Estimate on a '32 PB Roadster

[dsasaki]

My uncle passed away in December, just shy of his 86th birthday, and I'm trying to get an estimated value for his '32 PB Roadster. He purchased the car in 1961 in CT and kept garaged even while he moved several times, ending up in CA. It's current sitting in the garage with flat tires and I've been told the part that's required to make it run is sitting on it ready to be installed, but I don't know when it last ran.

 

He made modification early on. It is my understanding that it has a small block chevy corvette engine and he did other custom work including the following:

• Replace the bumpers with street rod style bumpers
• Installed internal hinges.
• Modified the headlights.
• Removed the spare tires and patched the front fenders.
• Replaced the convertible cover.
• Replaced the tires and probably suspension/axle work.

 

I'm considering making an offer to keep it in the family since he had it so long, but I'm finding it hard to find comps because of all the modification. What would people say is a fair value for the car or any recommendations on how to acquire a good valuation? The car has to be sold to help cover medical expenses for his wife. I'd also have to figure out how to have it transferred back to CT. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

 

I've never seen the car in person, but here's an old picture from when it was working:

 

Here are a few more recent pictures. (Some of these were posted on another thread by @AdamInNH )

 

 

 

 

[alsancle]

Sorry for your uncles passing. It’s cool that he owned all those years. Hot rods are very hard to value. Especially those that are not Ford.
 

Nonrunning is a big deal when you’re trying to sell a car. If you offered 20 K, I would think that would be all the money in the world for that. Maybe even 15 K.

[auburnseeker]

I agree with Alsancle.  15-20 should be a realistic selling range.  Bonus is the paint still looks good and not all cracked or falling off so that should help.  Hopefully whoever buys it kind of gets it up and going just as it is.  Flaws/ patina are much more acceptable on old original style hot rods.  This one shows it was well taken care of over the years and not beat to death then left to the elements. 

[dsasaki]

Thank you @alsancle and @auburnseeker. That is around where I was landing. If I do get the car I would try to get it running again. Any recommendations on a service that could get it from CA to CT given that it doesn't run?

 

Thanks again!

[alsancle]

1 minute ago, dsasaki said:

Thank you @alsancle and @auburnseeker. That is around where I was landing. If I do get the car I would try to get it running again. Any recommendations on a service that could get it from CA to CT given that it doesn't run?

 

Thanks again!

Enclosed shipping is going to be very expensive.  Like 4 or 5K.    Open trailer much less but dangerous.   There are small haulers on here and uShip that will be less money also enclosed.    You can also price renting a open trailer and being careful where you leave it at night.

[auburnseeker]

The problem with open ,  especially being a roadster is the interior is going to get soaked.  Hard to get across the country,  especially in the spring without hitting rain.  I think not only about the rain from the sky,  but the spray from the tow vehicle as well.

[kar3516]

Crossing the middle US in the spring on an open trailer means hail as well as rain from storms.  

[dsasaki]

Great points. Enclosed sounds like the smart option, but will definitely increase the cost. Will a hauler have a winch or some other way to get the car onto the trailer?

[auburnseeker]

The small guys I have dealt with do.  I used passport transport for an inop coast to coast and they had a winch as well and my car was way in the front of the tractor trailer.  They had a way to winch it out as well as in.  They were good to deal with coast to coast.  I have used rustytinman and Bills autoworks on the forum for hauls since,  but they were more east coast or mid country east hauls.  I always check with them first,  but coast to coast hauls are harder for small guys as they have to make the connections to make it reasonable.    Often the connections aren't there to make it work,  but it's worth a shot,  especially if you have a pretty loose time frame. 

 

I will say that both of them are great guys and let you know exactly when they can do it, if they can and they let you know when it's being picked up and drop it off exactly when they say as well as handle everything carefully.

Rusty tin man dropped this off for me last fall.

[dsasaki]

4 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

The small guys I have dealt with do.  I used passport transport for an inop coast to coast and they had a winch as well and my car was way in the front of the tractor trailer.  They had a way to winch it out as well as in.  They were good to deal with coast to coast.  I have used rustytinman and Bills autoworks on the forum for hauls since,  but they were more east coast or mid country east hauls.  I always check with them first,  but coast to coast hauls are harder for small guys as they have to make the connections to make it reasonable.    Often the connections aren't there to make it work,  but it's worth a shot,  especially if you have a pretty loose time frame. 

 

I will say that both of them are great guys and let you know exactly when they can do it, if they can and they let you know when it's being picked up and drop it off exactly when they say as well as handle everything carefully.

Rusty tin man dropped this off for me last fall.

Thank you for all the information. I'll reach out to them on Monday.

[TTR]

I would highly recommend staying clear of any and all "online" transportation brokers* like uShip, etc.

I know more than several instances in which individuals (whom I personally know or know of) have contracted with such operations, mainly due to attractive pricing, only ending up with experiences aching to nightmares, not to mention significantly higher costs than originally quoted, in many cases at least double.

 

*uShip and alike are merely transportation brokers, in some cases perhaps just individuals operating from their home (or basement) with a computer and fancy website.

Some may have never even seen an actual equipment, trucks or trailers used in transportation and just bid any requested service among the lowest denomination outfits.

In the last decade or so, it seems these "outfits" have increasingly become operated by characters or organizations originating from eastern Europe and/or former USSR satellite countries (Not saying anyone/everyone with such heritage is automatically less than any of us, but aforementioned example experiences don't provide strong confidence in the practices of these "outfits" or those who broker their services to unsuspecting public).

 

As for the price/value estimate, being an owner of a hot rodded PB Roadster for nearly 35 years and having been involved with vintage car hobby for close to 45 year, professionally restoring and working on them over 30 years and having bought/sold/brokered over 1000 of them over the decades, I would say only realistic number can and will be established by the person with money in hand making an offer.

Everything else is just pointless hyperbole. 
Just because some random strangers on this or any other forum offer their "opinions" or some "price/value guides" provide some numbers*, doesn't mean someone is going to actually pay that.

In short, any item is only worth what someone else is WILLING to pay for it.

I learned this already as a teenager, several decades ago, and have seen it being true time and time again since. 

 

* Mainly based on statistical averages compiled from published, but not necessarily accurate or even real results of various (recent ?) past auctions of same or similar vehicles and may include (gu)estimated up or down ticks in general economic climate associated with or surrounding antique/classic/collectible vehicle “market” (whatever that’s supposed be or mean ?).

Edited March 13 by TTR (see edit history)

[AdamInNH]

@dsasaki - I was your Uncle George's roommate about - yikes - 40 years ago! We had many, many motorcycle adventures together. Two years ago (photos you posted), when I visited George, I put a note with my name and number on it in the car. If you don't buy it, I would like give it a good home.

As to shipping, I will send you a private message and will refer you to a couple of trustable, old car transporters.