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

[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/

[Ghoste]

If that doesn't just leave your jaw hanging open.

[66FBCharger]

That is just awesome!

[Ghoste]

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

[GOTWING]

this would make a great tv episode !  shame they are not mopars ! 

[mAdMoPaR]

  All I can say is WOW!

[Mopar Nut]

That's a good story, thanks for posting.

[Tilar]

Wow! That is amazing. Thanks for posting that!

[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

[472 R/T SE]

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

Auction house is the daughter & her husbands.

[Ghoste]

That explains that then.

[Aero426]

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]

that is wild. how cool.

[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.

[TruckDriver]

I posted on this a while back...

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,102649.0.html

[472 R/T SE]

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.     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 )

[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. 

[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.   

[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.

[Ghoste]

We'll know for sure come the end of September.

[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.