What to do?

[gulfgears]

My father died about ten years ago and left me a garage full of Model A stuff.

This is a lifetime accumulation of two cars and multiples of engines, rear ends, transmissions, and parts n peices too numerous to try to catalog.

The cars are a 1931 coupe that was dismantled in 1984 and never put back together, and a 1931 sedan (2dr) that was his daily driver and long trip taker ( drove it on numerous 1000 mile trips).

Both cars have clear Missouri titles and are stored in a dry, concrete floored gargage in Missouri.

I tried, while he was alive to get one of the cars to do "my thing" with and he refused always afraid I'd make a hot rod out of it. He was absolutely right too. 35mph bores me to tears.

So, now I need to dispose of this stuff as I don't want to deal with it in my retirement. I am not intrested in the financial committment it takes to restore one or both of these cars.

Two years ago a member of the St.Louis area Model A club made me an offer for everything but then backed out.

I live in Louisiana and the cars are in Missouri, so I really want to find someone interested in both cars and all the stuff. I have a dollar price based on what cars in the condition of these two are selling for on e-bay, plus the parts.

What are your opinions on how best to dispose of these two and the parts.

I don't have pictures as it's usually December when I go up there and it's too cold to be outside.

Ideas anyone?

[Steve Wastler]

This is a good start, there are guys on here that may buy all you have. Watch for personal messages (pm) you will know when you have one under your user name in the upper right will flash red. Most likely will require a site visit from perspective buyers.

[Charlie Stephens]

Contact the local Model A clubs in your area. The national sites are modelaford.org and mafca.com. Ask them if they would put an ad in their monthly newsletter. They will probably not charge you anything since this is a service to their members. There is a good chance the cars and parts will sell close to home as their value does not justify traveling across the country to look at them. Put an ad here and at ahooga.com since it doesn't cost anything (donations cheerfully accepted). Get some pictures immediately since you will probably need them eventually. If you don't have a digital camera or a friend with one I think you can buy a disposable digital camera. If you use a film camera the place that does your developing should be able to put them on disc directly without ever going the expense of printing them. Get the sedan running if you can at a reasonable expense. Good luck.

PS, are you sure you don't want one as a retirement project?

Charlie Stephens

[gulfgears]

Thank you for the advice.

I will try to get the photos done as a priority, even in the cold.

Then we will post the ad/information and see what happens.

My retirement project is a 66 Buick Skylark with a/c that is semi-fast and very comfortable on long road trips.

Too bad my father was so protective of his 'A's, could have turned out better.

[eswanson]

You may also ask if anyone close by would stop by and get pictures ( I know that would require a lot of trust but you might need to figure out something instead of making some extra trips up there). Also, make a choice of what it is worth to you to spend doing everything and price accordingly. I've held onto stuff to get the price I wanted and I've just let things walk aways because I didn't want to deal with it. There is always a line there.

Eric

[juke joint johnny]

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Hey Big Easy !!!! Who said Model A's will only go 35 mph !!! I can get 60 out of mine and it's a clunker . I also know someone who got a speeding ticket with one !!!

Only Joking You've got some good advice on here allready Good Luck with them
The local Missouri Model A club would be a good place to start .
Dont get to carried away with Ebay prices as some of that stuff never sells!!
best to clear the lot for a fair price
John Cochran

[ctlikon0712]

First off, sorry about your loss albeit 10 years ago and second, thank you for posting your question and the cars here first instead of a rat rod site. Good luck.
P.S. I'd think hard about keeping one. In a few more years you may wish that you had a legacy item from your dad and driving slower might be just right.

[columbiA]

Any "A" will cruise nicely at 60 mph with low rpm if you have an H C head & a good overdrive.

[gulfgears]

You guys are right about probably regretting selling them down the road, but that's life.

The sedan should bring around $5-5.5K as it's in one piece and driveable as is, interior and all in great shape.

The coupe should bring about the same price even though it's in pieces. No rust anywhere and the fenders were painted by somebody who really knew how to shoot black.

Plus having both titles is a plus,, I was offered $500 for both titles at a show last year.

The engines, wheels, rear ends, transmisssions are not worth much as they are all of suspecious condition. But on the whole there is some value.

To build the coupe right will take a minimum of 10K by my calculations and then I'd have something. The Sedan probably half that to be good to great shape. I'd rather spend that money in my hunt for a 68 Roardunner coupe (first new car)

I know A's can go 65 as I had the coupe up to that going down a hill with a buddy pacing me. (I was 16 and the old man never knew). At 65 it was definately a shakey, noisey, dusty experience.

But, I own things, they don't own me and I'm not keeping these cars.

[Mike V. Florida]

First are you counting on receiving the maximum amount of money for the parts as part of your retirement?

I ask because someone can ask for top price and wait for a buyer or can sell at a lower price and get rid of them quicker.

You can try to sell it as one big lot or break it up.

You can also contact the International Victoria Association and request a list of those restoring a model A and are under the age of 21. You can then allow these young men and women first pick at the parts they need for a low cost or even free. They would pay for shipping of course.

[larrys40]

I sent you an e-mail, I'm Larry Shepard in the St. Louis area Missouri valley region Model A Restorers club. modelaclub.org I do the bulk of the service and restoration work for the guys in our area, and from your description it sounds like things may be close to St. Louis. Not sure exactly where everything is located but if it's in close proximity I could look at it with you and give you an honest take on it. Unfortunately these days there aren't a ton of folks wanting to do projects, which affects the values of disassembled cars... Give me a call if you want to chat, number in e-mail.
Thanks,
Larry