Classic car bidder’s automotive heaven
Twenty-sixth annual auction will feature a century’s worth of rare vintage car models
Classic car season may be winding down with the arrival of cooler weather, but there’s still a warm place for auto enthusiasts to get their fix.
With about 300 vehicles going under the hammer at the Toronto Fall Classic Car Auction at Mississauga’s International Centre next weekend, there are plenty of vintage autos, muscle cars, luxury wheels, hot rods and exotics and motor memorabilia to ogle or bid on. It’s as much an auto show as it is an auction.
The three days (Oct. 30 – Nov. 1) of this fall classic car event — now in its 26th year — has attracted as many as 30,000 people over the weekend.
“Our fall shows draw a lot of people who are interested in seeing cars they might like to buy to work on over the winter,” said Terry Lobzun of Collector Car Productions.
“And for a lot of sellers this is the best time to sell their cars so they don’t have to store them over the winter. It’s all under one roof and it sure beats raking leaves,” he added.
Over the quarter century the classic car auction has been held, Lobzun said he’s seen cars go for as little as $500 for a fixer-upper to as much as $1.2 million for a ’30s Duesenberg that sold there a few years ago.
Lobzun said classic car events, from shows, auctions, cruises nights and local show and shine gatherings continue to be popular with auto fans, ranging from kids and teens to their parents and old timers fondly looking back to their younger motoring days.
The popularity and variety of television shows about car restoration and antique and automotive hunters and pickers on the hunt for automotive treasures are an indication of just how much interest there is in classic car events today.
“For collectors, ‘barn find’ is a magical term these days because it stirs up a big interest and although there’s still hundreds of cars out there, the really rare ones are getting harder to find because a car is only original once,” Lobzun said.
“Many cars that have been restored go for a lot of money because a lot of time, effort and expense have gone into the restorations.
“There are fewer and fewer of the original ones that have been put away and forgotten, so when they do get discovered they create a lot of interest and get incredible prices at auction,” said Lobzun. “And that drives the rest of the market.”
One example of a vintage car with a unique history that’s up for auction next weekend is a 1955 Nash Canadian Statesman, one of only 65 made that year, a full-sized postwar sedan built in what was originally a Ford plant at Danforth and Victoria Aves., in Toronto’s east end.
Beneath the facade of the Shoppers World plaza’s department store, recently vacated by Target, sits the original Ford building designed by Albert Kahn, renowned American Art Deco industrial architect hailed as the “Architect of Detroit.”
Built in 1921, when Ford’s Windsorarea plants couldn’t keep up with the Canadian demand for Model T and A cars, the plant was used by Nash Motors to assemble various models there in the ’40s and ’50s.
“To have a story like that along with original ownership and documentation, like manuals and brochures and dealer information, along with photos from the past, is what makes it really special,” said Lobzun, adding. “That’s what people want.”
With a century’s worth of cars and trucks coming up for auction there’s something for everyone interested in vintage and antique cars and pickups, meticulously restored with modern upgrades, such as a 1928 Ford Model A Tudor, 1938 Hudson Pickup, two stunning 1940 Fords — a pickup and a coupe — a V12 powered 1946 Lincoln Coupe, 1946 Chevrolet Fleetmaster, 1949 Oldsmobile 88 Fastback, among the stable of early classics.
And 1950’s classics include a 1952 Mercury 1/2 Ton Pickup, 1954 “old school” DeSoto Firedome, 1955 Ford Thunderbird Convertible with a hard top included, 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, and ’57, ’58 and ’59 Corvettes.
People also want modern classics, muscle cars from the 60s and 70’s such as Mustang, Corvette, Camaro, GTO, Charger, Challenger and Baracuda, to name a few.
Besides all the cool wheels on display and on the block, there’s a memorabilia auction held Friday afternoon and Saturday morning where collectors can bid on vintage gas pumps, pop machines, juke boxes and game machines, as well as neon auto and gas related signs, and antique toy cars and trucks.
For all the details, including a list of all the vehicles on auction, go to collectorcarproductions.com.
“There are fewer and fewer of the original ones that have been put away and forgotten.” TERRY LOBZUN COLLECTOR CAR PRODUCTIONS