JFK Pontiac ambulance up for auction

From the letter that Brady received from Tom Gibson:

Brady D Smith said:

My belief is that the brass plaque was removed from the car before its crushing, and by some strange twist wound up with the B-J car. People save all kinds of souvenirs, and I would have done it if I'd been there.
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This may have been mentioned before, but it is a valid concern, especially considering that the brass data plate on the BJ car is quite bent up. Surprising to see that on such an "untouched" car. There are data plates on trashed junkyard cars with fewer bends in them.
 
If ANYBODY still has the brass plaque from the ambulance that was crushed in 1986, it has to be the Kennedy Library. What better proof the job was done, in concert with the photos? It is, after all, not the sort of archive that would want or have reason to possess more than one build plaque! It may actually surface if this controversy continues post-sale, which it will of course!
 
Something that concerns me is this club keeps pointing to the fact that the Kennedy Library crushed A car...we don't have the numbers of that car just the KENNEDY library saying they crushed the correct ambulance. With the Kennedy family history of honesty (Bootlegging, Chappaquiddick, Marilyn Monroe, Kennedy's Florida Compound rape, Bobbie and Jackie affair, etc...) I have concern trusting anything that is provided by this group that does not have number matching documents. I don't mean to bash one of America's most powerful families...it just doesn't look right.
 
In its 7:30 sign-on to B-J's Scottsdale coverage, Speed's announcer dubbed the ambulance "The Big Question Mark," and speculated the sale price could go to the moon or into the hole. It's now obvious the bidders will make the ultimate call as to which evidence seems the most persuasive. Can't wait to see this drama reach its climax live, most likely within the hour. How did we manage with just three networks and no webcasts in the old days?
 
I was actually suprised that they brought out the letter and the pics from the Kennedy Library. Well, it's gone now and for ALOT less than what they had anticipated.
 
Amazing. $120,000. At least they a) showed the documentation, including the Kennedy Library letter and the photos, and b) qualified the heck out of it so that the only thing they could "guarantee" is that the numbers match.

Over indeed.
 
Who else heard the announcer say, in response to the email question about the side curtains, that if he would have seen what the car looked like when Dr. Jensen found it in a junk yard in Kansas he'd understand why the curtains were not there?

What happened to original unrestored?

Who bought it?
 
Right before the auction started, the television announcer said that it was in poor shape when the Dr. got it out of a Kansas junk yard. In the taped interview, the Dr. said that he purchased it from a California car collector. Seems that the story keeps changing right up to the auction. I also noticed that the spotlight had a California steady red, and also had a knob on the back side of it. I have never seen a remote control spotlight with a knob on the rear. The only spotlights that I know of that have a knob on the rear is the Unity deck lights.
 
Kevin M. Parkinson said:
Who else heard the announcer say, in response to the email question about the side curtains, that if he would have seen what the car looked like when Dr. Jensen found it in a junk yard in Kansas he'd understand why the curtains were not there?

What happened to original unrestored?

Who bought it?
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That's correct Paul, I heard that somewhere also
 
The 14 minutes - 8:18 to 8:32 PM by my bedroom clock - this rig spent on Barrett-Jackson's block are the most remarkable I've ever observed at ANY auction after 15 years covering them professionally. The pre-sale trotting out of all those evidence boards - containing everything from the paperwork supporting B-J's case to the refuting scrappage photos from the Kennedy Library - was absolutely unprecedented, emphasizing in no uncertain terms "you're buying the mystery," as Company President Steve Davis told the crowd and the world watching at home. I thought it no less intriguing that B-J CEO Craig Jackson demonstated confidence in the lot by pointing out how the purported Buddy Holly car was pulled from this last year's sale, but not this ambulance. The $120,000 sum paid sans buyer's premium and tax suggests the purchaser could be someone who runs a car museum, casino or tourist attraction where he or she has a good shot at recouping the 400%-or-so premium paid over a 1963 Superior Pontiac ambulance WITHOUT any history potentially attached to it; a wise buy, arguably, if ironclad documentary evidence had allowed a 4,000 or 5,000 % premium. As for B-J, this was the probably the hardest 12 grand they've ever earned in their entire 40-year history.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
Right before the auction started, the television announcer said that it was in poor shape when the Dr. got it out of a Kansas junk yard. In the taped interview, the Dr. said that he purchased it from a California car collector. Seems that the story keeps changing right up to the auction. I also noticed that the spotlight had a California steady red, and also had a knob on the back side of it. I have never seen a remote control spotlight with a knob on the rear. The only spotlights that I know of that have a knob on the rear is the Unity deck lights.
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Good point Paul, I noticed that as well. I have to say the PCS stood up and I believe it had a major impact on the price of this car. At least B-J pointed out there were documents stating it was the ambulance while others said it was not. I feel slighted that Steve said there are clubs out there who are into these types of vehicles closing with, "If you like that sort of thing". Screw him. The world does not revolve around hot rods and Mustangs.

Great job. I have the auction on two sections of vid and will load when I get a chance.
 
Kevin M. Parkinson said:
Who else heard the announcer say, in response to the email question about the side curtains, that if he would have seen what the car looked like when Dr. Jensen found it in a junk yard in Kansas he'd understand why the curtains were not there?

What happened to original unrestored?

Who bought it?
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I heard that also. He made it sound like the "Doctor" had restored the car. He opairently got confused about the junk yard pic.

Steve obviously knows about the PCS, he could have at least said the Professional Car Society instead of just a large groupe of people or collecters or what ever he said. And yeah, I liked how he said if your in to that sort of thing.

Josh
 
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http://community.barrett-jackson.co...d-to-2010-World-s-Most-Ethical-Companies-List


^^^^ I don't know how B-J can make that list based on the garbage I just saw on TV.

That car should have been pulled just like they did for the others that were in question. The cosigner used hype to jack the price up on an otherwise regular collector coach.

I knew the brass plate was jacked up, but it looked even worse on TV than in the pictures. You can tell it was transplanted.
 
I love the disappointed look on the doctors face when it sold for $120,000.
That was classic. You know he was expecting way way more than that.

Sucker! Thats all I have to say.
 
Casey Lockhart said:
I love the disappointed look on the doctors face when it sold for $120,000.
That was classic. You know he was expecting way way more than that.

Sucker! Thats all I have to say.
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Let's add it all up. A week away from his practice = 0 income. Airline tickets, transportation of the car from KS to AZ. Hotel / food / rental car, plus the what he paid for the ambulance. Fixes / repairs, and research time and related costs. This was not a good return on investment.
 
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Robert Shepard said:
Let's add it all up. A week away from his practice = 0 income. Transportation of the car from KS to AZ. Hotel / food / rental car, plus the what he paid for the ambulance, fixes / repairs, and research time and related costs. This was not a good return on investment.
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Thats why the look on his face made me smile!
 
Casey Lockhart said:
I love the disappointed look on the doctors face when it sold for $120,000.
That was classic. You know he was expecting way way more than that.

Sucker! Thats all I have to say.
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I'm guessing the doctor walked away with north of $80,000 profit, IMHO. Could have been more, but nothing to sneeze at in todays economy either.

$120K sounds like a good buy to me, given the uncertainty of the car. Depending on what the buyer does with it, seems like it wouldn't be too hard to recoup that investment. I mean, at worst it's an exact enough replica that it had all of us guessing for a month.
 
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