– By #Pioneer Auto Show
B. Mitchell Carlson and Roy Velander reporting
Old Cars Weekly
June 15, 2006
Pioneer Auto Museum presented its Murdo in May Collector Car Auction on May 20th in Murdo, SD of which 103 vehicles offered, 62 were declared sold. This represents a 60.2 percent selling rate.
While we have published details about the Pioneer Auto Museum in these pages in the past, this year we were able to attend its annual auction. What we found in central South Dakota was a casual sale with friendly staff, an Elvis impersonator as a ring-man, and an interesting collection of vehicles offered for sale.Even though Murdo is out in the middle of the prairie, there were plenty of consignors and buyers from all over the country. Indeed, the tent was packed when the first car crossed the block, including several well-known dealers often seen on the auction circuit.
The auction started promptly at 10 a.m., and generally progressed smartly. Granted, “Elvis” twice sang while there were delays in getting cars into the auction tent. By 4 p.m., all was said and done, and for those never having toured the Pioneer Auto Museum, there was still time to view the collection.
The top sale was the only street rod offered, a 1937 Packard 115 coupe that is now powered by a Chevy 350 cid V-8 equipped with a B&M super charger. On the other end of the spectrum were several older pickups that appeared to have just been driven off the ranch, but were generally quite restorable due to minimal rust from spending time on the arid plains.
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