This Week on Hagerty Marketplace: A Trio from the Karlock’s Collection

Welcome to This Week on Hagerty Marketplace, a recurring recap of the previous week’s most noteworthy cars and significant sales from the Hagerty Marketplace online auctions.

Steve and Jacklyn Karlock lived for several years in southern California, where they plied their trade in the amusement and novelty business. In 2015, they relocated to Hannibal, Missouri, and invested in the area’s tourism industry, first buying Big River Train Town and The Haunted House and Wax Museum and then establishing Karlocks Kars and Pop Culture. It was there that the couple housed their impressive collection of vintage cars, as well as automobilia and neon signs. 

Steve and Jacklyn died in 2021, and their museum subsequently closed. Recently, some cars from their collection were listed on Hagerty Marketplace, and these three, all offered at no reserve, caught our eye this week. 

1954 Kaiser-Darrin

Sold for $109,140

There’s something slightly cartoonish about the one-year-only Kaiser-Darrin, from the Betty Boop pucker of its pursed little grille to those trick sliding doors. But there’s an elegance, too, to these rare fiberglass roadsters. Just 435 were built, and while many came with 90-hp Willys inline-six power, this one, the 368^th Darrin built, had a 230-hp 331-cid Cadillac V-8 under that long bonnet. The listing states that the car’s designer, Howard “Dutch” Darrin, verified it as the only Cadillac-powered Darrin built. 

Steve Karlock purchased the car in the 1980s and restored it. Like the other cars from the Karlock’s Collection, however, the car was a static display for many years and will need some mechanical attention, though the body and interior have only the most minor needs. The sale crested the Kaiser Darrin’s #2 (excellent) condition value, and the car’s 1-of-1 Cadillac power certainly adds some sizzle to this classic American roadster.

1960 Buick Electra 225 Convertible

Sold for $69,550

Though the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz gets all the attention, it’s easy to make the case that the Electra convertible is just as imposing, just as mesmerizing, and just as luxe, all for a fraction of the price. The Karlocks acquired their Buick in 2004 from its original owner, with the shown 92,300 miles believed to be correct. With 325 horsepower on tap from the 401-cid Wildcat V-8, it is finished in gorgeous Sable Black over a red and white leather interior, with a white top to cap it all off. This car is sharp. 

It will need some mechanical sorting to get it into tip-top shape, but the price paid seems a good result for both the buyer and the Karlock’s estate.  

1965 Chevrolet Corvette 327/375 “Fuelie” Coupe

Sold for $96,300

In 1965, Chevy introduced its first big-block for the Corvette, a 396-cid V-8 that made 425 hp. But 1965 was also the final year for another hot engine, the L84 fuel-injected 327, which put out 375 hp. Although it lacked the power of the big-block, its lower weight gave the Vette better balance. The four-wheel disc brakes didn’t hurt, either. 

The Karlocks bought their Fuelie in 1993, after it had already been fully restored—a refurb that had earned it Top Flight honors in 1990 from the National Corvette Restorers Society. It is a fully numbers-matching car that still wears its rich Milano Maroon paintjob very well, with only minor blemishes throughout. The price paid puts it somewhere between #3 (good) and #2 (excellent), which seems fair all around.