The perception, in part fueled by the high-profile troubles of the Kruse organization, is that these are tough times in the lower-end of the collector car auction business. The opposite, however, seems to be true. Attendance and registered bidders are up at many non-catalog sales, RM’s Novi auctions have been quite good and Mitch Silver’s sales on the West Coast have continued to thrive through the weak economy. Fall Carlisle, now in its fifth year, also did just fine on October 1 and 2 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

268 vehicles crossed the block and preliminary results show that 95 cars sold for a sell-through rate of 35 percent. The high sale was a 1930 Cord L-29 Phaeton at $200,000. Carlisle’s unique “no-consignment fee” model, coupled with a reserve, takes much of the risk out of the auction format for sellers who pay nothing to the auction company if their car fails to sell.

Carlisle was chock-full of cheap and cheerful cars not often seen at auction, in contrast to Monterey where it has become increasingly difficult to find anything under $50,000. Many of the cars in Pennsylvania appeared in fine shape and ready to enjoy. These were a few of our favorites:

1. 1972 Datsun 240Z: Early Zs offer a ton of looks and performance for the money and are particularly rare on the East Coast, where most of them biodegraded some time during the Ford administration. This one, presented in the right shade of Datsun Persimmon Red, looked to be a nice example still wearing its stock – and really unattractive – wheel covers. It was right on the money, selling at $9,500. Both buyer and seller should be happy with this deal.

2. 1988 AMC Eagle 4X4 Wagon: The Eagle was another brilliant and resourceful idea of perpetually cash-strapped AMC to stave off the grim-reaper. Mating Jeep four-wheel drive technology with the AMC Concord passenger car body produced one of the first all-wheel drive passenger cars. These cars were all over Colorado and Alaska in the 1980s and were particularly popular with law enforcement in those areas. Then poof, they were gone. You almost never see one in any condition, and this 47,000-mile, well-cared for example was a shock. It was a flat-out steal at $6,500. 

3. 1994 Mercedes-Benz E320 Convertible: These once mega-buck Mercedes convertibles are rare (imported only from 1993 to 1995), seat four comfortably and were built with legendary Mercedes quality just before MB instituted some serious cost-cutting in the face of competition from Lexus and Infiniti. They’re also near the bottom of their depreciation curve and may actually have an eventual upside if maintenance doesn’t eat you alive. A 280SE Cabriolet from the 1960s will set you back more than $100K. This car is a decent deal selling at less than 10 percent of that ($8,600), particularly with low miles and its very expensive new top. 

4. 1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V: On a price-per-pound basis, this may have been the steal of the sale at $6,600. While not a Bill Blass or Givenchy designer edition, it was at least the “Diamond Jubilee” edition, causing one to wonder if any non-special edition Mark Vs have ever been built. A nice starter classic – if you can tolerate the single-digit fuel mileage. We hope it was bought as a pair with our next entry... 

5. 1977 Cadillac Eldorado: A very well-preserved 77,000-mile car, done up in a very ’70s color scheme of metallic brown with a tan half-vinyl top. The paint was advertised as almost 100 percent original and the interior looks just like it did when it came from Hamtramck in 1977 – even the 8-track player works! No word on whether the collection of O’Jays 8-tracks came with the car, which sold for $5,050.