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What one of the old Cadillac guys that knows said was he's very sick and his son is liquidating his estate. Apparently well known in those circles too. The auction house says this is #1 of 3 auctions. So parts may come later.
I've been fascinated on how this unraveled. Start off without much info, not advertised, and finally we've got some. I looked at some prices and many aren't even at the $100 starting bid or just at it. That'll change on the "hot" cars in the last minutes, when the rubber hits the road. The culls will sit.
I would think they might have entertained "buy outs" but maybe they already did and had little interest. If it doesn't raise the expected amounts, I'm afraid the scrap man might cometh to pay the auction house. And for $120, even a fender is worth that much, but the logistics of dealing with this are much more involved. One guy said he tried to buy a Cad years ago, and they could not get the cars moved in the way to get to it, so deal fell.
Ain't over til it's over.

Roger thank you for the detailed background on Lou Abelove. I can certainly appreciate his passion for collecting cars that spoke to him. He sounds like a great guy and I hope folks like Ross and others continue his legacy of saving these great cars for future enthusiasts to enjoy.

All the best, Robert.

I got interested in old cars about the time I got interested in cars in general. And girls. And things that cost money. Of course, I was 12, more or less, and the whole shooting match was basically made of Unobtanium.


I'd get stuffed in the back seat and we'd head out of town to visit my grandparents. Of course, granddad had half a dozen pre-war cars and drove a 22nd series daily and had a 23rd for his Sunday car. We would go out of town through the old part, and I also liked the old warehouses down there. I imagined getting one and loading it up with antiques cars and other loot.


This Abelove collection has brought back this amusing memory for me, right down to the old wooden floors. I had the chance to work on an old building like that, and to study the structure. Massive wooden columns and beams. Three by fourteens on 12" centers with two by 8 t&g flooring. The sign on the wall said it was rated at 100 pounds/square foot load. Three stories, too. Probably not enough for a lot of cars, but it would have likely held quite a few regardless. I have never seen wood like that available today. Hell, the wood today isn't worth toothpicks.


Makes one wonder . . . .

I've been told that one of the buildings housing the Abelove collection was a former Willoughby (coachbuilders) facility. Willoughby perhaps best known for their towncar and limousine coachwork on Lincoln chassis and to a lesser extent Rolls Royce.

coachbuilt.com/bui/w/willoughby/willoughby.htm

I'm glad to see someone wants the flower car with the 160 doors on it. I won't contact the owners of the fakes I know of.

NOT the Willoughby buiding. That building does exist, on Broad st, with no remaining evidence of its history.

DAF, Native Utican.

As I also had interest in '30s and '40s Cads (was once a member of Cad/LaSalle club and CCC and owned a '47 60-S) I did also wish to look at what I recollect was a '46 or '47 model 61 (fastback) sedan, one car I'd still like to own. I can't recall now if there actually was one, but even if so, most of the cars there would not be movable without moving all the cars in front of it. Frankly the experience was so overwhelming it's hard to recollect all that we saw that day. The abiding memory I still take away was the kindness of Mr. Abelove to spend time with us, with his no doubt busy schedule (it was a weekday), and I do recall him saying that it was a pleasure to do be able to get away a bit from his usual routine.

The downtown high-rise building had it's 1st floor jammed with cars mostly, and a huge pile of wheel covers and hubcaps, as well as other stuff. The couple of floors above were filled of boxes and loose parts, I beleive the topmost floor was empty. I think that building was where I had seen a '55 Olds convert, but iirc the one that I saw was a Starfire, not the 88 listed. Perhaps that building will be auctioned later. I wish it had been 10 years ago, as I'd had '56 and '57 S-88 converts, but never a '55 and never a 98 Starfire convert of any year. It's too late for me now for any more complete restorations, as most of these cars will certainly require. BTW there was some small % of cars that were restored or nice original drivers, most of which don't appear to be found in this batch.

In putting things in perspective regarding scale for those not from the North East. The Wetmore Street facility appears quite large with an old factory in the background in NY Mills. Broad Street, Genesee Street (hi rise) and Dwyer Avenue & Turner Street in Utica have similar old factory buildings. (see attachments)

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  11152114wetmorestny.JPG (277.37 KB)


  111521dwyerturner6uticany.JPG (229.99 KB)


  11152186genessestreetuticany.JPG (340.23 KB)


  111521broadstreetuticany.JPG (265.07 KB)

I noticed there is a 22% buyers premium on purchases. That takes the fun out of it.

Are there any members here who plan on attending the preview?
I'm interested in a couple cars, but would greatly appreciate a "in person" evaluation prior to bidding. I'm in the midwest and can not attend the preview. Thanks in advance.