Historic collector car auction set

You can’t drive them all.
So sometimes you just have to let them go.
“We’re going to keep 12,” says Ron Stauffer, “but we’re selling 28 cars and trucks and 12 gas pumps I restored.”
“He’s run out of room,” jokes his wife Shirley.
The Stauffers, 7780 South U.S. 27, Portland, are planning the largest vehicle auction in Jay County history on Saturday, Sept. 11.
Stauffer, a retired New Holland dealer, has been interested in cars and trucks since he was a kid when he restored a 1935 Chevrolet pick-up then souped it up as a hot rod with a Hemi engine.
But he really caught the restoration bug when the Great American Race made its pit stop in Portland in 1996.
“He didn’t really start collecting cars until he retired,” says Shirley.
And when Ron does a restoration, it’s 100 percent complete.
“The biggest thrill to me is bringing it back to when it was new,” he says. “I’ll spend a thousand to 1,200 hours restoring a car. You take it all apart.”
He does his own mechanical, body, and painting work but relies on local upholsterer Rex Carpenter to help with the interiors and J&P Custom Plating in Portland for the chrome.
The results can make a car collector’s mouth water. A 1951 Ford convertible being offered was judged in national competition with a score of 997. That’s out of a potential 1,000 points.
Some of the vehicles to be auctioned are like that 1951 convertible, so pristine that they look as if they shouldn’t leave a showroom floor.
Others are what collectors refer to as “drivers,” restorations that can be enjoyed on the highway and at cruise-ins without diminishing their value.
“They won’t get nicer if you drive them,” says Stauffer.
Among the collector cars going on the block:
•A 1938 Ford Tudor Deluxe.
•A 1940 Ford Standard Coupe.
•A 1942 Ford Business Coupe Deluxe.
•A 1950 Ford Custom Sedan.
•A 1955 Ford Thunderbird.
•A 1938 Ford Firetruck.
•Ford panel trucks from 1941 and 1949.
“There are more Ford clubs and probably more restored Fords than anything else,” says Ron, though the auction includes other makes. It even includes that ’35 Chevy pick-up. “I’m selling the first truck I ever owned.”
He estimates that 80 percent of the vehicles being offered are “drivers,” while about 15 percent are in need of restoration work.
“You get to the point in life where you’ve got to think of the future,” Ron says of his decision to downsize the collection. But deciding which ones to sell was a problem. “I can’t answer that question. I don’t know. You get attached to them,” he says of the process. “They’re all my favorites. It’s like grandkids.”
The Stauffers are taking a somewhat unorthodox approach to the auction. There will be no reserve on any vehicle, which is unusual.
And while some auto auctioneers have taken to charging a buyer’s premium and charging admission to the sale, the Stauffer auction won’t go that route.
“I want to make this into a fun time,” says Ron.
The Arch Bridge Kroozers will have a cruise-in at the Stauffers’ garage compound on the night of Friday, Sept. 10, and the Kroozers will be serving food during the auction as a fund-raiser for community projects.
Ron tapped VanDerBrink Auctions LLC of Minnesota for the sale because of Yvette VanDerBrink’s familiarity with the collector car market and regional reputation.
“I’ve been to a couple of her auctions,” he says. “She’s a fireball, and she’s a car person.”[[In-content Ad]]