Ebay Watch: 1951 Crosley Station Wagon

I've been watching this car (listed as  'Crowley'?!) not sell via Craigslist for just about a year now - I don't know whether the owner finally managed to move it or if he's consigned it with this seller.  We'll see if Ebay improves its options.

I think it was listed for about $9-10,000 when I first saw the ads, and then slowly dropped into more reasonable - but still what I would call 'optimistic' - territory at $7000.  It was nice enough that I actually made a trip to Monterey to check it out when I went to Laguna Seca last summer.

The car looks pretty nice in pics, and that blue is one of my favorite stock Crosley colors, so I figured I'd look at it in person and see how flexible the seller was on the price. The owner was a cool car guy named John who lived in an amazing garden-ringed house. His garages (two!) were full of great vintage iron including a Jaguar and an Indian motorcycle.

Unfortunately the Crosley turned out to have a lot of  imperfections that I thought shouldn't have been there at that asking price: the paint is badly dinged in spots, and sloppy where the white top transitions to the blue; the dash paint seemed funky; the carpet looks really cheap - cheaper than the stock rubber mats would have been; the headliner is saggy/sloppy; taillights are wrong; no windshield wipers; the window rubber is pretty tired, and the fit of the panels left something to be desired.

None of that was awful, except that I was looking at a $7000 Crosley.  That's close to top dollar for a Crosley wagon, unless it's loaded with options and Best of Show trophies.  At the time I looked at it I figured it was a $4500 car, maybe $5000 if somebody REALLY wanted it.  Ironically enough, it had sold for around $5K a year or so before - with a trailer - through an ad in the Crosley Auto Club magazine.

I'm curious to see what it brings on Ebay.  The car does look nice in pictures, and on the good side, the upholstery looks almost new, the glass is good and the bumpers and body are pretty straight.  And, kudos to the Ebay seller for showing detail shots of the imperfections - you can see how they earned their 100% positive feedback rating.

Reserve is not met at $5000 with one bid, with just under two days left on the auction.  I hope they're not holding their breath on the $13,500 Buy it Now.. this car might end up selling for $13,500 someday, just probably not in this decade.  I'll be curious to see how the auction ends up.