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The world goes to Nebraska car auction for 500 barn finds

Michael James

Nearly 500 barn finds and nearly new cars will be auctioned in Pierce, Nebraska.

The nearly 500 classic cars set for auction in September in Pierce, Nebraska, have achieved international acclaim from The New York Times to network television news.

Some of the vehicles from the Lambrecht Chevrolet Company have been outside and left to the elements for 50 years. And there are some cars nearly new and stored indoors for a half-century and with odometers readings of less than five miles.

The sale, scheduled Sept. 28-29 with a preview day Sept. 27, is ultimate description of barn finds, without the element of surprise. Everyone knows the cars are there and will be auctioned. But like any auctions, who knows how much 500 vintage cars, some untouched for 50 years, will fetch?

Lambrecht Chevrolet 1963 Impala Interior
Lambrecht Chevrolet 1963 Impala Interior




The auction will feature the vehicles owned by Ray Lambrecht who 17 years ago closed his Chevrolet dealership in Pierce, Nebraska, population 1,800.

Lambrecht kept the vehicles that didn’t sell when new in warehouses at his farm and in other locations near where he worked for 50 years. He opened the downtown Chevrolet dealership with his uncle in 1946.

Yvette VanDerBrink, coordinator of the auction, said several of the vehicles are rare, including a Chevy Cameo pickup expected to sell for as much as $100,000.

According to an Associated Press report, the two least-driven cars, a 1959 Bel Air and a 1960 Corvair Monza, each have one mile on their odometers. The oldest vehicle with fewer than 20 miles dates to 1958; the newest is a 1980 Monza with nine miles.

Ray and his wife, Mildred, retired in 1996. Ray, 95, and Mildred, 92, live in Pierce, but the couple’s health has declined. They decided to sell the collection so others could enjoy the vehicles.

For more information about the auction, visit: www.vanderbrinkauctions.com.

To view the online catalog, visit: https://goo.gl/ZtdYmN

Article Last Updated: September 9, 2013.

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