Long story short I have about 30 cars I am trying to get rid of and I know nothing about cars or how much they are worth. These cars are in horrible condition. They have not had human contact in decades and suffer years of environmental damage. I’m hoping that since a lot of these cars are very old antiques they might be worth a little more than your average junk car. From the looks of them they date back to the 40’s-50’s but I have no way to be sure. The models range from Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Ford, Cadillac, GMC, Lincoln, etc.
Question 1-Would anyone buy these or are they junk cars
Question 2-What is a ball park price range
I have photos and when I find out how to upload them I will. If anyone can offer some insight I would greatly appreciate it and I can try to offer more description if necessary. Thanks for your time.
Go to you local bookstore, look in the auto magazines section. There are lots of car enthusiast magazines that focus on classic car rebuilds. You might find some buyers if you advertise in one of those magazines.
Things have changed quite a bit in the hobby car field in the past 15 20 years. Cars that used to be considered “parts cars” are now often fully restored or customized. A lot will depend on the rarity of the car involved, and how must rust they have. Like the others mentioned, go grab a copy of Hemmings and compare what’s shown in there to what you have. Once you’ve comprised a list of what you have and what year they were made, look again to see what they may be worth.
From what you’ve said, it sounds like they’ve been sitting outside. I’d have to see pictures to get an idea of just how much they’ve deteriated.
That got me to one photo, of the pickup. Are there others?
You might try and find a local classic car club and see if somebody would visit your collection. There’s nothing like looking at them in the steel to get a good opinion.
Are they all pretty much like that? That’s a late '40s, early '50’s Chevy pickup, and believe it or not, I’ve seen worse looking than that restored. Are they all complete for the most part, or have parts been slowly removed over the years? the more complete the better. If they all still have drive trains, bumpers, glass, fenders, etc, then that makes them more valuable. Are there any more pics in the album I could look at?
Another thing to think about, are there titles for these cars? I sense this is part of an estate you’re dealing with. Titles are GOOD things to have, and make the job of disposing of them a bit easier.
OK, they have been sitting out there a while, haven’t they? One of the very first things I’d do is sweep all of that dead vegetation off of them. All that stuff is doing is retaining moistiure next to the metal, making things worse. Some of those cars do indeed have value for collectors, and they all look pretty complete.
Like you said, LOTS of rust. You might see if a couple of junkyards would bid on how much they’d pay to take them, that’s your low bid. You’ll have folks tell you they’re worth a lot, but that only counts when they’re willing to pay. Opinions are cheap.
You have a good sense Dr. I am in fact helping my grandfather manage his affairs. Some of the cars seem to be wholly intact but others are missing wheels. I would not be surprised if other parts were missing because I do know people have broken into the lot and stolen wheels at the very least. Unfortunately I don’t think I know enough about cars to tell if anything is missing under the hood.
texases makes a good point, They’re only worth as much as someone’s willing to pay, but I’d venture an opinion that some car nuts would be interested in them. I think an earlier suggestion to contact local car clubs is a good one. Look for the national clubs online, most of them list local chapters. Then, contact them and have them look at your online photos. You never know.
Once again, if you can locate titles to them, all the better.
Lots of rust yes, but you know what, most of it is surface rust. I’m not seeing a lot of lower body rot and cancer like I would expect up here in Minnysoder. That Cutlass is a good example. A Cutlass exposed to salt tends to rot out around the wheel openings, and usually requires the replacement of the fender. (Ask me how I know! ) Most of them also seem to be 4 door sedans, but once again, cars that 10-15 years ago would have been stripped for parts are now being restored. I say your best bet is to work with enthusiest clubs, people who know what they’re looking at. I think Hemmings, mentioned before, has a list of car clubs. You can start there.
That all depends on the state you live in. All of them have different ways of dealing with lost titles. Your grandfather could help with that. You’ll be needing to write down all of the VIN nos if you decide to replace them. Once again, local enthusiast clubs would probably know about that. They deal with that sort of stuff all of the time with their hobby. Some of these, the trucks especially, are considered desireable for enthusiasts.
There is no way to come up with a value at this point but I wouldn’t discount what you have at all. Holy cow, you’ve got an original 57 Ford rear bumper? That kind of thing can be worth a little money. I think what you need to do is simply have an auction. If its handled right, that will get you the best price. I think you need someone that deals in auto auctions though or at least can publicize it properly. Might start with your local auctioner and get a referal for the area. This could be fun.
A guy in South Dakota, a little town of 100 people where my wife was from, had a back yard with maybe 20 cars in it of the 50’s vintage. I’d druel over them whenever I went there. They were all sold in one fells swoop in an auction.
) Most of them also seem to be 4 door sedans, but once again, cars that 10-15 years ago would have been stripped for parts are now being restored. I say your best bet is to work with enthusiest clubs, people who know what they’re looking at. I think Hemmings, mentioned before, has a list of car clubs. You can start there.