Auction Monday: Shamu Edition

by Steven Lang

Published: July 4th, 2011

A 1991 Chevy Caprice in faded battleship grey went for $3000 at last week’s sale. It had only 37k miles. But none of the bells and whistles that would make such an old timer truly desirable. Now the 1996 Chevy Caprice with 71k and leather was a completely different story. Garage kept. No paint fade. All the bells and whistles in good working order. I was expecting around $5000 for this ancient beast.

It went for $5100. Truth be told this was the first auction with relatively decent prices in a long time. The 4th of July makes at least some of the dealers go away which was more than OK with me. I got four cars today. None of which were anything special.

What was? Apparently a 5 year old base Grand Prix in GM tan and only 61k was the crack pipe deal of the day. $7950.

Other notable buys included a 2005 BMW 645 Convertible with 76k for $18,400 (repo but clean)

A 2008 Jeep Patriot Limited in Black for $9050.

And my favorite a 1992 Corvette with only 66k (but sadly no picture). Automatic, Good Leather and absolutely pristine.

Today’s TTAC prize of the rare Victor Sheymov spy novel ‘Tower of Secrets’ will go to the first person to guess the selling price within $100. A great book worth the read. This offer is good until 800 P.M. today. No purchase necessary. Batteries not included. All sales final.

#AuctionMonday #HammerTime

Steven Lang

More by Steven Lang

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 45 comments

Dave-the-rave on Jul 05, 2011

"Neon beige?!?" That's rich.

Like Reply
Tanooki2003 on Jul 05, 2011

$3000 for a Caprice classic??? That's way too much. They should at the most go for $750 with the leather in tact.

Like Reply
- Beefmalone on Jul 07, 2011
  
  Find me 100 of them and I'll buy them all plus pay you a commission. They're gold. Watched two SS models sell at SALVAGE auctions in the last two weeks. One wrecked hard in the rear went for $5500. Other one was just a pig and had flood damage. Didn't run and went for $2800.
  
  Like

Recent Comments

Jalop1991 is this anything like a cheap high end German car?
HotRod Not me personally, but yes - lower prices will dramatically increase the EV's appeal.
Slavuta "the price isn’t terrible by current EV standards, starting at $47,200"Not terrible for a new Toyota model. But for a Vietnamese no-name, this is terrible.
Slavuta This is catch22 for me. I would take RAV4 for the powertrain alone. And I wouldn't take it for the same thing. Engines have history of issues and transmission shifts like glass. So, the advantage over hard-working 1.5 is lost.My answer is simple - CX5. This is Japan built, excellent car which has only one shortage - the trunk space.
Slavuta "Toyota engineers have told us that they intentionally build their powertrains with longevity in mind"Engine is exactly the area where Toyota 4cyl engines had big issues even recently. There was no longevity of any kind. They didn't break, they just consumed so much oil that it was like fueling gasoline and feeding oil every time