I spent all day Thursday at Hershey. I actually walked the entire swap meet in one day. Needless to say, I am staying off my feet today.

While Hershey is impressive and full of cars you never otherwise see (a half-million dollar Cunningham, for example), I must say that the swap meet is usually a disappointment. In engineering terms, the signal-to-noise ratio is very bad. Lots of walking, very little success in finding parts. In fact, I only found a handful of vendors selling Olds parts - Fusick and a couple of others. I did score a deal on a pair of paint chip books covering 1966-1990.

Sellers in the car corral apparently did not get the memo on the current economic situation. I'm sorry, but on what planet is a 1967 Nova with a 327 worth $65K?

Readers of JWO may recall the yellow 1965 442 convertible in the classifieds (that has not sold for the last 6 months or so) with the $18K asking price. The twin to that car (with white top instead of black) carried a $40K asking price at Hershey. There was a 1957 Fiesta wagon that did catch my eye - upwards of $20K for a complete, solid car that needed a total resto. There was a six cylinder 69 Cutlass with custom yellow metallic paint and oh-so-lovely orange stripes. I don't recall the asking price, I only remember that my reaction was "good luck with that". The 14,000 mile 1980s-vintage Cutlass Supreme four door that didn't sell at Carlisle carried a SOLD sign when I saw it at Hershey. Asking price had been in the $7K range.

I think the car that most demonstrated how out of touch some people are was the 1968 442 convetible. I've attached the sign in the windshield:



I'm guessing that the "Concourse Restoration to Factory Specifications" must have been very difficult, given the one-of-none status of that "405 HP" motor. And while this was a factory W-36 car (more on that later), it also apprently had the uber-rare "W-36 delete" option.

Also, if I were asking this amount of money, I would have checked the sign for typos. I'm guessing that the "$147,00" in receipts was supposed to be $147,000.



I'm sorry, but when the most expensive 1968 442 in the world can be purchased for a fraction of that amount, how stupid are you to spend $150K on a restoration? And the fact that you spent over three times what the car is worth doesn't mean that someone else will spend TWICE what the car is worth to buy it. And given the OBVIOUS errors in this "concourse restoration", what other errors are there that aren't obvious to the casual observer? Here's a thought: since the seller is apparently set on giving away $60K, how about you keep the car and just write me a check for $60K?

On a closing note, here's my much-anticipated W-36 stripe observations. I saw two 1968 442s at Hershey - the one above and a Saffron convertible in the swap area. Both were actual factory W-36 cars with the rearward emblems. Naturally, NEITHER one had the stripes painted on.

Given my observations this summer at the Nationals, Carlisle, and Hershey, I've concluded that the way to tell a factory W-36 car is that it's the one without the stripes.

 

Interesting post Joe. Check it out!

http://springfield.craigslist.org/cto/1406304066.html

I wouldn't pay $20k for a Fiesta Wagon if there is something like this available.

 

You should have asked to see the invoices since they were offered. It would have been amusing.

 

The way I see it, they're all worth $300 in scrap.... a little more if they run, a little more if they drive,
and a lot more if the old lady thinks it's "pretty"