2 Brass Model T's Amongst The Piles...

[Skyler Kimball]

Hi Everyone! I was just watching a youtube video of a typical Model T, A, Hoard/Estate Sale, and was surprised to see not one, but 2 brass era cars, and one seeming to be a 1914 or older. Although the 14 seems to be the worst, if not a bit car I wonder how much they will fetch. I have no connection to the auction, but am always surprised that model t's of that early vintage are still around. The other one looks like a 1915.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2eb5p0f_F8

The first one can be seen at 2:48 and the second one at 7:00

I wonder if the'll be just scrapped, or saved, like all the other stuff, because there seems to be a loth of it!

[Skyler Kimball]

Oh I found the auction website while looking around, And it shows both cars, but does not give them titles.

https://www.sundgren.com/antique-cars-a ... in-markel/

Here are the pictures of those 2 cars

https://i2.wp.com/www.sundgren.com/wp-c ... C900&ssl=1

https://i2.wp.com/www.sundgren.com/wp-c ... C900&ssl=1

[Steve Jelf]

If you look through the pictures again you'll see a little bit of a 1915 peeking out from under the mountain of junk. The auction is still three weeks away, so maybe by then they'll have things somewhat sorted out so you can see what's what. This is about a half hour north of me, so I'll go check it out. I'll go to the preview and see if I need to bring a trailer on the day of the sale. Usually the high rollers let a few crumbs fall off the table for us peons.

Most of the T's have no titles. In Kansas a bill of sale is good enough, but in some states it might be a problem.

[mvweaver]

I'm in love with that TT with the Express box. Lots of stuff for everyone.

[jiminbartow]

Sad to think that many of those cars were probably in good condition when they were parked in the woods so many years ago only to be allowed to deteriorate into the rust buckets they have become. Tragic that some hoarders have so little respect for the historical artifacts they assumed temporary custody of. After all, since we don’t live forever, we are all temporary custodians of our Model T’s. Only difference is, most of us respect our role in this responsibility by keeping our T’s undercover and try to prevent their destruction from the elements. Jim Patrick

[Humblej]

Did anybody go the auction open house yesterday?

[TWrenn]

What looks to be a '13 to me also looks to be almost too far gone. If they PAID ME to take it, maybe. It'd take $25K to revive it. And then most of it would be nothing more than a "re-pop kit car" anyway. So sad.

[TWrenn]

Holy cow...I just looked at the link of all the pics of all that MESS. Sacriligious as to how all that was left to rot and ruin. And theres so much junk piled together, scattered around, I don't see how any sane person can make any sense out of finding anything worth bidding on. Shame on the owner.

[Steve Jelf]

Scheduling this in the middle of February they gambled and lost. The forecast shows 8º Friday morning and an afternoon high of 15º. Worse than that are the road conditions. I don't find the prospect of driving to Douglass on ice the least bit alluring. Too bad. The pictures show a few things I might like to have, but they will have go to somebody braver than I am.

[John kuehn]

If a guy wants to restore a T from the ground up here’s the place to buy it. It’s a picture of what could have been. Hope the estate guys aren’t thinking they have a pile of gold waiting for them after they sell the cars. I think there are some cars that have potential but they will go the guy who really wants to restore one. Wrong time of the year to do this. Good luck.

[Duey_C]

Wow.
And some of that stuff was likely saved from the junkman back then.
3 horse Fairbanks-Morse? next to the upright bathtub.
There's a silage fork "head" in the fork pile.
There are some goodies there.
Very interesting.

[OilyBill]

The impression I got from watching the videos on the property (including one by a guy who videos old abandoned farmsteads) is that the owner was never very well organized. Also, he seems to have collected a lot of actual junk, rather than valuable junk that some people accumulate. I am willing to bet that both of those T's were well used up before they came to rest on his property. I think the new owners are going to find them being big projects with nearly every part worn out or broken.
As an example, I looked at the gun listing for the estate sale. There ARE some interesting guns in his collection, (which numbered in the hundreds in the gun list I looked through) but nearly ALL of them are missing parts, inoperative, damaged, or broken in some way. Out of all those guns, there were only a few I saw that were actually useable, after cleaning and checking for condition.) If he bought old cars the way he bought guns, then most of the stuff on that plot of land is just scrap metal. He seems to have been the guy at farm sales who buys the stuff that is left, after the decent stuff is sold, because it's really, really cheap.
I could be wrong. But I think if you watch all the videos, you will get a pretty clear picture of how he accumulated stuff.

[Humblej]

Is anyone going to attend? Did anyone go to the open house earlier in the week?

[NealW]

I'm thinking about going, since it's only half an hour from my house. However, it's only going to be 11 degrees at auction time, with a feels like temperature of -5 degrees due to the wind, so it will be realllllly cold. I haven't mentioned going to my wife yet either...

Model T Haven isn't that far from the auction site, and so I wonder if they will be there buying a bulk of the T stuff.

[Steve Jelf]

Model T Haven isn't that far from the auction site, and so I wonder if they will be there buying a bulk of the T stuff.

Depends on whether Mark wants to wrangle that giant trailer over the icy stretches in 110 miles of freezing road, then repeat in the other direction with a load. It scares me to think of it, but he may be braver than I am.

[NealW]

It was a balmy 7 degrees when I got to the auction a few minutes before it started. Normally we don't get this kind of cold in Kansas, but Kansans are a pretty hardy bunch. There were hundreds of people there. I suspect the large quantity of guns were the main draw, though a lot of interest in the cars. There were some T parts there, with a box of pre 15 gas headlights perhaps being the most valuable. I will post some T pictures next, but here are a couple of lonely Ts in the woods outside of the auction site.

[NealW]

I went because I am sort of looking for my next T project, and would like to do another brass T frame up restoration. Well, I wouldn't call the two brass Ts there even diamonds in the rough. The one labeled "14 runabout" had an engine serial from December 1914, so technically a 1915 model year. I don't know how much of the body is original. I tried cranking the engine, but it was frozen solid. The touring marked "1915" had a November 1915 engine, so it is a 1916 model year. It's engine was also frozen solid. Neither of these projects would be for the faint of heart.

The 21 touring was the only one that I could turn the engine with the crank, as much as you can on a very cold soaked T with who knows how old of oil in it.

runabout 1.jpg (93.11 KiB) Viewed 4277 times

[NealW]

Here are few more pictures showing a couple of the other T's. It is sad to see so many Ts in this shape.

While there I had a nice talk with Mark from Model T Haven. I wonder how many of these Ts will end up at his place.

[Humblej]

What did stuff go for?

[NealW]

They were still auctioning the guns when I left. Since I wasn't going to bid on anything, it was way too cold for me to stay to find out.

[ThreePedalTapDancer]

Nice to actually see people’s faces!

[StanHowe]

I would have liked to be there. I figured they would have a good crowd. I knew a couple people who were going.

Guns bring buyers.

Cold??? Sit in the pickup and stay warm until they get to what you are waiting for. Hope the other people that want your stuff leave.

Oil Field/Cowboy deal --- "Hired out tough, take more than this to send me to the house!"

We have people here who are calving out in the open. Last night it was 35-40 below in a lot of places in Montana.

[Steve Jelf]

Looks like the "18-23" is an early 1926, and the '"1922" is a 26-27. I wonder if the people who bought them know what they really are.

[NealW]

Model T Haven apprently picked up the 15 touring at the auction and has it listed on their site now. The engine serial matches the picture that I took at the auction:

https://vintagecarsandparts.com/cars-pr ... tegory/404

[Steve Jelf]

Well, it turns out that the 1915 is really a 1916. That's the last engine produced on Thursday, November 18, 1915, well into the 1916 model year. That explains the non-ribbed pedals. I wonder if Mark would trade that 1915 hood for the 1916 hood on my 1915.

[Ken Buhler]

I am amazed every time I see one of these collections and wonder how they can grow to that size in one's active years. Yet I find hope and inspiration that these cars and parts will continue to supply our hobbies.

[Skyler Kimball]

A little late, but here is a video of the auction showing the Model T's and other cars. I was blown away at what steep prices some were getting for almost no car! I thought that some would go for a few hundred, not a few thousands! Even the shoddy looking 14 that went for over 2k!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOzuzCkn-9E