Those Cars In The Nebraska Field Auctions

[whirlcool]

Awhile back we had a thread about that car dealer that had over 400 cars in a Nebraska field. They were to be auctioned in mid September.

Today on the history channel they are playing the video tape of those auctions. That field is from horizon to horizon just filled with people. This show is going to be on until 2:00am CST.

SOme of the cars are going for good prices. A Chevy Impala 2-DR with 396 went for $72,000. The car has only 12 miles on it. They asked the auction winner what he was going to do with it. His answer: Nothing, he was going to park it as is and then in a few years sell it again. He wasn't even going to change the fluids or tires or even start it up. Then surprisingly they found a few more auction winners that were going to do the same thing. I'm kind of surprised at this because you could just imagine the damage to the engine with 45 year old anti-freeze and oil sitting in the engine. I could just imagine the rust in the radiator.

They show hosts discussed the fact that these cars are not drive a way ready and that they will need considerable work before they can become daily drivers. Most of the tires need replacing as they are ruined by weathering and dry rot.

Another guy bought a 64' Chevy Bel Air wagon with a 283 in it with 326 miles on it and he paid $30,000 for it. It also has rust spots through the doors.

It's an interesting show. [this post was last edited: 9/29/2013-01:42]

 

[launderess]

Thanks For The Update

Don't have HC, but maybe one day footage will show up on the Internet.

L.

 

[whirlcool]

The History Channel Website will be playing this show on it's website. There is only an advertisement now, but in coming days episodes of this multi-episode show will start showing up.

http://www.history.com/shows/history-made-now-wheels-of-fortune/videos

 

[retropia]

It seems like "tulip bulb madness" to me. It reminds me of the hype in 1976 when buyers went crazy purchasing the "last convertible," which at that time was an Eldorado. Many of those went into storage and when sold now, they bring ok prices, but nothing spectacular.

Like the Nebraska cars, if they haven't been driven in decades, they will need a lot of work to make them ready to drive. Unlike these field-fresh cars, at least most of the '76 Eldorados bought as investments were stored indoors, so the cosmetics should be ok.

 

[whirlcool]

And a lot of these collectors of the 76 Cadillac El Dorado convertibles sued GM when they found out that they would build Cadillac convertibles again. As you noted the values are not all that different than other Cadillacs of the era.

Some people just drove these 76's into garages as is and parked them (not good) while the more experienced collectors put them into long term storage. (Best possibilities)

 

[cfz2882]

60s chevy pickups

I watched some of that on tv and saw a guy looking over a ~1964 BOL chevy pickup he was interested in:IIRC had less than 100 mi. but after decades exposed to the elements was quite a mess-wooden bed floor gone and lots of surface rust-probably no major body rust though and the 6 cly engine was all complete,but who knows how rusted the cylinders may have been...I did not notice any foreign cars in the rows.Apparently this guy did not like to sell used cars(but would take them in trade)also did not like to sell past model year new cars either-that said to be the reason for the low mile cars accumulated...

 

[sudsmaster]

I understand one can build a '55 Chevy strictly from aftermarket parts, the car is so popular. Don't know how much it would cost, but it would probably be cheaper than some of those auction cars.

And yes, all of them will need an engine teardown. At the very least the oil pan has to be dropped, bearings inspected, sludge cleaned out, and the heads removed and the valves checked to make sure they can still move they way they should. A complete rebuild would not be unreasonable on a car one just spent $70k for, that is, if one actually wanted to drive the thing.

Coolant is another issue. Over time the coolant will rust the water passages inside the block and head, and perhaps also corrode the radiator. What's even worse is when it leaks past the head gaskets and rusts the inside of the cylinders.

Of course, one could always get lucky. I remember that scene in "Sleeper" where they find a VW Bug that's been in a cave for a few hundred years. Naturally, it starts right up and runs fine, lol. On a personal note, I have a '64 Plymouth hardtop coupe that's been sitting under cover for the past 15 years. Stuck a good battery in it, and yes, it also started right up (but the master brake cylinder had to be replaced).

 

[chromacolor]

I went to the preview on Friday. It was amazing.
From what I heard, he was a bit eccentric. If a new car didn't sell, it went to a shed, or stayed in the dealership. The trade in's went to a field on the family farm. All 50 years worth....... Some of those cars weren't too bad, but some had the floors rotted out. The saddest ones for me was a 49 Olds Convertible with the new Rocket V-8, and Hydramatic, and there was a sad 58 Plymouth Plaza.
And ya.. some of the "new" cars either sat out, or faced the elements, due to one storage shed having the roof collapse. There was a 69 Chevelle SS that was totaled, and that 58 Chevy Cameo that sold for 140K had a big dent in the roof.
I saw the Vega sold for a good amount. There was a "new" Chevette and Citation as well.. HAHA
Those Impala's were NICE. They still had the new car smell!

 

[launderess]

"Accessory"

There is something you don't see anymore.

Oh that and "L1" and "L2".

My godmother drove an Impala the exact same color.

 

[whirlcool]

Good old "TurboHydramatic" transmission. This was the heavy duty one for cars with big engines. 327's or lower got the Powerglide automatic transmission. You'll also find the TurboHydramatic on Buicks and Oldsmobiles.

 

[hydralique]

Powerglide . . .

Chevy loved Powerglide a lot, it was basically invented by Chevy and Buick for 1950 and was based on Buick research and conceptual design as opposed to the Hydramatic that was developed by Oldsmobile and Cadillac 10 years before. Powerglide was very simple, cheap to make and robust but only had two speeds, that being its main limitation. Except for the Tuboglide of '57-'61, Powerglide was the only automatic available on Chevrolets until '65 when they offered the first three speed Turbo-Hydramatic. Turboglide was also based on Buick designs and along with the Triple-Turbine Dynaflow was the smoothest automatic in the world but it was much more expensive to buy and sacrificed efficiency for smoothness. As a result most Chevies were ordered with Powerglide, and from '62 through '64 you didn't have a choice anyway if you wanted an automatic. Even after '65 and the Turbo-Hydramatic Chevy continued making Powerglide for some years.

 

Although the first two years of Corvette production were Powerglide only, from '55 when Chevy offered the V-8 and manual trans most Corvettes were manuals. The Turbo-Hydramatic wouldn't fit in the transmission tunnel of a C3 ('63-'67) 'Vette and since the platform was to be given a major updating for '68 Chevy didn't bother to offer the TH in the 'Vette until then. Thus, from '65-'67 one could get a big-block (396 or 427, with the latter coming out in '66) in a sedan with the three speed TH but if you wanted an automatic Corvette you had to be content with a two speed Powerglide. I've talked to a couple of owners of hot 427 'Vettes with Powerglide and they say it works better than one would think: with 7 liters of displacement in a not so large car you hardly need gears and so two is plenty!

 

[retromania]

Good Lord have mercy!! Would be fun to walk around and look at all that!