An antique car auction road trip to remember

Road trip!

Nothing gets a car nut’s wheels churning like the thought of a jaunt across a hundred miles of Kansas two-lane blacktop, especially if it involves a couple of buddies who share the passion for old American iron.

And when I spotted the advertisement for a collector car/automobilia/petroliana auction in western Kansas, two names immediately sprang to mind.

Richard Crowson, who pens the Wichita Eagle’s Sunday cartoons, has been a longtime friend and colleague. I helped plunge him into the collector car world by slight of hand, telling him I had no idea where he could find a 1955 Plymouth like the one his parents drove back in Memphis when he was growing up, but I had a 1955 Buick I would consider selling him. He’s been hooked on original survivor cars ever since he met and fell in love with the car he calls Blue Bell, which now resides in his garage.

The other cohort I had in mind was Tim Potter, also a friend and an excellent reporter for The Eagle who has a thing for big GM survivor cars from the 1950s. He has moved from a ’54 Pontiac Chieftan to a ’58 Cadillac Sixty Special to a pair of massive ’59 Oldsmobiles, one a 98 Holiday Hardtop Sedan, the other a Super 88 Holiday Hardtop Sedan. With his trademark attention to detail, he has become something of an expert on those cars.

This trip would not involve a caravan of collector cars, but the three of us going to watch some amazing old cars sell. And that would be good enough.

We all swore an oath that we would not buy any cars ourselves; this would be for entertainment purposes only. But just in case we scored a neat old sign or collectible oil can, we would take my Subaru Baja trucklette, which has four doors and a rather small pickup bed in back.

I knew Tim would be fascinated by the gargantuan 1960 Oldsmobile Super 88 convertible in light metallic blue. And there were a couple of Plymouths on the auction bill, including a blue ’47 two-door, that should appeal to Richard.

They actually showed up a few minutes early (friends don’t keep friends waiting). And we were off.

We entertained ourselves talking about old cars, the upcoming election, our careers in journalism and family life during the drive to the F&E Collector Auto Auction presented by Carr Auction & Real Estate at the Great Bend Expo Complex. It’s located west of town, adjacent to the historic Sunflower Rod & Custom Association drag strip, where the first NHRA U.S. Nationals were staged in 1955.

Tim and I got bidder numbers; Richard held fast and passed, although there was a vintage Buick can in the proper blue color that would have looked great displayed next to Blue Bell. I eventually succumbed, though, and bought a heavy gizmo that I thought was a radio, but now am not so sure.

The big Olds convertible was bid up to $29,000, but that didn’t meet its reserve, so it was a no-sale. The ’47 Plymouth went for a little under $5,000.

But the one that made me wish I had brought a checkbook, or maybe two checkbooks, was a beautiful black 1940 Ford Standard Tudor Sedan. It was a mostly original car with a flathead V-8, 3-speed column shift, light brown mohair upholstery, red steel wheels and button hubcaps and just the right amount of pin striping. It showed a bit over 30,000 actual miles on its odometer.

When it sold for $14,400, I felt slightly ill. Kudos to the new owner.

We solved a few more of the world’s problems on the trip back to my place, where I showed the guys our latest early ’60s compact car, and then Richard and Tim headed for home. It was a near-perfect day for a trio of old car guys.

The only thing that would have made it better is if they had driven my Baja back from the auction, with me at the wheel of that ’40 Ford.

This story was originally published October 12, 2016 at 6:44 PM with the headline "An antique car auction road trip to remember."