$10,000 L-160 Barn Find


IHC in the early to mid-fifties.

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Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 759

Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 6:44 pm

Location: New Salisbury, IN USA

Post Wed Jul 03, 2019 6:02 am

$10,000 L-160 Barn Find

On June 13, there was an auction locally that included a 1950 L-160, a flatbed with grain sides, that my grandfather sold "New" [interesting story there, I'll relate it in a moment.] I had intended to make it to the auction, but I had a family matter come up and was unable to attend. The truck was owned by a local man who briefly ran a store in a small village in the county, then retired the truck to farm duty. When they pulled the truck from the barn where it was stored, it had inches of barn dust on it. With a fresh battery and fresh fuel, it started and ran like new! Turns out that, after the farm duty, the old binder truck had 42,000 actual miles on it. It was reported to me that the truck sold for $10,000...the highest-selling unrestored L-160 I've ever heard of!

Now, the story about how it sold "New"... Apparently, the truck was sold in California to a man who was moving his family from California back to Indiana. They loaded all their belongings into the back of the truck [try not to conjure up a "Beverly Hillbillies" image here...hard not to], and hauled them back to Indiana. When they finally got everything unloaded, the original owner didn't need the new truck anymore, so he sought out the local IH truck dealer, who was my grandfather. Granddad bought the truck, and then immediately called the customer who had been looking for a new truck a few days before. The customer came and looked at the truck, they agreed on a price, and the truck spent the next 69 years in the hands of the same family.

I wanted to go to the auction. I wanted to buy the truck. I was thinking it MIGHT bring as much as $2000, seeing how it still had the barn dust all over it. Never in my WILDEST dreams did I see $10,000 there. But someone did, and a "legend" is born.

https://www.facebook.com/beckortauctions/videos/312956679593251/
My posts contain my own opinions...your mileage may vary, void where prohibited, objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear, and alcohol may intensify any side effects.

rcb

Pile of Parts
Pile of Parts

Posts: 37

Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2018 6:46 pm

Post Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:22 am

Re: $10,000 L-160 Barn Find

wow, that's pretty solid! Two interested buyers at the same time is all it takes.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 601

Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:50 pm

Location: New Bern, NC

Post Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:38 am

Re: $10,000 L-160 Barn Find

Holy cow!
Matt H.
My toys:
1951 International
1972 Buick Centurion
1957 Buick Special
1939 Buick Special
1978 Cadillac Superior Hearse

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 866

Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:50 pm

Location: Northern New Mexico

Post Wed Jul 03, 2019 12:45 pm

Re: $10,000 L-160 Barn Find

Great story. I'm on both sides of the fence on this one though. As a notorious cheapskate and bottom feeder the sale price makes me cringe thinking enough sales like that will drive up prices on old Binders across the board and make our hobby less affordable. On the other hand when it comes time to sell if a person has put a lot of time and money in their truck it's nice to be compensated for it. No easy answers I suppose. Another decade or two baby boomers will have died off and if the trend continues none of the millennial's will want old cars and trucks anyway. They'll probably crush them for scrap.
56 S120 4x4,

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 601

Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2012 7:50 pm

Location: New Bern, NC

Post Wed Jul 03, 2019 7:51 pm

Re: $10,000 L-160 Barn Find

Binder Mike wrote:Great story. I'm on both sides of the fence on this one though. As a notorious cheapskate and bottom feeder the sale price makes me cringe thinking enough sales like that will drive up prices on old Binders across the board and make our hobby less affordable. On the other hand when it comes time to sell if a person has put a lot of time and money in their truck it's nice to be compensated for it. No easy answers I suppose. Another decade or two baby boomers will have died off and if the trend continues none of the millennial's will want old cars and trucks anyway. They'll probably crush them for scrap.

So sad....
Matt H.
My toys:
1951 International
1972 Buick Centurion
1957 Buick Special
1939 Buick Special
1978 Cadillac Superior Hearse

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

Posts: 5171

Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 9:28 pm

Location: Lyman, IA

Post Thu Jul 04, 2019 12:45 pm

Re: $10,000 L-160 Barn Find

I'm kinda going through that now, I have two 9670's that I want to sell. I have put a lot into them, and will never get out of them what I put in. That is not the point, but I would like to see them go to someone who would keep them instead of dragging to a scrapper. Although the bodies could use some cosmetic work the mechanicals are in good shape, much better than when I bought them.
Few are interested in old iron, less in large old iron.

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