Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I’m considering buying this from an auction near my house. It’s complete with the brackets and supposedly has never been used. Any guesses on age and value? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I'd say 1920's, maybe very early 1930's. The attached advertisement is from 1926. Appears to be a rear bumper, that sticks out quite far to clear either a trunk rack or a rear mounted spare. I'm no expert, but you'd need to find someone who wants one, and then for a show car it'd need hundreds of dollars in plating. I'd say it's worth $200 as it sits.....but I've been wrong before...the best part about it is it still has the name badge on it, which may increase value in someone's eyes.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 That’s a great advertisement, thanks! It’s in pretty good condition but certainly isn’t show car ready as it is. Still, maybe something someone will want for a rat rod or project they’re working on. I sure am having a hard time finding other examples online so I have a hunch it’s quite rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curti Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Rarity and value are not synonymous. Was a Weed bumper ever OEM for any car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 No, rarity and value are not synonymous but it does address one side of basic supply and demand so it’s a start. Given that the supply seems limited (from what I can tell) my hope now is the demand is high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vermontboy Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Weed was a major manufacturer of tire chains if my memory is working. If not please correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 That is what I have on my 1925 master. I will probably have them powder coated like I had the ones on my 1925 Standard. Friend with another 1925 Standard had quoted over $1000 to have them plated. For my Standard I had the front and back Wolverine style bumpers "Chrome Look" (silver paint) on the bars and semi gloss black on the brackets. I believe it cost around $300. To me they look great. Notice that the rear bumper on the Standard is 2 piece for the spare while the WEED bumper on the master is full width. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Re-plating that bumper in my area would be over $1,000.00 cdn per bar plus $200.00 for each clamp and then whatever for the medallion in the middle. Total in US funds to restore that bumper up here to show quality would be about $6,600. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Also remember these bumpers had manufacture specific brackets when sold. The Buicks are different than Cadillac or Oakland Hudson etc. The mounting brackets are different between the Buick Master and Standard series. I had a set of Buckeye Bumpers I was going to use on my Buick Standard but it would have meant fabricating all the mounting brackets as I think that they came off of an Overland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Any estimate on value as it currently sits? And thanks for all the great info so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne sheldon Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Bumpers began showing up after-market by 1910. Many then were spring loaded, and simple single bar/rod/tube. A few expensive cars began offering them standard equipment on the front in the mid '10s. Other than the more expensive cars, they remained mostly after-market accessories well into the 1920s. The Biflex "kiss" type bumpers started showing up around 1920, as after-market. Dual-bar bumpers started showing up around 1924, about the same time as many lesser cars started offering bumpers as a factory option. Cars like Buick (and many others) offered either the Biflex or other dual-bar bumpers as either factory or dealer options. My July 1927 Chilton directory has advertisements for fifteen manufacturers of after-market bumpers. My '27 Paige has its factory optional bumpers on it. I have seen identical bumpers on a few other cars in the '25 to '28 year range (but I cannot recall with any certainty what marques they were?) Although the Paige bumpers are different than yours, and do NOT have a maker's name anywhere on them (as the other identical bumpers I have seen also did not), research has indicated that the Paige factory optional bumpers on my car were in fact made by Weed. Looking very closely at numerous original era photos of Paige automobiles with bumpers just like mine, indicates they likely never did have a "Weed" emblem on them. Paige also used Weed Levelizer shock absorbers. Weed offered a number of products besides tire chains. They sold both directly to manufacturers, and after-market to the owners of cars. As to what the OP bumper is worth? That is a tough one. Whether it is a front or a rear? Will also make a difference. Rears are generally only desirable as a match with the front. Fronts only were commonly used on cars in the '20s, so a rear is not necessary for many buyers for a front. However, a rear alone could be a problem, unless you find someone with a matching front. I can't tell for certain from the pictures if that is a front or rear. Rears were usually short bumperettes, a pair on each side, with the spare tire in between. But they were not always so.. Cars with side mounted spares often had a full rear bumper, and I have seen cars with rear mounted spare tires with full bumpers also (just not really common that way). It may have been used as a factory option? But I wouldn't know on what car. As an after-market piece? It would be appropriate for almost any mid-size or larger car from about 1926 through '29 that didn't have a standard factory bumper originally. As is, totally depending upon finding someone that wants it for their car, it could be worth anywhere from $50 to $500. If you can find a specific marque that did use that model bumper as a factory offering? It could maybe be worth even a bit more. Especially if two people need it really badly. But don't plan on the kid's education on that. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Man, you guys are good! The auction is in a couple hours and I’ll try to buy this if I can get it for a fair price. I’ll keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_a Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I saw an ad for Weed bumpers in a 1922 Motor World Wholesale describing Ford applications today. Last week I read something about a Paige equipped with Weed bumpers. The seller claimed it was a custom-built Paige, indicated by the Weed bumper. I´m seeing a lot of 20s/30s bumpers FS on ebay for $200-600, tending to be high end ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 I didn’t get it. I had a price in my mind that would leave enough meat on the bone for me to resell it but it ended up going for more than that so I passed. I appreciate all the information, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 How much did it sell for at the auction? I'm sure I was low at 200.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Customx12 Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 It was low 100s. I didn’t want to go over 100 in case I have to sit on it for a long time looking for a buyer. My wife gets on me for buying things that don’t sell right away. Seems like it still went cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Thanks, that makes sense. 100 was a good buy, think it would sell for two or three times that, but might take a little while to find a buyer as you mention...thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheelmang Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 On 2/23/2018 at 8:37 PM, vermontboy said: Weed was a major manufacturer of tire chains if my memory is working. If not please correct. Sold tons of Weed tire chains back in the 60s and into the 70s. Did not know they originally made bumpers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Here's a Chevy sporting a Weed bumper, and the dealer paperwork for when it was purchased 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 One tire cost more than the bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now