392 Sadness :(

So I went to a farm auction today to try to buy a POS 4 door '57 New Yorker with a 392 Hemi.Motor was complete but seized.

Well frick I couldn't get my hand out of my pocket to bid. My comfort level was $1500 and my "oh my god what did I just do" price was $2000.

In less than 1minute it sold for $3250.

What happened to the resession?

 

Recessuin has nothing to do with it, if people want something they are gonna spend w/e they can to get it.

 

your better off without it your find a better one or go with some diffrent

 

Engine is about 2K by itself.

 

It cost me $3000 in parts and machining to build my 330 desoto...

 

I have a built flat head in my '28 roadster.This would have been in my next project.

 

My dad would never bid at an auction. Didn't want to think he was the person in the place that would pay the most for someting.........slide

 

May have been someone that watched a BJ auction and thought they had a 20k car there!

 

+1,
That will always be "the way it is".

 

That reminds me of when someone spent like 100 grand on a 4 door 1968 coronet, i belive it was, with a hemi. Little did they know that the number of doors affects the resale value haha.

 

Sounds like you were smart . You had your limit and stuck to it .
Someone else just wanted it real bad . That's the fun of an auction .

 

Just picked a 392 up for $50 they are out there just keep looking.

 

Remember as a kid you could'nt give those away,,lol ,,guy around here had about 20 of em in a garage ,,funny how things change

 

The recession doesn't hit everybody. Of all the car companies struggling, Ferrari sales have been stable.

 

i left a block in a cellar in 1979 wonder if it is still there

 

Recession, schmession, you set you limit and stuck to it, thats a good thing.
Poverty Flats found a barn full and may still have some for sale. PM him>

 

Keep looking! 354's are easy to find out here on the Prairies check the old grain trucks.
$ 3250 is a lot for a core.

 

GeorgeG. .You saved your self 3250.00.. be patient.. another will surface.

 

Actually, that'd be a pretty good investment since they only made a couple of them. Garlits has one of them, and the history he's found indicates they were special order cars for the FBI.

-Brad

 

Keep at it, they are out there. They always seem to turn up.

 

You guys are right about not bidding past my limit. I have learned over the years to restrain myself.

A few years ago I picked up a grain truck with a nice little 270 in it. $100 bucks. My son was 15 so I told him to get at it and start pulling the engine. I would't buy my kids video games. (mean SOB) so I spray painted "Play Station" on the door.

Anyway he calls me over says what's that hole in the oil pan? Here the rod broke and punched out the oil pan and wrecked the block.

Found a 331 in the scrap yard another time and pulled the heads off. Got some 331 heads given to me.... Yeah stuff is out there. But I want stuff to happen now!

 

Here's that 392.

 

George, i threw a bid on that car. Thought it was a crazy move without seeing the car haha. I was at the red deer swap meet when the auction was on. Kinda stoped me from buying a bunch of stuff there. They do come up around here, i know of a few smaller ones dodge stuff.
Pat

 

Damn you!!!

And that's why I didn't go to the swap meet.

I made a point of not telling anyone where I was going.

 

Post a want add in some local papers. They'll turn up.

 

They turn up ALL THE TIME! Keep an eye on Craigslist and Hot Heads:
http://www.hothemiheads.com/swapmeet/parts.html

Buy my pistons in the mean time. Just in case you need them!

 

So I have a chat with my old guy buddy today. Marvin. I told him about how some asshole bought this car at the farm auction. He says you want another look at that car? I'm the one who bought it!!!

I called him on BS as I saw the guy who bought it and it was'nt him. He asked some stranger to bid for him up to $4K. And the guy went for it. Marvin is a real honest looking / sounding guy.

He has a '58 new yorker convert and he has been looking for a 392 for 10 years.

Oh well. It went to a good guy. And who know maybe some day I 'll have another chance at it.

 

They made a bunch of them... Mr Garlit's doesn't have them all... yet.

 

Some New Yorkers have 354s, not 392s

 

And some have 331's.....

354 was a one-year only in the cars, 1956. 392's were 1957 and 1958. 331's were earlier. And of course there were all the different years and variants of 354's that were in trucks, boats, irrigation pumps, etc.