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FRIDAY JANUARY 28, 2022 • VOL. 52, NO. 4
A $440,000 Corvette In A Cornfield Rich Penn Sells 63 Classic Cars In Iowa From Hemken Auto Collection Museum
The crowd watched intently as the bidding in house, absentee, on the internet and on the phone drove the price on the Corvette from the open at $50,000 to the final price of $440,000. Three bidders are up close as it sells for $440,000. One in the trio was the buyer. Only 116 of the 1969 Corvette L88 with matching numbers were built.
McPherson College interns Jimmy Pawlak (left) and Spencer Ice (right) escort a ‘42 Packard 110 Convertible from the barn.
September is harvest time in Midwest farm country. Corn and beans are ready to be picked, and fields cleaned. So who would have thought that over 60 classic cars would have been harvested at the same time on a family farm in northcentral Iowa? The Rich Penn auction crew did. It was a project that had been in the works since last January. The majority of cars came from the collection of the late Daryl Hemken from Williams, Iowa. The Hemken Auto Collection Museum was a 60-year love affair for Hemken. With both Daryl and his wife, Ann, gone, the family decided to liquidate the museum. The sale was held on the family property on Sept. 17 and 18. This small town is midway between Minneapolis and Des Moines. Online bidders registered on LiveAuctioneers and Proxibid from 20 countries. Winning bidders were having cars shipped to Canada, the U.K., Poland, Cyprus, and South Korea. Hemken’s first car acquired for the collection was a 1914 Model T
Ford Roadster, which he bought in 1957. It was Lot #1 and realized $14,300. Prices reported include a buyer’s premium. A 1969 Corvette L88 with matching numbers, only 116 built, was the headliner. With 24,300 miles, it sold for $440,000. A 1933 Rolls-Royce 20/25 four-door Phaeton in overall excellent running condition realized $59,400. A 1948 Cadillac Convertible, also in running condition, sold for $23,100. The Hemken collection also included petroliana, gas pumps, signs, bicycles, literature, toys and thousands of parts for the mid-century classics. Most of the parts were sold on day one to onsite buyers only. Rich Penn’s auctioneers, Fred VanMetre and J.J. Wise, walked through hay rack after hay rack lined up with fenders, bumpers, hubcaps, engine parts, new old stock trim and auto electronics. Thousands of parts were sorted and organized by two college interns from McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas, the only college in the U.S. that offers a bachelor’s degree in Auto Restoration. The two students, Spencer Ice and Jimmy Pawlak, spent weeks excavating the museum and the Hemken farm outbuildings. Their goal was identifying and organizing the parts. Everything sold without reserve. Day two started with some of the 250 lots of petroliana, signs, and toys. A Packard grill for 1950-53 models went for $247. A merchandising display with color overlay for late 1950s Buicks sold for $600. A whimsical folk art model of a 1920s Texaco service station, complete with miniature visible pumps, went to a new service location for $440. The bench top AC spark plug cleaner, with great graphics, ignited bids to sell for $605. A metal Ford battery display sold for $1,440. A 1950s group of four hood ornaments, including Ford and others, sold for $770. Another 1950s group of four hood ornaments for Pontiacs sailed away at $1,540. A Packard convertible, 1954 series 5479, purchased by Hemken in 1968, one of only 863 built, the following year Packard merged with Studebaker, still in running condition, brought $10,455 to a buyer in Pennsylvania. Convertibles were a favorite of Hemken, especially the Packards. A 1953 Packard Caribbean convertible, non-running, commanded $14,400 from a Michigan bidder. Perhaps the most unusual of all the cars was a 1927 Model A Ford “Snowbird.” This Model A, without the body, had the “Snowbird” kit with sleigh runners for the front wheels and a second rear axle with Continued on page 2
Barnes Foundation To Open “Water, Wind, Breath: Southwest Native Art In Community” Antique And Contemporary Exhibit Begins Feb. 20 The Barnes Foundation will present “Water, Wind, Breath: Southwest Native Art in Community,” a major exhibition of historic and contemporary Southwest Native art, including Pueblo and Navajo pottery, textiles, and jewelry. Exploring living artistic traditions that promote individual and community wellbeing through their making and use, this exhibition is the Barnes’s first dedicated to Native American art and will be on view in the Roberts Gallery from Continued on page 5
Political Collectors To Gather In Titusville, N.J. American Political Items Collectors (APIC) Big Apple Chapter To Hold Event On Feb. 12 Collectors of political buttons, badges, ribbons and related ephemera will meet in Titusville, N.J., on Saturday, Feb. 12, to sell, trade and display memorabilia from political campaigns throughout the centuries. This annual gathering is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Union Fire Co., located at Continued on page 6
In This Issue SHOPS, SHOWS & MARKETS . . . . . . . . . starting on page 3 SHOPS DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . on page 4 EVENT & AUCTION CALENDAR . on page 5 AUCTION SALE BILLS . . starting on page 6 AUCTIONEER DIRECTORY . . . . on page 6
FEATURED AUCTION: Bodnar’s Auction - January 26 - Page 4
CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . .on page 7