Well the "train" went straight to Hell.
What a JOKE that was.
I knew it would be bad as I was watching some of the previous Fords come in, and go right back out unsold, but had no idea it would be as insulting as it ended up.
The auctioneers did their part. There was a good introduction, and build-up description of the car as it rolled across the block.
Bidding was opened at 30k.
No offers
It dropped to 25k.
No Bids.
20, nothing, 15, nothing, 10, nothing, and finally at 5k somebody offered a bid.
It made it up to 9k before I got back in the car, and drove it out the other end.
I shoulda known that in a area in middle Tennessee that the collective mentality was that if it didn't have a bowtie on it it, "weren't worth a thing". In a town 15 miles north of Finger, Tennesse, and 50 miles north of Buford Pusser's birthplace and museum, (Yeah I know, he's a real guy) that my chances of getting even remotely what I wanted, wasn't going to happen.
It was all I could do when it had to drop to 5k to get anything from the crowd to not get up on the podium and bitch the crowd out.
"Really! Do you really think that you can buy this car for 5,6, 7 even 9 grand? Why bother to bid? You people needed to stay home and mow your lawns instead of trying to come here to steal cars, cause your not stealing this one!"
That was the speech I had going on in my head on the way back home at least.
One of the staffers came up to offer me condolences, telling me that alot of cars weren't selling, including Chevrolets. I said back in a kind of sneer, "says something about your buyers don't you think"? "They ain't nobody got that much money in this part of the country" was his reply. Why was I here again?
I did get an offer of 18k before I rolled in, and that guy came back around after the car was done w/ it's time on the auction block. "What's the least you gotta have cash money for this car today?..he asked. 19k will buy it I said, And he said that he was gonna walk around and give it some thought.
He obviously thought against it.
I had another Man and his wife approach, and knowing what I wanted for it, look at it as an alternative to the 56 Chevy he really wanted to buy, but wouldn't give the 28k reserve the guy had put on it. I sabotaged the sale w/ his wife, when I told her that the car was not gonna ride like a big-assed 56 chevy, that it had manual steering and brakes, and that the back seat was an ornament, and not actually intended to be sat on. I watched them out of my windshield as I backed the car out of the building, his wife giving me a close eye, trying to gauge how much effort on my part was required to steer the car, as she had already decided that her husband (that had already suffered from an earlier heart attack) didn't need to strain himself trying to steer a manually steered car.
They took my name and number nonetheless.
I pulled into Tupelo MS. to pee, and when I come back out, there was this 7 toothed dude driving a Pontiac Aztek taking pictures of the car to beat hell. "Hey man! is this your car!" he asked as I was opening the door. "Yeah man, it's my car" I replied. "Do you mind if I take some interior pics,...Dude, this car is Awesome!!" "No, be my guest,... have at it." I said and opened the door wide. I told him I was in Jackson trying to sell the car, and he just about jumped off the ground. "Sell it ! How much you asking for it!" he exclaimed.
I told him 25k, because I figured what the hell he wasn't gonna buy it either. He comes back and says "That he couldn't buy it, ( as expected) but he was gonna go straight over to a friends house and show him these pictures and he would buy it if he liked what he saw." He took my number, let me know that he would label it "Mustang Mike" and that I should expect to hear from his friend very soon. I thanked him, and told him to have a nice day, and rolled on.
Later that night, (10:30 to be exact) I get a call from the Aztek dude, drunk. " Hey, is this the guy w/ the red mustang?" "Yes this is him", "Mustang Mike?"...." Yes,....Mustang Mike" "Well I just wanted to let you know that I showed your pictures to my friend, and he wanted me to find out where you lived?" Drunk Aztek slurred. "Birmingham" I replied. "Well, if he don't buy it, he has a whole mess of friends that maybe one of em will" he reassures me. I thanked him, we bid each a good night, and I went back to watching the TV.
So it's still here this morning. It gets 20.83 MPG going 73 MPH and manages to get pictures of it snapped by smiling little kids I pass in minivans.
I just gotta find a way to get the money I need to take care of what I need to do and keep the damn thing. Evidently, I'm the only one that thinks it's worth what it is truly worth.
What a JOKE that was.
I knew it would be bad as I was watching some of the previous Fords come in, and go right back out unsold, but had no idea it would be as insulting as it ended up.
The auctioneers did their part. There was a good introduction, and build-up description of the car as it rolled across the block.
Bidding was opened at 30k.
No offers
It dropped to 25k.
No Bids.
20, nothing, 15, nothing, 10, nothing, and finally at 5k somebody offered a bid.
It made it up to 9k before I got back in the car, and drove it out the other end.
I shoulda known that in a area in middle Tennessee that the collective mentality was that if it didn't have a bowtie on it it, "weren't worth a thing". In a town 15 miles north of Finger, Tennesse, and 50 miles north of Buford Pusser's birthplace and museum, (Yeah I know, he's a real guy) that my chances of getting even remotely what I wanted, wasn't going to happen.
It was all I could do when it had to drop to 5k to get anything from the crowd to not get up on the podium and bitch the crowd out.
"Really! Do you really think that you can buy this car for 5,6, 7 even 9 grand? Why bother to bid? You people needed to stay home and mow your lawns instead of trying to come here to steal cars, cause your not stealing this one!"
That was the speech I had going on in my head on the way back home at least.
One of the staffers came up to offer me condolences, telling me that alot of cars weren't selling, including Chevrolets. I said back in a kind of sneer, "says something about your buyers don't you think"? "They ain't nobody got that much money in this part of the country" was his reply. Why was I here again?
I did get an offer of 18k before I rolled in, and that guy came back around after the car was done w/ it's time on the auction block. "What's the least you gotta have cash money for this car today?..he asked. 19k will buy it I said, And he said that he was gonna walk around and give it some thought.
He obviously thought against it.
I had another Man and his wife approach, and knowing what I wanted for it, look at it as an alternative to the 56 Chevy he really wanted to buy, but wouldn't give the 28k reserve the guy had put on it. I sabotaged the sale w/ his wife, when I told her that the car was not gonna ride like a big-assed 56 chevy, that it had manual steering and brakes, and that the back seat was an ornament, and not actually intended to be sat on. I watched them out of my windshield as I backed the car out of the building, his wife giving me a close eye, trying to gauge how much effort on my part was required to steer the car, as she had already decided that her husband (that had already suffered from an earlier heart attack) didn't need to strain himself trying to steer a manually steered car.
They took my name and number nonetheless.
I pulled into Tupelo MS. to pee, and when I come back out, there was this 7 toothed dude driving a Pontiac Aztek taking pictures of the car to beat hell. "Hey man! is this your car!" he asked as I was opening the door. "Yeah man, it's my car" I replied. "Do you mind if I take some interior pics,...Dude, this car is Awesome!!" "No, be my guest,... have at it." I said and opened the door wide. I told him I was in Jackson trying to sell the car, and he just about jumped off the ground. "Sell it ! How much you asking for it!" he exclaimed.
I told him 25k, because I figured what the hell he wasn't gonna buy it either. He comes back and says "That he couldn't buy it, ( as expected) but he was gonna go straight over to a friends house and show him these pictures and he would buy it if he liked what he saw." He took my number, let me know that he would label it "Mustang Mike" and that I should expect to hear from his friend very soon. I thanked him, and told him to have a nice day, and rolled on.
Later that night, (10:30 to be exact) I get a call from the Aztek dude, drunk. " Hey, is this the guy w/ the red mustang?" "Yes this is him", "Mustang Mike?"...." Yes,....Mustang Mike" "Well I just wanted to let you know that I showed your pictures to my friend, and he wanted me to find out where you lived?" Drunk Aztek slurred. "Birmingham" I replied. "Well, if he don't buy it, he has a whole mess of friends that maybe one of em will" he reassures me. I thanked him, we bid each a good night, and I went back to watching the TV.
So it's still here this morning. It gets 20.83 MPG going 73 MPH and manages to get pictures of it snapped by smiling little kids I pass in minivans.
I just gotta find a way to get the money I need to take care of what I need to do and keep the damn thing. Evidently, I'm the only one that thinks it's worth what it is truly worth.