My favorite auction story was about a car trailer. About 15 years ago we moved a friend to a small town in north central WI. As we're moving things into the house I noticed his neighbor had an old car trailer sitting in the tall grass behind his gargage. I told my friend, once he got to know his neighber, to ask him if he'd be interested in selling it. Never heard anything about it until a few years later after the neighbor died and the estate went up for auction. My friend told me about the auction and said the trailer was in it. I went up to see if I could get the trailer. I got a really good look at the trailer and structurally it looked very good but the wood deck was rotted, the wiring needed to be redone and it never had brakes on it. I figured if I could get it for less than $500 it'd be a good deal. The bidding started at $500 so I was out. It went up to $1000 with about 5-6 people bidding but then dropped to two guys. They drove the bidding up and up. You could clearly hear people in the crowd say you could up to "Bill's Trailer"s up on the highway and get a brand new trailer for $1500. The two guys drove the bidding up to $1900. After the hammer fell the crowd literally broke out in laughter, I'd never heard that at an auction. I kind of remember some one in the crowd say the two guys were old car collectors that didn't get along. I guess they just wanted to beat the other guy out.

 

$9100 !!! and the last-minute frenzy hasn't started?! I'm guessing it will go over $10k.

"It would probably not be a good idea to try and drive it home." -- for this kind of money???

 

Someone needs to keep an eye on it and see what the final price is. This is very entertaining. But what does that say about me?...

 

What I'm getting out of this whole thing is we're just a bunch of voyeurs, one of you cheap skates on the board should pony up to the bar and place a bid. I would but I just have too many projects right now, or else I would!

 

Just added it to my watch list. About 3 hrs to go. I still think this one will get relisted. If it does, anyone who has added it to their watch list should get a notice from ebay.

I guess there is also a possibility that some hot rod shop or restorer is doing a high dollar build, and is willing to eat a few grand on materials to get to a better starting point on the labor...

Currently this auction looks like a bidding war between #6 and #71:

Member Id: o***l ( 71Feedback score is 50 to 99) US $9,100.00
Jan-15-12 12:28:00 PST

Member Id: 9***s ( 6 ) US $9,000.00
Jan-16-12 11:46:52 PST

Member Id: 9***s ( 6 ) US $8,700.00
Jan-16-12 11:46:35 PST

Member Id: 9***s ( 6 ) US $8,500.00
Jan-16-12 11:46:09 PST

Member Id: o***l ( 71Feedback score is 50 to 99) US $8,001.00
Jan-13-12 06:32:31 PST

 

Too rich for my blood... I'll stick to window shopping for now.

 

This is what I am thinking. If I were looking for a project I would seriously consider this truck. I've played with enough rusty cars and trucks over the years to know it is so easy to get bogged down in rust repair. Makes an other wise fun project a chore and a repaired unit is not like a virgin. True, the owner has not shown detail pictures of high dollar repair areas but to me the truck looks like a truly unmolested, untouched unit. Had I been a potential buyer, I would have asked for same. Rust in the front fenders is nothing to repair. I can see no serious rust in that truck. Might take a bit to get a straight rail out of the driver side bed top rail.
The engine appears to be blowing no oil out the breather which is a great sign.
Who knows, perhaps some old Forest service guy is looking to relive his younger days.
Interesting indeed.........Just my take on it.

 

I would assume anyone who is seriously bidding on this truck in this price range is getting a lot more detailed pictures than what are posted. At least I would. I would also strongly suggest once an item gets into this price range to take a trip out and inspect it in person. I will admit I was foolish enough to bid high on my panel truck in another state, probably a lot more than it was worth but I wanted it. I also had found money, if I had worked for the money I used I would not have bid as high as I had, plus there was at least one other person who thought it was worth almost as much as me. I couldn't take the trip to inspect the truck in person but I called the seller numerous times to feel him out and get better pictures. Unfortunately, the truck wasn't quite as nice as represented, not too bad, just not as nice as I thought it should have been. I would never do it again.

 

I should list my truck, Its got the NOW desirable 215

 

got a laugh out of this statement he made :[ but almost no rust at all. I am guessing the dry climate in Nebraska must be responsible for this],nebraska uses salt and its not a dry climate,lol

 

Just don't forget to mention that fuel bowl clip...

 

30 minutes to go and it's holding at $9100. WOW!! That even passes my highest off-the-wall expectations for the rust belt. Gotta love those bidding wars...... All I can say is that seller is probably smiling.

Keep in mind that we may very well have a new member join here in about a week or two with their new pride and joy.....

 

....or sellers remorse.....

edit:...oops....buyers remorse....

 

i won't give a bum steer for that manure spreader...wait? But then again, a bum steer isn't worth over $9 grand!

 

This auction totally throws off the *established* bum steer-to-old truck exchange ratio here on fte... last I checked it was 1 to 1.. right Doc?!

edit - a new bidder just came in at ~ 2min left to take the price over 10K!

edit edit - just finished at $10,201