| Confessions of a Car Collector | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
finned behemoths of the Fifties, special favorites of mine, to a few virtually brand new cars, such as a Bently Turbo and Porsche Twin Turbo. I did not plan on buying anything – every nook and cranny of our 9-car garage at home and the buildings I rented were already filled with cars I rarely had a chance to drive as it was. Despite this, I did get a bidding card, and got a line of credit based on my MBNA Mastercard ("The official card of the auction" – just my luck). There is no question that collecting cars can be a passion bordering on addiction.
I drank coffee, snacked and schmoozed with the people sitting near me for almost 5 hours, as a series of really lovely cars were sold, many at surprisingly low prices. I was very proud of myself – I had not bid once. I looked at my watch – it was 3 PM – I’d better go. I stood up and moved to the back toward the exit just as an enormous 1938 Cadillac V-16 |
 |
touring sedan, gleaming black
with the fender mounted spares and huge whitewalls and desirable "Trippe" driving lights pulled onto the stage. I paused behind the seated spectators to watch. I know that all V-16 Cadillacs are recognized by the august Classic Car Club of America – otherwise, my knowledge of pre-war classics was close to zilch. The car was quickly bid up to $20,000 – a low price I thought – I mean, how many V-16 cars are left? Then the auctioneer said, "This car will be sold – the owner has taken off his ‘reserve’ price (the price at which a lower bid will not be accepted). It will sell! Do I hear $20,500?" I raised my paddle once; I was the buyer! Not one other bid!
I had never attended a large auction and, moreover, had never bought a car at auction before. It didn’t take long to complete the paperwork and to engage a transport company, |
|
which, for $1,500, would have the car in our driveway within a week. I was in a high state!
My wife often jokes that whenever I buy a car I have a huge orgasm! (This is somewhat of an overstatement.) Since I had not seen my acquisition before the auction, I inspected it. It looked pretty good, no obvious rust, but the starter button was hanging from the dash, and the black and white checkered upholstery which I couldn’t see from where I stood when I bid didn’t look original – considerably more garish than one would expect in a vehicle which would have been owned by a millionaire in the Thirties. The auctioneer said even the Pope had owned one like it! The man who had owned the car, a real smoothie, said, "You’ve gotten a great buy, Doctor! It’s a wonderful car. I recently drove it fifteen hundred miles without a hitch!" He continued, "Before I bought it, Don Peterson, the publisher emeritus of "Car Collector" |
| © R. J. Broselow, 1998 | Back to Techman Kanata IDEAS ||| HOME |||
Page:
3
|
|||