Al Capone's Armored V8 Cadillac Crosses The Block For $310,000

[GMfan1111]

Al Capone's Armored V8 Cadillac Crosses The Block For $310,000
Capone Cadillac Steals Show But Comes Up Short On Selling Price
www.gminsidenews.com
July 28th, 2012
By: Carl Malek

Al Capone's 1928 Armored Cadillac was a hot discussion topic among the bidders at RM's St. John Motor Auction earlier today. However, despite its place in American history and its unique connection to one of Americas most notorious and iconic gangsters. This special vehicle only achieved a modest $310,000 price tag when the gavel eventually dropped on its sale. While this final amount is in the lower end of RM's $300,000 to $500,000 presale estimate, it failed to meet the bold predictions of some in the auction world who thought the car would surpass the $500,000 barrier with the recent discovery of new information pertaining to its status after it left Capones ownership.

Still its showing here at St Johns was better than its last appearance on the block at the 2010 RM Monterey sale where it ended up as a no sale vehicle despite a $355,000 bid. Overall the new owner of this car got a great bargain on a piece of American history, and this special Cadillac should serve as a key part of his or her collection.

High Resolution Gallery

[sfbreh]

Jesus. $300k IS low, considering what we're talking about.

[SeetheUSA]

That car belongs in a museum! Where is SuperJay Leno on this one?

[osbornk]

The tough economy is dropping prices on everything.

[Quixote88]

The headline is wrong... The car met the auction house's $300k-$500k estimate, albeit on the lower end... Just because a few overly optimistic speculators believed it could cross the half million dollar mark, it does not mean that was the consensus...

You won't find too many folks who work within the hobby who would be too surprised that the car sold at the lower end of estimates. The reason? The car did not sell at auction 2 years ago when the auction stopped at $355k. Auction houses will do all they can do to facilitate a sale. It is very likely that the auction house at the time tried to negotiate a sale between the seller and the two or three most active bidders. The seller probably wanted too much. This has a tendency to drive off potential buyers in future sales... It happens quite often... And the bidder pool for a vehicle like this Cadillac is already relatively small.

[GMfan1111]

The headline is wrong... The car met the auction house's $300k-$500k estimate, albeit on the lower end... Just because a few overly optimistic speculators believed it could cross the half million dollar mark, it does not mean that was the consensus...

You won't find too many folks who work within the hobby who would be too surprised that the car sold at the lower end of estimates. The reason? The car did not sell at auction 2 years ago when the auction stopped at $355k. Auction houses will do all they can do to facilitate a sale. It is very likely that the auction house at the time tried to negotiate a sale between the seller and the two or three most active bidders. The seller probably wanted too much. This has a tendency to drive off potential buyers in future sales... It happens quite often... And the bidder pool for a vehicle like this Cadillac is already relatively small.

Thanx for the input Quixote, (the headline will be tweaked) and I also do agree with you on the market for this car. It is a niche item when compared to some of the vehicles out there that will attract a wider majority of buyers but it was still a beautiful car to see and the restoration work on it was quite good.

[GMfan1111]

The tough economy is dropping prices on everything.

Indeed, there was a rare Dusenberg at the auction as well that went for $850,000. Personally I thought it would get at least $900,000 but with the way the economy is at the moment the fore mentioned hammer price is still a pretty good amount.

[Quixote88]

Thanx for the input Quixote, (the headline will be tweaked) and I also do agree with you on the market for this car. It is a niche item when compared to some of the vehicles out there that will attract a wider majority of buyers but it was still a beautiful car to see and the restoration work on it was quite good.

Wish I was there!!! It looked like a great auction!! I'm not scheduled to attend a major event for a while, but most of the time I pay close attention to what's going on in the hobby...