John Welsh said:
Was the garage queen Mustang and the F250 the same owner as the Legacy?
Does the house/ neighborhood justify the expensive Ford's? You said "some dead guys junk.
Some auction houses will add additional items (with reserve) to either draw more people to the auction or try to get more eyes on the cars.
They're not gonna sell the high dollar Ford's w/o letting people start them. Make sure they let you start the low dollar Subaru also.
All vehicles were from the same owner. This was a single-source auction from one estate. There was some furniture with different lot number formats, so they were likely leftovers from Monday's auction.
I asked a couple folks for some back story on the estate. Short version: Guy was a retired taxidermist and had a 40,000 - head commercial chicken farm. He retired pretty old and sold the rest of the farm but kept the house. He bought the F250 and Mustang as his retirement presents. He then served a little bit of time in jail. Evidently the drunk neighbor broke into the house one night and the guy shot him. The shooting was deemed self defense, but the full-auto AR-15 he used to defend himself was a big federal no-no. Got out of jail, got cancer, died. His only living relative is a son who is in a home of some sort. Sounded like CP, Down's, Autism... something that. Something that prevented the son from being able to handle the job, so a lawyer was handling stuff. Titles for the truck and Mustang were held by the bank and it was all kosher and ready to be signed over. There was one bank person who had done all the necessary paperwork and you just went to the bank with the pink slip and they handled the rest there. The suby was free and clear because they had a notary ready for the buyer. All vehicles were on display, running, open for inspection with hoods up and trunks open.
You also have to have the full picture. This wasn't a big commercial auction. This was Jim-Bob-Joes's auction service in a barn. Food concessions were some local Amish folks with ham and bean soup and cornbread. The buyers were farmers, local gun stores, housewives hoping to score more Precious Moments figurines for their collection, Amish and Mennonite families bidding on tractors, and one old guy who seemed to be very interested in the lawn furniture.
On to the Suby. It had been washed and a new battery put in it. It was evidently his DD until he went to jail, at which point it was parked under a tree. All of the door jambs were covered in algae and the interior had a faint mildew smell, but not bad. My guess was that the tree droppings plugged up the drains for the sunroof. Overall, a spotless car otherwise. Zero rust that I could find anywhere. Rockers, fenders, crossmember, everything looked squeaky clean. Not a GT, but well-optioned. No backup camera, but leather. It was a sedan with an auto. KBB PP put it anywhere from $4200 ish up to $5800 ish. I opened with $2000 and bowed out when it got to $4800. It eventually sold for $7200. I guess Covid pricing is still a thing, even in rural farmland PA.
The truck was the real gem. A well-optioned 6.7L powerstroke, ext cab long bed, 4x4 with 50k miles. It went for $39k. The Mustang was kept in the garage and it was just what you would expect for a 1600-mile car. It went for $30k. (also an automatic)
I also bid on a model 760 Remington .308 with a Redfield scope that looked old enough to be one of the good ones. I was willing to go to $650 but it sold for $1000.
I ended up with a Craftsman 2-stroke leaf blower for $10 and that's all I got.
