56 Coupe on BAT

[Adam Wright]

A 56 Coupe popped up on BAT and I have some funny and fond recollections of the car. I found the car several years ago, it was part of an estate in FL. There were 8 cousins who got an equal share of the estate and one cousin was the "car guy" so he had to dispose of the Porsche. He called me after getting a recomendation from a friend. We went back and forth a little on price and he agreed to my price and said something pretty funny. He was a little sore that everyone had dumped the car on him but expected him to get a lot of money for it, and he said the amount we were arguing over wasn't much when you split it 8 ways, so we had a deal.
The other funny thing was when the car arrived there was a microfiche reader in the backseat, one of the cousins had thrown it in and it had all the Factory microfiches!
It's interesting that the car doesn't looked to have changed much since I had it, it was a very decent car if I remember correctly.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1956- ... ean-coupe/

[John Lindstrom]

Actually it is a bad ass of a 356!

[Mike Wilson]

It seems every car has a history. Thanks for sharing this one with us.

Mike

[Bil Brown]

So Adam.........how much did ya sell it for "several years ago" ? It will be interesting to see how the A Coupes have changed prices!

[Adam Wright]

So Adam.........how much did ya sell it for "several years ago" ? It will be interesting to see how the A Coupes have changed prices!

I honestly don't remember how much it sold for, it was good money at the time. The only reason I remember the car so well is it looks exactly like when I sold it. Cars come up all the time that I think I might remember, but am not sure, but this one was pretty distinctive in the paint scheme. I remember I sold it to one guy, who sold it to a friend, but not sure if the same guy owns it now.

Cool car though.

[John Lindstrom]

I’ve bought and sold so many cars that the only dollar figure that I remember is that I bought my first car for $350. Early seventies, think if I remember correctly I was earning 35 cents an hour back then.

[Adam Wright]

I’ve bought and sold so many cars that the only dollar figure that I remember is that I bought my first car for $350. Early seventies, think if I remember correctly I was earning 35 cents an hour back then.

I remember the really memorable ones, like 10629 sold for $17,000 about 12 years ago, and I remember what I sold a Carrera Speedster for, but the run of the mill A/B Coupes all kind of run together. I try and take pics of cars when they arrive and leave, the walls of my office are covered in the pics. The late great Gerry McCarthy was once in my office and commented on the Rogue's Gallery that was displayed.

[Brian R Adams]

One of our own just snagged it (as Adams knows). That rustling sound is sleeves being rolled up ...
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[Brian R Adams]

I’ve bought and sold so many cars that the only dollar figure that I remember is that I bought my first car for $350. Early seventies, think if I remember correctly I was earning 35 cents an hour back then.

Heck, John, minimum wage was about $2.20 in 1972 as I recall. At least that's what I made in summer agricultural work. (Officially $1.60 seems to have been raised to $2.00 in 1974. https://bebusinessed.com/history/histor ... imum-wage/)

My first car, purchased in 1974, cost me $200, and it was only 12 years old and in almost perfect condition, a 1962 Ford Ranchwagon. The car lot was happy to be rid of it, too. I drove it 750 miles a few months later to my dad's house, and he felt sorry enough for me to buy me a cherry '67 Beetle from a guy he knew for $700. That started the German car ball rolling ... Ah, youth!
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[John Weyand]

As a young high school kid I got $0.65/hr slinging milk shakes in 1961. Later I got a minimum wage job in 1962 and it paid $1.15 and shortly went to $1.25. Annual tuition and fees for college were $2,650/yr at a private college. Of course the food service only paid $0.90/hr but it was cash with no paper work. I bought a Renault Dauphine in '63 for $400 (and would regret that soon thereafter).

[John Lindstrom]

Adam, when I was like 6 yrs old I used to lug around a huge suitcase full of little toy cars like yours. Everywhere I went. They were my world. For the life of me I could never understand why none of the other kids carried their suitcases with them..

[Adam Wright]

Mine was in the shape of a wheel.

[John Weyand]

As a kid growing up I had the good/mis fortune of three younger brothers and baby sister (besides older sib). There was no possibility that I could accumulate toy cars. I have a metal dump truck that survived the entire gauntlet in pretty sorry condition. So my office for years and now the study is decorated much like Adam's with model cars I accumulated in "adult"hood.
Now when only one of my ten grandkids is present we take down their choice and mine to play cars on the study floor. (very carefully) They will all be worthless at my estate auction because their missing mirrors, bumpers, headlights and original packaging.
(Immaturity is wasted on the young.)

[Adam Wright]

As a kid growing up I had the good/mis fortune of three younger brothers and baby sister (besides older sib). There was no possibility that I could accumulate toy cars. I have a metal dump truck that survived the entire gauntlet in pretty sorry condition. So my office for years and now the study is decorated much like Adam's with model cars I accumulated in "adult"hood.
Now when only one of my ten grandkids is present we take down their choice and mine to play cars on the study floor. (very carefully) They will all be worthless at my estate auction because their missing mirrors, bumpers, headlights and original packaging.
(Immaturity is wasted on the young.)

Yeah, I had a guy come by once and say I had ruined the value of a lot of the cars because I took them out of the packaging. You can't see them in the boxes, or play with them. It gives me something to do at Wal-Mart, hunt down cars, and every junk store and flea market has a bowl of cars. The guys at the local flea market say, "Here come's the Porsche guy."

[John Weyand]

That was how I learned to tolerate biding my time in malls and dept stores when shopping with Nancy and the kids. I went to the toy dept and looked for models that cost under $5.00. If I found a really special VW (that was my passion before Porsche) I might spend a little more.
But yep, toys are for playing. I once asked a gun collector, who had great pride in the "never been fired" models, "How long would you like to be married to the worlds most beautiful virgin?"