The town of Metuchen, NJ, has been sponsoring a midweek cruise night for at least the past twenty years. How can I be so sure, you ask? Because in August of 2006, I trailered my BMW Isetta there, and it was a lot of fun. But I haven’t been back since, and when my friend and fellow Alfa owner Tony suggested that we check it out, I took him up on his offer. It’s a once-a-month arrangement for Metuchen, and always on a Wednesday, so Tony and I were there this most recent Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
We both decided to drive modern cars for this run, and after meeting Tony at his house, I hopped into his brand-new Ford F-150 Lightning, which is 100% EV. It was quiet and comfortable, and frankly, if you didn’t know better, you’d easily mistake it for a gasoline-powered truck. Perhaps the biggest giveaway while riding in it is the complete lack of noise within the cabin. We got to Main St. in Metuchen about thirty minutes before the official 5:30 p.m. start, so we headed into an Irish pub for a quick meal. By the time we alighted, most of the parking spots along two blocks of Main St. were taken with classic cars.
Compared to the Somerville Cruise Night, I would give Metuchen higher marks for its slightly classier Main St., and also for covering the parking meters with “cruise night car parking only” signs. On the flip side, Metuchen’s set-up is much smaller, as they devote only two blocks to cruise night cars. At least on the evening we attended, there were a few empty parking spots. In Somerville, you practically need to arrive two hours early to get street parking for your classic. There was a nice variety of domestic fare, several of which I’ve not seen in many years. There were also almost no import cars, but Tony and I may hatch a plan to get our local Alfa club to caravan to Metuchen for a future cruise night. All in all, it was a pleasant evening of car gazing, and my attendance brought back great memories of my 2006 visit.
Sign on this Mustang claimed that it had 194,000 miles on itI spoke with this owner, who has had the car all of three weeks. It’s a 1966 Buick SPECIAL, not a Skylark. Not sure I’ve ever seen a Special convertible from this year.
A very nice chrome-bumper C3 Corvette, before they got ugly.
I spoke with the Riviera owner, who has owned this car for 35 years, since he was 19. It’s a ’63, first year for the model, and he’s done some mechanical work, including an engine refresh and some brake (Wilwood) and suspension mods. The red leather interior is original to the car. Paint may have been as well.
My favorite car at the cruise night, if only because I don’t know when I last saw one. It’s a 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix, the final model year on the full-size platform, before the complete (and highly successful) redesign for 1969. My photos do not do justice to the visual impact of this automobile.
The town I live in, Neshanic Station, NJ, has had a long history with weekend flea markets. For years, perhaps decades, there was a weekly flea market across from the post office that was known throughout central Jersey. But after the plot of land on which it sat was turned into a portion of a county park, the flea market died. Several years ago, though, the local Methodist Church, which has access to an empty lot across from the old flea market, resurrected the idea and combined it with a car show. Rather than weekly, the events have been monthly, and occasionally semi-monthly.
I’ve attended several times in the past (click on the links for the March 2021, April 2021, June 2021, July 2021, and July 2022 posts). As I compose this, I have no concrete recollections why I did not attend any of the shows in 2023 and 2024, which brings us to 2025. The schedule was released earlier this year, announcing April 12, May 10, and June 14 as the first three dates. However, our wet spring caused the first two to be postponed to a rain date, and the rain date got rained out. So the first show of the year was June 21, and I got there in my Alfa around 8:30 a.m.
A bit to my surprise, I was the first car there, aside from the Chrysler LeBaron owned by the man who runs these events, but within the next thirty minutes, a few more cars showed up. The day dawned hot, and it was getting warmer by the minute. By 9:30, another eight cars arrived, and all in, there were ten cars on the field, a light showing compared to previous events. I can’t say that there was huge variety among the vehicles either. The only other import besides my Alfa was a Lamborghini which came late and stuck around for perhaps thirty minutes. Minus the LeBaron, the Lambo, and the Alfa, every other car was a GM product, and excepting the Firebird, every GM car was a Chevrolet. By 10:30, the heat had gotten to me, and with no expectation that the show field would grow, I drove the three miles home. I’m glad I went, because so many of my events this year have been postponed or cancelled due to the weather. I do hope that next month (July 12) the Neshanic Station car show gets a more significant turnout.
Chrysler LeBaron convertible
My 1967 Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Jr.
Pontiac Firebird
1966 Chevrolet Impala
Chevrolet Malibu station wagon
Chevy Malibu SS
2001 C5 Corvette
C7 Corvette
Lamborghini
The flea market vendors were present, but shoppers were light on the ground.
Please don’t let me hear anyone from the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC) complain that “the club doesn’t do a lot”; and yes, I still occasionally see such a comment crop up on some social media sites. For the second week in a row, after seeing each other at the Somerville, NJ, cruise night, our club conducted another highly successful gathering of Alfisti, this time in the form of an al fresco breakfast in Colonial Park in Somerset, NJ, billed as “Breakfast and Bocce.”
The turnout was great, and I was especially pleased to see many spouses join us. My wife accompanied me, and made some new friends among the ladies. Similar to last year, breakfast goodies included bagels, croissants, donuts, fresh fruit, and hot and cold beverages, courtesy of the club’s bank account. By my count, eleven Alfas were on hand, along with a delightful Lancia Fulvia Zagato (and a Porsche Cayman driven by a dedicated Alfista, so I’ll count it). Probably half the cars were Spiders, all with their tops down, as we caught a bit of a break with this crazy Jersey weekend weather.
Four Spiders sandwiched between a Lancia and a GT 1300 Junior
As we also did last year, we set up near the park’s bocce courts, but my wife and I departed just as the games were beginning. A huge thanks to Bill D., our Event Coordinator, who pulled all the details together to make our 2025 “Breakfast & Bocce” another ringing success.
Our club members enjoying the breakfast and each other’s company:
The Lancia Fulvia Zagato:
Lorenzo, the car’s owner, gave several of us a detailed walk-around which included some history of this car. As a Series I, it features an all-aluminum body, which we were told were manufactured in very limited numbers. The car was originally a medium blue, and someone prior to his ownership changed the color to yellow. Lorenzo delighted in pointing out numerous features which were lost on the Series II cars, including a separate door below the rear bumper for spare tire storage. He has started to strip some of the yellow paint, leaving the blue exposed and undamaged, as he would like to eventually return it to its original shade.
The month of May was cruel to us in the collector car hobby, as cool, wet weather caused postponements and cancellations of various events. In some cases, events proceeded regardless, with disappointing results. A few months back, the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC) reached out to the folks who put on the Somerville, NJ Friday night cruise nights. The organizers will reserve parking in one section for car clubs, and our Alfa club did this last year. Because the date is chosen in advance, it becomes a “rain or shine” event, and the weather forecast for May 30, our assigned date, was iffy. I actually didn’t make the decision to attend until several hours prior to the 5 p.m. start time.
Several club members were already there when I arrived a few minutes past five, and we immediately noticed that there were no “Reserved for Alfa Club” signs in place, as there were last year. As parking spots opened up, we placed a folding chair to hold the spot for the next Alfa to arrive. That was working well until a Somerville cop stopped and told us “you can’t hold parking spots!” I was about to exchange a few friendly words with the officer when a Cruise Night representative approached the black-and-white Ford Explorer and explained that he was late in posting the Reserved Parking signs, which seemed to smooth things over for the patrol officer.
Despite the threatening weather (which held off for the entire evening), we had a nice turnout of about a dozen Alfas, dominated by Spiders, and also cars from the modern Giulia, Stelvio, and Tonale lineup. The camaraderie in our group is strong, and we enjoyed the evening chatting among ourselves as well as the passers-by who took note of our Italian macchine. (One woman walked up to my Junior and asked me, “is that a Volvo?”) Bill ordered pizza from Alfonso’s, generously paid for by the Chapter, and by 7:30 p.m., with darkening skies overhead, several of us (including me) headed home. It was wonderful to hang with fellow Alfisti, and we already have a date in August to return to Somerville.
Who ordered the pizza?
Our club enjoyed the pizza (with Girl Scout cookies for dessert)
The town of Hillsborough, NJ, holds a Memorial Day parade every year, and the NJ Region of the AACA has actively participated in recent years. This year’s parade was held on Saturday, May 24, 2025, and for once we had the weather on our side. The car count was close to twenty (including some late-model Mustangs), and the parade concluded as it does every year at the town’s Municipal Building. Most vehicle owners elected to stay for the informal car show behind the Municipal Building, which gave us an excuse to hang out and chat.
’60s sporty cars
Vehicles were as old as a 1930 Chrysler (Craig’s 1929 LaSalle made an appearance but had to bail due to a fuel leak), with a strong showing of 1950s-era automobiles. My Alfa Romeo was the only non-domestic vehicle in the parade, but drew favorable comments from some of the residents who lined the streets. (I’ve always strongly felt that “the American way” includes the freedom of choice to own and drive the car of your choice, no matter the country of origin.)
Hillsborough is a large town with a significant Indian and Asian population. I’ve made this observation in the past and I’ll make it again: there is something incredibly moving about seeing so many people who obviously immigrated here (or were born to immigrant parents) waving American flags and coming out to celebrate such an important American holiday. This is why I elect to take so many photos of the parade observers. They are the fabric of our nation.
Beautiful Sunday morning weather on May 18, 2025, brought out fifteen Alfisti driving nine different Alfa Romeos to our monthly breakfast at Jimmy’s American Grill in Bordentown, NJ. Four classic Spiders, a Giulia coupe, and a Giulia sedan covered the pre-1994 segment, while a Giulia Quadrifoglio, a Stelvio, and a 4C represented the modern Alfas. I must hand it to the members of the NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC): we own (and drive) a nice variety of Italian cars!
Jimmy’s doesn’t open until 9 a.m., so we hung out in the parking lot until about fifteen after the hour before entering. Once inside, we had plenty of choices from their brunch menu. The service was great, and as usual, we coerced our server into taking a few group shots of the table. After the bill was paid and we spilled back into the parking lot, conversations continued, as they tend to when car guys and gals are involved.
These monthly breakfasts are a great tradition that has been ongoing for well over a year, and personally, I would love to see greater participation from the club members. We purposely vary the diner location each month (we are presently rotating among four diners throughout the state) so no matter where a member might live, the opportunity to join us is there. It was also great to drive my ’67 GT 1300 Junior in nice weather. The car ran well, and I have at least three more events for this month alone, so I’m looking forward to more miles in that driver’s seat.
I thought about this again when in March, my wife and I hosted an AACA judging seminar at our home. My Alfa, standing in as a subject car for training purposes, was actually lauded for its “clean” engine bay. I know from attending numerous judging schools that AACA has high standards for engine compartments. Entering an AACA-eligible car in a national meet will ensure that several sets of trained eyes will focus on everything under your hood from firewall to radiator. While the average citizen defines “car detailing” as vacuuming the interior, waxing the paint, and cleaning the windows, AACA members know that in addition to those needs, the engine compartment must look like the day the car was driven off the new car dealer’s lot.
But I have accepted for too long that the Alfa’s engine and the bay within which it resides are “original, and therefore, not to be touched.” That has been changing, and most recently, my critical gaze fell up the quite unsightly air cleaner canister. It sits on the driver’s side of the car, over the exhaust manifold, and connects to the intake plenum via a rubber-and-cloth hose that passes over the valve cover. Mine is black, and it has been obvious to me since the day I took possession of the car that the canister had been repainted, possibly more than once, by a previous owner, most likely Pete, who owned the car from 1968 to 2013. To put it bluntly, the repaint was poor quality, with visible drips and runs. The black had also chipped off in several places. Frankly, it was one of the least attractive components under the hood. It was time to rectify that. Given that the canister had already been repainted at least once, I felt no qualms about stripping it down to the metal. There was nothing original to be saved.
Before I even removed the canister, I went to the national website of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (AROC), where, as a member, I could access technical assistance. I emailed a Club volunteer who specializes in Alfas of the 1960s, and asked him what the air cleaner canister’s original finish looked like. He responded within twenty-four hours to say that the factory finished the canisters in semi-gloss black. (This was the first time I used this online technical service, and it’s a great perk of club membership.) Off to Lowe’s I went.
This was going to be a rattle-can job, which does not automatically mean “sub-standard.” I’ve had great success with the Professional line of Rust-Oleum spray paints, so I picked up a can of primer and a can of semi-gloss black. Out came the canister, which I doused with chemical stripper. Given the multiple coats of paint on the thing, this required several applications. Once I removed as much paint as possible with that method, I resorted to mechanical stripping with a 3M plastic abrasive wheel. The canister was down to bare metal, so I wiped everything with paint prep, and waited for a windless day to spray outside.
The primer went on smoothly and thoroughly, and it appeared that one coat would be enough. Next was the semi-gloss black, which had to be sprayed in stages as I rotated the canister for complete coverage. Two coats looked like plenty, and I saw no evidence of drips or runs. I gave the parts twenty-four hours to dry, and reinstalled the canister.
The improvement in the engine bay’s appearance was immediately obvious. If you look closely enough, you can probably tell that it was spray-painted, but to my eye, it looks sharp. My only concern, and it’s not a substantial one at the moment, is that exhaust manifold heat may cause the paint to flake. If it does, it will be the canister’s bottom, well out of sight of show-goers (and judges). If and when that happens, I’ll deal with it. In the meantime, a few hours of simple work, and $20 worth of hardware store paint, has yielded a nice upgrade to the Alfa’s engine compartment.
BEFORE
You can see the rough surface, runs, and paint chips throughout the component.
DURING
First, the chemical stripping.
The remainder of the paint was removed with the 3M plastic abrasive wheel.
The primer coat.
The top coat of semi-gloss black.
AFTER
Once reinstalled, the canister looks much improved. For the most part, only the top lid is visible.
Which cliché do you prefer? “Wait ‘til next year.” “We can’t control the weather.” “The show must go on.” “It is what it is.” “This is how we’ve always done it.” Frankly, I am out of explanations why the NJ Region of the AACA continues to remain locked onto the first Sunday in May as the day for our biggest and only official car show of the year, and does not consider a rain date. A little background: for as long as anyone can remember, this show, formally called the Spring Meet, had been held in the vast parking lot of the Automatic Switch Company in Florham Park. There was an understanding that the lot was there for the club’s use every year. In fact, I knew of the show (colloquially called “Automatic Switch”) years before I joined AACA. But 2015 was our last year there, as the company shuttered operations in the U.S. and moved offshore.
The scramble was on for a new location, and the Mennen Arena in nearby Morristown, an indoor sports venue, was selected. One issue was that we would be sharing the lot with people attending events at the Arena. The lot also was completely covered with solar panels, seen as an advantage should it be hot and sunny, as the panels would provide shade. This brings up the next issue: We were at the Mennen Arena for four years, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019, and it rained every year. The panels became a source of water dripping on our cars and ourselves.
COVID meant no shows for 2020 and 2021, but for 2022, we had a new location: a school parking lot in Denville. It was sunny that year and we had a decent turnout, but the lot was not visible from any highway, and I think the club wanted the possibility of “drop-in” attendees and spectators from those who were driving by. In 2023, for the first time, we used a car dealer’s lot. Nielsen Dodge on Route 10 in East Hanover agreed to host, which meant that dealer personnel spent all of Saturday evening moving cars from their front lot to provide room for us. The weather that year was sunny, and we had a such a good show that all parties agreed to return for 2024, which may have been the wettest Spring Meet I’ve ever attended. For 2025, the Nielsen franchise wanted to share the wealth, so they offered us the lot at their Ford dealer in Morristown (which is not located on a major thoroughfare). That show was yesterday, May 4, 2025, and it rained again.
Nielsen Ford hosted this year
I heard an unofficial count of 33 show cars on the ground (including my Alfa, which I drove in the wet last year as well). In its heyday at Automatic Switch, I was told that the Region could regularly attract over 200 cars. The lower turnout can also be partially attributed to competition from an increased number of local car shows, and I will cite a lack of venue consistency (The Ford dealer is the fourth different locale in the last ten years) which may keep non-members and spectators away. Still, there cannot be anyone involved with the NJ Region who sees this as a successful trend. My personal suggestion would be to find a lot that does not involve moving automotive inventory, and schedule the show for a Saturday, with the following day as a rain date. There will be a postmortem at our June meeting. It should be an interesting discussion.
By mid-morning, some rows were filling in
Let me bring up some happy news about this year’s show. Regional members who volunteered to work the event were there in droves. I want to especially call out Chairperson Pete, Registration Chair Vince, Chief Judge Craig, Sarah at Registration, Trophy Chair Jerry, all 16 (!) volunteer judges, and the Admin Team who tallied the results. There were many other helping hands. The conditions on the ground did nothing to dampen the effort and enthusiasm they brought to the day.
Oh, and there were cars! I dodged raindrops to photograph as many as I could. Scroll down below to see the vehicles driven to the event by the brave souls who refused to let a little moisture dissuade them from participating.
PRE-WAR
1934 LaSalle
1936 Packard
1936 Chevrolet
1932 Dodge
1930 Ford Model A
MUSTANGS
1997 Mustang
1969 Mustang
1965 Mustang
EUROPEAN
Triumph TR6Triumph Stag
Ford Fiesta
My friend Andy next to his BMW Z4
My 1967 Alfa Romeo
CADILLACS
1973 Eldorado
1965 Eldorado
1973 Coupe DeVille
2014 CTS V Wagon
FIFTIES
1956 Fprd
1957 Dodge
MODIFIED MUSCLE
1961 Chevy Impala
1973 Plymouth Road Runner
THE REMAINDER
1995 Chevy Cavalier
1978 Ford Granada
1971 Continental Mark III1986 Chevy Camaro2000 Pontiac Grand Prix
The NJ Chapter of the Alfa Romeo Owners Club (NJ-AROC) returned to the Spinning Wheel Diner in Lebanon, NJ on Saturday, April 26 for its monthly breakfast. A total of ten Alfisti happily gathered for chow, coffee, and conversation. The weather could have been better (we could say that about the entire month of April), but two brave souls still drove their classic Alfas, while several modern Milanese macchine rounded out the collection in the parking lot. (Yr hmbl svt failed to photograph any vehicles, mea culpa.)
Better weather is on tap as we head into May. Bill reminded the audience that Somerville has responded in the affirmative to our request for special parking for the May 30 cruise night. We will have additional opportunities to exercise our steeds throughout the spring and summer. Meanwhile, these monthly breakfasts continue to provide a wonderful way for a group of enthusiasts with a common interest to enjoy each other’s company.
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.
The calm before the storm
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.
A few select cars are displayed inside
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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