I have been attending auctions at Carlisle for over ten years (my oldest post covered the April 2015 event), which makes for plenty of observations about the comings and goings. I’ve always found the smaller and somewhat friendlier structure to be inviting, as the event has a “mom & pop” feel to it. Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes it’s not, and I felt that in 2025, it didn’t go so well for Carlisle Productions.

This year, the Spring Auction was held on Thursday and Friday, April 24 and 25. It was one of the more disappointing outings, especially based on the sell-through rate. I personally recorded 81 cars crossing the block on Thursday, and an additional 121 vehicles on Friday. On both days, the sell-through percentage was 45%, possibly the lowest I’ve seen anywhere. (By comparison, other auctions I’ve attended through the years have had sell-through rates between 60 and 90%.) A successful auction requires three elements: quality consignments, reasonable reserves, and a motivated room full of bidders. In general, I found the quality of the cars on the ground was poorer than in previous years. Very few cars were labeled “No Reserve,” and based on high bids, I felt that owners’ reserves were unreasonably high. Nevertheless, some cars did sell, and below I report on fourteen which did, plus another four cars of interest which did not meet reserve.

Carlisle allows the consigners to set their own reserves. I personally don’t think that is healthy, because almost always, the owner has an unreasonable expectation of their car’s value. At Carlisle, the auctioneer will sometimes announce the reserve if the car doesn’t meet it. Some examples: a BMW “Alpine” was bid to $20k, with a $30k reserve; a Ford Falcon restomod wagon was bid to $9k with a $20k reserve; a 2012 Mustang Shelby was bid to $37k with a $46k reserve; and a Dodge Super Bee was bid to $65k with a $80k reserve. The point I’m trying to make with these examples is the large gap between high bid and reserve. If the gap was within 10% perhaps, there would be room to negotiate a close. That is a much more challenging prospect with these large gaps.

Other observations: cars sometimes crossed the block out of lot number order; more than once, the auctioneer lost track of where the high bid was; on one occasion, the auctioneer misread the reserve price and mistakenly declared that the reserve had been met when in fact it had not; and too often, the car’s owner was not present so the auction team was unable to determine if the high bid would be accepted. If I had been an active bidder in any of these situations, I would have been frustrated. Let’s hope these were one-off issues which will not become the norm.

As we’ve done for years on Richard’s Car Blog, the sold cars are arranged in HAMMER PRICE ORDER, so that you can better gauge what your money could buy for you.

SOLD LOTS

Lot 181, 1985 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham, 2-door sedan, sign claims 38,000 original miles, one family owned. Gold paint, gold vinyl half-roof is split and flaking, beige cloth upholstery. In storage and not driven since 2009, sign says “car needs some love.”

SOLD for $4,500. May need full reconditioning after 16 years of storage.

 

Lot 245, 1953 MG TD. Black, off-white roof and interior. Black painted wheels, small hub caps, blackwall tires. Wood dash is cracked, aftermarket passenger door safety strap does not inspire confidence. Nasty looking thing.

SOLD for $7,250. Don’t know if it runs, presume it will need everything.

 

Lot 429, 1978 AMC Matador “Barcelona” 4-door sedan. Two-tone red, red vinyl roof, red plush interior. Odometer reads 32,798. Appears to be all-original and untampered with.

SOLD for $9,000. The car for the AMC fanatic.

 

Lot 128, 1987 VW Cabriolet, white paint, white convertible top, black and white interior, 5-speed. Sign on car claims California car with no rust, also lists much recent work done after storage period. Six-digit odometer reads 95,657.

SOLD for $10,000. While sitting in car, was unable to adjust seat height, mechanism seemed jammed. These VWs have their fans.

 

Lot 563, 1957 Ford Thunderbird, red paint, white soft top, red interior, no hard top included, automatic, power steering and brakes. Sign claims new paint three years ago. Car is in overall terrible condition, car is filthy inside and out, paint looks bad, possible signs of rodent infestation by driver’s seat. passenger door trim was removed and is lying inside car, trunk full of junk, underhood a mess. One of the biggest messes at the auction.

SOLD for $10,500. Someone very ambitious sees an upside to this that I do not.

 

Lot 455, 1963 Ford Falcon convertible, black paint, white top, red interior, buckets and console. Six cylinder automatic. Cursory look-see shows and honest car with no glaring needs.

SOLD for $10,750. This is the next-best thing if you can’t afford that first-gen Mustang convertible.

 

Lot 458, 1965 Chevy Corvair convertible, light green paint, black top and interior, 4-speed with 110-hp engine. Sign claims full restoration six years ago.

SOLD for $13,250. Fair price for both buyer and seller, remembering that buyer will need to pay 8% commission of $1,060.

 

Lot 142, 1968 Olds Cutlass S convertible, white, black top and interior. Bench seat with column shift. Very poor repaint with lots of overspray, interior redone with non-original material, was unable to open passenger door with window up because of interference with convertible top. An overall poor example.

SOLD for $15,000. Nineteen-sixty-eight Olds Cutlasses are rare as-is, and this was one of two ’68 convertibles at this auction. I was surprised bidding got this high. No comparison with the other Cutlass S, covered below.

 

Lot 447, 1963 Buick Riviera, dark blue, black deluxe interior, factory A/C. Odometer reads 75,483. Raised white-letter tires look out of place. Power seat inop, glove box door came off in my hands. A solid-looking car that will need attention to detail.

SOLD for $19,500. It’s rare to see a first-gen Riv sell for under 20 large, so even with the needs, this may have been a little bit of a deal.

 

LOT 157, 1958 Studebaker station wagon, dark green and white paint, green and black interior, odometer reads 40,844, “bathroom scale” speedometer beat the Toronado to the market by eight years. Somewhat modified with 5-speed floor-shift manual, A/C, wire wheels, tachometer.

SOLD for $21,000. Impossible to complain about the price because you’ll never find another. Drive it to South Bend, IN and you’ll be an instant celebrity.

 

Lot 438, 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix Model J, green paint, black vinyl roof, green interior which SCREAMS 1970s. Hood-mounted tach, five-digit odometer reads 02188, with presumption that it has rolled over once. Cosmetically hard to fault.

SOLD for $23,500. Maybe one of the very few cars that I would have liked to take home at that price. Would need to measure the garage first.

 

Lot 183, 1967 Dodge Dart GT convertible, white, black top and interior, bumble bee stripe at rear, buckets, console, automatic, engine size not indicated.

SOLD for $24,500. Almost identical to the one I owned 35 years ago, but mine was a factory 4-speed (and in much worse condition than this one). Lots to like here for the Mopar fan.

 

Lot 416, 1967 Chevy Camaro hardtop, first year for the model, gold paint, black vinyl top and interior, other than aftermarket wheels, car looks original and unmolested. Engine is 327 V8 with Powerglide. Odometer reads 84,581. Passenger door would not open for me, handle pulled loose from body.

SOLD for $32,000. Price seemed high to me, but I don’t follow the Camaro market. Readers: was this a fair price?

 

Lot 504, 1968 Olds Cutlass S convertible, dark red, black top and interior. Buckets and center console, manual tranny with floor shifter. No A/C.

SOLD for $41,000. May seem pricey, but based on rarity and condition, was worth it. No comparison with white Cutlass convertible.

 

NOTABLE NO-SALES

Lot 119, 1940  LaSalle four-door sedan. HIGH BID $4,500

Looked promising on website, but in person, obvious that car needs a total disassembly and restoration. What are the owner’s plan? Probably should have cut it loose.

 

Lot 206.1, 1949 MG TC, HIGH BID $17,000

Stood out as one of the better restorations at the entire event. But has the audience for these gone away? A bid in the mid-twenties would not have surprised.

 

Lot 191.1, 1959 Triumph TR3 HIGH BID $17,500

Like the MG above, a very nice but not perfect restoration, something sorely lacking at this auction. A hammer price in the low twenties might have done the deal.

 

Lot 536, 1983 Ferrari  308GTBi HIGH BID $60,000

Carlisle is not the best place to sell a Ferrari; for European cars, this audience wants to see late-model German cars. This one stood out for me because of its Berlinetta (fixed roof) body style as opposed to the Spider (removable top) style which is more prevalent. Car probably worth twenty grand more than high bid.

 

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