What Is Your Best Estate-Sale Find?
Be it an estate, garage, or Storage Wars–like auction sale, there are always deals to be had when shopping for the pre-loved and coveted items of other folks. This past time is getting hotter around the country, especially among younger folks. It’s such a big thing that even retailer TJ Maxx is reaping rewards thanks to its “treasure hunt–like shopping experience.”
Hunting for treasure is part of the thrill, as sometimes we find some great stuff at places like an estate sale. That, of course, depends on the hobbies of the person who created the estate. I haven’t found many hobby-related things I need or want at an estate (or a garage) sale—at least not at a price I could stomach. But one time I learned that a local rental-storage space was being cleared out, because a posting went up on Craigslist to tell the world that everything must go. Remember back when we used Craigslist and not Facebook Marketplace for stuff like this?
I left with a large box of random stuff, and it was all cheaper than dinner at a decent restaurant. The coolest item was a used Passport radar detector from the 1980s, complete with the box, accessories, and owner’s manual. I didn’t know what I was getting until I got home, and this time capsule was a pleasant surprise.
Granted, this radar detector isn’t helpful in our modern age, with traffic monitors, blind spot monitors, and laser speed checkers, but it sure looks cool for Rad Era fans. (And this era now has a name!) So with this modest example of a cool find in a treasure hunt, I punt it back to you, dear reader of Hagerty Media:
What Is Your Best Estate-Sale Find?
about 6 years ago i won the bid for a 7.5 acre lot with a 50×120′ pole barn/shop w/ adjacent 24×60′ storage shed. i paid about 30% more than market value. but the buildings were filled with a TON of goodies, including a 14k lb 4-post rotary brand lift. the seller got to keep a ’56 lincoln mk ii, upper & lower rolling tool box filled w/ tools, and the engine for a ’64 ford pickup. took about a year to go thru everything. a lotta trash, but a lotta good stuff, too.
about 25 years ago, i got about $10k worth of wood, plumbing, automotive & other related tools for $300. tool box after tool box full of stuff. the gal was cleaning out her late father’s garage. looking at all he had, he was definitely a jack of all trades. micrometers, gauges, plumbing tools, an air compressor, a home made wood work bench on casters (so well built, it could probably support a couple big blocks) filled with hand tools. many of the old tools i find are still more useful than their current ‘improved’ counterparts (and are not made anymore). sooo much more i just can’t remember everything. i put everything in a pile and asked how much. the price the gal gave was so low, i felt it would be taking advantage of her if i accepted and said she should reconsider. nope, she was good with it
We’d both come home for Thanksgiving and both found ourselves soon bored to death. The ‘estate sale’ was a bunch of crap that no one would want. An old electric can opener and that sort of thing. She had been a year ahead of me in high school and I barely recognize her at first….
Almost everything listed in the posts above will, one day, be sold again at a garage sale.
A Sears 3 ton floor jack for $10. And it holds pressure !
I’ve found vintage Plomb wrenches for a buck or two around here. This was ancestor of Proto and they can go for a lot on eBay. Not car related, I also got a 1979 Rockwell miter saw for $5, and saw one for for $50 in Habitat for Humanity
Last year I found a Black and Decker Air Station 9527, never out of the box. Best $20 ever spent. I would have paid $200. My dad bought one 30 – something years ago and it works great today.
In 2001 I was at a tag sale one town over and I bought a beautiful 1975 Jensen Healey with 23,000 miles that got put away due to bad clutch. The sign said “MG for sale does not run, make offer” Paid $300, towed it home. Two buddies helped me figure out the issue and get running again the next week. Great car ever since. Just drove it today- it was 79 and sunny in CT.
unbelievable finds, fifteen years ago at an estate sale less than two miles from my home, a mint 32 Ford headlight bar with headlights and V8 badge for 150 bucks, in 1982 found a 1934 Oldsmobile two door sedan with 20,000 original miles, the widow of the owner told me he joined the army after Pearl Harbor was attacked and never returned home, I still have the Olds.
I found at a local garage sale an unused Porsche flat tire kit. A guy I know said they’re worth big money, so I sold it on Ebay for good money. It went in an instant.
I got a hold of a 57 Olds Fiesta with factory J2 from an estate sale. My great grandpa had bought one new, and now I’m doing a frame off to build it like his.
I bought a Lincoln stick welder at a community yard sale for $30.00. The lady who had it told me it worked fine, but her husband got a new one and didn’t want the old one hanging around. He told her, “just get what you can for it.” I couldn’t back my truck up fast enough to load it! Still use it to this day.
What Michael Valentine of Cincinnati Microwave did with the Escort, which I still have, and later the Passport was to detect X and K band and far more accurately than the other players of the time. Sure, there were detectors with all kinds of fanboy features but the rugged case/chassis/antenna carrier housing and instrument quality hardware used made them special. I had a friend of mine in my couple month old Mustang GT with my Escort clipped to the sun visor and I left his driveway in a very spirited acceleration. Suddenly I realized my Escort wasn’t switched on so I turned it on and of course you were supposed to give it 5-10 second to initialize and calibrate and the moment I turned it on I got that raspy BRAAPP sound of K band detection. I slowed from 80 down to below 55 as quickly as possible and as I crested the rise and slight bend in the road there was a New York State Trooper a quarter mile up the road. The $249 plus shipping was paid for on the spot! That detector paid for itself many times over. My friend riding shotgun was a machine tool salesman who easily covered 60k miles per year asked to take a look at my beloved Escort and said “amazing, I’m ordering one today!” He ended up ordering the Passport you see in this article just because of its compact size and and he had to go into some pretty tough places and breaking into cars to steal radios and radar detectors was common.
Mike Valentine later started Valentine Research and made the equally brilliant and even more capable and informative Valentine detectors. His documentation regarding the use of these instruments was what really made them exceptional. It required the user to understand strategy to get these detector’s brilliant capabilities. These detectors set the standard for for ‘flying below the radar’. Loved mine before it was rendered obsolete, I can’t bring myself to part with it.
Mike Valentine passed away at 74 on September 19th, 2024. He was an electrical engineer that liked to drive his MGB in a manner it was designed to be driven, he didn’t like tickets!
I put my Passport for sale on both Craigslist and eBay for a bit over a month for $25 (working, good pics and description, all cables and accessories included). I got exactly zero interest.
At a car show, I had a great conversation with a fellow who had an early ’80s Vette. I gave him the Passport since it fit the era and didn’t detract from the beauty of his car. Made for two happy enthusiasts.
That was a nice way to keep it from going to an undignified end and give it a good home. These sure were great units and deserving of their popularity. That Corvette is the perfect display case for your old Passport!