Value of a 1937 Terraplane Pickup? #4 condition

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Can anyone throw some estimates of the BALLPARK value of a complete # 4 1937 Terraplane pickup?

Also, how rare are these? Thx. Niels

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Depends on what you call a number 4. If it's basically all there but repairable-rusty, I'd say maybe a couple grand. If it's missing parts like the bed or rear fenders or rear part of the cab, that is problematic, because those were the unique parts for the pickup and would have to be located or handmade. The rest of the vehicle is 'stock' 1937 passenger car, and you could salvage them fairly easily. There were more 1937 Terraplane pickup trucks made than any other year Hudson pickup. Restored, they're going in the $50,000 range but that is after tens of thousands of dollars of work on them.
  • Aaron D. IL
    Aaron D. IL Senior Contributor
    Last I remember hearing there was only 5-7 '37 pickups that the HET club knows about. I think they came in "Big boy" and standard models. They never made a whole lot of commerical vehicles but as I recall reading 1937 was the largest single commercial vehicle year. Besides diggin on the web one way to go about it is to contact the registry keeper in the HET club for '37 and find where the owners are and if any want to part with them. It certainly is a beautiful PU. Restorable should be comparable to most other '37 Terraplanes in need of complete restoration.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Old cars price guide lists it at $2500
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I have the Feb 2006 issue of OCPG. Under Hudson Truck it lists #4 Terraplane cab PU for $3260. I think this may be the latest issue. I'd like to buy one for that.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Niels – when are we going to ride? It’s getting warmer here in Jersey. Yeah, I was the one who purchased the 37 truck last month. Let me tell you about finding a 37 truck. Last year I listed every truck in the roster on a sheet of paper. There are 2 models. The model 70 is a short wheelbase and there are 8 listed. The model 78 or big boy had three listed (five inch longer wheel base). There was one model 72 listed which is wrong, there were no super models made. I think its a coupe with the pull out trunk box, they just listed it as a truck. Some of the old advertising listed the coupe with the trunk box as a truck. Since then there was one in Maine listed for sale and sold which didn't have much of the bed left and even with a good bed was extremely rough! I contacted every owner of the trucks by email, letters or phone calls, in some cases all three methods were used. Either they were modified or not for sale. I almost purchased Carl Ernst truck, which was modified, but someone bought it the day after his obit appeared in the WTN, the day after his daughter sent me the pictures which I had been waiting for, for six weeks for. (I'm over it now) I'm thinking some of the other model 70's are not really trucks but are the coupes with the rolling box in the trunk but I have no evidence of that since some of the owners never responded. Then there is the truck I purchased which is not in the Roster. Also there is the Barrett-Jackson $189,000 truck. I'm assuming Diane in Florida, Ray Leon’s old girl friend which has Rays old truck is not listed, I don't see it in the Roster under Florida, so the best count is 12 short wheel base and 4 long wheel base. We may have to up that by one depending on the #4 truck being looked at now. So the total known count is 16 less those listed incorrectly (coupes). To answer the original question I think Mr. Battle is correct – a few thousand dollars, maybe even up to $3,500, depending upon your desire to own one, is about it unless it’s a model 78 because that is a much rarer beast. Niels, if I may be so bold what are they asking for it? Maybe I'll make an $189,000 Barrett-Jackson truck out of mine - can I get a vote on those opposed and those for. Don’t tell me to do what I want because it’s my truck - tell me what you would do.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    the guy said he spent $300,000 I find that very difficult to believe. I think I could do it for under $50,000
  • Aaron D. IL
    Aaron D. IL Senior Contributor
    Niels - I'm sure you'd give the truck a good home. If you are any good with a welding torch it shouldn't cost you $300 K to restore. Heck I imagine if you did most of the work yourself you could put it back together for $10 K (not concourse quality mind you). I tend to think of trucks as being more chassis than body.

    46 HudsonPU: - I know that for whatever reason some moded rare vehicles are fetching big bucks at B-J but I think that the fact that the few surviving 37 PU's have a few that are moded among them then makes all the more sense to put it back original because that makes it valuable too. I know money is the wrong reason to be doing this but I guess what it comes down to is this: Do you look at the truck as a piece of car-hobby clay to be molded in your own image of it??? or do you look at it as a historic artifact ?????? of which only a few examples survive? The answer to that question will decide what you do with it I imagine. One PU I've never seen a real example of is the '38-'39 ? Pacemaker PU.
  • Uncle Josh
    Uncle Josh Senior Contributor
    Well, depends what you want it for. I wanted a PU to drive, so dragged my 47 Home on a trailer and want back and rescued the fenders, hood etc from a large nest of bees, and put it together to see what I had and needed.



    I just did what had to be done to the mechanics, which included new rubbers in the brake cylinders, taking the engine apart, cleaning it up, replacing the upper main that had shed half it's babbit, putting the valves where they were supposed to be, instead of where they were, unscrambling the botched rewiring job, replacing the rear end punkin which had a bad bearing, and I have a working truck that needs more work to look good.



    But I'm having fun driving it in the meantime, and it's getting a lot of attention and thumbs up.



    I've found out from my original 36 Terraplane sedan, that unrestored stuff people can touch and sit in, will garner more attention at shows, and give you more fun driving it and talking to people, than a completely restored whatever you can't get near.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    37terraplanes wrote:
    Niels – when are we going to ride? It’s getting warmer here in Jersey. Yeah, I was the one who purchased the 37 truck last month. Let me tell you about finding a 37 truck. Last year I listed every truck in the roster on a sheet of paper. There are 2 models. The model 70 is a short wheelbase and there are 8 listed. The model 78 or big boy had three listed (five inch longer wheel base). There was one model 72 listed which is wrong, there were no super models made. I think its a coupe with the pull out trunk box, they just listed it as a truck. Some of the old advertising listed the coupe with the trunk box as a truck. Since then there was one in Maine listed for sale and sold which didn't have much of the bed left and even with a good bed was extremely rough! I contacted every owner of the trucks by email, letters or phone calls, in some cases all three methods were used. Either they were modified or not for sale. I almost purchased Carl Ernst truck, which was modified, but someone bought it the day after his obit appeared in the WTN, the day after his daughter sent me the pictures which I had been waiting for, for six weeks for. (I'm over it now) I'm thinking some of the other model 70's are not really trucks but are the coupes with the rolling box in the trunk but I have no evidence of that since some of the owners never responded. Then there is the truck I purchased which is not in the Roster. Also there is the Barrett-Jackson $189,000 truck. I'm assuming Diane in Florida, Ray Leon’s old girl friend which has Rays old truck is not listed, I don't see it in the Roster under Florida, so the best count is 12 short wheel base and 4 long wheel base. We may have to up that by one depending on the #4 truck being looked at now. So the total known count is 16 less those listed incorrectly (coupes). To answer the original question I think Mr. Battle is correct – a few thousand dollars, maybe even up to $3,500, depending upon your desire to own one, is about it unless it’s a model 78 because that is a much rarer beast. Niels, if I may be so bold what are they asking for it? Maybe I'll make an $189,000 Barrett-Jackson truck out of mine - can I get a vote on those opposed and those for. Don’t tell me to do what I want because it’s my truck - tell me what you would do.



    Henry- we are still on for Baja in April. Some of my buddies are down there now as we speak! Both my kids have soccer this weekend plus I got a So Cal Hudson outing on Sunday so I'm home instead.

    I'm not sure what model number this truck is but I'll find out. Niels
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    The Sept/Oct 2005 issue of WTN covers the Reno National, and there are some truck photos of interest...John Forkner's '39 panel, Hannah's '38, Glen Johnson's '37 (modified), Press Kales pristine '34. Glen Johnson would be a good contact on '37's and values. There are several '37 utility coupes with slide out truck boxes around. Press Kale has a nice one, John Fromm had one but I think he sold it, there was one advertised in Hemming's recently.

    The '37 that sold at auction was built by the seller, who is a high-end professional rod builder. It is a VERY modified truck...nice if you like modified, a desecration if you don't. I saw that truck while it was being built and after it was finished up close and personal, and there's only a taste of Hudson left. Only the cab shell and box shell were used, and they were stretched, lowered, tweaked, chopped and generally massaged into the current rod. I don't know how much it would cost to build, but it was built as an advertisement for the guy's business, and it is an amazing, multi-award-winning job. It demonstrates the difference between a welder and an artist. All that being said, the prices at BJ this year were just a huge joke, and everybody in the industry is laughing.
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