Re: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBay

["RLS" <obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Again, I suspect that the buyer and his competitive bidder(s) for this car gave not a wit to the marketing hype submitted by the auction company in the presentation of this automobile.

The interest to me in posting the auction results to out listsrv, was that at least 2 bidders were eagerly bidding to pay some 175,000.00 for a 1955 C 300 sedan.  I suspect but have no evidence to back up my assumption that this is world record money for ANY Chrysler 300(and likely most  any 1950's generation automobiles of any American make) that did not have the supposed theoretical advantage of having a soft top that goes up and goes down on command.  This could be and early indication that their is a well hidden but rising interest in these ground breaking cars that have always remained somewhat in the shadow of the far more common and uninteresting(to some) Chevy's and Fords.

Anyone who might believe that these bidders were willing to bid this amount of money merely because they were taken in by the claim that this car MAY have been built by Chrysler as a car that was deigned to be a race car would likely be so dumb as never been able to accumulate the monies to pay for such a purchase.

If anyone would like a bit more evidence that this had zero effect on the price paid, I suggest that you might examine the price paid for the other C 300 that was sold at this same auction.  With auction fees the price of this number 3 auto came in at close to 150,000.00.  I believe that the Tango red car sold at the price that it did, not because of marketing hype about a fanciful racing pedigree(in fact this was never claimed) but because it was an superb restoration of a C 300, and it would appear that at least two bidders were smitten enough of the beauty of this car to pay for that and nothing else.

The real news is that a 1950's American sedan sold for this kind of dough (likely in the cool morning of a future dawn, a purchase that will be likely regretted), not that an auction company describes one of their offerings with a slight bit of advertising hyperbole(he among us without this sin, is permitted to cast the first stone). If anyone really has any complaints I suggest that they be taken up with RM Auctions instead of as platform to cast aspersion at 300 owners who might wish to modify their cars for their own personal enjoyment(or possibly safety, replacing the rather miserable drum brakes with disc brakes, or replacing non Dot tires with radial tires, or heaven forbid adding seat belts to a car that never came so equipped).

As an aside, it would likely take less than 5,000.00 to return this car to its so called factory vin plate status if some future owner should desire to do so.  So with that knowledge perhaps we can all sleep a bit easier that we've not seen one of our prized 300's irredeemably lost to posterity.

Roger Schaaf
300 B, Calyfornua


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: christopher beilby 
  To: Owen Grigg ; 'Dan Elliott' ; lettercars@xxxxxxx ; obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx ; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; c300@xxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 5:19 PM
  Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBay



  As long as the Club, and/or others keep records of what is known, be it race history, special factory orders, even down to if the Club knows a car was built up from non 300 parts, then over time, like the Shelby AC Cobra Register, those who care for owning what is authentic, over what is 'b/s', then there will be a means to.

  And re the just sold '55 300, anyone who knows a bit about serious race cars, you would think alarm bells would ring if someone tries to tell you a supposed race car was ordered with full options such as a heavy power seat?! Anyone who knows anything re racing, knows less weight and power driven accessories is top of list re building any race car, and power seats in 300s are pretty damn heavy, let alone on some models, need a different floor where they mount?!!

  Maybe if the car was one hurriedly bought from a used car lot, but I don't think our '55 300 sellers were that creative re their listing for this one??!
  What is suprising, is that in current economic 'sort of meltdown', that many cars are still strong - maybe people believe true collecxtor cars are better than paper or gold?

  Christopher's two bob's worth

  To: us@xxxxxxxxxx; lettercars@xxxxxxx; obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; c300@xxxxxxxxxxx: ram300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:12:05 +1200Subject: RE: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBay

  I'd just like to say a couple of things here, firstly how much I appreciateboth Dan and Gil's work to bring us factual history on early 300 racing.Secondly I get the impression that some do not put any, or very little,value on a cars history and having that history documented as correct. Wellmaybe you should take a look at what makes the 300's the legend they aretoday. It was the Kiekhaefer's, the Flock brothers, the Frank Mundy's, theBuck Bakers, Daytona etc...If we keep getting idiotic claims on particular cars race history and thisgets passed on down to future generations this in turn will distort thepedigree of the whole 300 breed. They are special lets keep them that way.No documentation, no cigar.Owen-----Original Message-----From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] OnBehalf Of Dan ElliottSent: Friday, 26 September 2008 12:13 a.m.To: lettercars@xxxxxxx; obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;c300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx: RE: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBayAmen, Gil. Some of us have worked too hard on the real race history behindthe 55-56 300'sto have the truth as we've reasonably been able to put it together simplywashedaway in this kind of auction setting. The irony here is that one of theimportant playersin RM auctions was the purchaser of the only remaining Kiekhaefer 300B fromthe Kiekhaeferestate. I presume he had nothing to do with the auction mentioned here.Dan Elliottwww.300B.info-----Original Message-----From: Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]OnBehalf Of lettercars@xxxxxxxxxxx: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 8:51 AMTo: obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx; chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; c300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Re: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBayAll:The more expensive of the two C300s, 3N55 2283 ($181,500 worth!) MUST becommented on. Almost everything stated about the car, except the fact itis alegitimate C300 and of fine quality, is untrue. It started out its life asaPlatinum car, equipped with power steering, radio with rear speaker, aheater, and a power seat. Certainly it had a clock, as they were standard.Thestatement about being equipped with steel wheels---ostensibly for"racing"----rather than the more common wires is idiotic. Actually, thegreat majority ofC300s were equipped with the standard steel wheels and wheel covers. Thecar was delivered thru a dealer in that "hotbed" of NASCAR, Kansas. (AtleastRM said the NASCAR connection couldn't be confirmed with certainty.) Nokidding.Apparently this car was "restored" to kind of mechanically duplicate C300s#1 or #2 which competed at Daytona. Neither of those cars were red.I think this is a great example of developing a "story" on a car thatgradually morphs into the "truth" if repeated enough times. Evidentlysomeonethought the story was worth 180 or so thousand bucks---or at least ifrepeated afew more times----would be. Personally, I have no use for this nonsense.300ly, Gil CunninghamTallahassee, FLA perfect day here today!In a message dated 9/16/2008 11:19:02 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,obiwan10@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:For those who may have missed the results of the RM Astor auction a fewweeks ago, check out the sale results on the pair of C 300's that sold.The moreexpensive one was a strong number 2 plus maybe even 1 car, the lessexpensive one was a strong number 3. All opinions of course aresubjective.http://www.rmauctions.com/AuctionResults.cfm?SaleCode=AA08&SortBy=AL&View=Normal&Category=Cars&Currency=#Roger Schaaf----- Original Message -----From: RLSTo: chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ; Rich BarberSent: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 7:48 PMSubject: Re: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBayI was the 2nd place 34 k bidder. As some wag once said: "2nd place is thefirst loser". If I knew more about it I may have bid a bit more.Roger Schaaf----- Original Message -----From: Rich BarberTo: chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Tuesday, September 16, 2008 4:53 PMSubject: [Chrysler300] 1955 C-300 Sold on eBaySomeone got a pretty nice C-300 on eBay for $35K. A last minute bid. Notour bid or car.See:http://offer.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=250291821587C-300'ly,Rich BarberBrentwood, CA1955 Chrysler C-300 (Hard to put a value on these puppies)[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]------------------------------------To send a message to this group, send an email to:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx list server instructions, go tohttp://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htmFor archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/Yahoo! GroupsLinks**************Looking for simple solutions to your real-life financialchallenges? Check out WalletPop for the latest news and information, tipsandcalculators. (http://www.walletpop.com/?NCID=emlcntuswall00000001)[Non-text portions of this message have been removed][Non-text portions of this message have been removed]------------------------------------To send a message to this group, send an email to:Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx list server instructions, go tohttp://www.chrysler300club.com/yahoolist/inst.htmFor archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/Yahoo! GroupsLinks 

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