Howdy,

I'm working on some features, one of which involves the Bonhams auction at the Petersen Museum on Saturday.

In that sale are two very "special" Oldsmobiles that I am interested in your various takes on. They are both unique and come with all the documents you'd want to prove they are what they say they are.

The auction company's price estimates follow their descriptions, as do direct links to their sales pages.

Basically I want to know how interested you'd be in buying both/either, your opinions on the price ranges and any other comments you'd like to make. There's no record of previous sales upon which today's values can be based, nor are there any "comparables."

[Feel free to all comment at once as I have 'til Tuesday to finalize my article... ]


Ex-James Garner, Vic Hickey-built, 1969 NORRA Mexican 1000 2nd in class,1969 "Goodyear Grabber" Oldsmobile 442 Baja Racer
Estimate: US$60,000 - 80,000

[ http://www.bonhams.com/usa/auction/19466/lot/355/ ]






Customized by Rick Dore,1968 Oldsmobile Toronado "Stilleto" Chassis no. 394878M613215
Estimate: US$35,000 - 45,000

[ http://www.bonhams.com/usa/auction/19466/lot/339/ ]






AWD

 

i think that they are low on Garners car... not many people realize how good of a driver James Garner was... not to mention a totally unique piece, if i remember right that thing has a dana 60 fullfloat rear end under it.

the toro is a bit of a wildcard, to me it is cool as hell & i'd say that even if it wasn't an olds... but in my opinion it appeals to a smaller marketbase...

 

The custom Toro with donk wheels doesn't do anything for me, but the Garner race car is well documented. The restoration was written up in Hot Rod about a year or so ago. The aluminum SBO is one of the factory experimental motors cast in the late 1960. This is an important piece of Oldsmobile racing history. I suspect that the $60K-$80K range is about right. I've always loved this car, as well as the other Olds off-road racers. By the way, note that the car in the ad is a 1970, not a 1969 as the ad says.

 

A co-worker loaned me his Hot Rod to read the feature on the baja car, It was very interesting with some nice pics. Also some good info on this car highlighted in the late Dale Smith's "Racing to the Past". Very exciting car with both legitimate racing/celebrity pedigree. The estimated selling price is well under the cost of the build combined with the research and parts sourcing for a car this unique.. Very Cool! I love first generation Toronados with the '66 being my all time favorite. Though very nice, I feel that this car was done in the wrong color, and the wheels are obnoxious. I'm sure that the predicted selling price is a small fraction of the investment that the person that funded this creation has into it. Se la vie!!

 

i think the olds should sell for around the price quoted , if its a lot less its the economy, Dore is pretty high in the custom world

 

It always interesting to me what things are worth to people. It doesn't seem right a Triumph motorcycle should be worth more than a beautiful 1956 Lincoln Premier convertable just cuz Fonzie rode it on Happy Days.

 

It will be interesting to see the auction results. Checked with some hard core olds guys and they have some questions if it is really the original car and of course the engine story requires substantiation too. If there is solid paperwork to show it is really the same car it has significant historical value to car collectors. If it is a built car it is very cool but would not have the same collector value.

Lee

 

Umm Shouldn't the Goodyear Grabber have Goodyear tires on it? I think they missed the mark a little there. Other than that a very cool car with awesome heritage I am glad someone found it realized what it was and restored it to it's glory. Now if they would stop calling it a '69.

 

Normally I like to stay as close as possible to production standards. I really like the Goodyear Grabber for it's offroad 'Olds' contribution. But I think you labled it wrong. The auction says it's a 69 and it's clearly a 70. Hmmmm??? It's a customized racer, but that's not my style so I bow out on comments re pricing.

The Toro? I've always loved Toros. This one has taken a step from the past and applied it to todays market. The color is right, and the upholstery pops, the engine is what the market will support and it has a nice agressive stance. I really like the aggressive stance from the front, and side. I DONT care for the white dash- that's definitely a safety hazard for reflections. It appears to have tons of interior room with tasteful leather appointment carefully planned and detailed. The minor mod on the roofline and minor cosmetics lend this car nicely to a modern era as if Olds was still in production for 2011. Although some don't like the wheels, that's the new standard for high end cars today, and this one appears to be tastefully done. I really appreciate the tribute to Olds embroidered into the center of the rear seat. The Toro was the first NA production car with FWD and featured a flat floor. But I would have extended the center console on this mod and put in some of the obviously missing features such as CUP HOLDERS, a Nav system, and USB hookups. For the price I would say that car is excellent value.

 

The James Garner Olds is a 1970 not 69. The car first raced in 1969. I have a friend taking care of the auction details for me. He is the one that some how mixed up the year filling out the entry paperwork . This car is 100% the real 1970 Goodyear Grabber Olds. The reason it says Grabber Olds and not Goodyear is iam sponcered by BF Goodrich. The team getting the car ready should gave the Goodyear Grabber Olds decals on and BFG tires off and Goodyear tires on. Iam selling this car because I have a lot of rare vintage race cars waiting to be restored and I hate to race this car for the fear of hurting a piece of history. I found it and restored it and now its time to pass it on. There is 2 more hours before the auction starts. Who wants it. Thanks Ron Johnson Hickey Racing

 

Please post the sales price. Good luck

Lee

 

The results (for all Olds) are as follows:

Lot 313 -- Four-speed manual equipped,1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Coupe Chassis no. 3G87M2R142886; US$16,965

http://www.bonhams.com/usa/auction/19466/lot/313/



Lot 339 -- Customized by Rick Dore,1968 Oldsmobile Toronado "Stilleto" Chassis no. 394878M613215; US$32,760



As for the Garner 1969 [but really 1970, apparently] car--Lot 355--the Bonhams "sale results" page ends at Lot 353A. It's still on the "sale items" page, however, with a notation that reads "Please note there is an amendment to this lot". I couldn't tell if anything had been changed in the listing, however, as it still has the "errors" Baja pointed out.

At this point I'm not even sure it went up for sale, let alone sold. But I have a call into Bonhams for other lots, and I'll see what I can find out about this lot, too (unless Baja can pass that info on...).


Cheers,

Drew

 

I agree, the wheels on that Toronado are down right dopey!

 

There were three his shops prepared










In '69 his shops prepared 10 S/C Ramblers for the Baja 500 in which he didn't drive in. However 7 of the 10 did finish and three of them finished in the top 5.