The Ford Barn - View Single Post

gz · 12-08-2012, 11:59 AM

Having worked at Harrah's during the final years, I can offer some insights. Harrah had the foresight to buy cars like this in the 1950s and 1960s when they were pretty much ignored by most people as being used cars. Who else, in the 1950s and 1960s thought highly enough about Fords to have one of every year and model on display from 1903 until the most current model built that year? From about 1960 onward, Harrah even bought a brand new Ford every year for the collection. In the Model A category, there were over 50 cars representing every body style including AA and commercial, town cars, taxi, cars with period speed equipment and accessories, race cars etc.
I vaguely remember this car (there were over 1,600 cars there when I started, but, having always been a "T and A" fan, I paid special attention to the early Fords) and do remember when it sold at auction in the mid-1980s. Like all of Harrah's Fords, this was a solid, low mileage, undamaged and very original car, and had one repaint, re-upholstery and top done probably 50 or 60 years ago. I don't know what the current owner(s) have done with the car since being purchased in the 1980s, but I know when it left Harrah's it was a solid and honest old car. If it were mine, I would get it mechanically sorted out and drive the wheels off of it the way it is. How many mostly original 400As are out there that haven't been over restored and turned into MARC/MAFCA trophy whores? And yes, cars from the Harrah collection do carry a price premium. I have bought and sold many.... Having a car that was owned by Harrah's can be compared with buying a piece of civil war memorabilia that was part of the Smithsonian or a piece of art work from the Metropolitan Museum.
Somewhere, there should be a brass tag attached to this car (unless it has been removed). This tag will have a number stamped on it. Every car that came into Harrahs was given a number which indicated its sequential acquisition number. Typically, if the number is under 1,000 war purchased before 1965. By the time the collection stopped buying cars in the mid-1970s, this number was near 3,000.

12-08-2012, 11:59 AM	#15
gz Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 1,666	Re: A400 on eBay Having worked at Harrah's during the final years, I can offer some insights. Harrah had the foresight to buy cars like this in the 1950s and 1960s when they were pretty much ignored by most people as being used cars. Who else, in the 1950s and 1960s thought highly enough about Fords to have one of every year and model on display from 1903 until the most current model built that year? From about 1960 onward, Harrah even bought a brand new Ford every year for the collection. In the Model A category, there were over 50 cars representing every body style including AA and commercial, town cars, taxi, cars with period speed equipment and accessories, race cars etc. I vaguely remember this car (there were over 1,600 cars there when I started, but, having always been a "T and A" fan, I paid special attention to the early Fords) and do remember when it sold at auction in the mid-1980s. Like all of Harrah's Fords, this was a solid, low mileage, undamaged and very original car, and had one repaint, re-upholstery and top done probably 50 or 60 years ago. I don't know what the current owner(s) have done with the car since being purchased in the 1980s, but I know when it left Harrah's it was a solid and honest old car. If it were mine, I would get it mechanically sorted out and drive the wheels off of it the way it is. How many mostly original 400As are out there that haven't been over restored and turned into MARC/MAFCA trophy whores? And yes, cars from the Harrah collection do carry a price premium. I have bought and sold many.... Having a car that was owned by Harrah's can be compared with buying a piece of civil war memorabilia that was part of the Smithsonian or a piece of art work from the Metropolitan Museum. Somewhere, there should be a brass tag attached to this car (unless it has been removed). This tag will have a number stamped on it. Every car that came into Harrahs was given a number which indicated its sequential acquisition number. Typically, if the number is under 1,000 war purchased before 1965. By the time the collection stopped buying cars in the mid-1970s, this number was near 3,000. Last edited by gz; 12-08-2012 at 12:05 PM.