JOHN ANALLA, ASA - Automotive & Classic Car Specialist

This fancy car behind John is the most expensive Hot Rod in the world, known affectionately by car fans as “Hot Rod Lincoln” or “Red Hot Lincoln” if you are friendly with the owner. It just sold for $432,000 at the January 2004 Barret-Jackson Vintage & Collector Car Auction at Scottsdale, AZ. John reports that the “neat thing about this car is it features the Lincoln V12 engine, beefed up, rather than a modern motor.” Dedicated to the preservation of the old original engines, John wonders if this might be a new trend. Replicas still bring a lot of money – John recently appraised a 1965 Ford GT 40 MKI Replica for close to $100,000. He appraised “the real thing” a few years back, for a client in Germany, at $750,000. John joked that “the import tax must have cost the client a few bucks too!”

Cruising the recent Auto Show at the SD Convention center, John saw the replicas of this car are offered for about $150,000, and wonders if this might be a good investment for someone with some loose change.

John Analla, ASA is celebrating almost 25 years as a senior member of the ASA in his specialization of Automotive & Classic Cars and is an active member of the Board and Chairs. Before John took up appraising as a full time career he worked for Ivac Corp as a Quality Control Supervisor & Engineer while completing his ASA designation. His knowledge and easy-going manner make him one of the most sought out specialists in the ASA community.

Greetings!

This is a dynamic year for the Public Relations efforts of the San Diego Chapter. Hand in glove with the many excellent presentations being provided to other professional organizations by numerous San Diego Chapter Members, are the excellent and professional Chapter Programs that attract attendees from other professions and from other ASA Chapters as well.

A major professional achievement in our Public Relations and Marketing efforts is the launching of our San Diego Chapter website - SanDiegoAppraisers.org.

The development of the website has been a major objective of the San Diego Chapter's Governing Board. While many chapter members have reviewed the embryonic site and provided excellent ideas, photos, and greatly appreciated suggestions -- the driving forces in the website development have been Georgie Stillman, and our contracted professional website architect, Jan Giamanco -- who are continuing to make improvements.

Our March Chapter meeting will provide an opportunity for you to meet and learn from Jan Giamanco, who will discuss website development. The meeting will also provide yet another opportunity to address recommendations on further enhancing our newly launched site.

So bring a guest, bring your ideas, and plan to enjoy a delicious meal in the company of your professional peers. The speaker presentation and networking opportunities will indeed be the icing on the cake!

Best Regards, Paul Golubovs, MBA, ASA

Greetings!

"My Grandmother’s silver & ivory flatware was lost in the October fires. It was sterling with ivory handles” she tells me, “and it was worth a fortune.”

Whether one is a real estate appraiser assisting a homeowner trying to describe the special features added to the family’s home that burned to the ground in the fires, an automotive appraiser working with a client to ‘re-construct’ the classic/vintage car reduced to a modern ‘artwork’ hunk of metal, or the business valuation expert determining the loss of income and inventory for an entrepreneur, fire victim clients all present a similar appraisal technique problem - the ‘hypothetical data’ appraisal: How do we gather enough factual data to prepare a meaningful appraisal when, prior to the loss, we have not personally examined the actual thing itself?

We ask for all the supporting data that might be available in other hands – photos children or family members take at a holiday event, receipts or credit card records that indicate purchases, testimonials from dealers or suppliers that indicate purchases, comments from friends and neighbors who witnessed the items claimed or saw the improvements and work activity. Anything that provides the appraiser with a physical description and account of the item or activity to indicate the veracity and nature of the loss.

I explain to the client I don’t doubt their word, but in order to prepare an “unbiased appraisal based on factual evidence” and to so attest in my appraisal of items I never personally examined, I must have corroborating information in order to state that I have enough information “to make a meaningful identification and valuation” of the lost item. Unfortunately, there are situations that not even empathy and good will can rectify: the client who says they lost an 18th century Chippendale chair, for example, because theirs looked just like the one in the ad in The Magazine Antiques. Over the past 30 years people called me to appraise their antique ‘Chippendale’ chair, that looks - to them - just like the one in the magazine or book and I arrived to find a 20th century reproduction. People must keep accurate records, and if they suspect they have a valuable antique, they must get it appraised BEFORE A LOSS if they expect fair compensation.

To return to the woman who called about her "sterling & ivory" flatware set. I asked if she had any piece left from the fire, and she did: a knife blade that was inscribed "Landers Frary & Clark, Aetna Works".

This company, with this trademark, was working in New Britain, Conn., circa 1866 – 1896, and was known for its silver plated wares, including “Ivoride” handles (Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufactures, Revised 4th Ed., Schiffer Press). Not ivory, but an early form of plastic. Not sterling, but silver plate. I read her this information from my reference book. Big difference in value, from “sterling & ivory” to silver plate& “Ivoride” - and no wish to pay for my appraisal service

On the other hand, I investigated other losses where fragments and photos indicate a valuable piece, worth thousands, unrecognized by the client. Just this month, in some fire loss refuge, I found a piece of pottery with a fragment of a mark, enough to identify a fine French Art Deco Longwy pottery antique vase - $1,250.

And there is no more important lesson to all from the October fires - get an appraisal of valuable items before something happens to them.

Georgie Stillman, ASA, Accredited Senior Appraiser
Antiques & Decorative Arts; Residential Contents

Pamela Bensoussan, ASA

Pameal is leading the San Diego County Congress of History's Annual Conference, spotlighting Chula Vista, “Lemons to Locomotives and Beyond”, March 3-7.

Pamela is 1st V-P & Conference Committee Chair of the historic preservation organization. She is Vice-President of the Chula Vista Heritage Museum, this year’s sponsor organization.

Paul Golubovs, ASA

Paul is known to you as an expert in arms & armor, he also has a beautiful singing voice. He is producing a CD of original songs, in the folk/balladeer genre with some blues/rockabilly tunes to spice things up. Stay tuned for the CD release party.

There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as if everything is. - Albert Einstein

Gems & Jewelry

GJ205 - Gems and Jewelry Appraisal Theory, Methods and Application
Las Vegas - May 29 - 31
Reno - June 6 – 8

Expert Testifying Skills & Report Writing
Kansas City - July 25
Seminar hosted by Gems & Jewelry Discipline.
For more information, please contact David Bowie - 858-578-8840

The Hidden Lives of Paintings
San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park
Wednesday evenings March 24–April 28. 5:30 – 8:00 PM. Using the SDMA collection as the textbook, this course explores what’s under the paint, behind the canvas, missing around the edges. Instructor: James Grebl. Visit the Museum’s website for details & to sign up: www.sdmart.org.

President Paul Golubovs, ASA has appointed the following individuals to the San Diego Chapter Nominations Committee 2004 – 5. They will be working to prepare a slate of officers for the coming year. Please contact them with your suggestions for officers for the coming year.

George LeBaron, ASA
Thom Underwood, ASA
J.R. Westfall, ASA