Jump to content

FORUM ETIQUETTE: Put Your Topics In The Correct Forum. Stop Posting Clickbait & Incomplete Titles. (Click For Examples, Good And Bad).

Cars Formerly Owned by Famous People

1957Birdman

By 1957Birdman
in General Discussion

 Share

Recommended Posts

8E45E 25,000+ Points

8E45E

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, keithb7 said:

Not extra 1 cent from my pocket, for a celebrity owned vehicle. Others can do whatever they want. Your perspective will differ from mine for a multitude of reasons. 

The ONLY way I'd pay an extra cent for a vehicle is it it was one I previously owned and desparately wanted back.  So far, I don't want any of my previous rides that I have sold back.  

 

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TTR 10,000+ Points

TTR

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, 8E45E said:

The ONLY way I'd pay an extra cent for a vehicle is it it was one I previously owned and desparately wanted back.  So far, I don't want any of my previous rides that I have sold back.  

 

Craig

I have a client who few decades ago sold (for emotional, not financial reasons) 10+ cars from his collection, only to wanting many of them back (again, for emotional reasons) a decade or two later and for couple of examples, paid multiple what he had received at the time of selling them.

 

Most of these, his previously owned, meticulously maintained cars had suffered (typical) neglect in the hands of next custodian-/ownerships , i.e. lack of proper maintenance, storage, etc. and were nowhere near the condition he had kept them or had them restored to and therefor not worth buying back since they would’ve required full restoration again, including some he had bought new and were maintained in “like new” condition until he sold them.

 

P.S. Of all cars I’ve ever owned, there’s only one I’d like to have back, but fortunately I have nearly identical twin to it, so the desire to get the other back is strong enough to pursue.

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
1937hd45 25,000+ Points

1937hd45

Posted
Posted
54 minutes ago, playswithbrass said:

Always remember going round a display with a lot of cars with famous name previous owner provenance. Crusty, well known blunt old car guy with me commented “ I don’t give a damn whose butt sat in the drivers seat. Doesn’t make the car better or worse”

  Good point, race cars and where they finished are the only exception. Bob 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Steve_Mack_CT 25,000+ Points

Steve_Mack_CT

Posted
Posted

Different discussion, but forgetting celebrities, what value does a known collector bring?  This I get because it seems reasonable to me to pay a little more all things being equal, if your buying a car from a "marque guru", or maybe just a known collector, someone known not to cut corners.  Has anyone done that?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bhigdog 25,000+ Points

Bhigdog

Posted
Posted
On 9/21/2021 at 6:52 AM, Restorer32 said:

I defy you to find a heterosexual male my age, 73, whose first love was not Annette. 

 

There were lots of girls that made me change class holding my books in front of myself. She wasn't one of them............Bob

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TAKerry 25,000+ Points

TAKerry

Posted
Posted
On 9/21/2021 at 5:26 PM, 1932 plymouth pb sedan said:

If it were a celebrity car I would stay away from it. 25 maybe 30 years ago I had a customer that purchased Captain Kangaroos Jeep Cherokee at the estate of the deceased, the damn thing was worn out and the new owner had to dump a boatload of money into it to get it inspected. I do not believe he paid much for it but thought it would be a good investment because of who owned it. His kids did not even know who Captain Kangaroo was.

I would love to own a car that was owned by Captain Kangaroo, or even Mr. GreenJeans!  Watched him every morning!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
1937hd45 25,000+ Points

1937hd45

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

Different discussion, but forgetting celebrities, what value does a known collector bring?  This I get because it seems reasonable to me to pay a little more all things being equal, if your buying a car from a "marque guru", or maybe just a known collector, someone known not to cut corners.  Has anyone done that?  

 

 

I think you are on to something, the RESTORATION SHOP that did the work would matter more to me. Not every professional restoration shop is equal either. That Model T Ford shop may kick out an award winner, but the 1933 Alfa Romeo 1750 may nor fair so well. 

 

Bob 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
5219 1,000+ Points

5219

Posted
Posted

Annette was 15 years old in 1957. I suspect that this car may have belonged to her parents and that she may have gotten it later. 

 

As far as the value of celebrity ownership, Marilyn Monroe's 1956 T-Bird sold for $490K a few years ago. The car was restored to the same appearance it had when she owned it. There are a ton of pictures of MM riding in the T-Bird with hubby Arthur Miller driving. She gifted the car in 1962 to the son of her acting coach, who had just started driving.

 

If Annette Funicello's car is worth $190K, Marilyn Monroe's car is a steal at 2 1/2 times the price!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TTR 10,000+ Points

TTR

Posted
Posted (edited)

And then there are unexpected(?) consequences to some cars "celebrity" statuses, like several years ago, while I was walking with a friend through a row of cars at a show and we came across one, few decades old car, which was of make/model commonly known to have be chauffeur driven.

It was crowded by a small group of (mostly) guys viewing the rear seat area through an open RH rear door.

After hearing someone mentioning the name of the original "celebrity" owner known for or at least perceived having been a quite the ladies man (& philanderer ?) and seeing the cars interior looking likely to be mostly original, I commented out loud to my friend that "there's a car one probably shouldn't take home and show the rear interior to his girlfriend or wife under a black/UV light".

I couldn't tell how many "Eeeyw !"s we heard right after, but there was a lady in that crowd who started gagging fairly violently...

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JamesR 25,000+ Points

JamesR

Posted
Posted

I don't buy expensive cars, but if I were rich and inclined to such things, I would love to own one of Annette's cars. If I had $150k to spend on her T-Bird, I maybe would've bought it, even with the alterations, but that's only because I love Annette and her legacy. She was kind and beautiful and a great American. However, I wouldn't pay extra to have a car owned by Hitler, Stalin or Howard Stern. In fact, I think the prices should be discounted because of the provenance.  I wouldn't buy them at any price. 😉

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ron hausmann 5,000+ Points

ron hausmann

Posted
Posted

In my opinion, ownership by a celebrity helps the value of a collector car from the standpoint of “provenance “. A good collector car with no provenance will definitely not have as much value as one with a documented history. I have seen this with several cars including my 1923 Kissel Gold Bug. My car was owned and meticulously restored by William Ruger sr., founder of the firearms company, and then owned and driven by murdered real estate criminal Andrew Kissel (no relation). Those stories and that history do figure in helping sell a collector car. That provenance has definitely improved my cars value. How much increase, I would just be guessing, but it is important factor I think. 
Ron Hausmann P.E.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 hours ago, mike6024 said:

What happened to this one? Ever sold, or just lost?

 

3f81d0d944d939e5d09b873439c81ab9.jpg

 

Sinatra and the T-bird are just too iconic to have simply gotten lost over the years.  Sinatra's stuff seems to get tracked pretty well and still brings top dollar at celeb type auctions.   Someone has to know they own his former car today.   Even though he's been dead for almost a quarter century, he still has a noticeable presence here in Palm Springs.  

In the 80's he bought two of the K car based limousines.   Later selling one to my friend's mom, who lived a few doors away.

 

Sinatraslimo_01_2000.jpg.b07b40b7fcc5b5d7e44f9d0090df164f.jpg

 

By coincidence I came into possession of a hand gun Frank used to own.  It is a .22 caliber Rosco Vestpocket that he used to carry regularly as part of his "gangster image" I suppose.  It's small and as the name suggests, fits very easily into any pocket.  His body guards Jilly Rizzo and Jerry the Crusher both wore shoulder holsters and made no effort to conceal this.   It's just the way things were back then, here in the desert (must be that year round summer wind).   

After Frank passed his wife Barbara had this gun mounted in a nice little display box  and brought it along with several other items of his to be auctioned as part of the 2009 Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament.  As things turned out it ended up with a fellow that new Barbara very well and who has been frequent guest at my bar for the last 15 years.   We became good friends and few years ago he gifted this nice piece to me (along with a hand written note from Barbara stating "Mr.S. wanted you to have it, Barbara XOX"  which I have to tell you is pretty cool, I think.

 

20210923_125148.jpg.8bc63e65998cc187aa9d9c5ebd7b8c28.jpg

 

Edited by GregLaR (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JamesR 25,000+ Points

JamesR

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'll say this: If I was rich and famous back in '55 or '56, I would definitely buy a brand new T-Bird. First thing I would buy. Then maybe a Nomad or Safari wagon along with a Chrysler 300 in '56. I'd also buy a '56 DeSoto, because they were just a shade better looking that even the Chrysler. Then I'd buy an XK-140 as an exotic car...and if I could find one, a Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta coupe, which was maybe the world's best looking car ever made from any era. Not practical, though...and probably hard for normal people to keep in tune.

 

My daily driver would be a used '47 Ford pickup, though, because I wouldn't want to get any scratches on my beautiful and perfect new cars. Yeah, that's what I'd do.

Edited by JamesR (see edit history)
  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
60FlatTop 25,000+ Points

60FlatTop

Posted
Posted
On 9/22/2021 at 1:17 PM, playswithbrass said:

Crusty, well known blunt old car guy with me commented “ I don’t give a damn whose butt sat in the drivers seat. Doesn’t make the car better or worse”

Judging from the number of replicas I have seen over the past 50+ years the first one of him must have been a celebrity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pete O 2,500+ Points

Pete O

Posted
Posted
On 9/21/2021 at 10:38 AM, TTR said:

Based on my (limited) experience and observations, fascination & willingness to pay premium, sometimes surprisingly high, for “celebrity” owned vehicles (or other things) has always seemed more common in the US than elsewhere and I’ve often wondered why.

 

Because here in the US we are idiots and somehow think that celebrities are more important and smarter than just plain folk.  A moron basketball player whose only skill is bouncing a ball, and we hang on his every political pronouncement like it is Moses bringing down the Ten Commandments.   We have idol worship here, except instead of a golden calf, it's actors and athletes.

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TTR 10,000+ Points

TTR

Posted
Posted (edited)
54 minutes ago, Pete O said:

Because here in the US we... ... somehow think that celebrities are more important and ... ....****ball player ...  

We have idol worship here, except instead of a golden calf, it's actors and athletes.

Yeah, another strange/weird (to me) expression of idolizing, although probably a bit more universal, is when someone's wearing his/her favorite sports team (game) shirt with an athletes name on it.

To me, it just gives an appearance of the person (proudly ?) wearing it having been a one-night(?) bedmate or a muse for that athlete who then gave his (used/sweaty ?) shirt as a token memento (This scenario actually happened long ago to a friend of mine's sister-in-law, who went out with a "famous" baller, although she didn't wear the shirt in public).

Edited by TTR (see edit history)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
46 woodie 10,000+ Points

46 woodie

Posted
Posted

I agree with Pete O, 100%. That's why we can not give 16 year olds the right to vote. If we do some rock star or some T.V. personality would be president. As for Sinatra, he was simply a mafia wana-be. I remember an interview with him once stating that he had trouble with five guys in an elevator once. He said it was tough, but he took care of all five. Give me a break, Sinatra was 5'6'' and about 140 lbs. soaking wet.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
8E45E 25,000+ Points

8E45E

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Pete O said:

A moron basketball player whose only skill is bouncing a ball, and we hang on his every political pronouncement like it is Moses bringing down the Ten Commandments. 

And those under 18 hang their autographed poster on their bedroom door or wall!! 😆

 

Craig

Link to comment
Share on other sites
60FlatTop 25,000+ Points

60FlatTop

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

or some T.V. personality would be president.

"Let me think that over"

Ronald Reagan - Wikiquote

 

Reminds me of the last time I had jury duty. During the selection the prosecuting attorney used car salesmen as an example of a person with low credibility. During a break I told him that statement was an inappropriate stereotype. I haven't been back and that was a while ago.

 

Well, you know how those lawyers are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
58L-Y8 25,000+ Points

58L-Y8

Posted
Posted

Honestly, after thinking about what cars I've been aware of owned by celebrities, none come to mind as particularly desirable because of their prior ownership.   Most all were rather ordinarily available cars as long one had enough financial resources to access that market segment.    In fact, those customized to their specifications were frequently in rather poor taste, represented no particular sophistication.   Celebrity status doesn't necessarily automatically include an appreciation for design sophistication or a refined sense of taste.

 

Though, I might make an exception for the "Morty Seinfeld CAT-LACK!!:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...