This is a cool thing, unsold 66 Chevy trucks!

[gmcdeadhead]

there is no way in hell you can stay in business eating invoices on new vehicles.

lambrecht must have been selling a large volume of vehicles, then you could have afforded to let a few new vehicles go out to pasture,

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by gmcdeadhead

lambrecht must have been selling a large volume of vehicles, then you could have afforded to let a few new vehicles go out to pasture,

How many vehicles did they sell a year? Was that info ever given? I would like to see the numbers and do the math. A base model brand new '64 was about $2,000. In todays dollars, that's approx. $16,000. Now multiply by the number of unsold pickups and cars etc. Wow, that's a lot of dough for such a frugal man that offered such great deals to loose. As the great Tom Petty once said " You can believe what you want to believe" I still believe my earlier post.

[Yorkauto]

No it was a trade in that was parked in the field, as far as I can tell it was traded in in 1968 with 28000 miles on it, I do not feel to bad about take this one apart and changing it. It did need quite a bit of floor and rocker work where it had sat in the dirt and moisture got to it, but it wasn't to bad. The frame and suspension components just had surface rust on them you could still read the factory stamped part numbers on them.

Originally Posted by oem4me

Seriously? Is the black truck also one of the no mile, never titled trucks?

[60-66]

Originally Posted by factorystock

How many vehicles did they sell a year? Was that info ever given? I would like to see the numbers and do the math. A base model brand new '64 was about $2,000. In todays dollars, that's approx. $16,000. Now multiply by the number of unsold pickups and cars etc. Wow, that's a lot of dough for such a frugal man that offered such great deals to loose. As the great Tom Petty once said " You can believe what you want to believe" I still believe my earlier post.

So how DID he stay in business by collecting 400 plus trade ins and all those new cars (referring to your first post comment ) ??? If what I was "told" is incorrect . I agree , lots of "stories" but he had to be making money somehow.

[60-66]

Heres the only other pictures I have of your black truck and your 63. Somewhere I have all the original pictures the auction company had taken.

[60-66]

Heres some pictures of Lambrechts house right across the street from the dealership and some of the inside of the building from auction week. Another story about how Lambrecht was , this dealership was not insulated or insulated very poorly , there were stories floating around about how cold it was for the mechanic working on the cars/trucks inside here.

[factorystock]

Originally Posted by factorystock

Was the dealership lot in a flood plain? Insurance right offs bought back for peanuts?

Just had to bring this up, historic flooding in Nebraska as I post. Elkhorn River runs very close to the town of Pierce.

[Clyde65]

This is so interesting to me, I had a friend years ago, actually a family friend who worked at a small local dealership near my home town, he said that back then, trade ins were real cheap and when someone came to buy new, they bought what was on the lot for the asking price.

[Old Truck Man]

Originally Posted by Hack_Attack

Sounds like the guy was in the wrong business....he should have sold produce.

Exactly. My opinion he was simply pig headed stupid. Folks who went to the auction and paid more that junk price for those vehicles had more money or credit than they had brains. In Arkansas if you buy a vehicle that has never been licenced and all you have is the Manufactures cert of origon. You have to pay sales tax on what it cost when new.

[Johns 66]

Just saw this thread. It does my heart so good to see these trucks go to someone who will love and cherish them. I had never heard of this or I guess I would have been one who went and bought a brand spanking new old Chevy truck with 10 miles or less....rust and all.

I am glad I have my 66 and while she aint perfect she does remind me of a simpler time in this country...not all bells and whistles, electronic gadgets. Something about riding down an old country road, dual exhaust and worn out glasspacks singing the sweetest tune a kid ever wanted to hear while the windows were down on a clear spring day.....oh the memories

[Robert Haas]

The "field" had mostly fleet level strippers, as that seemed to be the left over inventory that Lambrecht probably received some relief from Chevrolet on. There were a couple vehicles of value stored indoors that were true jewels. A convertible Impala with 4 miles on it was pulled out of there. He also had a Corvette in there.

I would never call the man or any decision makers in the family Stupid. I don't know them. I would say they had an interesting value system that none of us are privvy to.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by Old Truck Man

Exactly. My opinion he was simply pig headed stupid. Folks who went to the auction and paid more that junk price for those vehicles had more money or credit than they had brains. In Arkansas if you buy a vehicle that has never been licenced and all you have is the Manufactures cert of origon. You have to pay sales tax on what it cost when new.

Seems like a harsh summary unless you know ALL the details of each purchase (amount; condition of truck; etc...??). Rules in Arkansas are just that & possibly differ in other states.

[weim55]

I'd have to say the marketing done by the auction company ( brilliant )as well as word of mouth fire spread on the Internet: not likely there's been many auctions with the $$ haul per unit this one did. Jaw dropping $$. Think what you will of the old man that put all the wheels in motion 50 years ago, his family came away mighty sweet ($$!!) the day that auction ended. And some new owners got some once-in-a-lifetime iron......

Steve weim55 Colorado

[factorystock]

Old thread, but, still the curiosity sets in from time to time. I still stand behind my previous comment's a few years back. Did we ever get a run down on exactly how many super low mile pickups were offered at this auction? What was the year breakdown? It appears to me most all were late '64 builds ( by the fawn steering wheel instead of white steering wheels) and '65 model years. The vin #'s would give you an educated guess on when they were assembled at the factory. Why exactly these years? Why not 8, 9 or 10 super low mile truck from all the years? There were only a few others that were low miles and no where near as many as the '64-'65's. Keep coming back to my original speculations, these trucks were for sale on his lot and got caught up in a massive flood event and written off through insurance. No body could absorb eating those full freight invoices from GM. Nobody. Probably were told by GM they could no longer be sold and should be scrapped. They eventually went out to pasture with other used cars that many dealers take in one way or another for pennies on the dollar, leans on repairs, tows etc. However, I can see somebody not selling poor condition used cars. Again, just my opinion, but, IMO, the most logical, everything else I've read just doesn't hold water.

[60-66]

Originally Posted by factorystock

Keep coming back to my original speculations, these trucks were for sale on his lot and got caught up in a massive flood event and written off through insurance. No body could absorb eating those full freight invoices from GM. Nobody. Probably were told by GM they could no longer be sold and should be scrapped. They eventually went out to pasture with other used cars that many dealers take in one way or another for pennies on the dollar, leans on repairs, tows etc. However, I can see somebody not selling poor condition used cars. Again, just my opinion, but, IMO, the most logical, everything else I've read just doesn't hold water.

Good morning Factorystock . I'm forgetting many of the fine details of this but NO ONE ever mentioned anything about a flood nor was there ANY evidence in any trucks of being in a flood. You kind of have to understand Ray Lambrechts way of thinking. If it wasn't a Brand New Model , he wasn't going to sell it to you, period. Many of the new trucks left over were parked at his other home which eventually was given or rented by his mechanic. I've spoken with the mechanics son about parts of this story as one of the two I bought was in the mechanics name. Why do you think he amassed 400 cars mostly used ? He absolutely would not sell you a used vehicle , or a vehicle that wasn't a New model year . There's MANY strange people out there , Lol . I have several good friends that approached him about buying his NOS parts inventory , also 3 different people who actually stored indoors several of the cars and trucks only to have to give them back for the auction. They had hopes of buying them , but Ray wouldn't sell them. Obviously these guys aren't happy over that outcome. Ray had money , he just never spent it. Many many stories of cash being in the walls of the house , moldy bills etc , all rumors from people in town etc.

[factorystock]

Thanks for responding 60-66. Been board lately, been going back to older threads. Still, comes back to those specific questions. Why were most all new pickups late build '64's and probably early build '65's? Too much of a coincidence for me. Why did he have trouble selling those specific '64 and '65's? Became last years models and no longer wanted to sell them? The only dealer in America who had the problem that he couldn't sell out his stock of the most popular pickups in America. I don't buy it, never will. Wood beds were rotted out and hubcaps completely rusted away at the half way mark. Mud and water were trapped for a long time and we all know what that does to wood and metal. Base model trucks were approx 2K back then, today CPI would be 20K. 30K would be more accurate for a base model pickup today? Assuming around 10 new '64-'65 at today's 300,000 dollars, even the biggest car lover could not afford to take a financial hit like that. Goes back again to an insurance wright off, the only logical explanation, IMO, on those new pickups. You have to remember most people, buyers and dealers were really cheap back then, how 60-66 pickups built have more than a couple options? Lucky to get buyers to spring for a radio and heater in those days. Population of Pierce Neb. about 1300 in 1964, big volulme dealer? Why would I drive to the middle of nowhere to buy car from him? Yes, I'm still a skeptic on this one. No one ever reports flood damage, age old scam on deals to good to be true. I say flood job, the rest of the stories, snow job. But, much to his credit, Lambrecht, didn't try to sell them like scammers today.

[60-66]

24l 1963 Chevrolet Impala 2dr HT 97500 5
25l 1964 Chevrolet C10 q/ ton Pickup 14000 4
26l 1964 Chevrolet C10 1/2 ton Pickup 10500 4
27l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 20000 4
28l 1964 Chevrolet C10 1/2 ton Pickup 24000 4
29l 1963 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 23000 4
30l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 39000 4
31l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 20000 4
32l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 19000 4
33l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 18000 4
34l 1965 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 18500 4
35l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 18000 4
36l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 18000 4
37l 1963 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 19500 4
38l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 17500 4
39l 1965 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 20500 4
40l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 22500 4
41l 1964 Chevrolet 1/2 ton Pickup 17500 4
87 1960 Chevrolet Apache 10 1/2 ton Pickup 46000 4

This is the list of most of the 60-66 no mile new trucks. 30L though is a Black 1966 big window custom and 87 was the one 1960 new truck. Theres still 2 missing. one 1965 and one 64. Part of the story was that Lambrecht was somewhat of a distributor , Im NOT using the right term in this case but I cant remember right off hand, But what was said is that if Chevrolet had extra inventory , they sent it to Ray and he would sell to other dealers. But once the new models rolled out, they were parked, NFS. The list above is just 60-66 trucks Theres still plenty of cars and a few more trucks with no miles he kept. Too much of this discussion is lost now, so me trying to convince you is useless " The only dealer in America who had the problem that he couldn't sell out his stock of the most popular pickups in America." this statement , well, I've personally seen and heard of MANY dealers that kept back brand new cars. A local motorcycle dealer nearby had 25 bikes all different years still brand new some in crates. Heres Picture of 30L and 87 plus the reason the hubcaps and wheels looked the way they did, they sunk into the dirt. Surprisingly the bodys on some were as good as they were.

[60-66]

more of the location where they sat

[60-66]

You have to ask yourself, why anything in those pictures was not for sale! Unless you understood Ray Lambrecht.

[60-66]

The question isn't why he could not sell them .

The question is why he would not sell them.

[factorystock]

Hypothetical, Walker Chevrolet Seattle WA in 1964 as seen in photo below, has a good supply of new pickups, most similarly optioned, most fleetsides with an assortment of different colors. Sound familiar yet? Within seconds, flood waters from a nearby creek enter the town, and this dealership is submerged for days. All the new vehicles seen in this photo are totaled and written off, never got titled, bought back as salvage for pennies on the dollar, end up on the owners property outside of town...............................This didn't happen, but this photo gives you and idea the quantity of new pickups on a dealerships lot in the mid 60's. If you follow my logic, there had to be some event, obviously it wasn't a fire situation. Yeah, the new vehicles could have been sold off to wreckers or scraped a long time ago like most people would have done, but they weren't. To me, that is the most important part of this event, they became frozen in time. I'll NEVER buy anyone eating those full GM invoices out of pride. Literally impossible for any one person to do, $2000 apiece for a new truck was a lot of money back then. Couldn't do it back then, nobody could do it now either. There was not enough profit margin in selling these vehicles to absorb anywhere near what it would take and still be competitive with other dealerships. Again, the 64 million dollar question, which nobody ever has logically answered is: Why are Lambrechts unsold new pickups overwhelmingly predominately '64-65? Why not 15 pickups all mainly '71'-72? 15 pickups '68-'69 15 pickups '66-'67? I'm listening, all ears. Again, I have no problem accepting the practice of hording typical used trade ins, liens on unpaid repairs, tow ins and abandonment's which is common with dealers or shops etc. The new stuff is another story and all the stories we were spoon fed about the new stuff just don't hold water. The Lambrecht dealership was located at Main St and Lucas, is approx 1/2 mile from the Elkhorn River. The storage lot? Don't know, but they are usually somewhere around the building, maybe closer to a flood plane near river? hmmmm. https://www.google.com/search?q=nebr...client=gws-wiz

[60-66]

While we are hell bent on making this a flood story . I thought Id post some restoration photos of the blue 1960 long stepside with 2 miles. These are from 2022 so Im sure its been completed. I was able to help supply some mint NOS 1960 hubcaps to the cause and some other parts . The restorer did a lot of research on the truck to get what HE FELT were the correct colors and plating of each piece during the restoration. Looking pretty good id say !

[60-66]

few more

[rbruno68]

This is still an amazing story and I am glad it is still being discussed. That 60 looks incredible. As much as I like the various builds people do with their trucks, one that is restored to original is definitely unique given the effort needed to match the factory. It looks great.

[factorystock]

Thanks for sharing the update on the blue Apache 60-66. These low mile trucks really need to look like low mileage trucks again, the way they looked when they rolled off the assembly line. Great idea to get them back into lime light, they would be a great addition to this thread.