Rough day at Barrett for 20 series

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scoobiedubes

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1957 FJ25 went for $42k, and one of the only other 4 FJ28s (mine included) went for only $62k. Not a whole lot more than I paid for mine as a project two years ago. I spent some time looking at it yesterday with the house of cruisers team, a great group of guys. Restorations aren’t perfect but i feel like based on what 40 series stuff goes for they should have both gone for triple. I really feel sick for them I know they spent a lot of time and money restoring those two. Just not the right bidders I guess. Mine I don’t plan to sell I hope the museum will take it on loan but obviously had I known I would have waited two years and just bought this one! I hope someone on mud bought them.

Just not enough people that appreciate these 20 series trucks I guess. Sad…


 
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1957 FJ25 went for $42k, and one of the only other 4 FJ28s (mine included) went for only $62k. Basically same I paid for mine as a project two years ago. I spent some time looking at it yesterday with the house of cruisers team, a great group of guys. Restorations aren’t perfect but i feel like based on what 40 series stuff goes for they should have both gone for triple. I really feel sick for them I know they spent a lot of time and money restoring those two. Just not the right bidders I guess. Mine I don’t plan to sell I hope the museum will take it on loan but obviously had I known I would have waited two years and just bought this one! I hope someone on mud bought them.

Just not enough people that appreciate these 20 series trucks I guess. Sad…


Did I read that right? You spent ~ $62k on an FJ28 project that needed a complete restoration?!? That 28 they built is bad ass, I love the upholstery work.
 
Agree all you have to do is look at the insane prices the bronchos brought yesterday. Although there are a few cruisers bringing decent prices it seems the market for cruisers today just isn’t there.
 
@scoobiedubes - Last year long bed pickups are fetching $120k and this year a super rare, not ULTRA rare 28 only fetches. $68k. That deserves a serious"wtf". Barrett is probably not the right place to sell super early Toyotas. The "no reserve" on everything is playing some serious Russian roulette. The rare Cruisers just get lost in the entire spectacle that is Barrett Jackson. A Sotheby's Monterey may be a better venue.
 
The classic car market follows other asset markets. As the housing market starts to cool (partially because the Fed is getting ready to raise interest rates at the meeting March ‘22) so will the other markets.

@scoobiedubes is that an original jack? I thought the original jack was suppose to be a RK30-91100 and have the screw on the opposite side of the crank?
 
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@scoobiedubes - Last year long bed pickups are fetching $120k and this year a super rare, not ULTRA rare 28 only fetches. $68k. That deserves a serious"wtf". Barrett is probably not the right place to sell super early Toyotas. The "no reserve" on everything is playing some serious Russian roulette. The rare Cruisers just get lost in the entire spectacle that is Barrett Jackson. A Sotheby's Monterey may be a better venue.
agree 100% on Barrett, the auctioneer made basically no mention of the fact that there are only 4 of these in the world he just basically said it was a 3 year restoration etc. I talked to the restorers yesterday at House of Cruisers and they said Barrett wouldn't put that info into the ad because "their team could not verify it". What? Thats just laziness. They run stuff across the stage so fast that it would be easy to miss it too. And I think they didn't really get a great time slot, Saturday morning the rich guys are all sleeping off their hangovers. It wasn't the perfect restoration, but I would say they did it 95% correct, certainly deserved far more than they got for it. I mean we are starting to see 45LV "projects" go for almost $30k, and that 1957 FJ25 went for $42k too. My heart really goes out to that restoration team, I can't imagine what they're feeling today after years of working on those trucks.

I agree that cruiser prices could not keep rising but there has to be special cases for the rarest of the rare I would think. But I think thats on the auction house, its their job to make sure bidders understand what something is and its rarity. I think those of us (myself included obviously) that love these early 20 series trucks and know how rare they are may have to just wake up and realize that there isn't the market for them that there is for the 40 series stuff. I'm going to finish my 28 and going to do the best I can on it, I'm just lucky I don't plan or need to ever sell it. For me its an opportunity to preserve Land Cruiser history and share it with the community. And yes I spent almost that much buying mine because I thought it would probably be the only one I'd ever see. Had I had a crystal ball of course I would have waited!
 
The classic car market follows other asset markets. As the housing market starts to cool (partially because the Fed is getting ready to raise interest rates at the meeting March ‘22) so will the other markets.

@scoobiedubes is that an original jack? I thought the original jack was suppose to be a RK30-91100 and have the screw on the opposite side of the crank?
I think this is part of it too, the past couple weeks in the stock market have been kinda frothy...

No that jack wasn't even close to the correct one. They'd have been better off not including any jack IMO. But I've seen a lot of other restorers do the same, putting a late model tool kit in an early model cruiser restoration. Us mudders are too nerdy :)
 
Finally in hotel looking at prices and other Land Cruisers, after further review, seem to have done ok. Agree, this could be in part due to no one knowing the significance/ rarity of this.

Amazing the amount of monies being thrown around there today. Most vehicles I have seen sold are well above 6 figures.
 
…this could be in part due to no one knowing the significance/ rarity of this.
That begs the question - who are the buyers at these things?
 
Damn good question, I have been once in LV just to watch and the spending was crazy then. I didn't go to buy but found my 79 Ford F150 on the first day which is for the cheap bastards like me. Each time I turned on the TV the spending blew away what I saw 2 years ago.
 
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For years I have said this will happen with Land Cruisers. People have no idea what is rare and what is not. Central American Cruisers have flooded the market and dropped the value. It will take time for collectors and auction companies to figure out which ones are truly collectible.
 
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For years I have said this will happen with Land Cruisers. People have no idea what is rare and what is not. Central American Cruisers have flooded the market and dropped the value. It will take time for collectors and auction companies to figure out which ones are truly collectible.
This is true. Also think part of the reason Broncos bringing so much money as they appeal to the muscle car guys vs. the Land Cruiser is a true off road machine. Sad that the sellers of those early Cruiser's didn't know better than to list their trucks at BJ. They are only for the high rollers and show off cars imo.
 

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