This is a weird one. You would think any of the heavy hitters who would want this car would have approached the family back in March when they announced they were selling it. That it didn't sell makes one think nobody would pay their asking price or there was limited interest. This will obviously create more exposure but I would think guys in the market for this type of car would have heard it was for sale before and wouldn't want to let it get to an auction where when there is a reserve on the car you are, if anything, probably paying more not less for it. I could easily see it not selling.
I agree with your comments K13. I would have thought that it would sell with out going the auction route. I don't know what percentage these types of auction take but that will impact the final amount the sellers take home a well. Perhaps the reserve will reflect that. We all know that what something like this is worth is always different then what they really sell for. And then you add in the reserve and it's quite possible that it doesn't sell. Are they asking too much? Or are they tired of dealing with tire kickers and low ballers??? I suspect that the custom people that have the $$ to purchase this car are getting of the age where they are thinning their herd and not adding to it. And the younger crowd wants to either build their own or elements of this car doesn't appeal to them and know it would be a capital offense to change anything on it. Had I the funds I'd buy it just to sit in the front seat and stare at Von Dutch's art work on the glove box. LOL That and drive the wheels off it. Maybe relive the cross country trip that was done from Cali to Indy. Torchie
If I had the money I'd pass it up. For the money I could built something my way and something to drive all the time. This is one of those things that you buy and sit on the shelf so to speak and I'm one of those guys that believe if it ain't got rock chips it aint worth owning. Its not like a one off like a ed Roth car so I think that it is why its not bringing the money that the family must think its worth to see it heading for an auction instead of someone's stable already...
This is the custom car. I'm a bit sad to see it get so much hate here, although I'm not at all surprised. I'd really like to see it go into a museum open to the public, or to a buyer who will tour shows with it so the public can see it.
I don't think it's 'hate' for the car as much as it's an over-estimation as to it's worth by the owners. And while it's 'famous', it's fame isn't nearly as wide-spread as many other cars. Customs are a relatively small sub-set in the car hobby. The Hirohata Merc was briefly famous in print in the early 50s, almost 70 years ago, and then pretty much fell out of the public consciousness except for speculation as to it's whereabouts among the custom crowd before re-emerging. In contrast, the 'Kookie' car continued to live on in TV reruns almost continuously, being seen by succeeding generations and creating new fans. And Hot Rods have always been more popular.
With the clone out there the price point gets hurt a bit too. It's like when a famous artwork is stolen and two or three 'fakes' show up right after the theft. With the clone out there, people interested in this could have one built for less. Only real buyer should be some deep pocket museum. It should be used as a teaching tool as a glimpse into the history of customs. It's an artifact of a by-gone custom era.
I agree with Steve. Fame it has but famous doesn't always mean popular. As a custom I agree its one of the tops but given a choice there are/were others out there that if for sale for the same price I would pick over this one. I, being old, forget the maker but several months back someone posted one of the old merc customs back in the day. It was burgandy and absolutely beautiful and I prefer it more and given a choice would choose it. Its not hate but a difference in taste. And like somethings people choose it because of what it is not what it looks like (name recognition).
I agree it is the custom car. Set the bar,set the standard and opened the door, so to speak, for many others. I respect that and honor it. But, the truth is, I don't like it very much.
My personal guess is that estimate is on the light side. The Hirohata Merc is the era-defining custom car. It's the Honus Wagner T206 of custom cars, except even more rare because there is only one. It has the complete pedigree. Barris, both Sam and George, VonDutch... it's authenticity is not in question. It's also a car that not only set the trend stylistically for the genre, it's also the premiere representation of the golden era of custom cars that have a timeless appeal. The Golden Sahara, while certainly desirable, was also polarizing in terms of outrageous late 50's custom styling, early 60s gizmos and kitsch. It's an era of customs that still has it's place, but does not have the widespread appeal and timelessness of the Early 50's era. The Hirohata represents the pinnacle of Barris' work and design IMHO, whereas other cars have the pedigree but lack the appeal. The Hirohata is like Metallica's "Master of Puppets", whereas the Golden Sahara is sort of like "Load", and the Modern Grecian is like "St. Anger". I think the big pocket guys will dig deep for this one.
Get a good look at it now , it will end up in someone's collection (either in the US or some other country ) never to be seen again
I never quite understood the idea that once a car has undergone a high quality restoration that it can't continue to be driven. If I recall correctly, Jim McNeil did use the car after it was restored. Of course, you wouldn't use it for hauling home bags of fertilizer from the big box store, but there's no reason the new owner couldn't continue to drive it. So what if the undercarriage gets dirty, or some part wears out and needs to be repaired. As long as it doesn't get hit by a train, it can always be fixed up again in another 50 years. As an example, there's a guy around here who owns a Ferrari 250 SWB that's worth millions, and I've seen him driving it on the street. It looks just as good today as it did a decade ago, and because it gets used it's probably in better condition than if it had been left sealed away in a garage.
A lot of that may be the lighting. I took those shots in bright sunlight at 11 minutes after 11 in the morning and the ones of the real deal were taken indoors with artificial light. As far as the heavy hitters making offers on the real one, I'd think that some might have but the family is holding out for auction price no doubt with a stiff reserve. As far as the big money making someone afraid to drive it, I think that all has to do with what you feel big money is. I've got an acquaintance with a car that might bring 20K on a good day with drunk bidders at Scottsdale that trailers it every where he goes because to him it is too valuable to drive on the road while I have a friend who thinks nothing of taking his Lamborghini LP across Donner pass in a snow storm with Pirelli snow tires on it. He got the where the hell did you come from from the CHP on that one when he got to the other side.
No, the clone has a different colour. It is a much more faded tone because they only had some old faded colour slides when they mixed the paint. (according to Rik Hoving).
The price will be set by two old farts with more money then hair on their heads Buying “ the length of their ding Dong” on the auction block. only reason most of the cars we are going across the block at mecum etc bring the outrageous money they do is to fools that need to puff out there chests. crap I’ve been at farm auctions and watched a pile of sand sell for $200bucks Wtf ? That’s 100 bucks of sand delivered what are you two fools doing ?!? the auction will bring out the dollar bill dinks and the price will go up, not their dinks , but the bills they pays for that car.
Hot Rods seem to do better at auctions than customs do. Case in point the Grabowski T brought 400 grand plus at the same Mecum sale that the Golden Sahara only brought 300 grand. They had the Sahara roped off thru the whole event so you could not get near it while the T was just sitting there and you could walk right up to it and touch it.... I stand by my Estimate of a half million and yes I know that it is an iconic car....
Imagine if it had been in a movie. Mind you, if that were the case there would be 100 clones of varying degrees of accuracy.
I've never cared for the color, but it's a correct for the time period color. But the overall car, it just oozes coolness. I was made aware of it when PGan did a feature on it in R&C in the 80's, and it just knocked my socks off. Most customs just don't do it for me, but this one just flows together. I would love to own it, and it would get driven. Maybe not much , but it deserves to be seen by the public and not locked away in some climate controlled room. I'd say Mark is close on the price.
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