Did the Tom McMullen Deuce & Jack Calori's 36 three window sell Saturday?

That could be right as Dana Mecum spoke to someone on stage then ran up to the auctioneer and said 700k jumping the bid. Seconds later the reserve was off and promptly sold. The way it was done appeared almost as if Mecum bought the car but of course he didn't.

 

$700K is a bunch of moola for a deuce roadster, no matter how much history it's got.
7 x $100K rods vs 1 x $700K TM hiboy all depends on how many people there are out there with the readies ready to lay down on such a car. I'm betting the gene pool on that one is pretty small..... it may have even dried up already.
Just my $0.02 worth.

 

What if the buyer has all this and more? Maybe he just wanted it, regardless of price.
Maybe Myers bought it...

 

There are plenty out there capable of putting out 700K on a car be it a 32 Ford with all documented history or a barn find Bugatti dad-bud. It's all relative to how much expendable coin you have in your piggy bank. For that person it's probably like you or I shelling out 10 K Aus or US for a car at an auction.
The mind blowing part was that the reserve on the roadster was 700 K and the reserve on the coupe was 300 K. The auctioneer had to nudge the then high bidder to bump his own bid to 300K to get the coupe.

 

That was what I would do with that much money. The wealthy will always have the freedom to get the cool toys, no matter what the cost.

 

I agree,,If I had deep pockets those guys would be talking about me! HRP

 

Sure it's a lot of money, but being a car guy you can relate to it, not like some guy spending twice that on some baseball card collection. Bob

 

Now we know what Romney is doing since he didnt win the election.

 

That is why he built an elevator in his house... for this car.

 

they make spiders for rallyes ? !!!

 

I would take 2 and a third Calori's over a whole McMullen,..if I was in a far better financial situation than I am currently in!

I heard the guy who bought it was going to make it into a RR!

** Apologies in advance for using the dreaded RR name in this context

 

It must be nice to have money to burn.

 

W o W Bob..... that HELPS put things into perspective very clearly.

Having lived thru the McMullen deuce era and ALL of the many things it went thru.... (same with the '57 Chevy "Project X") ..... it is easy for me to understand the hot rodding "sacredness" of cars like this and how it effects their value.

For others who might have NOT been into hot rodding or old enough to have experienced that whole scene back in those days first hand I can understand how one might not understand the "HISTORIC value" of cars like McMullens '32 and "others" like it.

Reading & especially researching about a certain car, event or person may give one what seems to be a "complete understanding" can not replace "growing up & through it".

That's why BIG BUCKs for a Barris - Ed Roth - George Montgomery, Big John Mazmanian - Stone, Woods & Cook - Don Gartlis - etc, etc .... opps, almost forgot .... a McMullen ..... are in a world of their own.

 

Having lived thru the McMullen deuce era and ALL of the many things it went thru.... (same with the '57 Chevy "Project X") ..... it is easy for me to understand the hot rodding "sacredness" of cars like this and how it effects their value.

For others who might have NOT been into hot rodding or old enough to have experienced that whole scene back in those days first hand I can understand how one might not understand the "HISTORIC value" of cars like McMullens '32 and "others" like it.

Reading & especially researching about a certain car, event or person may give one what seems to be a "complete understanding" of those days, people & cars .... it can not replace "growing up & through it".

That's why BIG BUCKs for a Barris - Ed Roth - George Montgomery, Big John Mazmanian - Stone, Woods & Cook - Don Gartlis - etc, etc .... opps, almost forgot .... a McMullen ..... are in a world of their own.

 

Wonder how long it will take for the name of the new owner to surface? In this day and age you just can't keep that kind of information secret for long. Knowing the sale price I'm wondering it Poteet decided to pass. Not that he couldn't afford it but for that kind of money he could have had at least a couple built from the ground up. Time will tell.

Frank

 

You gotta remember Frank,,everybody don't make what you and I do,,some folks actually make more,,,lots more! HRP

 

NOPE!---The Mosher roadster was a different (Glass one) '32.
Here's a pix I took of Tom & Deanna at a roadster run in the late 70's.

 

I don't know who bought it----BUT, the new owner needs to remove the L.A. Roadsters plaque from the car.
ALL LAR Plaques are to be returned to LAR when membership is terminated,----Make it a wall hanger if he wants to,---But don't run it on the car for "wannabe" reasons.
JUst my opinion as a past Pres. & still an Honorary member of LAR club.---Don

 

I think the plaque could be considered part of the car at this point. Who ever bought it did so because of the historical value or whatever. I think that plaque has been there a long time and is part of that.

 

He should probably pull the Moon Tank and the parachute off too since it wont be seeing the Dragstrip again right?

Yep.

 

That I can understand as Pres of a different club. However, unless there was some paperwork signed before the plaque was handed over to said member, you will just have to hope that some one will " Do the right thing" and return it. Which in this case, is not likely

 

Mecum Auction put together a very nice 28 page booklet on the car that went out to the registered bidders...

 

Sure would be nice if someone would post the photos and text. HRP

 

I've been told that the early members of the club each bought and owned their own plaque, then later it changed to the plaques being issued by the club and remained the property of the club.

 

Personally, I think that is an outragous price to pay for an overrated, '32 roadster. I know that many of you think this is the greatest Deuce roadster ever built but I disagree. It was a roadster owned by Tom McMullen who had an ego the size of Texas(no offense to Texas) and was the master of self promotion. The modern day P.T.Barnum.

 

I can't really disagree with any of that, although I only met Tom a few times,(we should probably keep it about the car). I don't really even like the car that much, I think it holds dear to some of the guys because they remember the car when they were young, and feel a connection to it.

I can't wrap my head around that selling price at all.

 

So, are we to understand you and Tom did NOT exchange Christmas cards while he was still alive?

Frank

 

But aren't ALL cars over rated except to the person who owns them? On that chain of thought, the Hope diamond is just a chunk of rock. Right?

The man had a lot of nerve working hard and being successful! He should have been a thinker, instead of a doer.

 

The McMullen '32 Roadster is part of "The American Dream" IMO. He bought an existing car, modified it into his own, sold it for $5,000 to put into a business. Made money, emploied a lot of people, made others happy and inspired others to build cars. Maybe the new owner was one of those guys, if you succed in business you are allowed to have toys, I wish him well. Bob

 

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