Warbird Information Exchange

I was baffled by that as well. I own a 1944 Willys MB and I couldn't imagine any normal 42-45 GPW Jeep, no matter how well restored, being worth that much.
With all auctions, there's always the chance of someone who wants something so bad and they don't care how much it cost. High end car auctions often bear this out. And there's always the chance for a bidding war, where neither bidder wants to lose to the other. Clearly, auction houses hope that either will happen.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

One of Ike's Jeeps is still around. It is held by a collector North of London:
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/eisenhowe ... 1605076060

The GPW went for 37k not 68k. Still pretty funny. What shocked me more than that was the fake M16 halftrack that went for 170k. When you add in the fees it was right at 200k. Anybody that needs one contact me I can give you a better deal than that.

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Always looking for WW2 Half-Tracks and Parts.

Great link thanks for sharing, there is another Ike Jeep on Malta

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We assist private collectors and museums to enhance their collections in the pursuit of the conservation and preservation of military history.
http://www.milmart_militaria.net

Still a nutty price for one. The only Jeep I can think of that could be worth that much to me would be this one: http://jeepdraw.com/VIXEN_TOR.html
Cartoonist Bill Mauldin was issued a Jeep to him personally. There are plenty of photos of it but he left it in Italy when he went to France and never saw it again. I'd give almost anything just to know what ever happened to it. The idea that it's still around somewhere is an amazing dream for me... Now THAT Jeep I'd throw down some serious coin for!

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

I hope the CF and FHC are able to get this resolved amicably. It seems there is some disagreement about the sale of the Pzkw IV.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/P ... 749592.php

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Interesting link thanks for sharing


I wish them good luck with that, other than the Golan Heights / Syrian Pz Kpfw IV they're not a easily sourced vehicle

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We assist private collectors and museums to enhance their collections in the pursuit of the conservation and preservation of military history.
http://www.milmart_militaria.net

Great integrity...

I will honor the contract we entered into only once we source a replacement tank for the tank we insisted on selling and one you have already given us 2.5million for. Oh by the way we are going to hold onto that as well for the time being.

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Tyler Pinkerton
Active Member of Air Heritage Inc. of Beaver Falls, PA.
Aircraft: C47B, C-123K, Fairchild F-24, Funk Model B, L-21B, T-28B, T-34B
Static: F-4C Phantom II, F-15A, T-3 Provost

I don't know how it works on the side ot the ponds, but here if you give mission to an intermediary to sold something to you, it's a bit late to remove the thing from the sales AFTER it was sold.

Looks the auctioners company didn't understand well what the Colling Foundation wanted..

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Sorry for my bad English:-(

Auctioneers drop the ball sometimes. My sister attended a liquidation of a Bank that went under in the 1980s. There were some paintings there that had hung in the lobby and president's office she knew about. Being an interior designer ,she knew what they were worth and she got them for about $600, apiece. When she took her ticket to pick them up the next day, they were gone. They had been picked up already by an unknown person. It was a big "Oops" and they thought she would let it go. He claimed he had been the winning bidder and they were his, offering to pay nothing to her. SHe hired an attorney and it cost her a couple thousand dollars in legal fees to get them back. They were appraised at $16,000 and $20,000 each.
IN the Littlefield case, the auctioneer is hired to sell/ disperse these items, someone came after the fact and made a $2.5 million dollar offer, which is not an insignificant amount. Did the auction company have the authority to sell it at that point? Is $2.5 million a valid offer or is it worth, say, $100 million? Was it even supposed to be auctioned, or was that another mistake? Not everything on the premises, say the lawnmowers, are meant to be sold. SO this is where they have to sort this out.
The german tank is such a valuable item, it can't have been unclear what the seller wanted to do with it, and at what sales price.

Auction law varies from state to state. I am not familiar with California Auction Law. A sale typically ends when an auctioneer says it ends, and that can be days, weeks, years from the date of sale unless otherwise regulated by statute. I'm not going to speculate on what went on here, but based on my experience in the auction industry, in similar circumstances, I will say that it is going to be a long drawn-out, expensive fight if they can't resolve it outside of court.

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!

Quickly perusing the CA code (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displ ... 0-1812.609), it doesn't appear that there is anything establishing the duration of the auction. However, 1812.607 says that all terms must be in writing and they must have a signed contract with those terms specified prior to any auction or sale of items, so now that the lawsuit is filed, I'd expect to see the primary item of evidence to be that contract. If it either a) doesn't state anything about accepting bids after the end of the auction day or b) says that they can only be accepted with permission of the Collings Foundation and Auctions America cannot produce such permission, then Auctions America will be 100% at fault and it'll be on them for accepting that money from Allen and creating a false contract.

Easiest way to settle it is for Paul Allen to buy the Collins Foundation.

I think a tank duel at dawn would would be more fitting.

The tank was apparently sold after the auction as it didn't meet reserve.

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