Australian Auction Action: Craptacular collection from the 70s and 80s
OK, Bonhams and Goodman in Australia is now near the top of our list of favorite auction companies. They just posted a catalogue of 150 cars from a private collection that will be up for sale next week. The best part about this offering is that these are all one man's cars and many of them aren't particularly well known. There are lots of fun and odd lots in this collection, and many enthusiasts will recognize the names or shapes, but they are generally unheralded cars from the craptacular '70s and '80s.
AMC Matadors, Chrysler Cordobas, Opel Monzas, and Lincoln Town Cars sit alongside Maseratis, Jaguars and Mercedes. Nothing too spectacular. Certainly nothing that would challenge the top bids at the recent Otis Chandler liquidation. Expected bids range from sub-$1,000 beaters to a Jag XK150, Bentley Mk. IV and DeTomaso Pantera which are expected to fetch $70,000-$80,000. Most of the cars have low mileage and have been sitting for some time, so winning bidders should expect to do some freshening before the cars are roadworthy again, but once they are, it should be a lot of fun. Looking through the listings is like reading the classifieds from 1978. We highly recommend checking it out for yourself.
[Source: Hemmings]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stacey 7:27PM (11/10/2006)
Ok, now in my opinion this was the world's first sport utility wagon! Subaru was 2nd.
:-D
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Bill 8:22PM (11/10/2006)
#1 Agreed!
I want the Tatra 603.
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Howard Kerr 8:46PM (11/10/2006)
WOW, what a collection. I really loved all the Australia-only market Fords and Chryslers.
The majority of the cars in this collection SEEM to have been chosen for the appeal that had to the collector and not necessarily for their collectibility. How else to explain an AMC Pacer and a Maserati Mistral "side by side". Still, must have been an interesting guy.
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Stewart Elliot 9:02PM (11/10/2006)
What a trip down memory lane, lots of smiles this end.....!! Mine has got to be the Lagonda. Very reminiscent of the Patrick collection in Birmingham, UK; the idea was that parents would take their kids to look at fairly ordinary cars and share stories about when they drove this car, or when their friend had that car etc. Thank you.
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Phil L. 9:26PM (11/10/2006)
A fellow student in college had an Eagle 4x4; she was from Florida and her well-off parents evidently figured she couldn't survive the wild winters of Ohio out of it, so they sent her to school with it, brand new. I recall looking at it and thinking "Hmmm - they're on to a good idea here". This was in the early-to-mid 80s, before Subaru had a name in middle USA, and 4x4 always meant 'truck'.
The Pacer is interesting: I didn't even know they came with a manual tranny! With only 40K miles, this certainly qualifies as an unusual, if not terribly desireable, find.
An interesting collection. This gentleman clearly spent a lot of time saying "Hey! That's a neat car. I'll take it", and didn't appear to ever want to sell anything.
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Bill Maher is an Idiot 11:49PM (11/10/2006)
I see now where the Outback came from.
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Rick 1:14PM (11/11/2006)
I got my first piece in an AMC Eagle exactly like that one. In fact, I got a little aroused just seeing that picture on your blog.
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MK 12:00PM (11/11/2006)
Is the money in US or AUS. $$ ? (I have no idea what they use there.)
I'd bid on the Eagle & a few others, too.
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Glenn 12:09PM (11/11/2006)
What a neat site. It is like going back in time; and those cars look to be in really outstanding shape. It looks based out of Australia, but that they get their cars from all over the world -- is that right.
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kev 12:26PM (11/11/2006)
That sure brings back memories. We had an Eagle very similar to that one as a family hauler when I was a kid. It was a great car which never needed any repairs, 400kms + before it was sold. My dad to this day thinks it was the best car he has owned.
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flow_aus 5:27AM (11/12/2006)
#7 MK said:
"Is the money in US or AUS. $$ ? (I have no idea what they use there.) "
You ignorant idiot. Why on earth would an auction in Australia be in US dollars?
Many years ago we worked out that the earth revolves around the sun, not the other way around. It's about time you worked out that everything doesn't revolve around the US.
Such a closeted life you live...
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gbh 1:47PM (11/12/2006)
flow_aus,
While MK is certainly, umm, uninformed (to be very generous about it) - lots of business in the world does get done in USD regardless of location.
Not saying it's right or wrong - but (aside from the Euro) the US$ is the default international currency.
If you are counting on a large contingent of international high-roller participants at an auction, it will often be held in USD, often regardless of locale.
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Frank Filipponio 9:45PM (11/12/2006)
As per the auction site, all prices are in Australian dollars. Currently 1.00 Australian dollar is about 0.76 dollars US.
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Jim Baker 9:21PM (11/12/2006)
Those AMC Eagle 4x4s were awesome cars. Ahead of their time and very well built.
It's a shame they are all but forgotten today.
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Jimmy C 10:08PM (11/12/2006)
A year ago my brother snagged an '86 AMC Eagle from his girlfriend's grandfather that had less than 2,000 miles on it -- the old man only used it to drive around the farm. Now there is one sweet ride.
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Erik 1:50PM (11/13/2006)
Oh man I saw the pic and first thought (hoped) it was the reader ride. The AMC Eagle Wagon is awesome, it would have been the best RR yet. A true original, anything but craptacular.
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