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1940s Chevy Dealer re-opens to Auction off 500 Time Capsule Cars

Started by Drache, July 03, 2013, 09:22:28 AM

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Drache



Car collectors dream about finding a forgotten "new" classic car, discovered in a barn  or warehouse somewhere, covered in dust. This is that dream, only 500 times better....



A small-town Midwestern dealership in Pierce, Nebraska sold Chevrolets to local families  and first-time buyers for 50 years until it's husband and wife team finally closed their doors seventeen years ago. Since then, a staggering inventory of 500 surviving cars, new & used, have been stored away, undriven for decades. Some 50 cars "brand new" Chevrolets from the 1950s and 60s have less than 10 miles on the odometer.





Ray and Mildred Lambrecht are now in their 90s and have made what is described by their daughter Jeannie, as a "a difficult and painful" decision, to liquidate the dealership's massive inventory of 'survivor vehicles'. On September 28th and 29th, 2013, VanDerBrink Auctions will have the honor of selling this incredible, once in a lifetime collection of American automotive history.





Up for sale? A seemingly endless list of 1950′s, 60′s Impalas, TRi-Fives, Chevelles, including a  1956 Chevrolet Cameo Pickup and a 1963 Impala with less than 10 miles on the clock.







Lambrecht Chevrolet Company opened in 1946, at a time when cars sold for around $600 to $800. It was owned and operated by Ray and Mildred Lambrecht with just one employee, a mechanic. "My parents worked six days a week for 50 years, never taking one single day of vacation or one sick day," remembers their daughter Jeannie. "They worked hard and operated their business with honesty, integrity, and kindness, frequently lending a helping hand to others who were in need ...This was a small 'mom and pop' operation, and it stayed that way throughout the decades in business."



While all the new, unsold stock were stored away in the warehouses, many of the dealership's trade-ins were parked on the family farm outside of town which gradually grew into a massive collection. "There is a lot of history in that collection," explains Jeannie, who says her love of Chevrolets is in her DNA . "Dad can look at any of those vehicles today and tell you the story behind it. He remembers each used car and the former owner, like the 1928 Durant owned by Mom's uncle Louie."



"Unlike today, one special day in September of each year was the first opportunity for anyone to view the new car models for that year. New cars would be delivered in advance and then hidden away so that nobody could see them before Announcement Day. Early that morning, Dad would move one shiny new Chevrolet into the showroom. There would be balloons and banners, coffee and donuts, souvenirs, and lots of built-up excitement. Everyone in town would come to see the new car and truck models."























"When attending gatherings of friends and family, Dad would often turn to me and loudly ask the question, 'What is the finest car made?' I would shout, 'Chevrolet!!!!', and it would bring down the house. I didn't really know what was so funny, but I was happy to play my part."



Find details of the auction on the VanDerBrink website. See a quick video tour of the cars going up for auction at the end of summer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRFiSUH4gdQ

http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/07/02/1940s-chevy-dealer-re-opens-to-auction-off-500-time-capsule-cars/
Dart
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Extraordinaire

Ghoste


66FBCharger

'69 Charger R/T 440 4 speed T5, '70 Road Runner 440+6 4 speed, '73 'Cuda 340 4 speed, '66 Charger 383 Auto
SOLD!:'69 Charger R/T S.E. 440 4 speed 3.54 Dana rolling body

Ghoste

Although they should have picked one of the larger car auction houses for it.  ;)

GOTWING

this would make a great tv episode !  :2thumbs: shame they are not mopars !  :D

mAdMoPaR


Mopar Nut

"Dear God, my prayer for 2024 is a fat bank account and a thin body. Please don't mix these up like you did the last ten years."

Tilar

Dave  

God must love stupid people; He made so many.



cudaken

 While I am far from being a Bow Tie lover I would love to see what I could do with a buffer being a body man!

I bet Jay Leno will be there!

Cuda Ken
I am back

472 R/T SE

Quote from: Ghoste on July 03, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
Although they should have picked one of the larger car auction houses for it.  ;)


Auction house is the daughter & her husbands.

Ghoste


Aero426

Quote from: 472 R/T SE on July 03, 2013, 08:33:24 PM
Quote from: Ghoste on July 03, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
Although they should have picked one of the larger car auction houses for it.  ;)


Auction house is the daughter & her husbands.

The auction house (Vanderbrink Auctions) is not related to the family selling the cars.    Yvette Vanderbrink specializes in midwest estate and farm type auctions.    This one is getting a ton of publicity.  

chargerman69

Thats on real,  this is when chevy should step in and buy back them 50 cars and put them in there were house in detroit, thats what i was thinking to jay leno

nvrbdn

70 Dodge Charger 500
70 Duster (Moulin Rouge)
73 Challenger
50 Dodge Pilot House

Ghoste

GM already sold off a bunch of their historical collection trying to stay afloat.  It would be nice for them but I can't see them trying to acquire any of these cars. :Twocents:

TruckDriver

PETE

My Dad taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!" :P

472 R/T SE

Quote from: Aero426 on July 03, 2013, 10:11:52 PM
Quote from: 472 R/T SE on July 03, 2013, 08:33:24 PM
Quote from: Ghoste on July 03, 2013, 11:46:33 AM
Although they should have picked one of the larger car auction houses for it.  ;)


Auction house is the daughter & her husbands.

The auction house (Vanderbrink Auctions) is not related to the family selling the cars.    Yvette Vanderbrink specializes in midwest estate and farm type auctions.    This one is getting a ton of publicity.  

In the video the gal doing all the documenting mentions the auction house & then her husband opens the pass. door of one of rigs & she says there's my husband (Vanderbrink).

I read about this on another forum & one of the members' made it sound like the daughter was the one doing the videotaping.  

Oh well.   :-X  Sorry Ghoste, there's always someone waiting...watching... ;)

Ghoste

In all honesty, I wasn't even necessarily thinking of a specific one as much as a larger one. (although I am biased to a specific one :icon_smile_big:)

1BAD68

That inventory is crazy.
Can you imagine having one of these with only 3 miles on it?

Ghoste

It would be nice to see them cleaned up though, (I'm too lazy to check all of the links) because even if it is apples to oranges I still recall a zero Plymouth unearthed in Oklahoma not all that long ago.  :o

Aero426

Reading between the lines, the cars shown in the video are the plums from inside.   And they don't exactly look great.   I believe the majority of the cars from the "trade in" inventory is not going to be nearly as nice.   There are said to be a lot of cars stored outside.      We've only seen a small portion of what's available, and you can be sure they are showing us the best stuff. 

Ghoste

That's kind of what I was beginning to think about too.  My initial thoughts when seeing the story were about what an incredible find but I've gradually started to wonder if they are that nice overall.

Tilar

I wouldn't mind taking a couple days vacation and go watch it all unfold.   :scratchchin:
Dave  

God must love stupid people; He made so many.



Cooter

So they sat on these 'Time capsules' all through the 1980's-90's when they could have sold them for huge money, yet waited until the economy dropped out to sell them off? Hmmmm....

Still, someone just hit the lotto.
" I have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours researching what works and what doesn't and I'm willing to share"

Ghoste


DadsCharger00

I've posted the entire inventory list on the other link. I graduated high school with the guy who did the entire inventory list. He recorded all the VINS and miles for the cars. Aero your worries are legit. He said although a lot of the trade in cars that are sitting outside have very low miles, they HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE....for quite awhile. He said a lot of them are pretty rough. Nebraska has some interesting weather, and it knows how to eat a car.  If you guys need info on any of the cars let me know, and I can get ahold of him and ask if he can help.  This is an auction I will be going to.