth a big pile of money, but as I said, it's a worthy car for someone with a passion for early Dodges.

Good luck!

As a Dodge Brothers kinda guy I could not have stated that better. I am pretty certain you will get the same response if you post the question down farther on the "Dodge and Dodge brothers" section of this forum.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

This is why not to put much faith in somebody's appraisal.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Dave Mellor NJ (see edit history)

[Marty Roth]

If you like it,

and are not just trying to make a "Quick-Buck",

and could get it at a fair price,

and want a project you can be immersed in,

and maybe share the experience with a young person...

Why Not go for it?

[28 Chrysler]

Over 45,000 of this model were made in all the body the styles and I don't think a holding company would almost stop production.

The 4 door sedans were manufactured in much greater numbers all other body styles.

I have a car that had a production run of 183 units. When I bought the car I was told there were only 3 left. Since then I have seen photos of 6.

I don't pay attention to anyone who knows the total number of the remaining cars.

[keiser31]

As I have stated prior to this thread, you can never know how many of any production vehicle are still out there undiscovered.

[Bhigdog]

Financially it doesn't matter if there is only one left if no one REALLY wants it. It's worth exactly what a willing buyer will pay for it and not a penny more and the ONLY way to find that number is to actually sell it. Our opinions, estimates and guesses are worth exactly what you paid for them...............Bob

[john2dameron]

I think some careful research will show that Dillon & Read bougtht Dodge Bros. in 1925 and sold in 1928. Here is a list of some Dodge Bros. autos of those years I have photographed. 1925 Touring, 1926 Roadster, 1925 4-door sedan, 1926 4-door sedan, 1925 Roadster, another 1925 4-door, 1925 Tow truck. These were all at West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania shows.

[CarlLaFong]

These people, that take a particular piece of history, that is irrelevant to the product, and turn it in to a reason to jack up the value of a car are everywhere. What if Joe, the guy who hung the fenders on the right side, always wore black boots to work but, on one day, they were in getting half soled, so he wore his brown brogans. Surely those cars built on brogan day would be worth more.

Since when did smoke blowing become a profession?

[jeff_a]

That is a nice intact Dodge Brothers Sedan. Hopefully, it was just rolled out of a building for photographs, and has never been left outside. As you know, cars from that period just can't take that.

I'm interested in Peerless cars and trucks, built from 1900-1931. One major rich-guy-investment-magazine published an article on Peerlesses that said there were only about 35 left. I've since found two or three hundred more, so the magazine was a bit off.

[Guest Bill Miller]

Francisco,

The way to approach a purchase from a financial (unemotional) standpoint is to first determine what the car you are looking at is worth fully restored. This DB sedan is probably worth FULLY restored at auction something like $18-22K. Maybe another few thousand if it is best of show concours quality. That's just what production 4-door closed cars of this era that are non-CCCA eligible are going for in general. From this figure subtract what it's going to cost to restore, including transportation, painting, mechanical work, plating, trimming, wiring and replacement of any missing parts. My guess is that you will exceed the fully restored value of the car by many thousands of dollars even if you do 75% of the work yourself. You just can't come out above water financially even if they give the car to you. That's why you should almost always buy the best restored example of a car you want that needs nothing up to your financial limit. Having said that, if you just want something to occupy your retirement leisure hours and have a legitimate reason to get out of the house and in to the garage, then it's worth whatever you're willing to pay for a few hours a day of peace and solitude.

[nickelroadster]

I think I would offer it to the appraiser at a really good deal kind of a price, say $30000.

[Matt Harwood]

I think I would offer it to the appraiser at a really good deal kind of a price, say $30000.

Ha! Perfect way to test his faith in his own opinions.

[auburnseeker]

I don't put much faith in Appraisals anymore. I have 3 Appraisals/ inspections that were performed. One came with my 1936 Cord and looks like it was very professional, Fancy title looking paper stating it was quite rare being a supercharged model. Well since a 810 is marked right on the cowl tag and the appraisal, The appraiser missed the fact that 36 Cord 810's weren't supercharged. I bought it knowing it wasn't originally a supercharged car so not a big deal but a huge error on the appraiser's part.

The other 2 were for the same car and said it had never had any repair to the body. Although it's minor I saw it within 2 minutes after coming off the shipping truck. I sent my wife out and said it's been fixed, go look. Then she came in and told me what had been fixed in less than 5 minutes. So both of those appraisals didn't cut it either. I even specified to my appraiser to make sure there was no body damage or repairs and he spoke to me on the phone and sent a report stating there were no repairs when I asked him point blank.

It's not even about getting what you paid for as I paid 375.00 for the last appraisal and 2 guys went over it together for the appraisal/ inspection.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

I believe most of the regulars on this forum know more than the Appraisers. They come up with a certificate that says they're an authority then they write price guides. You can take any car to an appraiser and pay him to give it a high value if you're the seller. The buyer could take the same car to him and pay him to give it a low value.

[trimacar]

I was once financing a car locally, and the bank wanted an appraisal. I asked who they trusted, and they gave me the name of a local car dealer. I went to him, and the first words out of his mouth, "How much do you want the appraisal to be?".......

I agree that the people on this forum know more than most appraisers, we who have fooled with cars for a long time have a gut feel for right and wrong prices and pricing...

Since the car posted isn't in the For Sale section, I guess it's fair game to criticize stated value. Most of us know that's a car worth a couple of thousand at most, and when it was built in the DB history is meaningless....

[Kimo]

Some appraisers charge by the value of the appraisal they give and so they have a very strong incentive to dramatically inflate their appraisals. Also, I assume he was giving you an insurance appraisal which are typically about twice what the market value would be. However even at that amount it is way out of line. One would need to begin to take this car apart to see exactly what it is going to need for restoration, but my guess is that it should be worth about $5,000 at most and less if there are some really serious issues going on, given the value it will have in fully restored condition. As the others have mentioned, rarity has little value unless it is matched with desirability and demand.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

For comparison, there has been a 29 Dodge in the buy and sell forum here. It was offered for $6200 in pretty nice drive away condition. I was surprised it didn't sell. In the last few days it was back up with the price lowered to $5500. If you want a 4dr Dodge that's the car for you.

[Guest francisco]

Thanks all of you guys for your comments. that will help me to decide about this car.

[plymouthcranbrook]

I have had two appraisals for my two cars done for insurance purposes and both of the appraisers( one an individual and one working for a local auto Museum/sales consigner) each managed to come up with values close to what I mentioned I thought that they were worth before they started their examination. Either I should also be an appraiser or...

[Larry Schramm]

Some appraisers charge by the value of the appraisal they give and so they have a very strong incentive to dramatically inflate their appraisals. Also, I assume he was giving you an insurance appraisal which are typically about twice what the market value would be. However even at that amount it is way out of line. One would need to begin to take this car apart to see exactly what it is going to need for restoration, but my guess is that it should be worth about $5,000 at most and less if there are some really serious issues going on, given the value it will have in fully restored condition. As the others have mentioned, rarity has little value unless it is matched with desirability and demand.

Serious issues like does the engine turn over or run?