Inman sale featuring contents of vintage car museum tops $1.4M Motorheads from all over the country congregated in Allentown, Pa., on June 9-10 to bid on classic cars, motorcycles and specialty vehicles from the Blue Ridge Vintage Car Museum.
News-Antique.com - Nov 30,-0001 - ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Randy Inman Auctions’ Summer Sale, highlighted by vehicles, toys and petroliana from the Blue Ridge Vintage Car Museum of Stuart, Va., racked up $1.4 million on June 9-10 at the Allentown Fairgrounds Agri-Plex. Also within the 775 lots offered was the 150-piece Jim Grimwade collection of antique penny arcade machines, which included many rare examples.
Enthusiasts traveled from all over the country to scrutinize and bid on the classic cars, delivery vans, motorcycles and other vehicles from the Virginia museum. The auction’s top lot, a 1966 Corvette Stingray coupe with a 427-390 h.p., four-speed transmission, motored away for $55,000 (all prices quoted include a 10 percent buyer’s premium). Other leaders in the category included a 1932 five-window Cadillac coupe with a V-12 motor, $38,500; a 1933 Cadillac Presidential limousine that may have been used as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s motorcade, $28,600; and a 1929 Ford Coca-Cola delivery truck, complete with Coca-Cola nameplates on both the cab and the grille, and accompanied by company documentation, $23,100.
Chet Jones, a car collector from Ottsville, Pa., was thrilled to win the 1932 Ford roadster hot rod for $27,500. “I've always wanted to add a roadster to my collection,” said Jones, as he loaded the car onto a flatbed hauler, “and this is my first. I'm going to make this car my driving car; I'm not going to show her at car shows.”
In a growing trend, several prospective bidders brought their sons and daughters to the auction, introducing a new generation of collectors to the auction world. Todd Gunkel, a collector of vintage oil and gas memorabilia, brought his pre-teen daughter, Samantha, to Inman’s sale with hopes that one – or both – might leave with a prize or two. "I tend to look for signs that say 'Pennsylvania Motor Oil,'" said the elder Gunkel. "I was born in Pennsylvania, so I tend to stick to things that I like and remember. I was teaching my daughter how to spot the difference between tin gasoline signs and the porcelain ones, which are more valuable."
"A porcelain sign has thicker paint on it," Samantha Gunkel volunteered. "I like collecting Coca-Cola advertising and signs. It's really fun for me. I want to leave with at least one sign today."
Vintage coin-operated arcade machines, always one of Inman Auctions’ strong suits, held up once again. Among the units most in demand at the sale was a cast-iron Mickey Finn Tug of War. For a penny, the user can pull a rope to test his strength. The machine made a powerful impression at auction, selling for $49,500. Another strength tester, a Mutoscope Punch-A-Bag, which, as the name implies, incorporates a boxer's speed bag, was a knockout for $5,225. A 1928 restored Princess Doraldina gypsy fortune teller probably foresaw its winning bid of $17,600; and a Roover Bros. Donkey Wonder animated fortune teller, in which a spin of the donkey's wheel of fortune determines one’s fate, sold for $13,200.
