I'm thinking of putting my '57 in a big auction, but I'm also considering a big classic car dealer (Dallsa).
Has anyone here had any experience with either? What about open(take your chances) bidding vs. a reserve? Any thoughts appreciated.
Not sure about a dealer but I would never put anything up for auction without a reserve. That said, the reserve amount should be considered carefully taking into account future negotiations. Our '57's don't auction well generally in my opinion considering the audience. Something like a Hemmings newsletter auction with an opportunity to convert to a make offer listing if the reserve is not met then a dealer if that all fails is a possible plan in my mind. Then again I have never sold a "classic" car. Just sayin'... Good luck.
Rich, I cannot speak for your domestic market a lot, but I frequently search classifieds, auctions, classic car dealers and have been doing for many years. I also have several friends who are directly involved in auctions or dealers.
There are several good and bad to each form of selling. local classifieds, even online auctions, or bring a trailer or mecum and such. big dealers or your small hometown classic car broker.
I have had very good success with regional classifieds. you get to know the buyer, pickup and cash in person. The price may be lower, but it may work out as a friendly and straight forward sale. No fees lost to auctioneers or dealers.
Online or live auction totally depend on how many or if any interested persons are attending. that is very much a hazardous game. But I get that you like to gamble now and then. if there are 2 interested persons, they may up one another which is good for you. take into consideration that they must pay additional auction fees and tax, so they may have a lower limit.
if you set your own reserve very reasonable, und list in a widely known, large and nation wide auction, the chance to sell is very high, nearly guaranteed.
A good dealer will make very personal customer appointments which is good for trust, and may be a very safe sale, with medium profit and may take a little longer.
Imho, the best thing is to sell to a buyer who 'wants' YOUR car. Personally I think your very special car could be a benefit in sales for the modern touches and drive train. I think that the older generation purists, there will not be many, as they already have enough cars of their own. the younger 'traditional' folks can't afford it anyways.
I guess you aim to middle age guys with a good income, who like the looks of a vintage classic car, with the benefit of modern drive train and handling.
just my 2cts.
Alvin tried Hemming's for his Retractable. Was not a pleasant experience. He did sell eventually, but it was not through them.
FYI
Rich
Unfortunately I see it being a buyers market right now.
I would say take your cars to shows and let them know that it drives well. Cars and coffee, NSRA, good guys.
If they see the car driving they want it.
I have seen the videos of the Palms Springs McCormick auction and people seems to get good deals for the buyers.
Also in the classifieds I see locally- and I just won't stop looking, good prices on a lot 57. In various states of runs and drives, full restored, customs and projects.
Hand a tasteful sign on it at a show and see what happens.
I agree with Abe Rich.. unfortunately, it's a buyers market..... I would heed Abe's advice and with a tasteful handbill , I believe you would have greater results.
Saying that.I sold my 32 with Kevin Svarda of Opposing cylinders..... a VERY stand up guy. Honest and trustworthy and hardworking.... but he has a ton of inventory at the moment.(Early Ford stuff)
He was a pleasant experience.
x2 what Jeff said. There are several, very trustworthy and renown online dealers, that specialize offering customer cars to broad public on several online platforms. They usually offer a great number of very good pictures and very detailed information.
Thanks for all the input. It gives me more to think about. Keep it coming. One thing I need to avoid at this time is anything that will incur a big upfront cost, as I suspect an online dealer may want.
Hello What is going on with old car markets. Looks like prices a down 30 or 40 percent in last few few years. Is economic storm coming or already here.
Stay away from Hemmings Auction last year I was going to put my 63 on there and they wanted to set the reserve at about haft the NADA value.
Quote from: cos on 2025-04-02 13:26Hello What is going on with old car markets. Looks like prices a down 30 or 40 percent in last few few years. Is economic storm coming or already here.
I am hardly an expert, but I have to assume that with cars like ours, most of the guys who want one, already have one, or are getting to old to enjoy driving one. It seems like everybody that owns a 57-59 Skyliner retractable hardtop is at least 75-80 years old, or older. Same with the vast majority of owners of stock original or restored Pre War cars, years ago I drove a stock 29 Ford Model A PU, and it was kinda cool for a short drive, but with 40 Horsepower, mechanical brakes, a non syncronized transmission, a tiny interior, and not much else going for it, not something I could imagine wanting to hit the open road with. Even the 60s and early 70 Muscle cars seem to be dropping off. The guys that wanted one when they were new, but couldn`t afford one then, are likely in their 70s by now, and as much as I would like to have another 69 or 70 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1, or a Boss 302 or 429, 427 Fairlane or Galaxie, those type of cars are not cost effective if you want to really enjoy the car. In the 70s and 80s, I owned a 6 Fairlane GTA 390, 3 428 CJ Mach 1s, 2 70 351C 4 barrel Mustangs, 2 69 428 CJ Fairlane Cobras, even a 273 4 barrel 4 speed 65 Valiant and a 63 Acadian (Canadian Chevy 11) convertible,but at that time, those were all just cheap "old cars", and my brain just can`t accept the fact that a decent one would cost more than a brand new Mustang GT that can do everything better, and with much more comfort. No wonder I see so many "old farts" driving late model Mustang GTs, Shelbys, Corvettes, etc. It makes me want to puke when I see a 40 HP 50s or 60s VW Microbus sell for more than a Hemi Cuda or Boss 429 at Barrett Jackson ! Seems most younger people don`t care much about cars at all anymore, at least not cars that are 40,50, or 60 years old. And the ones that do, are more into FWD Imports, or Chev LS engines in just about anything. A local collector near me, recently died in his late 80s, and leaves behind a collection of 15 cars, all between the late 30s to early 60s, all are nice cars, including at least one car from every year of the 1950, mostly Fords. I imagine that his children will send them all to auction, just to get whatever cash value that they can.
exactly!
I sold my 56 T-bird on bring a trailer a few months ago, it cost $99 you submit info about the car pictures and videos driving and walk around etc. you have to agree on a reserve or they won't accept it and your out no money. Mine worked out pretty good, I wanted a 30k reserve they came back with a suggested 26k reserve I agreed it was on for seven days and sold for 33k, Im in Oregon and it went to Florida.
I think we need to put the classic car market into relation to history and economy as well. the 5 past years changed the whole world. we thought our cars were gold, which keeps its value, but it seems they became more of a consumable again and lost their value with the heavy inflation of the past years.
The way our cars got so valuable in the 2000s, wasn't natural. It felt like a gambling on stock market. I think that was an unhealthy price increase back then. which now drops back to rather normal.
But it is obvious that certain type cars lost a lot, like stock pre war cars, because the group interested is slowly fading away. So the next groups affected of course will be 40s. 50s. 60s cars...
Quote from: 57chero on 2025-04-02 22:25I sold my 56 T-bird on bring a trailer a few months ago, it cost $99 you submit info about the car pictures and videos driving and walk around etc. you have to agree on a reserve or they won't accept it and your out no money. Mine worked out pretty good, I wanted a 30k reserve they came back with a suggested 26k reserve I agreed it was on for seven days and sold for 33k, Im in Oregon and it went to Florida.
Loked like a pretty nice T Bird, maybe I am out of touch, but I thought that the 2 seat 55-57 Birds were $50 + K for anything decent. Was your 56 stock other than the wheels? I have always wanted a 57 TBird, but watching what the Minter baby birds were selling for, I thought getting one was out of my league. Maybe there is some hope!. To me, a manual transmission would be a bonus, not really very concerned about 100 % originality.
Mine was pretty much original including the paint with some hotrod stuff on the 312 y-block motor, lowered and wheels and tires. Most of the 55-57 Birds on bring a trailer that are nice drivers are going for the mid twenties to low thirties. The Minter birds that are rotisserie restored go for over 100k at Barrett Jackson.
And let's not forget what the cost to build a car is doing to our hobby. On one hand, I think it's ONE reason why the hobby is fading. The confusing thing is it would seem like those current costs would escalate the prices. Case in point: I did a show in Lubbock two weeks ago. I had a guy tell me he was a collector but had sold off 8 cars last year. Then he commented about how much my car reminded him of one that he use to have but now misses. I emphasized mine was for sale, and he commented, yeah, but you gotta have 200 grand in that car! His eyes poped open when I told him I was asking 35K. He never did call last week. He was probably in his 60s, and got to remembering he was whittling down his inventory.
57chero, looked like a pretty nice Bird. Looks much cleaner with the continental kit removed. Were those FPA headers on your TBird? Not aware of anybody else offing headers for a 55/57 T Bird with the Y Block engine.
I was in Nashville this week, my buddy and I strolled around Street Side. The place is loaded! Many nice cars, high prices on some, reasonable on others. I think the market is flooded right now. Too many of us "grey hairs or no hairs" are aging out. While attending the 50 NSRA Nats you had to look both ways before crossing the street! Not because of cars, so many scooters, they almost outnumbered the cars there! The company had to call in reserves to fill the needs. A perfect example is the group I used to hang and run with. There were 12 of us, now down to just two of us. I have sold (for the widows) a total of seven cars. The last one I sold was two years ago.
My joy (and only hobby) is working old cars. My 36 was put on the road in 80, still hitting it well, been hunting, fetching, building and selling for fun. I keep strict track of cost, sell them for what I have in them and move on to the next one. I figure if I break even I'm ahead of the game!
59meteor, the headers are Sanderson made for 55-57 Birds, the first thing I did was pull the continental kit off and put a 55 rear bumper on.
I am new here just reading and trying to get a 57 Ford Custom 300 built. At this point I am just finishing the rust repair off and I am already over my budget at the 6 month point. This is not a restoration just making the car I wanted as a teen. I am more concerned with finishing than the loss. I started with 2 cars from 2 different scrap yards because there are no or very limited 57 Fords available in Maine! The market goes up and down and car guy's should know that. Hot Rods / Rat Rods /cars of the 50's and 60's are way past what people today want.
I have bought and sold on Bring A Trailer, with good experiences.
One posting did not meet my reserve and they gave me the contact info for the two bidders and encouraged me to try to get them closer to my price, which I thought was more than fair.
I have put a small sign in the window with Available or For Sale, very discreet and it seemed to get results from people that were actually looking at the car.
Good luck.
Terry
:canada: