Southeast Iowa auction draws thousands of antique collectors

YARMOUTH — A steady murmur hung in the air inside the Robert Gabeline family farm's sprawling machine shed Thursday morning.

It's the sound you hear any time a large crowd is gathered at an indoor venue. But in this case, the talk was all about an auction — likely the largest antique estate auction many attendees had ever witnessed.

Jim Sullivan, co-owner of Sullivan Auctioneers of Hamilton, Ill, confirmed as much. In 38 years of business, he said, the Gabeline auction is the largest of its kind in his company's history.

And folks have been coming to this weeklong sale in droves.

Sullivan said when the event wraps up Friday, nearly 15,000 people will have visited, including a two-day open house Saturday and Sunday that preceded the five days of actual bidding. They've come from 41 states and four foreign countries — Canada, England, New Zealand and Sweden.

Item after item hit the auction block Thursday, from pedal cars and toy tractors to antique metal coolers, lanterns and glass jars that once contained motor oil. It was a huge collection, amassed over a period of decades by Robert Gabeline, legendary in southeast Iowa not only for his business dealings, but his extensive collections.

Gabeline died last September, but his reputation for a keen collector's eye virtually guaranteed an auction featuring his items would draw bidders from far and wide.

Sullivan said the combination of volume, variety and quality has led to an event that met, and even exceeded, his expectations — particularly considering the highly anticipated catalog of collectible cars sold on Monday and Tuesday.

'If you just had $20,000 cars, you'd get that quality of buyer. If you just had $500 cars, you'd get that quality of buyer,' he said. 'We've had something for everyone.'

As expected, the featured item of the week — a rare 1929 Stutz Black Hawk Sport roadster that may be the only one of its kind in existence — fetched $122,000, the week's top sale item.

Many of the nation's rich and famous collectors were rumored to be planning visits. Sullivan said he understood comedian and car collector Jay Leno sent a representative, but didn't attend in person. 'American Pickers' co-star Frank Fritz was on hand Monday, but Sullivan said he didn't know if the TV star made any purchases.

At least one well-known Eastern Iowan stopped by Thursday. Jon Kinzenbaw, founder and CEO of Kinze Manufacturing of Williamsburg, was the high bidder on a replica pedal car of a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette, among Thursday's top sellers at $4,600.

Kinzenbaw, himself known as a vintage farm tractor and memorabilia collector, said he owns three vintage Corvettes, but none as old as the pedal car. 'This was way cheaper than a real '53 Corvette,' he said, chuckling.

Later in the morning, he set his sights on a yellow, toy metal road grader because it was identical to one he was gifted as a child. He took the toy apart in his younger years, likely infuriating his mother, he said.

'I've never seen another one just like it, so I had to have it,' he said.

Another attendee, Larry Newby of Denmark, Iowa — a short drive from Yarmouth — said he came looking for an antique stop sign with glass reflectors.

'It's the first one I glanced a .22 shell off of as a kid,' he said.

There was such a sign in Thursday's lot, but it sold for more than he was willing to pay.

Newby said he's been to other auctions, 'but none anywhere near this big.'

Sullivan said he enjoys spending time with auction attendees, who he described as 'great people.'

'Everyone has a story,' Sullivan said. 'It just makes our job that much more pleasurable.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8975; richard.pratt@thegazette.com

If You Go

What: Gabeline Estate auction, featuring classic cars, tractors, parts and more.

When: Final day of a five-day sale starts at 8 a.m. Friday.

Where: Gabeline Farm, 25900 205th Ave., Yarmouth.

Details: Anything that hasn't yet been sold is being auctioned off Friday.

Info: sullivanauctioneers.com