Classic/Antique Car Repair: PARTS, one in a hundred, packards

Question
Dick

Hi, I need your help with something,  I have a large collection of early 20's Model T parts,
I have tried a number of ways to sell them
including contacting clubs and EBay.  Do you
know of anyone who would buy them or a way to sell
my collection. I have everything from fendors to
wheels -

thanks

Ken

Answer
The problem with Model T stuff is that there were 15 Million of them made, and there is a very active business community that makes reproduction parts, so the old rusty, musty parts don't attract a lot of interest at the swap meets.  The only person who is going to be interested in original parts is the one-in-a-hundred guy who wants ONLY original parts and is doing a complete restoration.  Your problem is that all of those guys already have a yard full of parts.  Those are the people who are in the Model T clubs.   

Depending on where you are in the country, you may be close enough to haul the stuff to a swap meet that caters to the Model T crowd.  There is one in Long Beach CA, one in San Diego in February (just missed that one) and a couple in northern California.   Maybe one of the shoppers will be interested in taking the whole load at a bargain price.

I'm in exactly the same situation with a yard full of Packard stuff which I've collected over the years, although with Packards, the stuff does go pretty well on eBay. I've got about 40 parts running on eBay right now.  My method, which "everybody" says is stupid, is to list stuff with no reserve, and a very low starting bid (I usually use 9 cents as a starting bid).  This means that the part WILL sell, maybe not for much, but at least I am rid of it, and somebody else pays to haul it away.   Of course with stuff that's too big to ship, you are sort of stuck with the swap meet scene.

Beyond that, I really don't know of an answer to this.  There are some junkyards that still take old stuff, but they are getting fewer every year.  We have one out here which will take Hudson, Packard and Mopar stuff, no matter how old, and I've hauled a lot of stuff off to them and just given it to them.  I think I'll be doing some more of that this year!

Dick