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American Pickers - Season 27 - Episode 09: Hangar Hijinks
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00:10Danny D, what's up?
00:11What's up, girl?
00:12Hey, good morning, guys.
00:13How you doing?
00:14We are in the great state of Alabama on a two-lane road.
00:17Oh, you're on two lanes?
00:19You're in your element, I'll tell you right now.
00:21Hey, I'm going to send you guys to an old airplane hangar.
00:24Sounds cool.
00:25I like airplanes.
00:26It belonged to a guy named Dick.
00:27He was an engineer by trade.
00:29Okay.
00:29Yeah, so I guess the story is that this guy invented something crazy for the military,
00:33like some sort of technology.
00:35Nice.
00:35Sounds awesome.
00:36But Dick and his father had this massive collection of radios and Victrolas,
00:41and they've held on to them forever.
00:43Oh, wow.
00:44So he's got really old cylinder stuff and breadboard stuff.
00:47Let's see.
00:48Dick passed away at 85, and a big part of the collection was his dad's.
00:53So a lot of this stuff is really old.
00:55Dang, that sounds cool.
00:56That sounds great.
00:57I've been talking to Valerie.
00:59Now she was his friend, his colleague, but now she's the executor of his estate.
01:03But she might not be there just yet.
01:05You're probably going to be meeting him with his grandson, Zach.
01:09All right, cool.
01:09Well, send us the address.
01:10Please hear me right now.
01:12Do not buy any old airplanes because we do not have the storage space.
01:16Eh, we'll figure something out.
01:18Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
01:30Look at me.
01:31That's huge.
01:32That place is huge.
01:33Let me get a flyer.
01:36There's some dude working on a tractor right there.
01:39Hey, how are you, man?
01:40Howdy, how are you?
01:41We're looking for Valerie.
01:42All right.
01:42How you doing?
01:43I'm John.
01:44She'll be here in a minute.
01:45Zach, good to meet you.
01:45Hey, I'm Mike, man.
01:46Howdy.
01:47Zach, what's going on, man?
01:48What are you working on?
01:48Oh, it's a Moline tractor.
01:50Well, I'm from Iowa.
01:52Iowa.
01:52So there's a tractor in every barn, man.
01:54Oh, yeah.
01:55That's a good place right there.
01:56We're right across the river from Moline, Illinois.
01:58Oh, yeah.
01:58You know what's there, don't you?
01:59I believe there might be John Deere there.
02:00That's right.
02:02So I can show you all around the hangar here?
02:04Yeah, absolutely, man.
02:05Whoa.
02:05Look at this.
02:06Man, this place is huge.
02:08Man, all this stuff in here, Mike.
02:10Look at this plane.
02:11It's a Cessna 195.
02:12What year is that?
02:141958.
02:14It's a radial engine plane, dude.
02:16Yep, sure is.
02:17Look at all the cylinders in there.
02:18When's the last time this was fired up?
02:19Oh, it's been several years now.
02:21He hadn't flown for probably eight, ten years.
02:23He used to fly over as a kid, and he would drop chocolate out at our house.
02:28Really?
02:28Yeah, he did.
02:29Really?
02:30Yeah.
02:30That had to be pretty amazing.
02:32Yeah, for you.
02:32You're a little kid, and you're standing in the front yard, and he's dive-bombing chocolate.
02:37No kidding?
02:38And this is a big plane, too.
02:39There's not a little plane.
02:40This is a big plane.
02:41This is one of those pieces that, even if you don't care about aviation, it's just a work of art.
02:46That radial engine, it's romantic.
02:49It just catapults you back into a different time when travel was an adventure.
02:54All right, let me show you the rest of the shop.
02:56I'd love to see it, man.
02:57Yo, yo, yo, what is this thing?
02:58That electrical device?
03:00It's homemade.
03:01I mean, look at that thing.
03:02It's like that open-frame electric motor, early.
03:04Like what time period you thinking?
03:05Turn of the century.
03:06That's 1890.
03:07Really?
03:08Yeah, that's early.
03:08This was one of those kit motors.
03:10I mean, it's not branded.
03:11We don't even notice electricity today.
03:13We turn a switch on, and there it is.
03:15In the late 1800s, this was new science.
03:18They would sell you the castings, and you would wind the coils up top here.
03:21So it's the very beginning.
03:22In a magazine, you ordered a kit, and you'd build a motor.
03:26The guys who were nerding out in this in the 1890s were the engineers of the day.
03:29My granddad was always messing with electrical stuff like this.
03:32Was he an electrical engineer?
03:33Yes.
03:33So he was fascinated by this.
03:35Absolutely.
03:36Always was.
03:36The family lineage here is very impressive.
03:39This is the very beginnings of science, electrical science.
03:41I love how jacked up he gets on this.
03:43I love this.
03:43No, I love it, too.
03:44I love that you love it.
03:45I've heard this speech so many times at swap meets all across America.
03:50Jersey John holding court in his space, telling people about the evolution of electricity
03:57and steam, and people are just mesmerized.
04:01This contraption that it's connected to, this was just added to it.
04:05I mean, this is all kind of homemade.
04:06But it's all early.
04:07See how it's got leather belts on here?
04:08Yeah.
04:09This is great.
04:10Jersey's basically the science teacher that you wish you had.
04:13There's wooden planets, and they spin around.
04:15It's like a model of the solar system.
04:17There was port and starboard, so one green and one red.
04:19The way he describes things, the way he gets into it, it's adjustable so you can move it back and
04:24forth.
04:25He can make you fall in love with the most technological thing.
04:28You could hook, like, a light bulb on that, and you can generate electricity because he makes all of it
04:33so sexy.
04:34Hey, guys, where are you?
04:36Hey, hey.
04:37Hello.
04:38Sorry, I'm late.
04:39Do you talk to Danny on the phone?
04:41Yes.
04:41All right, very cool.
04:43I'm Mike.
04:44How are you?
04:45This is Jersey.
04:45Hi, John.
04:46Hi, nice to meet you.
04:47Nice to meet you.
04:48Hi, thanks for having us.
04:49Yeah, Valerie.
04:50You're more than welcome.
04:51This place is amazing.
04:52He's been showing us around.
04:53Jersey's found this.
04:54I think Dick's father is the one who originally found that.
05:00Was his father an engineer also?
05:02Yes, he was an electrical engineer.
05:03Wow, that explains a lot.
05:04And they both worked for the FAA.
05:06Dick came to Redstone Arsenal in 1960 and went to work for Weapon Sciences.
05:13He was hired by Warner Von Braun.
05:17At that time, Dick didn't know who Warner Von Braun was.
05:32Dick was an electronics engineer.
05:35He was interested in lasers.
05:37And he came up with the first patent using a laser to guide a missile.
05:43And that was in 1963, and it became the Hellfire Missile, which is still used.
05:51So is this something you guys want to sell?
05:53Everything's for sale.
05:54I like that.
05:55Dick passed away about 18 months ago.
05:58He left his estate to his four grandchildren, and all four of the grandchildren have had the
06:03opportunity to go through and pick out the things that they want to keep.
06:07And one of the grandsons, Patrick, he's a helicopter pilot, and his goal is to keep the air hangar and
06:14the active runway here.
06:16So all the funds that we get from selling everything will help generate enough money that he can buy the
06:21other three airs out.
06:23And he can keep it in the family.
06:24Keep it in the family.
06:25That is so cool.
06:25Yeah, I love that.
06:26So let me help you.
06:28Okay.
06:29How much do you want for this thing?
06:30Well, it's priceless.
06:33I'm no stranger to negotiating.
06:35I'm also an engineer.
06:37I worked for the Army Corps of Engineers for 25 years, and I'm used to negotiating contracts for the federal
06:44government.
06:44So I just use that skill.
06:48Make me an offer.
06:49I could see this retailing at maybe, you know, maybe $600.
06:52Because of the apparatus with it?
06:54Yeah, with the apparatus with it.
06:55So, I think it's $400.
06:58$500 in insures.
07:01$500, huh?
07:02My goal is to make sure I am doing the best for the kids in my role as the executor.
07:09How about $475?
07:12We're going to get along just fine today.
07:14Sounds like y'all got it figured out.
07:16So I'm going to head out.
07:16Hey, man, thank you.
07:17Good luck, dude.
07:18Appreciate it.
07:18Pleasure for meeting you, man.
07:20Dick's interest in collecting things came from his father.
07:24Okay.
07:25Because his father was the one who started the collection of the radios.
07:29Dick was a little bit of a hoarder.
07:32He never got rid of anything.
07:34He loved to collect musical instruments and books and mechanical parts, electronic parts.
07:43He got that gene from his dad.
07:45Valerie!
07:47Yes?
07:47I'm starting to find a decent amount of cathedral radios.
07:54Oh, wow.
07:54Having a store in Nashville, right in Music City, we have sold a lot of these radios over the years.
08:00Some people call them cathedral radios.
08:02People in the industry call them tombstone radios.
08:05Either way, aesthetically, historically, these are small monuments of music history.
08:12I would like to buy all of these.
08:13This is the kind of stuff that my customers would want just aesthetically what they look like.
08:19To me, when you think of an old radio, you think of a tombstone radio.
08:23You know, as far as, like, getting these fired up and rocking and rolling again, you know, sometimes, most of
08:28the time, that's more than the radio.
08:30It's worth itself.
08:31The person that's going to want one of these is an audiophile, someone that's truly into music, the roots of
08:37music.
08:37What a lot of people are doing is they're retrofitting them to Bluetooth.
08:41So what are you thinking?
08:43Um, let me see.
08:44I see that veneer's all just coming off pretty bad.
08:47This one is a little bit sketchy.
08:50Like two and a quarter.
08:52For all of them?
08:53Yeah, for all of them.
08:55Um, they are beautiful.
08:57I know.
08:57Three.
08:59Okay.
09:00Okay.
09:01He would be very happy to know that someone who knew what they were and were excited about them were
09:08getting them.
09:09Whoa!
09:10Whoa!
09:10Whoa!
09:11Oh!
09:12Look at the music box.
09:13Yes.
09:14This is so cool.
09:15Like the gears and stuff in here.
09:18Ah.
09:20Whoa!
09:21I love anything mechanical music.
09:23It fascinates me to no end.
09:25They developed a way in the late 1700s mechanically to reproduce sound.
09:31So this is one of those boxes that predates radio, even phonographs.
09:36This is before that time.
09:37This is what we call the Komen here.
09:38See, it looks like a comb.
09:40Right.
09:41So that's what makes the music.
09:42That's the tone.
09:43We call it a comb because it has fingers on it.
09:45And each finger is a different note.
09:46Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
09:47That goes on a cylinder.
09:49Every time a cylinder comes around, it plucks the note.
09:51So this has got a clockwork mechanism in here.
09:54It's got a ratcheting mechanism with a clock spring in there that held the power to power the whole darn
09:59thing.
10:00So that's putting tension on these gears.
10:03And then it's put in this beautiful inlay box.
10:06I mean, look at that.
10:07Oh.
10:07Wow.
10:08That's pretty.
10:09Isn't that amazing?
10:10Yes.
10:10Still has a lot of color.
10:12Yeah.
10:12It's got holly inlay in there.
10:14It's got some colored inlay.
10:15It's probably some pear wood.
10:16There was a glass top in here that's broken.
10:19See the framework?
10:20Right.
10:20That's gone.
10:21I think in the condition that it is, I could probably sell it for like $450, $500.
10:26You know, it's just a lot of work.
10:28Would you do $300 on it?
10:31I would do $300.
10:32You would do $300?
10:33Yes.
10:34I got you.
10:35Thank you so much.
10:36I'm very happy with that.
10:37This is just the tip of the iceberg.
10:39Like, what the heck else is in here?
10:49Jersey, look at this.
10:51What do you got?
10:52Oh.
10:52Whoa, that's beautiful.
10:54What the heck?
10:55Dovetail box, old mahogany?
10:57Anything that I find that looks like it belongs in Frankenstein's castle, I'm talking something
11:01that can, you know, be mood-altering, shocking somebody, hurting somebody, removing hair, I'm
11:08going to show it to Jersey.
11:09I don't know what that is.
11:10I don't know either.
11:11It looks like some kind of quackery stuff, or maybe it's a weather instrument.
11:13He did collect weather instruments.
11:16I think that came from his love of airplanes.
11:19Oh, it's made by Gurley.
11:21They made scientific instruments.
11:23They also made surveying instruments at this time period.
11:25Every pick is an opportunity to learn something, and here's a perfect example of that.
11:30Whatever it is, it's cool.
11:32I love it.
11:32It's got a little case.
11:33I mean, look how beautifully it's done.
11:35It's got a little brass handle on it.
11:37See the dovetail joints on there on the edges?
11:40I love the way Jersey can say so much without really saying anything at all, and that he's
11:46so excited about something just because he doesn't know what it is.
11:52He's the guy that would completely disassemble it and look at the way it was made and then
11:58try to formulate for himself what the purpose of it was.
12:03I'm taking a shot at it.
12:0575 bucks.
12:06A hundred.
12:07How about 90 bucks?
12:08I'm going to buy a lot more stuff here.
12:0990 bucks.
12:09All right, thank you.
12:10What the heck this thing is, I am not sure, but I'm going to have a lot of fun finding
12:14it out.
12:15What's in that box right there, Mike?
12:16This one?
12:17Yes.
12:18So you have to set it up like this.
12:20Well, you can't because of the brackets.
12:22It mounted on a wall.
12:24See, look.
12:25There you go.
12:26Whoa.
12:27Oh, wow.
12:28Damn.
12:28You got it upside down.
12:30This is a medical device.
12:31This is quack stuff.
12:32This is like electroshock therapy stuff.
12:34You'd hook up an electric on this side, you know, batteries.
12:38Jersey's looking at the technical minutia, the scientific application.
12:42And these bulbs would regulate the electricity going through it.
12:46How much bulbs you would have in here.
12:48And also this would regulate electricity as well.
12:50I don't think Jersey really cares if this stuff works.
12:53He just wants to know how it works and he wants to dissect it over and over again.
12:59I love it.
13:00That's cool.
13:00Just because of the way it looks.
13:02I mean, this can be cleaned up.
13:03There can be a light put in this cabinet.
13:05But I couldn't be farther from that.
13:07What I'm looking at is aesthetically what is pleasing to the eye, the shape of it, the
13:13time period that it was made, the condition of the wood, the condition of the screen, the case itself.
13:19It's interesting.
13:20It's something to, it's something interesting to look at.
13:22I mean, the quality of the cabinet's amazing.
13:24It's full on steampunk, man.
13:26Oh, for sure.
13:26When I'm looking at stuff like this, I always try to manage for the 90%.
13:30Who's going to be interested in this?
13:32To me, immediately it speaks steampunk.
13:34To try to build something like this, to have this look with the nickel plating, the gauges, the box itself,
13:40it would be costly.
13:41But for somebody that wants something so different and unique, even if it's for a retail setting, that's the person.
13:47It can be in anything from a bar to a restaurant.
13:50As far as what it used to do, that's for Jersey to think about.
13:54I'd do a couple hundred bucks on it.
14:00Would you do $250?
14:03I would.
14:04Okay.
14:05All right, cool.
14:05Well, good.
14:06What else you got?
14:17I mean, these breadboard radios are really interesting.
14:20I mean, I love these just because, you know, everything is exposed.
14:24There's a lot to look at here.
14:25The breadboard is the base that you can use to make a lot of different electrical things.
14:30In this case, it's a radio.
14:31The breadboard radios were probably some of the more valuable items here.
14:36Yeah.
14:36They're beautiful to me.
14:37You know, especially this one with the gold tubes on it.
14:40You know, again, you know, what does it look like on a shelf?
14:43When you look at the timeline of radios, these are very historically significant.
14:47How do you get younger people interested in it?
14:51Is it Bluetooth-ing it in some way?
14:53Or just simply, is it the way it's displayed?
14:55It's a major part of American history.
14:58You know, this is how people got their news.
15:00This is how they were entertained.
15:01This is how they gathered.
15:02This is how they socialized.
15:03Imagine this in a room with Macintosh and the most incredible speakers and modern tube amps
15:11and turntables and all that.
15:13Even if you don't even understand that this is a radio, when you look at it, it just evokes
15:18all of these curiosities of like, what is this thing?
15:21I want to know more about it.
15:23You know, if this was in really nice shape, I think it'd be like a thousand bucks.
15:28I'd like to buy them both.
15:29I'd be interested in them for like, uh, like $600.
15:33For both of them?
15:34Yeah.
15:35I mean, I think I'd probably put four and a half on each of them.
15:38Well, I realize it's squeezing your profit margin, but how about 700?
15:45Yeah.
15:45I mean, I mean, I'm at 350 a piece on them.
15:47I'm trying to get four to four and a quarter, 450 out of them.
15:51When's the last time you walked into an antique shop and you paid what they had on the sticker?
15:54We're one of the few industries that are still negotiable.
15:57How about 650?
15:58We'll make it up somewhere else.
16:05I love the way your mind works.
16:07Okay.
16:07We're going to do 650.
16:16Valerie!
16:17Did you find something?
16:19This cabinet.
16:19You see this thing?
16:20You know what it is?
16:21What?
16:22It's like that quack piece earlier.
16:23It's a medical desk?
16:24It's a desk, but it's got all these bells and whistles in here for electroshock therapy, basically.
16:29It's the same kind of deal.
16:30But this is earlier.
16:31This is like 1870.
16:32It's another one of these fancy quack medicine electroshock machines that look like something
16:38that should be in like, you know, Frankenstein's laboratory.
16:40This is the way that they would treat different ailments, which they didn't quite understand
16:46how to treat.
16:47That's where they would store the batteries.
16:48This is before the time that we had anything to plug in for electricity.
16:51This is something that you would go into a doctor's office, a high-end doctor's office,
16:55and see this in his office, and you were impressed.
16:59And then you wrote your check.
17:00Well, Victorian furniture is not doing too well right now, but that's cool.
17:04This piece is something different because it's got its top on it.
17:07And this was a piece of glass in here, see?
17:09No glass.
17:10It's broken.
17:11It's gone.
17:12It's missing the curved glass top.
17:14That protects the instrumentation.
17:16It's a custom bend.
17:17You see this J bend in here?
17:18Mm-hmm.
17:19Imagine what that's going to cost to replace.
17:20A lot.
17:21I'd go $300.
17:22Oh, I think someone would pay at least $600 for that once it's restored.
17:26But I've got to put, you know, a couple hundred bucks on a piece of glass.
17:29Easy.
17:29Would you go $350?
17:30I'd do $350.
17:31Okay.
17:32All right.
17:33Once that glass is replaced, it's going to be beautiful.
17:35Look at these.
17:36These say WLS on them.
17:39WLS Chicago.
17:40Could be.
17:41Somebody's going to want a pair of these hanging on their wall.
17:43Maybe next to the 1979 Sony Walkman that they have.
17:47$20 a piece.
17:48How many?
17:48There's $200.
17:50$225.
17:51Okay.
17:52Okay.
17:52This is the horn section.
17:54This is the Victor Wood Horn.
17:57This one is really hard to find.
17:59Look at that.
18:00That's beautiful.
18:01That's beautiful, too.
18:02But that's for the cylinder players.
18:03Like this gem.
18:04Matter of fact, this gem is really cool.
18:05Cylinder disc players used the pointy horns.
18:08Matter of fact, here's the horn.
18:10Oh, wow.
18:10We call them witch's hat's horn.
18:12That goes like that.
18:14Boom.
18:14And now that's a complete gem.
18:16I see you got a really old jukebox.
18:18This one's 1936.
18:20Think about what was going on in the world in 1936 when this jukebox was lit up and people
18:26were spinning around on the dance floor.
18:29Look how decorative this is.
18:30Oh, that is nice.
18:30The nickel, the dime.
18:31The Hoover Dam had just been completed.
18:34FDR had just got reelected.
18:36And the biggie, Harley Davison, released the first knucklehead.
18:42$375.
18:44Okay.
18:45Okay.
18:46I'm doing it.
18:47I'd go $1,500.
18:48What do you got right here?
18:50How about $1,700?
18:51$1,600.
18:52I like $1,700.
18:54I'm not going to argue with it.
18:55$1,700.
18:55I want that oak horn, man.
18:57It's calling me.
18:58I got to have it.
19:01Look at this one.
19:02That's metal.
19:03The Asian influence of it, the color of it, definitely, you know, 30s.
19:08It's got the crane and the speaker grill.
19:10It's like a crinkle paint.
19:12You know, it's got the textured paint.
19:14The detail here on top.
19:15You could tell at one time that this was really bright, bright brass, like goldish colored.
19:22Even the hinges here, these strap hinges that are just decorative.
19:26But, you know, it's missing the knobs.
19:29It's more of a furniture piece.
19:31It's a decorator piece, but it was also functional back then.
19:34And that's the great thing about a lot of this.
19:36When you look at a lot of these really large floor radios, I mean, they're built as a piece of
19:42furniture.
19:42This was a focal point of a room that people gathered in.
19:46It was a time when news and entertainment brought people together.
19:50They gathered because we all heard the same thing at the same time.
19:55When I was a kid, stereo speakers were basically furniture.
19:59When I first started buying a lot of vinyl and listening to a lot of music in, like, say, 78,
20:0679,
20:06my speakers took up a huge part of the space in my room.
20:12And the bigger they were, the badder they were.
20:14You know, the bigger the sound.
20:16I mean, I had some speakers that were literally this tall, you know, in each corner of my room.
20:22All the components, the speakers, the amps, the preamps, the equalizers, the turntables,
20:28all of it was meant to be seen.
20:31It was meant to gather around the same exact way a lot of these really large cabinet radios were.
20:37If it had more paint on it, I'd pay more.
20:40But I'm thinking 200 bucks.
20:45It is pretty.
20:47Yeah.
20:47What do you think?
20:48Very decorative.
20:50250?
20:52For the kids.
20:53For the kids.
20:54Okay.
20:55What a day.
20:56This has been great.
20:58When the great-grandfather and the grandfather started accumulating so much of this stuff,
21:03they found it interesting because they were engineers.
21:07The only reason this stuff is still here and getting put back into the collector's market
21:11is because they had the foresight to see that it was significant back when it didn't really have any value
21:19at all.
21:19Thanks for working with us and good luck with everything.
21:22I know you got a big job ahead of you, but it's going to be something rewarding
21:25because it'll be out there to a lot of people.
21:27Well, y'all are going to come back and buy the planes.
21:29Okay.
21:30Okay.
21:32They honed in on things that I didn't know existed, had never heard of, like electroshock therapy.
21:40Really odd, unique items they dug out of those shelves up there.
21:45They knew exactly who made them, where they came from, what their value was.
21:50See you later, Valerie!
21:52I was just astounded.
22:09Danny D!
22:10Danny D, what's up, girl?
22:12Good morning, guys.
22:13I'm getting the shop up and ready right now.
22:16What you got?
22:17I've been talking to Brad.
22:18He inherited his father's motorcycle collection.
22:21What kind of motorcycles?
22:22German bikes, British bikes, American bikes.
22:25Nice.
22:25So it's around the world.
22:27So Brad's father passed away five or six years ago.
22:30Oh, okay.
22:30He loves this stuff.
22:31He has fond memories.
22:32I mean, it was his dad's.
22:34But he wants to find somebody who can deeply appreciate it the way his dad did.
22:39We'll let you know how it goes.
22:40Thank you so much.
22:41You got it.
22:49All right.
22:51House on the lake, man.
22:52That's the way to live.
22:53Yeah, huh.
22:54On the water.
22:56Hello.
22:59Hey.
22:59Hello.
23:00Hey, I'm Mike.
23:01I'm Brad.
23:02Hey, Brad.
23:02It's John.
23:03You talking with Danny on the phone?
23:04Nice to meet you all.
23:05Yeah, hand him a flyer.
23:06What are you just going to say?
23:07Motorcycles.
23:07We like motorcycles a lot.
23:09I heard your dad was a passionate motorcycle collector.
23:11Yes, he was.
23:12The easiest way to show you is to walk around and I'll show you what's got.
23:15Okay, cool.
23:16All right, cool.
23:16Let's do that.
23:17This is a beautiful forever spot.
23:20Look out over the lake and you're just like, wow, such a sense of beauty and accomplishment.
23:26I mean, this is where the collection landed.
23:28This is where they landed.
23:29Which way are we going?
23:30Man, it's just, what a life.
23:33So these are some of my dad's newer bikes.
23:35Cool.
23:35Okay.
23:36So he was into about everything.
23:37Yeah.
23:37My dad got into motorcycles about mid-70s.
23:40He bought his first one.
23:41And it grew into a big collection after many years.
23:45He was riding a Ducati?
23:46Oh, yeah.
23:48He enjoyed them very much.
23:50He'd get them out and run down 280 with them.
23:52And he enjoyed every moment of it.
23:54So you're familiar with all these bikes?
23:56Fairly.
23:57Okay.
23:58That's cool.
23:58Look at this.
23:59I followed his lead.
24:00Whoa, whoa, whoa.
24:01That's cool.
24:01Oh, yeah.
24:03Right there, sitting in the middle of the shop, is a Vincent Black Shadow.
24:07This bike is one of the most advanced engineering motorcycles in the European theater.
24:18So is he the one who started restoring this?
24:21Was he doing all the work?
24:22This was actually a project bike that he's had for a long time.
24:27Vincent's are legendary, and they always will be.
24:30Even to see one that's in the middle of a restoration is sexy to me.
24:35We lived in Atlanta, and my dad found a Vincent.
24:38And it was down in South Georgia's where it was located.
24:41So my dad took off from Memphis and ended up buying it.
24:45He brought it home in boxes.
24:47They were definitely out of his price range to buy one that was fully restored.
24:51As you can see, it never did get fully completed.
24:54This was a major project for him.
24:56It's a big project.
24:56Phil Vincent bought the defunct HRD motorcycle company in 1928.
25:01He started assembling bikes with JAP engines and rudge engines.
25:06But things changed dramatically when Phil Irving designed the first single-cylinder Vincent engine.
25:11You know, I don't know if it's folklore or legend,
25:14but the story goes that he left his desk with a bunch of designs on it,
25:19and then he came back, and the wind had blown and had layered over.
25:24There were cylinders layered together, and he looked at it and said,
25:28oh, wow, this could be a twin engine, not just a single.
25:32In the late 40s, they dropped the HRD name and started calling the bikes Vincent's.
25:38Vincent was the fastest standard motorcycle in the world
25:42until 1973 when the Z1900 Kawasaki came out.
25:47So this was a complete bike, and then someone disassembled it.
25:51He bought it.
25:51The only reason I'm asking that is because I'm just wondering
25:54if it was something that he pieced together over time.
25:57I'm not sure.
25:58Okay.
25:59We'll get the serial number on the frame.
26:00So it's, okay, RC77413, RC77413.
26:13So this is a matching frame.
26:14So the rear triangle number and the head tube number on the frame are the same.
26:19And then, Jersey, what's on that side of the case, what's that say?
26:25LL49.
26:26Okay, and that's what this is.
26:28So these cases have always been together.
26:30Yep.
26:31So then, and I'm really bad at math, so help me with this.
26:36So to document that it's the correct engine for this frame,
26:43you would take the serial number of the engine and add 1900 to it.
26:48No kidding.
26:50How about that?
26:51Mike is so knowledgeable about the Vincent.
26:53He knows that you could add 1900 to the serial number,
26:57and that's the way the frame number matches in the back.
26:59The serial number is 5841.
27:03You add 1900 to.
27:067,741.
27:10That's it?
27:11Yep.
27:12That bike's always been together.
27:13Yeah.
27:14It's a matching numbers bike, and it's a 1951.
27:17That's so cool.
27:19So he's the one who rebuilt this engine, though.
27:22That is correct.
27:23Okay.
27:23It's all fresh in your bike.
27:24Because the thing is, the thing is, with a bike this expensive,
27:27especially something that's being restored,
27:29the pedigree of the bike, not just the restoration quality,
27:32but it's also who built the engine,
27:34because that's obviously the heart and soul of it.
27:37And when these bikes are done, they can command a lot of money.
27:40It's so rare to find one that's not done,
27:43because people have just gathered them, you know,
27:47and they were really adamant about, like, finishing them.
27:50Right.
27:50From day one, these bikes were works of art.
27:53They're technical masterpieces.
27:55There's been songs written about the legendary Vincent Black Shadow
27:59and the Black Lightning.
28:00There's books that have been written about finding a Vincent in a barn.
28:04I mean, that's how legendary and iconic and part of motorcycle culture
28:09that Vincent's have been since the day the first one was ever built.
28:13So I've got to ask you, is this something that you're considering selling?
28:19I'm not sure yet.
28:21I can think about it.
28:23I don't know.
28:24Brad and I both have a lot to think about.
28:26He's got to decide whether or not he wants to sell it,
28:28and I've got to figure out what kind of offer I can make him.
28:32Let me show you some of the other bikes we have.
28:34Yeah, absolutely.
28:36I'll have to see them.
28:36So this is what we used to call Old Row.
28:40A lot of my dad's older bikes.
28:42Very cool.
28:44Oh, yeah.
28:46All these European bikes.
28:47It's got BMWs.
28:48It's got the Triumphs.
28:49It's got the Nortons.
28:50It's got a freaking Douglas in there, which I love.
28:52Check this out, Jersey.
28:53Square four with a sidecar, man.
28:55Still got mud on the tires, man.
28:57This thing's been ridden.
28:58Yeah, that one actually went to...
29:00Look at that, Jersey.
29:02Pikes Peak.
29:02Oh, wow.
29:03Cool.
29:03Look at that.
29:04They're up in Pikes Peak with that damn thing.
29:06Yes.
29:06My mom and dad were involved in antique motorcycle clubs.
29:10Yeah.
29:10They would meet in certain different areas of the country.
29:13My father passed away about six years ago,
29:16and then my mother passed away just over a year ago.
29:19We had not really done anything with the motorcycles
29:22as long as my mother was still alive.
29:24You know, she would enjoy just walking down,
29:26and, you know, she just knew,
29:28oh, that's her motorcycles, you know.
29:31Have you given any thought
29:32to what you want to do on the sidecar bikes?
29:34I'd like to sell them.
29:35Actually, I'd like to sell a few of these.
29:39Probably most all of them can go.
29:41It would be somewhat of a disservice, I think,
29:43to my father, as well as the bikes,
29:44if they do just sit around and age
29:47and not be well cared for.
29:49I'd just like to know the back end on them.
29:52Yeah, for sure.
29:52We use a guy, John from Blue Moon.
29:55He's in Atlanta.
29:55He's got a shop.
29:56He used to be a BMW dealer for 20 years.
29:59He's got his finger on the pulse of the bikes.
30:00So I can take pictures and just, you know, send them to him.
30:04Hey, that'd be great.
30:05John, Mike, and me,
30:06we've known each other for many years.
30:08I mean, we go back, we see each other at swap meets.
30:10I mean, he deals in rare European motorcycles.
30:12John is a great guy for Brad to know
30:15because he's been able to help him, you know,
30:16really establish the values on these bikes.
30:18Jersey, look at this black shadow you walked by.
30:21I know, dude, I didn't see that.
30:22That is freaking awesome.
30:23This is the last year of the shadow.
30:25This is 55.
30:26With all the success that Vincent had worldwide,
30:29the factory and the production numbers
30:31remained fairly modest.
30:32And when you talk to other collectors
30:34about the 1955 Vincent Black Shadow,
30:37they'll tell you that they think they made around 500.
30:40This thing, Jersey, this is it, man.
30:42This is the end of the era.
30:43That's the last year.
30:44That's the last one.
30:45That's the last year they made the black shadow, yeah.
30:47In 1955, the look of the Vincent Black Shadow changed.
30:50For one, they took away that infamous
30:53dinner plate-sized speedometer
30:54because they went with a Lucas headlight
30:57speedometer combination.
30:58The reason they did that is because
31:00the 1955 Vincent Black Shadow
31:02was supposed to roll out of the factory
31:04with a full fairing made of fiberglass,
31:08very similar to the Vincent Black Prince.
31:10So is this something that you're going to
31:12kind of consider selling too?
31:13I can think about it.
31:15I don't know.
31:15This is the kind of stuff collectors dream about.
31:17I mean, if you're into European bikes,
31:20British bikes, I mean, this is it.
31:22Yep.
31:31Your dad had a great eye.
31:32Yeah.
31:32Because he's got a little bit of everything.
31:34He's got a Vincent.
31:35He's got the Nortons.
31:36He's got the Douglas, I mean, the Beamers.
31:39He searched high and low.
31:41He had lots of friends, and he'd always keep an eye out
31:44for something that he wanted.
31:45So what was your dad's connection to the European bikes?
31:47I don't know.
31:48I just think he always kind of liked the Nortons.
31:50I think he liked the sound of them.
31:52Oh, yeah.
31:53When did he graduate high school?
31:541959.
31:55Well, that makes exact perfect sense.
31:56I mean, that's the British invasion, man.
31:58We have so many bikes coming in into this country that we're...
32:00They're tearing it up.
32:01Tearing it up.
32:02Now this collection makes total sense.
32:04I mean, if you graduated high school in 1959,
32:07that's all you saw.
32:08Nortons, BMWs, Triumphs.
32:10Look what Brando was riding in the wild one.
32:12He was.
32:12He's right.
32:13He ran a Triumph.
32:13Yeah.
32:14The bikes that we saw during those coming-of-age moments,
32:17those are the ones that left the biggest marks on us
32:20when we were so impressionable.
32:22These bikes were coming into country.
32:24They ramped up production to sell them to the U.S.
32:26And they sold us a lot of them
32:28because they were lightweight motorcycles
32:30and they were high performance.
32:32The engineering in these motorcycles
32:34was more advanced than we had in the American market at the time.
32:37You know, Indy was out of business in 1953
32:39and Harley wasn't really doing anything.
32:42Like, they had a heavyweight motorcycle
32:43and they didn't really have a lightweight motorcycle
32:46that was a direct competitor to these European motorcycles.
32:49Jersey, you didn't even see the original Paint Power Plus.
32:51Holy mackerel, man.
32:52Look at that thing.
32:53Yeah.
32:54Whoa.
32:55It's got some original nickel on it.
32:57Man, that thing is beautiful.
32:58It's dressed up, man.
32:59It's got the tandem seat.
33:00Look at this thing.
33:00It's got the amp gauge.
33:02Look, it's got the APC generator for the lighting circuit.
33:04Oh, yeah.
33:05That's so cool.
33:06They made a chain guard for it.
33:08I'm thinking it's an original Paint Indian.
33:11I mean, that is rare.
33:12Oh, it's beautiful.
33:12You can see it.
33:13But look what it said something here.
33:14But upon closer examination.
33:16Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
33:17See, it said something.
33:18You can get the light on that.
33:18That looks like a Z or something.
33:19I'm finding out some very interesting things about this bike.
33:23Let me see something.
33:23Yeah, it says Quincy.
33:24Is that what it says, Quincy?
33:26Yeah.
33:26Q-U-I-N-C-Y.
33:28What was Quincy, Illinois?
33:29Police Department.
33:30Police Department.
33:31But Illinois?
33:32I'm thinking Massachusetts.
33:33No, Quincy, Massachusetts.
33:35Okay.
33:35On one side of the tank, it says Quincy Police Department.
33:39I mean, you can barely see it.
33:40So then, if it said Quincy here, then, in the beginning, then this, I mean, this was painted
33:45a long time ago, and then they had to re-detail it.
33:48They probably decommissioned it from the police department.
33:51They repainted a dealership.
33:52Repaint, yep.
33:53Yeah.
33:53This bike is not an original Paint bike.
33:56It was repainted by the dealership.
33:58Yeah, it's a 100-year-old repaint, so it looks like an original paint.
34:02But to a trained eye, yeah, we know.
34:04Jersey, there's a pinhole in the gas tank right here.
34:06Oh, no.
34:07Look at that.
34:08Really?
34:09Yeah, right there.
34:10Oh, man.
34:10Anytime you see a pinhole or any kind of leak in a tank, that's a big deal.
34:14You're not sure if it's rusted through.
34:16It's not going to hold fluid.
34:17It's not going to hold gas.
34:18It's not going to hold oil.
34:19What are you doing?
34:19I want to get in here.
34:20I want to blow on the tank, dude.
34:21What?
34:22I want to see if anything comes out the bottom.
34:24Watch the bottom.
34:25You ready?
34:26Yeah.
34:28Damn.
34:31I can't unsee that.
34:33I can't unsee that.
34:34But it's not leaking, dude.
34:35Okay, I've never seen anybody do that.
34:37There's a man here.
34:37Give me that.
34:38Man of many talents.
34:43Yeah, she's got some lungs.
34:45Mike's kicking this bike over, and I can hear that it's got compression.
34:48These quick and easy tests give us an idea of condition, which affects value.
34:52Is this something you would sell?
34:55Yes, I think I would.
34:57John.
34:58Mike.
34:58Hey.
34:58Hey, so did you get the pictures of the aerial square four with the sidecar?
35:04Yes, I did.
35:05That looks like a complete bike.
35:07That's a Watsonian sidecar.
35:09I'm glad they didn't put it on the left side like they normally do in England because it
35:13wouldn't be much use here in the USA.
35:15Oh, my God.
35:16I couldn't even imagine riding a bike like that.
35:18Hey, so did you see that the chrome on the tank is pitted?
35:21It's not going to clean up.
35:23Yeah, it's definitely pitted.
35:24What do you think?
35:25What's the value of that, the square four with the sidecar?
35:27The square four alone, I'm thinking neighborhood of $15,000 retail.
35:32Okay, so you're saying that the retail number on the square four with the sidecar is like
35:39knocking close to $20,000?
35:42Yeah, that's cleaned up and running, but yes.
35:45Okay.
35:46I know a lot goes into setting a value.
35:48You almost have to have people around you that are knowledgeable in that to come out with
35:53a fair price.
35:54What are you thinking on the Dunstall, Norton?
35:56I think that bike could bring high teens.
36:00Okay.
36:00What about the bike sitting next to it, the red, white, and blue 850 Commando?
36:06I think that's a $10,000 bike.
36:08It's like he's giving you jumping off points on this.
36:10I wanted to maybe put you guys together because this is what he does.
36:14I'm going to put you guys together.
36:16Mike, it's always a pleasure.
36:17Talk to you soon.
36:18I was quite pleased with the values that he had thrown out.
36:21I was actually kind of surprised that some of them were as high as they were.
36:34I'm interested in the bike.
36:35You know, and I feel like I know enough people to finish what he started.
36:41So, if you have the parts to the bike, I saw some boxes over there that said Vincent on them.
36:47Yep, yep.
36:48But, um, I'd be a player on it at 40.
36:52When you look at the bike, it really looks like the heavy lifting has been done.
36:57But the paint on the tank is starting to bubble on the right-hand side.
37:02The whole tank needs to be repainted.
37:04The engine, whoever's going to buy this or look at buying it,
37:07they're already thinking about taking it apart and looking at the work that was done.
37:11Because they're not going to go through the expensive process of finishing, restoring it,
37:16and not knowing anything about this engine.
37:20They're just not.
37:21That's why I'm at 40 on this.
37:23I don't know if that does anything for you or if you've kind of kicked it around finishing it yourself
37:28and trying to get the last buck out of it.
37:30I'd be a fool to say, yeah, yeah, I'm going to keep them all,
37:34and I'm going to get them all up and running.
37:36No, I'm not.
37:38All right, most of the parts I know are over there.
37:40There could be some over in this cabinet.
37:42Okay, okay.
37:43If you want to take a look around at that, I'm going to go check on Jersey.
37:46It's not impossible to get parts.
37:49It's just that they're so incredibly expensive.
37:52That's cool, man.
37:53We love to see old, crusty bikes.
37:56The bike's been run.
37:57It's been subject to heat cycles, you know?
38:00It's lived its life.
38:01Broken fins.
38:03The hinge pin here is really what I can find.
38:07How much stuff did he accumulate for this bike?
38:10You've got to dig deep into these old bikes to find out what clues will show you the value, what's
38:16left behind.
38:17Oh, look at this.
38:18That's how we dissect them, and it really takes a trained eye to do that.
38:23C, D, A, 63, 8, B.
38:27So what'd you find there, John?
38:29This 41 is cool, too.
38:30I mean, the Power Plus is neat, but this 41 is awfully nice, too.
38:34Next to this Power Plus is a 1941 Indian Chief.
38:37I mean, it's a really cool bike because it's got the leaf spring on the front fork, and that is
38:42really cool.
38:43Do you have the dash cover for this?
38:46I may have a couple of them right over here.
38:49Oh, yeah, yeah, that looks like it.
38:49Is that it?
38:50Let me see it.
38:51That's cool.
38:53That should be it.
38:53Yeah, that's it.
38:54I mean, the headlight is the right headlight.
38:58You know, it's got a lot of bells and whistles on it over there.
39:00The gingerbread is pretty nice.
39:02Overall, the restoration is not that, you know, it's not like a Concourse, the Elagons restoration.
39:06You've got some dents in the paint.
39:07It's kind of like, it's okay.
39:08You know, the Power Plus, it's not an original factory paint bike, which hurts its value quite a bit.
39:16But the motor's correct.
39:18The wheels are correct.
39:19The brakes on it.
39:20It's got the ammeter on it, which is the right one, you know, which is, and it's the electric model,
39:25too, which is interesting.
39:26Lights were an optional thing on a lot of motorcycles, and this bike carried that option.
39:31It's a good-looking bike.
39:33If this bike was totally original paint, beautiful bike, Power Plus, you know, it'd probably be $40,000.
39:38$45,000, maybe $45,000.
39:40Right.
39:43I could do $24,000 on this bike.
39:46On this bike, I'd feel comfortable at $18,000 on this bike.
39:51$42,000 for the pair.
39:53You know, I really would like them to go as a pair.
39:56In fact, my dad bought them from the same guy.
39:59That's so cool.
40:00There he is, huh?
40:01Yeah.
40:02Would you have to do $45,000 for both of them?
40:04Yeah, dude.
40:05Thank you so much, man.
40:06Did you buy the Power Plus?
40:08It bought bikes, dude.
40:09Oh, you bought this one, too?
40:10Yeah.
40:11Dude, look how nice this is.
40:13I was interested in this one.
40:14Well, I mean, maybe we'd make a deal.
40:16But these guys stay together.
40:17It does not.
40:19Hey, listen.
40:20I found pretty much everything.
40:21I was having a hard time finding the chain guard.
40:23I found the chain guard.
40:24All right.
40:24I found this version of the seat over there.
40:27There's the brakes, the cables.
40:29Here's the taillight.
40:31I found the speedometer.
40:32Is that the right headlight, too?
40:33Yeah.
40:34Let's check out the speedometer.
40:35It's probably been rebuilt.
40:37Wow.
40:37There's the exhaust.
40:39Anyway, I think I found there's a lot of parts, like smaller parts, like this jersey.
40:44Oh.
40:45You know, that's the switch for the headlight.
40:47Yeah.
40:47So I feel...
40:48That looks real.
40:48If you're comfortable at $40,000, I would do the $40,000.
40:51With everything that I found here, I'm comfortable with it.
40:53You go with that?
40:54Oh, yeah.
40:54Dude.
40:54Yeah.
40:55Thank you so much.
40:56That's cool.
40:57The whole bike needs to be finished.
40:59But it's all incredibly rewarding.
41:03To put another black shadow back on the road is huge when it comes to the antique motorcycle community.
41:10So we got the Power Plus in here.
41:12Yeah.
41:13And then Danielle will get a hold of you on the rest of the bikes.
41:16For shipping.
41:16All right.
41:16Very good.
41:17Thank you, buddy.
41:17Really appreciate you, man.
41:19And I tell you what, come and see them run.
41:23Yeah.
41:23I'd love it.
41:24I know it bothered my dad not being able to get it completed.
41:29And honestly, I'd love to see that bike up and riding at some point in time.
41:34And if I want to cross any parts, I'll be sure to reach out to Danielle.
41:38Honestly, I can't say I have any regret.
41:42If anything, it brings me joy for the bike.
41:46You know, I want it to be loved.
41:49I hear you.
41:50Thanks for sharing your father's history with us.
41:52Brad's father's collection had focus.
41:54It was very deliberate.
41:56He wrenched on this stuff.
41:57He rode it.
41:58It was a living collection.
42:00Y'all take care.
42:00Yeah, man.
42:01See you down the road.
42:02All right.
42:02I'll bring that chief up to see you.
42:03He was a true enthusiast and someone that obviously loved transportation history.
42:10He was a true enthusiast.
42:10He was a true enthusiast.
42:12He was a true enthusiast.
42:13He was a true enthusiast.
42:14He was a true enthusiast.
42:14You
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