Golden Pond Boat SOLD on eBay!

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egh! Drama on the high seas of eBay! Last night at 10:12 pm Thayer IV SOLD for a nice $47,000. With over 31 bids, and 11,783 hits. The winner f**1(0) I wonder if he is kin to the f**1’s of Toledo? What has been interesting about this sale has been the price. A couple of days ago the seller told me that he had over 400 watchers. So folks were clearly watching. It was on the TV news and paper. Along with several links to sights. So anyone looking for this boat had to know it was for sale. So… bottom line. This boat in the condition it was in is worth $15,000 as a 1950 U22 Sportsman. There are many out there for sale. Restored to show condition $45,000 give or take $5,000. So selling for $47,000 tells me that the film value is roughly $37,000. That’s the value of a good story. Now add in the fact that there is a very weak paper trail on this one. And who knows. After all there were 4 of these. Two junk, Two good. From the paper trail that did exist and lots of research, this one does appear to be one of the two good ones. But not yet verified by Pat Curtin. That is the key to this boat being worth what it is worth, or more. There are a mess of Thayer IV’s out there, and Pat is the only guy on the planet that can say what is and what is not. So let’s hope that f**1(0) meets Pat.

8 replies
  1. Ken Miller
    Ken Miller says:

    I’m gonna chime in here on this one……..

    Even as an owner of a U-22 less than 100 hull numbers away from the Thayer IV, I just don’t see it ever bringing this ebay auction price plus a total restoration cost. It would seem to me that the more times it sells (for higher and higher prices) it not only precludes some prospective buyers from purchasing, it also means whoever puts the money into total or partial restoration is probably gonna lose money on the deal like one of those cars you see on the Barrett-Jackson auctions (where the commentators sometimes express that the auction price wouldn’t cover the cost of the restoration, much less the additional value of the car before the restoration).

    When I took my U-22 to the restorer who is doing our work and described to him the way I originally traded for the boat, I put a number of $18,500 on what I had in the boat to that point. He told me he thought I had “bought it well” for that price, and especially after he got into the boat and realized what good shape it was in before the restoration began.

    I think the Thayer IV was bought with the heart, not the bank book….which I can understand, as well. If it turns out I’m wrong then, hey, so be it. I just can’t see any U-22, Thayer IV or otherwise, selling for what a barrell back would.

    Hey Matt, maybe the new owner will put a complete restoration on the boat and trade you for your BB? LOL. Ha Ha. NOT.

    Which brings up……..would you really want to refinish the boat and lose the graphics on the transom? (Imagine what the transom plank with the name would bring?!?!?!?!?!?) Would you really want to change everything about the boat to bring it up to our standards for regular lake use and lose its provenance? I wouldn’t. And yet I wouldn’t want to put it into regular lake use for a number of reasons (slowly losing the items mentioned above, not to mention the poor condition of the mechanicals in their present state).

    Thanks for the blog, Matt. I really enjoying coming here and reading what you and others have to say.

    Ken Miller.

  2. Editor
    Editor says:

    Thanks. I agree. At which point does this boat go beyond a real price? I think the seller got a good price for it. If the buyer is going to tuck it away… maybe… But the boat was restored after the shoot. So its already been restored. So its not like we are preserving the orig, hole drilled in it, dulling spray orig shoot boat. So my best way to go on this boat was to has pat Curtin supervise the restoration to the shoot boat. Then it becomes cool. But its realy a marketing tool. not a usable boat!

  3. Ken Miller
    Ken Miller says:

    I had visions of it going around to boat shows. Prolly could pull some fair money at some of the major metropolitan boat shows. But even the smaller ones (you know the ones…..they advertise them on the television before they start…….sort of like the monster truck deals at the local auditorium…..”sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY, one night ONLY!!!!!”) you could prolly get a promoter to give you three, four thousand bucks plus travel to show up and set up. Pay somebody $500 bucks a week to “handle it” and you got a little business venture underway.

  4. jfrprops
    jfrprops says:

    Well guys, I must be the only guy on the planet that never has seen that flic! It must really be a classic on the Gone with the Wind scale though…for that boat to bring that money. lol.
    John Rothert

  5. Editor
    Editor says:

    Dear god! Your the one. It’s a good movie. OK its a boring story VERY well produced and acted. Whats cool is that its the whole wood boat lifestyle. And when it broke. The woody boat was at a low point in popularity. This film restared the fire big time. And one could say. Started the growth of the passion to mainstram America. Rent the movie. Then you to will see why the boat scenes are the coolest part of the film.

  6. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    “This film restared the fire big time. And one could say. Started the growth of the passion to mainstram America.”

    Exactly. When people think of wooden boats, they think of the Thayer IV. Since we’re all boat enthusiasts, it may not come directly to what we may imagine it as. But mainstream America sees the Thayer IV as THE wooden boat of America. I remember when this movie came out. My children absolutely loved this movie to death because of the great boat scenes. It’s what started my interest in mahogany boats.

    I think that the buyer got a very good price for it. I’m sure even with a restore value of a good 20 grand, it will be able to sell for at least 67 grand in the future. The seller should have put it on up on Sotheby’s or even donate it to a museum and take a tax write-off. Think of somebody selling the “Spirit of St. Louis” or the “Gran Torino” from Clint Eastwood’s new movie up for sale on ebay and only selling them for $47,000!! It’s a STEAL!!

    It was a good time for the buyer to buy. The seller needed money badly. (He was in the mortgage and real estate business, enough said!) Who knows how far the value will increase in the future. But since times are tough, people were most likely very reserved on throwing more money at this wonderful piece of movie AND BOAT history.

    So enough of my rant, let’s hope the guy made the right choice, and I believe he did. Hopefully he’ll show himself so I can call him up and take a look at it.

  7. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    I heard the boat hasn't touched the water since 1981. I guess that realy doesnt matter and sort of matters at the same time because she might need a new bottom. Plus the mechanical work on its going ot be tough. But your right she is the boat of america! Also for the amount of work you would have to put into it wouldnt be worth buying the boat for 47,000.

  8. Anonymous
    Anonymous says:

    The boat is beautiful today. I don't believe the "buyer" intended to buy and sell this boat, like you said, it was bought from the heart.

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