Are museums shedding their assets

[Ohjai]

I have been looking for something to purchase the last couple of months and it appears to me that many cars being sold today are coming from museums.

A maritime museum around Lake Tahoe has closed its doors and selling off their assets on Bring-a-Trailer, looking at a 59, I noticed the pictures and it is in a tank museum.  A 1928 Buick for sale is shown in a museum.

Is this a new trend or has it been going on for  awhile.

Jim

[wrench]

Between being closed for months, economic issues and travel restrictions, there are many predictions that 1/3 of the museums in the country will close permanently.

I do not use NPR as a source for news, and won’t discuss why, but they did cover this recently.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/22/894049653/one-third-of-u-s-museums-may-not-survive-the-year-survey-finds

A link from the article:

https://www.worldofspeed.org/

[Ohjai]

Thanks Jim.  As they mentioned, cash reserve is getting low.  To stay open, they may have to sell off some of their assets just to last through the current crisis.  If they start selling off their cars, will it cause a glut in the market, and reduce the selling price for the small collector?

Jim

[wrench]

I think it’s a buyer’s market right now and the biggest issue is to not pay too much if you are a buyer and not take to little if you are a seller.

I don’t collect cars for financial interest. (Fool’s errand) They are machines, I am a mechanic and I like to bomb around in old iron. That’s where the margin is for me, the car has to be able to be driven.

All the rest of that market jazz is not my thing.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I went to a Museum when attending the 2002 Dearborn GN and went through a wonderful Museum called "Car-Rail".

It was a fantastic place to visit, but it closed down in 2003, and everything was sold off.

Some Museums cannot simply stay open because they are Museums.

Bruce.

PS.   It is a sad day when these places close down, but I like to think of it as a chance for many people to enjoy actually using items as they were designed for, and not simply stuck in one spot, wasting away.

[cadillac ken]

Probably the difference between a real museum and a private collection fronted as a museum (for tax reasons).  "collector" museums will still be around but those that rely on donations and cars provided by collectors are probably bearing the brunt of this Corona stuff.

Also, as pointed out many times, the interest in these old cars is waning.