As mentioned in my Studebaker acquisition post, I also bought a semi-mystery tote in the same online auction. I was intrigued by the box for the banjo steering wheel horn button. I would like to build myself one someday, so it seemed reasonable to buy this one if it went low enough. The auction described this lot as a tachometer with others bit. I put in a low-ish bid and won it (again for my maximum bid). So did I win a treasure cache or a box of junk?
Unfortunately I had to wait until Sunday to travel to the Edmonton area for pickup so I was one of the last to retrieve my items. When I picked it up the steering wheel horn button was missing and the box was now open. So they either they auctioned an empty box or someone snagged it for themselves before I picked it up. There was one Volkswagen in the auction but it had a stock steering wheel.
It was a real shame as this is what it should have contained. These are intended for classic Porsche 356s and Volkswagen Beetles.
So what did I get? Well, this wheel adapter is for a Banjo steering wheel for Volkswagen Beetle, Ghia or Type-3 – 1960-1974-1/2. 40 splines. So it likely would have gone along with the missing horn button.
There were also a few gauges in pieces. Rod assembled and identified these gauges on the ride home. They appear to be from a 1937-1938 Fargo truck. The gauges are very similar to Dodge and Plymouth of same year except for color.
Fuel, temperature, amp, oil pressure multi gauge but missing the temperature portion. Certainly no tachometer as the description promised.
The last item was this license plate bracket from the same truck. At the end of the day I ended up selling the gauges and bracket for a very minor profit since I did not really need them. Oddly the buyer was the guy who sold me the 1961 Pontiac Laurentian a few years ago. I still have the wheel adapter sitting around as no buyers have come forward, but it is a bit of specialty item. So not amazing outcome but not a terrible one either.
Eek… you had to drive 5 hours to Edmonton, and only then find out that the truly interesting part wasn’t there? I hope you treated yourself to some more donuts in Red Deer as a consolation prize.
The remaining parts are neat, in their own way, though. I used to know someone who would often go to auctions and buy mystery boxes just for the thrill of it (and then reselling the contents), so I can certainly understand the appeal.
At least I did not drive all the way there for just this. I certainly do not want to make this a common thing but it was interesting to try it out at least once. I bet most of the time you end up with junk or hard to sell stuff.
Too bad about the button and tach. At least you broke even, but what nice gauges.
Funny how you encounter the same people randomly. I once bought a bass guitar amp from the guy I sold my Silverwing motorcycle to 20 years previously. He didn’t recognize me, and I didn’t mention it since that was not the best motorcycle ever 🙁
What???? A Honda that’s not the best motorcycle ever??????????? Impossible!
Quite possible, the CX/GL series was cursed with timing chain failures, ignition/charging failure and too short gearing. Not a great motorcycle, and I should know because I had two of them.
And their biggest problem was that way too many repairs on that engine meant cracking the cases. However, the bike had a fairly good reputation for longevity and reliability in Europe, and in England it was a favorite courier’s bike. They were called “slugs” over there.
We had a customer at the Honda shop with a 79 CX500 that needed a bit of engine work that wasn’t going to be cheap. He did some research and discovered that there was an engine recall on the bike (timing chain or something like that) that was still in effect. Obviously one of the never-closing safety oriented ones. And in tearing apart the engine to do the recall, to correctly reassemble it would entail doing the work that the engine needed.
Honda America did not have the recall kit on the shelf, they had to go to Japan to get it, so the bike sat in our shop for about three months until the parts arrived and we put it on the schedule. But, when done, he had a perfectly running CX500, and the entire bill paid by Honda.
Slugs? — In Germany they were called “Guellepumpe”. If I only knew how to translate “Guelle”, well, let me describe the production process: the farmers put the used animal bedding on a pile over a pit. The rains will wash the soiled straw and the fluid can be pumped into a tank and distributed over the fields for fertilization. That’s what you get, Honda, if you use brown coolant in your engines.
I never considered those bikes unreliable. Back around 1990 or so a I had a friend who lived in NY City who had a CX650 and another friend with a CX 500 and they considered them the ultimate urban bikes because they were low maintenance, good in traffic (low gears and water cooling) and very unattractive to thieves. I also had a friend in Portland who had a leftover GL500 Silverwing bought new in 90 or so from Honda of St Johns who specialized in NOS Honda Guzzis. They weren’t the most attractive but apart from a troublesome water pump gasket on the CX 650 I don’t recall any mechanical angst.
The friend with the CX 650 actually bought a used one over the summer to relive his youth, something I don’t have to do since I still have the BMW I bought in 1990
If I am remembering correctly, it was the St. Louis Transportation Museum where I saw a collection of automotive instrument clusters that had been donated by a collector. That exhibit gave me an appreciation for the artwork that was contained in the instruments themselves, and this one is a great (if subtle) example.
That is a shame that someone couldn’t keep his paws out of your purchase. Maybe the secret in the future is good photos of everything in the box, particularly if it is the part that interests you. With some evidence you might have had some recourse against the auctioneer, if only in theory. But then again, in this price range it might not have been worth the effort.
I actually really enjoy old instrument cluster. I have a couple old Smiths ones as well as a Beetle one kicking around. The trouble with displaying these is they are designed to be held shut by being held in place against the dashboard. Not insurmountable but I was ok with selling them and moving on.
I briefly considering complaining to the auctioneer but I suspect they would just say as is when picked up. Their photo had the box closed and it was open when I picked up which makes me suspect someone helped themselves to it. That is the only evidence I have is there auction photo (just the single one above) and mine of when I got there. They certainly could have auctioned an empty box which would be super cheesy.
“….auctioned an empty box” – cheesey indeed, but it never ceases to amaze me that it keeps happening. What’s better is that the nos box holds the replaced (invariably worn/broken/stuffed) part. What a world.