Daryle Lambert: Antique and Collectible Automobile Memorabilia

Daryle Lambert: Antique and Collectible Automobile Memorabilia

What could be better for us as dealers and collectors than to have the “Big Three” auto manufacturers headline the news each day if automobiles are our passion? Everyone is talking about what the government should or shouldn't do. To bail or not to bail! This will definitely cause collectibles from auto industry to appreciate. It looks as if many models produced by the major companies Ford, General Motors and Chrysler will cease to be made. You should be aware that when any model of car is discontinues or deleted from a company’s assembly line, that car’s advertising, manuals and anything else pertaining to that model becomes collectible. I personally believe that coming years may be the best of the automobile years for the collector since the muscle car mania.

So the question is; how do we take advantage of this period of time when the automobile is the subject of every discussion? My answer is to buy, buy, and then buy some more. This is one of the few areas where paper items can command nice returns on your investment. Old magazines with car ads can bring more than you would think, dealership cardboard cutout ads can bring hundreds of dollars and the owner manuals from rare and unusual models find eager collectors just waiting for these items to come into your possession.

If you recall, I recently did a blog on license plates with the values that can exceed a thousand dollars for certain ones. There are so many other items to be collected from the automobile industry. Tin Dealer signs can bring out of this world prices while hood ornaments seem to be the cream of the crop for collectors (the right one can often bring tens of thousands). I received an email recently from a lady that has an entire collection of some fabulous hood ornaments for sale. She had them all mounted for presentation. I am waiting to hear back from her because I believe this collection could be quite valuable and I would like to represent her in finding a buyer.

Model cars, toy cars, paddle cars, and even small scale cars are out in the marketplace just waiting to be found by the members of the 31 Club. With all the publicity surrounding the automobile industry today, this should be one of your centers of focus while you are searching for treasure.

I will share a short story with you and I hope I haven’t shared this before. I was in a home with various antiques but after spending several hours there, I found nothing of interest to me so as I was leaving through the garage, I noticed a small wheel under a pile of other things. Asking the gentleman what was there, he told me it was his son’s race car. I immediately uncovered a quarter midget racer from the 50's. Thinking this would be a great thing for my son, I asked what he would take for the racer. The gentleman said $300 and I said "sold." Getting the car home and doing my research, it soon became apparent to me that this was quite a collectible and not a “go-cart” for a child. I ended up selling the racer for about $2,500. I have to confess - I hated to part with it more than my son did.

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Automobile Collectibles and Memorabilia is a Hot Market

René Lalique Mascot / Hood Ornament, "Spirit of the Wind" #1147 recently sold on eBay for $1,625.

While you are out there finding all those great license plates I talked about in our blog the other day, be sure to keep your antenna up for other collectible automobile items. There isn’t a larger group of collectors than the car enthusiasts, with the exception of sports collectors.

My neighbor,”Miss Susan,” as my son Joshua calls her, has been writing about this very subject for many years. In fact, she has a website called Women With Wheels, and I hope she will be a frequent guest writer on our blog in the future. The 31 Club may be involved with her in a joint venture in the near future, and I hope you will be hearing more about that. Listening to her has taught me that the number of items collected by the car enthusiast is almost unlimited.

I have known about the special hood ornaments sought after by collectors for a long time, and the value of these can be tens of thousands of dollars. If you go to eBay’s Complete Sales list and do a search, you will find Lalique ornaments of a nude sold for over $$2200, and one in the shape of an Indian face for $2000.

Let’s look at some other items to keep your eye out for. Tin Signs from the car factories, especially automobiles that are no longer manufactured are prized, as well as hub caps, gasoline station tin signs, and pieces from famous race cars such as fenders grilles and hoods are also collected. Oil and gas cans, replacement parts for older cars and auto industry paper collectibles also have a place on this list. Antique gas pumps are a great collector item, and the glass globes from these antique gas pumps are collectible. This is only a partial list, and truthfully, it would take many blogs to cover them all.

Paper collectibles has been something that Miss Susan has been selling for years. Some of the most collectible items are the owners manuals for special models. These can bring in some fancy money if they are for the right car. Also, dealer signs and advertisements often catch the collectors fancy. Magazine ads are also serious collectibles.

I have been a car enthusiast since I was a teenager, and while still in high school, can remember meeting a man at an auto show in Indiana who had driven his Cord to the show from Kansas City wanting to sell it. It was the model with the huge supercharger pipes and retractable head lights. He was asking only $1,800 for it, and I almost died when I had to tell him I just didn’t have the money for it.
My love of the automobile has continued even till this date. I have owned a MG-TD, supercharged Corvette and several Mercedes, however my favorites have always been what I call my “junkers.” I’m still searching for a 1953 Super 88 Oldsmobile. If you want to make a true friend for life, just tell me where I can find one of these. This is the car I drove in high school, and most people wouldn’t believe the stories it could tell.

Don’t just follow the daily Blog. Join with like-minded 31 Club Members. Turbo charge your treasure hunting. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to build a bank account to last a lifetime, buying and selling antiques, fine art, and collectibles. My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.

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