sale of '53 Hornet conv. at Calif. auction
oldhudsons
Senior Contributor
I was told by an old friend that this aft. a '53 H. conv. went for $190,000 at the Mecum Auction at Monterey, Ca.
I checked the auction online & they had on consignment a black one, guess that must have been it.
That has to be about twice what any stepdown conv. has ever sold for or am I nuts?
I had a '53 Hornet conv., sold it to my old Hudson buddy Lee, for the munificent sum of $500 (not having the $$$ in hand, gave me a 1937 Gibson guitar as collateral, LOL), circa '65!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I checked the auction online & they had on consignment a black one, guess that must have been it.
That has to be about twice what any stepdown conv. has ever sold for or am I nuts?
I had a '53 Hornet conv., sold it to my old Hudson buddy Lee, for the munificent sum of $500 (not having the $$$ in hand, gave me a 1937 Gibson guitar as collateral, LOL), circa '65!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comments
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I am pretty sure a1948 Commadore convertible sold for 195,000.00 2 years ago at auction.0
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REALLY, I had no idea they were going for that!0
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My late father's '48 C8 Cv sold for $186,000 at an RM auction a few years ago0
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I think these three examples are the exceptional cases. Typically, you are right 100K or a little less has been the recent "norm". Case in point, the blue '51 that is in another current thread will probably sell for around 50K. The very best are commanding those astronomical numbers. Italias are now in the 300K range.
It goes right along with a point I made last week here on the forum, and that is that if the trend keeps up, Hudsons will no longer be an "affordable" marque for the average car guy and will only be dust collectors and tax write-offs for the wealthy. It starts with the rare, high profile models like Italias, convertibles. It will then move on to the 2Drs, and on down the line. Before you know it, PM Sedans will be selling for 50K!
Supply and Demand is going to get the best of most of the current Hudson folks, I fear.0 -
HET used to be fun - before money got into the game in the mid-70's. The speculators drove the prices of Ford's, Chevy's, Chrysler out of reach for most of the real "hobby nuts". Hudsons were relatively priced in our range - speculators got into the game and the average car guy is out in the cold again.
HET club slogan should be "Save a Hudson - shoot a speculator"!!!!!
Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN0 -
"Save a Hudson - shoot a speculator"!!!!!
I like it! Maybe we can have bumper stickers made.0 -
High end cars have always brought big bucks. And, I expect that they always will. Prices on owning a Hudson are still somewhat low. Considering where the cost of living has gone over the past few year--that $500 Hudson you bought five years ago will most likely cost you twice that today. And, the cost of rebuilding a car has gone out of sight. But, the good news is that if you do all the work yourself you can still have a nice drivable Hudson for under ten grand. Sometimes I think building the car, doing all the work yourself, is where the fun is. I think that today is a good time to pick up a Hudson. Shop around and I think you will agree. It may not be a Convertible, a 31 Murphy or Biddle and Smart car or some other rare body style but there are a lot of nice Hudsons not making bid on Ebay....0
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Here is the auction result...
http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=CA0812-1340380 -
You need a small fortune now to attend a National meet. ( If it is not in your backyard)0
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Here is a list of RM Auction Hudson Hornets sold over the last 10 years or so.
http://www.rmauctions.com/AuctionResultsSearch.cfm?parentsection=search&AuctionYear=All&From=&To=&LotNum=&Make=Hudson&SortBy=AL&Model=Hornet&Sold=10 -
McQueen's Hudson Hornet Sedan reportedly went for $53,000 +10% commission. I was not there, but that is the number I saw.0
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I know a number of my old "car guys" in Calif. felt the arrival of auctions began this "spiral out of sight" in car prices.
The auctions have brought an influx of people who "don't know beans" about the cars, per se,
but were told, by the auctioneers, that the cars were "good investments". Guys who couldn't spell Duesenberg were buying them as investments, were told how they could double or triple there $$$ in just a few years (and some did!).
I was attending an auction in L.A. & saw this young man, he was probably 20 - 22, who I knew. We greeted each other & I said to him "I didn't know you were into old cars" to which he said "I'm not, I'm one of the owners of the auction company".
A couple of years ago Al Saffrahn & I went to an auction in Scottsdale, one of the big ballyhooed events. If you didn't want to pay to park you had to walk about 1/2 mile, then to walk into the auction tent there was an admissions fee, the catalog had to be paid for, and then when you got into the tent you walked thru hundreds of feet of vendors selling everything you can think of & much of it not automotive related! These people are not providing a service to the hobby, they're just in it for the $$$.
Ever been to one where they lecture the audience on how dumb they are, tell you you don't know what you're looking at, don't realize what this car is or might be worth? I've not nor do I intend to go to another. Then you have the ones like Kruse that are outright crooks, often sued, and finally put out of bus. by the state of Ind.
Well time to get off the podium in re a subject I dislike discussing, LOL0 -
The thing that we forget is the cost of restoring one to the fine standards that this 53 conv represents. Pete, speaking of Al... he pulled that pretty 53 coupe to Detroit in 09 with hopes for a sale. We were talking about what it costs just to restore a hornet to #2 condition. Not just a cosmetic but driveline,chrome, paint... a ground up job that is. Over $60K was the estimate. Some of us have many talents and may save on some facet of the cost. But paint ( new water base or urethene) chrome and stainless, engine line bore etc, usually need to be farmed out. Especially for folks who reside in track houses with HOAs. Costs indeed have gone up. Sadly, salaries( earnings) have not, for most of us. That may be the reason why so many folks feel frustrated and left out. But, some one bought that Hornet.
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Auction description says only 30 Hornet convertibles in '53. After 551 in '51 and 360 in '52, 30 sounds a bit low!0
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FWIW, If you change above auction search to Hudson convertibles, it shows 13, ranging from high of $181,500.00 to low of $17,700.00 or average of $80,960.00.0
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Ron - RIGHT! EPA regulations have shuttered many chrome shops, at least in Calif., and made paint shops put in expensive enviornmental equip. = much higher rates for their work. Also upholstery work which few hobbiests can do &, as you point out, if engine needs complete overhaul, only professional machine shops can do the boring, balancing, crank grinding, etc.
I've sold several Hudsons over the years as value of the car when restored wouldn't justify what it would cost to do it, sadly.0 -
4 years ago I showed my 1950 Caddilac model 6219, ie, 4dr sedan at the CLC National in Anaheim. There were 14 cars in my class (50-53). 3 of 'em were 53 Eldorados and one a 51 Conv( perfect 100) owned by a movie actor. My car got 96.5 and therefore 2nd place. It was the ONLY 4 door in the class. That also is a problem. 100 years from now people will wonder why no cars had 4 doors , since only convertibles and a few coupes will survive. And who will restore a sedan when it costs the same to do a ragtop, and the resale is 4-10 times more0
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Did anyone notice that $190,000 Hornet did not have any air cleaner elements?0
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What do you expect for only $190,000 ? I bet you expected a 1/4 tank of gas included too ?
Roger0 -
Went to an auction last weekend , and the auction company was doing shill bidding to get the prices up. Some of the cars listed as " sold" really were not sold. They were stuck with them. They had the same auction here
last year here too, and a lot of the cars listed as "sold "reappeared again this year!
So "sold" doesn't neccassary mean "sold".0 -
What do you expect for only $190,000 ? I bet you expected a 1/4 tank of gas included too ?
Roger
That's funny, right there!0 -
Amen Alex.
A former president of the AACA (maybe CCCA) I think it was had been quoted in a book as saying back in the '70's "I fear one day many of us will find ourselves outside of the hobby looking in."
It used to be this hobby was cheap. A lot of working middle-class guys that were handy with tools in general, tinkering with old cars that they liked after work and on the weekends. There's fewer of those guys even being raised today. Kids don't come out of school even going into trades as much. Add to that the increasing costs among which are fuel, which we don't have control over, and there's cause to worry that soon many simply won't be able to afford to participate. What else might happen that we have no control over? Fewer machine shops that will do the work? Chrome shops gone? Body shops that won't touch an old car? Upholstery shops closing?
Anything can be fixed but can your average hobbyist afford it? I'm starting to believe that in the future if this hobby is still going, the people in it are going to have to adopt a model similar of those organizations that keep and maintain vintage Warbird aircraft. They're way too expensive for most individuals to be involved with cost-wise but a group of people can maintain and keep those planes flying. The same may begin to apply to antique cars like Hudson's.0 -
I think the quote of "...one day many of us will find ourselves outside the hobby looking in" is relative to the cars of one's interest. Many of the HET folks have been around for years when many of the cars were simply 'used' cars (not my personal experience, too young). As such, there were times when Hudson's were relatively inexpensive. As they have gotten beyond the used car realm, the prices have gone up.
And that is true for many of the cars in AACA and others that have gotten older. The 'cheaper' or more affordable cars would be those that are still more or less viewed as 'used' cars (20-25 years old). If you want to play in the AACA and are on a limited budget, all one would need to do is change their sights. 1987 qualifies for AACA. There are plenty of opportunities out there for that era of vehicle. And in 20 to 30 years, the folks that came in on these cars will be seeing the same fate.
Not a thorough analysis, but a cliff note version.0 -
Or, at the other extreme, twenties closed cars aren't bringing high prices either! So a newbie could start there, as long as interstate driving wasn't a must.0
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True Park. Only the late '20's luxury cars seem to fetch high prices. I think a lot of guys worrk about parts availability for stuff that old, or the level of maintenance they require vs operational hours. But a lot of ordinary closed sedans seem to get hot rodded rather than restored because guys want them to be capable of interstate speeds. Still they're not really designed for it.0
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Hell, I have seen three four-door Hudsons sell for over $40,000 at auction in the last year. Needles to say, I was very surprised to see such high prices, one was rated a "three" condition!
Following these auctions it seems that buying mid-sixties mini-muscle (M--t--g, C-m-ro, Mopar) is less expensive than buying HUDSON!0 -
I wonder what spark plugs were in this car? If they weren't H-11's, the guy got gipped!
Well, I have some new ones I can sell him, only $5k apiece!
Tim0
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