1940s Chevy Dealer re-opens to Auction off 500 Time Capsule Cars
 

http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/0...-capsule-cars/

Car collectors dream about finding a forgotten “new” classic car, discovered in a barn or warehouse somewhere, covered in dust. This is that dream, only 500 times better….

http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/x/...FNsMVtkGH.webp

A small-town Midwestern dealership in Pierce, Nebraska sold Chevrolets to local families and first-time buyers for 50 years until it’s husband and wife team finally closed their doors seventeen years ago. Since then, a staggering inventory of 500 surviving cars, new & used, have been stored away, undriven for decades. Some 50 cars “brand new” Chevrolets from the 1950s and 60s have less than 10 miles on the odometer.

http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/x/...TlFzmBpN0.webp

Ray and Mildred Lambrecht are now in their 90s and have made what is described by their daughter Jeannie, as a “a difficult and painful” decision, to liquidate the dealership’s massive inventory of ‘survivor vehicles’. On September 28th and 29th, 2013, VanDerBrink Auctions will have the honor of selling this incredible, once in a lifetime collection of American automotive history.

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They must have been loaded to keep and store 500 cars that long. Crazy story.

It will be interesting to see how much $$$ these cars go for in Sept... in Pierce, Nebraska.

That's pretty damn awesome, and I'm not even a huge car guy.

There's a lot more detail on the story in the link for those who are interested to read more.

The comfort, features, handling, performance and overall driving experience of recent models just about obliterates any desire on my part to own a classic.

If that's legit, it's amazing.

thats awesome. car guys will be drooling to buy some of those all originals and restore them

They don't have to be your daily driver, Seedy.

too bad chevrolet sucks now

Hell, even restoring wouldn't take much compared to the usual restoration job.

That's actually kind of funny coming from a guy who bought a bare-bones F150 and drove it for 27 years.

I don't breakout a TRS-80 to re-live an earlier computing experience.
If I had a polyester lime green leisure suit hanging in my closet, I wouldn't wear it on special days.
I don't have a shag carpeting room in my house.

Someone might love an old house, but if the owner has their preference it will likely have modern appliances, finishes, and furnishings.

I'm not saying some of the old rides aren't cool. But I could get my fix by just looking during a car show. Ownership is a different level of commitment that I have not desire to partake in.

Only 18 years.

I had a '70 Monte Carlo and a '76 Cutlass both of which I drove well after most of their peers and hit the junk yard. I guess I've burnt myself out on driving out of date cars.

I love my 2012 Mazda3 every day I drive it. It's nothing special in terms of luxury or performance, but is such a pleasure to drive compared to everything else i've ever driven.

That's fair. I judged a car show Saturday. The winner was a 68 Camaro the owner had about $90k in... The runner up had a 37 Ford in which he was nearly $70k deep. He was only asking $40k for it.

This is how vampires become wealthy.

LMAO That's a horrible analogy. You can drive an old car just like a new one. But, that old computer is completely useless.

I'd take any of these cars over any new car today.

If I won the lottery I'd be on a plane.

Damn.
I cannot even comprehend this line of thinking.

Chevys ruled the world in the 60.

Pretty cool deal. Its a shame that the automakers have taken away alot of the small town dealerships away. But I can see how it was pretty easy for them to just stash the leftover new models out at the farm and start from scratch.

A 64 Impala with 4 miles!?

In.

and you could never restore a car like that. To someone's earlier post.

Survivor cars are worth a ton.


Even of you could get all nos parts the could just wouldn't be the same.

New tires. Check the brakes, new belts and hoses and fluids and roll.

Save all the original replaced rubber.
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That is ****ing amazing.

I might just drive up at auction time to see the cars
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I'd consider rolling with you if it works with my schedule. Once in a lifetime there.

In
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Heh. Don't even care enough to watch the 11 minute video.

All of those things other than "features" are overrated in my book. My '66 Impala rides smooth as hell, has fantastic performance and more than adequate handling. The only drawback is that it doesn't have any features like A/C (it's a convertible), nothing high tech or really "luxurious" like heated seats, etc. BUT the trade off is that I can repair damn near anything on it at anytime and anywhere. Hell I replaced a radiator hose and slapped some epoxy on a hole in a radiator fin while pulled over at a rest stop on the Kansas Turnpike once. Not something I would be nearly as comfortable doing with my Saab.

To me most midrange modern cars really haven't made enough tangible advances to make them a clear cut choice over a "classic" that I can fix myself if needed. Now if you have a car with a backup camera and assisted parking and all that jazz then I can see your point for sure.

What I'd give to have my 64 Impala SS back. That was the smoothest ride ever. No one was cramped in it, either The back seat was big enough to dance in. In fact, I did the horizontal bop with quite a few ladies in the back of that sweet ride.

It's too bad it was not a DeLorean dealership. I would like to have one of those.

the story is a little herky jerky. I don't see an inventory and the video only shows about 10 cars, and there is nothing to explain why the guy stored 500 cars. are they all stored inside? at first I thought most of them were new, but now I wonder if most were used. and was he putting one car back every year for 50 years, so some of them are from the 90's, or are they all older?

I want it. Then I can be cruising down the street in my 6-4.

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Here's the inventory list, with the mileage on many of the cars.

http://www.vanderbrinkauctions.com/a.../Inventory.pdf

I wonder if they will allow phone bids. I've always wanted a 50s Chevy pickup.

I have just a few questions....

How many miles does that have?
When is this auction?
Who is holding this auction?

Especially that Cameo truck. How many miles does the cameo truck have?

That family is going to have some cash after this auction is over.

Wow. There's a Chevy Vega station wagon with only 17 miles on it. I suspect it's completely rusted out, but it only has 17 miles on it.

Someone should have some friends over to watch this video and do shots every time this lady says "miles".

Oh. There's a 1980 Chevy Monza with only 9 miles on it. That's got to be worth almost as much as it was in 1980.

He really overbought the pickups in 1964. There are seven new ones still in stock. Edit: nope, 8, and another '65 model.

So he saved back all of these cars and the only Corvette he put back was a 1978? He should be shot. He saved back 1970s era Caprices and Monzas and Vegas and all manner of pickups, and he didn't put back a 1950s-era Corvette or two? Did he assume that the Monza would be worth more in the long run than a 1955 Corvette?

1 Mile!

You'd get alcohol poisoning on the Cameo alone.

Pierce, . . . Nebraska.

A friend of mine growing up had a Monza with a v8 in it. Had to drop the engine to change the spark plugs. Damn thing was a rocket.

Auto restoration guys are going to lose their minds over this stuff.

These are going to be all original, numbers matching vehicles with straight frames and no wear and tear. A restorer can get in there, blast out some rust, polish the paint, tighten up screws/suspension, etc... and have themselves an amazingly rare vehicle.

Those cars will go for a lot and the people that buy them are going to be guys willing to put even more money into them to get them back to showroom new.

Wonder if the gas monkey guys will be there

Interesting.

In all seriousness, what do we think a brand new 1980 Monza or brand new Vega station wagon would go for? I can see a market for the 1950s stuff and the 1960s stuff, but I'm wondering how many buyers there will be for the 1970s stuff. Maybe that's my bias showing since those cars were common on the street when I was a kid so I don't think of them as collectible.

I wouldn't say much, RM, unless you're taking Pintos

Reminds me of Citation Motors, an abandoned BMW Dealer in Ontario Canada.

Several articles can be found on Jalopnik

More pics here

Some interesting personal stories if you want to sift through 14 pages of posts at maXForums

http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/d/4...own+BMW+07.jpg

One question I have is what they do with it AFTER it's restored. Do you really want to drive a car with 5 miles on it?

Take it to Mecum. Or to every car show you can find.

No, they'll almost certainly never drive it. In fact, I'd say maybe 10% of the new cars in this auction will ever truly see the road again, apart from maybe a poker run or other charity event.

My guess would be that the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety will buy most of them and then crash them into new cars.

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Thought cash for clunkers ended years ago?

I may go with you ****ers. This is an insane find. These cars will go for shitloads, and it will be amazing to see.

That Vette will go in the high 30s I would imagine.

Wow, that's nuts. Couldn't they have put a sheet over them or something, though?

I have a 2011 Sonata; great little car. It has the 275 HP turbo and the sport package so it will run like a MFer and turn on rails. All the nav and leather and crap, so it's comfy as well.

That said, all three days this week I brought the '67 Camaro in. Why? It's just an entirely different feeling. No radio, just the exhaust note through the flowmasters. It dances on the road a little and there's harmonic where the exhaust sits in the hangers when you idle, but who cares? You have 400+ HP of road-torching fury at your disposal and even if you don't use it (and I rarely have), it's still just fun to run around town in that thing with the windows down and the sun shining on it.

It's no different than motorcycle days. Sure, the car's easier, safer and cleaner, but some days I just want to be on the bike because it's an entirely different feeling being on the road.

They're not the same creature at all.

What is this one?

http://1-ps.googleusercontent.com/x/...yyl0DoXKbF.jpg

That makes perfect sense, and yet is sad at the same time.

Yeah, those anniversary vettes develop a bit of a following.

And I still think that the late 70's corvettes will find a market in the coming years. Just like the early 80's 911s, I think they're very underrated cars that just never developed a following among collectors.

I think they're great buys if you're looking to get into classic cars and don't want to spend a ton.

It's a corvette peddle car.

It's not even a real vehicle, it's a child's play toy.

Even if you're not British, you have got to be the least American person I've ever encountered...

Shit.

LMAO

wonder if he has a sweet Citation or Chevette.

Wait, what? Because I didn't realize that it was a pedal car?

For a variety of reasons and this did you no favors.

That and your insistence on taxing us every time we use the letter t.

That's silly. I was just scrolling through the pictures, saw that "car" and couldn't identify what it was. I obviously didn't closely examine the surroundings or I would have seen the scale.

As to the rest, I suppose that your definition as to what is an American differs with mine.

1 Citation, and 2 Chevettes

Ooooh...1960 Lincoln Continental, 4 door suicide

By the way you can tell this dealership is in the Chiefs Kingdom. Not a single Camaro I believe was listed. You know those sold like hot cakes.

1947 Dodge Pickup; that's a sweet truck.

There's some cool stuff on there. There's also a lot of stuff that I wouldn't bother occupying a spot in the garage with.

Item #166. No Mileage listed.

166 Chevrolet Citation '82 1G18X6855B6344029

Yes.

i want that 47 chevy 4400

Should have sold them several years ago. Would have got a much better price for them.

I still have a 76 cutlass. After the death of my father, I decided that I did not have the time or money to restore it. It is going on the equipment auction.
Wish I could keep it. Just does not make sense.

When I was a kid-there was an auto auction in my town. This guy had collected over 100 old cars-loved them.
The auction took at least a day. Had them lined up on main street.

that Nebraska auction will take days!!!! There is a lot of money out there for that kind of thing.

ballin'

Exactly god damn this ^, I mean it's a cool story but I sifted through the list of cars and the dealership guy was a colossal moron when it came to what he kept. He apparently thought the v6 base models were going to go through the roof and the high end models were going to sink, " dat's sum mighty fine car collecting there Lou!"

On a side note, I always forget Rainman is a borderline legit car guy cleverly hidden in an Apricot BMW.

Call me crazy but I don't think he held those cars back as collectors items that they would be worth more later. I would venture to say they are just left over new inventory that he took out to the farm when the new ones came in and they got left there.

Yeah, I'd agree. Seems like they just kind of stopped selling rather than decided to hold on to 500 cars because of the collector value. Despite all of the brand new ones in the list, there are a ton of unexciting cars with fairly high mileage in there too.