Want List

Updated March 2022

Barn Find - My 1962 Porsche 356b when found at garage sale. It was not for sale, but I was in love and wouldn't leave.

 

Though incomplete and ever-changing, we have attempted to assemble a list of the types of things we are currently buying at Coco's. The best way to gauge interest is by emailing photos and descriptions. My name is Peter and you can email me directly at misterjalopy@gmail.com. Prefer the phone? Call us at 323-664-7400.

New and Notable Changes:

Vintage Off-Road - seeking items related to vintage off-road driving, 4x4's, Toyota off-road vehicles, off road lighting from KC or Dick Cepek, camping, canvas tents and related items.

American Racing Torque Thrust mag wheels for Porsche - more on this later, but looking for the pretty rare Porsche bolt pattern

Vintage Disney - cels, early collectibles or items from the Disney Parks.

Coco's Variety Bike Shop and Prop Rental is located at 2427 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90039. We are one and a half blocks south of Fletcher. Our phone number is 323-664-7400. Some people call it Frogtown, while others consider it Atwater Village or Silverlake. We call it Silver Frog.

We Buy, Sell and Trade. Trade value always higher than precious cash out of our precious pockets.

 

Actively Seeking, Modern and Vintage Used Bicycles

Actively looking for used modern bicycles and vintage bikes for resale. Can be dusty, flat-tired and requiring refurbishment but they must be salvageable. No rust buckets. Our greatest interest is in sub-60 CM road bikes, especially sub-55 CM road bikes. The following is a general guide; there are always exceptions.

We don't buy bicycles from online retailers or big box stores like Amazon, Target and Bikes Direct.

We are snobs, to be sure, but in regards to the decision to not buy mass merchant bikes, we are informed snobs that are not buying them for business reasons. Big box store bikes are generally not serviceable, quality bicycles. There are better and worse ones but the ‘price above all else’ business model has created a rush to the bottom of the market with the lowest quality components.

Big box bikes often have components that are available OEM only and not available as replacement components through our distributors.

Bikes Direct and mail order bikes are cheap in a different way – top quality group sets built on to the lowest quality commodity frames with really cheap wheel sets, bars, stems, saddles, etc.

We have relationships with the major bike distributors, so keep in mind that we are already getting wholesale prices.

If you seek our most generous offer, take the time to clean bicycles and components. If it is a big cleaning/polishing job, our offered price will reflect the labor we will have to dedicate.

If we aren’t interested, all that means is it doesn’t work for us in a commercial sense.  If you love it and we are wrong - that is great! I’d love to ride a big heavy Schwinn Varsity around Main Street USA and eat ice cream cones, but we have been doing this for fourteen years and know what works for us. Not being able to sell a lemon yellow classic Schwinn in a retail setting is clearly a deficiency on our part.  

Bicycles Coco’s Buys

 

 

Linus, Bianchi, Surly, Fairdale, Salsa, All-City - We are dealers for these brands, so we know them extremely well, can easily get parts and believe them to be the best deals in the marketplace. We sell them new so it makes sense to sell them used. As a seller, as noted above, we are already buying them wholesale.

 

 

 

 

Mid and High End Road Bikes, Modern - Most desirable for us would be steel and aluminum road bikes with flat or drop bar, 105/Tiagra/Sora/2300/Claris-grade components and integrated shifter/brake levers (brifters.)  Though slower to sell at Coco's, we are also seeking higher end, modern carbon road bikes.

 

 

 

Mid Grade Road Bikes, Downtube/Brifter Shifters - Vintage, enthusiast quality European, Japanese, Taiwanese and American road bicycles. Lugged steel and TIG welded frames. Typical brands to include Nishiki, Trek, Specialized, Bridgestone, Univega, Giant, KHS, Bianchi, Fuji, Centurion and Schwinn 'Lightweights' meaning lugged from Japan or Taiwan. Mid-grade aluminum Shimano, Suntour or Mafac components. Should have aluminum bars, stem and cranks. Stem bolt will be Allen head. Would have been sold by a quality/neighborhood bike store. We are less interested in older aluminum road bikes like Cannondale or Klein as they can be a pretty harsh ride.

Interest in downtube shifter bikes has waned in recent years and fewer people are looking to get into the hobby with modest brands. Those interested are looking for more premium European marquees.

 

 

Niche, Touring and Custom Bikes - We buy Brompton, Rivendell, Gunnar, Heron, Waterford, Surly, Salsa, Soma, Serotta, Seven, Litespeed, Merlin, Tern, Ritchey and similar urban/touring/folding niche brands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hardtail Mountain Bikes, Step-through Mountain Bikes  - We buy non-suspension/rigid fork, 'bike store' quality mountain bikes. Brands like GT, Bridgestone, KHS, Cannondale, Gary Fisher,  Trek, Univega, Raleigh, Trek, Marin, Ritchey and Specialized. Some storied brands have fallen into the big box store ghetto but we would still consider pre-2000 MTBs from Schwinn, Diamondback and Mongoose. Mid-grade aluminum components like Shimano and Suntour are common, where the finest of the era would be Shimano XT/XTR.  Should have aluminum bars, stem, cranks. Would have been sold by a quality/neighborhood bike store in the 1980's and 1990's.

 

Generally, we only consider these bikes in excellent condition and complete. If it is a rare, desirable or unique frame, we might  consider in lesser condition or completeness. In other words, we would be interested in an early Stumpjumper frame and fork in mango, but for us to buy a Giant Sedona it would need to be mint and complete.

They are durable, practical and often attractive. We like bold and crazy colorways. Sometimes we refurbish them as they were stock, but we often convert them to city bikes.

These bikes have been a cornerstone of the Coco's commercial offerings and also stalwarts of the staff's personal fleets. For riding in the city, it is tough to beat a quality, long wheel base, full rigid classic mountain bike with smoother tires and a friendly, upright city bar. We sell modest Trek's with a Wald bar and dirt drop-style stem for modest dollars, but we also sell higher end builds on early Stumpjumpers, Bridgestones, Univegas and other cool MTB frames. Condition, color and overall beauty make a big difference. Cinelli, Stumps, Kleins, Bridgestones, Fat Chance, Yeti, Ritchey and small builders will get our attention.

 

 

Comfort/hybrid/straight-bar road bikes/commuters - We buy 'bike store' quality bicycles, meaning they were purchased in a bricks and mortar bike store. This would include Jamis, Felt, Electra, Giant, Marin, REI, Raleigh, Globe, Masi, Bianchi, Fuji, KHS, Novarra, Trek, Specialized and Giant.

 

 

High grade road/track bikes/touring bikes  - Vintage race quality European, Japanese and American road bicycles.  Lugged steel frame. Storied brands like Colnago, De Rosa, Masi, Pinarello, 3Rensho, etc. Top components - Campagnolo, Mavic, Modolo, Dura-Ace. Would have been imported and sold by a quality bike store like Helen's, Hans Ohrt, Ted Ernst, Yellow Jersey, Turin, Bikeology  or I. Martin.

 

 

 

Vintage step-throughs  - We love Dutch-style bikes, mixtes, step-through 10 speeds and even step-through rigid fork mountain bikes. We are especially interested in gorgeous European and Japanese mixtes. We love vintage 3-speeds less and should be in solid condition. Coco's has a soft spot for quality, step-through mountain bikes as they make great city bikes. We are less interested in heavy Dutch single speeds, not because they are inherently uninteresting but because they are ill suited to our hilly part of town.

 

 

Nexus internal hub bicycles, i.e. modern 3, 7 or 8-speed grip shift internal hub - Examples include Bianchi Milano, Electra, Felt, Linus or Trek Soho.

 

Kid's Bikes - Must be in great condition, garage kept and non-big box, i.e. came from a bike store not Target or via the mail. They can be dusty and dirty, but no kid wants a super scratched up, faded sad bike.

 

 

BMX bikes  - Modern and vintage - We are interested in modern and vintage 20”, 24” and 26” BMX bikes, strandies and BMX cruisers. We don’t buy and sell many high-end modern BMX race bikes. We do buy more modest kid’s bikes, but they have to be name brand, from a bike store. We don’t buy big box, Toys R Us, Big 5 or mail order grade BMX bikes.

 

 

Old bikes - Pre 1960 including pre-war, old American bicycles. Consider old bikes of any origin, but especially American and French companies.

 

 

 

Ten Speeds - College student quality European, Japanese and American road bicycles. Could be from a department store in the 1970's-1990's. Clunky. Could have steel derailleurs, steel bars and steel stem. Bikes in this low-end range have to be in exceptional condition as a full refurb with much polishing/ replacing parts rarely makes economic sense. Often, these are pretty klunky bikes so we convert them to city bikes.

 

 

Schwinn - Schwinn is the most difficult brand to categorically state that we do or don’t buy.

Schwinn Don’t Buy

• Modern Target, Walmart, Amazon grade inexpensive Chinese Schwinn’s made by the conglomerate Pacific Cycles
• Very heavy road bikes and city bikes of the 60s and 70s. They made tons and tons of these, there are tons and tons of pristine examples and they are just too heavy to be practical classics. If the bike in question has steel drop handlebars and stem, I am afraid we are not interested.

Schwinn Do Buy

• Modern Schwinn Select - these are higher quality bikes that are sold in bike stores
• Classic muscle bikes like Stingray, Mantaray, Krate and even girl’s Stingrays
• Taiwan and Japanese made lighter road and city bikes like World Tourist
• Paramount road and mountain bikes
• Sting, King Sting, Scramblers, Predator
• Phantoms, Aerocycle, Whizzer, Cycletruck, DX, Pre-War etc
• Non-suspension mountain bikes like the Cimarron, Sidewinder, High Plains, High Sierra

 

 

Fixie/Single Speeds  - We do buy commercially available bikes like the Bianchi Pista, the Torker U-District, Cinelli or the Surly Steamroller. We do not buy Pure Fix or Micargi grade fixies. Also, we do not buy fixie conversions on road frames.

Electric Bikes  - We are interested in buying electric bikes for our rental fleet. We are only seeking name brand bikes and not conversions at this time.

Cruisers - We do buy Electra or Nirve, especially multispeed bikes. We will buy a very clean American made cruiser. We will buy Schwinn cruisers - but they have to be US made.

 

 

Components  -We are buying very few components right now. We would still buy Brooks saddles, NOS parts, brand new components, Suntour and Shimano thumb shifters, bar end shifters, Campagnolo, cool Suntour MTB pedals, Ideale, Turbo and Brooks saddles, cool BMX parts, etc.

Folding Bikes - We only buy the very best folding bikes like Brompton and Tern.

 

 

Suspension mountain bikes - Very limited interest - We hardly buy modern suspension mountain bikes anymore. The technology changes fast and consumer taste change even faster. A 2 x 10 29r mountain bike of three years ago is now considered an antique next to contemporary 1x 27.5” bikes. The values drop faster than a BMW driving off a new car lot.

Vintage kid's bikes - Limited Interest - Interesting children's bicycles and trikes that are in very good condition.

Broken bikes - Limited Interest - We will buy broken bicycles with frame damage, bent forks or missing  components to salvage for parts. The prices we pay for such bikes is a fraction of that paid for complete bikes, as we are buying for parts value only and it requires significant labor to disassemble, sort and clean components.

Old Components - Limited Interest - Pre-1960's. If somebody walked in with a Magistroni inch pitch track crank, we would perk up. It is just not our expertise, but we would buy it but it would need to be quite inexpensive.

Bicycles Coco’s Doesn’t Buy

Stolen Bicycles - we require government issued ID from the individual that is selling the bike. It must be their bike to sell - not a girlfriend’s bike or a neighbor. We will make a copy of your government issued ID and have you sign under penalty of perjury that the bicycle is not stolen and yours to sell. If you have an issue with any of this, I am afraid we are not interested in buying your bicycle.

Recent department store bikes  - Magna, Huffy, Pacific, Next, Mongoose, Iron Horse, Motiv, Jeep, Denali, K2 and Northrock are brands that we will not buy. We are not interested in bicycles that were sold at Target, WalMart, Costco, Big 5 or equivalent. Exceptions, there are some nice older Motivs and we will buy Huffy/Mongoose that pre-date Pacific Cycles takeover.

Mail Order Bikes -  Motobecane, Bikes Direct, Hollandia, Windsor, etc.

Fixie/Single Speeds and Single Speed Conversions - We do not buy single speed/fixie bicycles converted from road bikes. Also, we do not buy Pure Fix or Micargi grade DeepV bikes.

Lower end and Vintage Folding bicycles - We rarely buy folding bicycles. They would have to be perfect and cheap as they are slow to sell. Raleigh or Bianchi folding bikes would have to be in exceptional condition. The exceptions are Brompton and Tern.

Rattle-can bicycles - We do not buy bicycles that have been painted with a spray can.

New Schwinn - Most new Schwinns are sold at big box stores and are uneconomical to repair.

Components, Consumables  - We are not buying bar tape, cables, chains, tires, tubes, toe clips or tubulars. We don't buy parts that are beyond their useful life.

Tandems, Trikes - We don't have space for tandems and trikes. For us to be interested, they would need to be very unique or old.

Trades and Donations

We will take any bicycle on trade. Even bikes that are listed on the 'Not Seeking' list. This is a philosophical decision and practical approach.  We want people on bicycles and unwanted bicycles are not used. The fact that you have a bike that is uninspiring may be keeping you from moving on with your cycling life. We want to remove that obstacle. So, even if it is an unsalvageable hunk 'o junk, we will give at least some money in credit for it, strip anything that we can use and responsibly recycle the carcass.

We will take any bicycle as a donation. Even if it is completely shot and nothing is salvageable, we will accept unwanted bicycles and make sure that they are handed off to our trusted scrap metal recycler.

 

Specifically Seeking - Automotive

If I am passionate about bicycles and cycling, I am positively goofy for cars. Like throw yourself from a bridge, chest beating, Cher slapping you in Moonstruck for automobiles.

The older I get, the broader and broader my interests are and would be interested in hearing about any interesting, older car or truck that is in your life. I currently own a 1962 Porsche 356b project, an FJ Cruiser, an International pickup with cabover camper, a 1973 orange VW bus, a  BMW 2002, a 1983 VW GTI, a 1983 Mercedes 300TD diesel wagon, two Toyota FJ40s, a 1982 Diesel Jimmy squarebody, a 1984 Rabbit GTI race car and half of a Dormobile Bay Window VW Bus with Westfalia Oslo camper interior.

My primary interests revolve around sports purpose cars, race cars and street racers of the 60s, 70s and 80s. SCCA, VARA, Rally and especially nasty street sleepers. There are few specific cars that I have to own at some point, but I am more interested in the story, interesting history, period glory and originality.

Also interested in period 4 wheel drive, Dick Cepek, Walt Wheelock exploring and racing vehicles.

Also interested in early pre-war cars, French cars, Italian cars, VWs, Mercedes, BMW. Love the weird. Love the highly original.

Specific Cars

 

 

1963-1967 Corvette - Must be C2. Must be coupe. Prefer Nassau Blue by a wide margin. Originality not important as this will be a grand sport-ish nasty street racer. Big block, small block, manual, doesn’t matter. Missing engine, mismatched numbers doesn’t matter. Period performance, Guldstrand, SCCA, Mulholland prep ideal.

 

 

Vintage G-Wagen - I have always wanted a 1980's G-class Mercedes. Except the cost, the above is perfect in every way - split pea green, cloth interior, steel wheels.

 

Via always amazing Mercedes Motoring

 

Mercedes and Volvo Station Wagon - W123 based Mercedes station wagon or earlier Volvo wagons. Prefer Euro spec, interesting colors, rust free and great stories.

 

 

Street Racers - Interested in road racing style street cars pre-1985 or so.

Period Performance Race VW/Dune Buggy - especially with Porsche power.

 

 

 

 

 

Recaro Seats - I am looking for a pair of orange or blue spectrum Recaro IdealSeat C, Rally or Rally II. Would consider any Recaro with Spectrum fabric. Would buy singles. Also, any other vintage Recaro, especially crazy color like the Martini & Rossi and Porsche plaids. Prefer Los Angeles but it would be fine if you were willing to shrink wrap and take to Amtrak/Greyhound.

 

 

Snap-on, Mac, Matco, Hazet and bicycle tools - We buy bicycle work stands. Also Hazet, Snap-On, Mac, Matco, early Craftsman tool boxes and rollaways. Am interested in buying a Hazet Assistant tool trolley. Always interested in buying high quality VW/Porsche engine stands, run stands and VW/Porsche factory specific tools.

Specifically Seeking - Other

 

 

 

Abercrombie and Fitch patchwork safari jacket - not from the teen retailer, but the storied New York outfitter. As seen on Hunter S.  Thompson. Though I am size 42L, I would consider any size. LL Bean made a similar Rainbow version, which would be acceptable. There is a very similar Neiman Marcus version from the 1970's that would not be acceptable.

If you would like to read more about these jackets and may personal quest, check this.

Catalina or Catalina-style tile top tables - Especially with wrought iron bases but also like the wood base tables. Though the scenic tables are more valuable, I prefer the non-scenic tiles.

 

 

 

Vintage Camping, Outdoor, Military, Safari, Cast Iron - Abercrombie, Kerr's Sport Shop, L.L. Bean. Primary interest would be pre-1960. I have a 20 Coleman lanterns, multiple stoves, etc. so I am really looking for the really old, really charming, still functional cool stuff. Also, store displays, signs and interesting advertising items related to same.

Faux bois - always interested in concrete faux bois, interesting old fountains (not too big) and concrete yard animals. Anything that looks like concrete wood - planters, benches, bird baths, etc.

Records and Tapes - We buy and sell cassette tapes and records. Will buy entire collections. We sell our cassettes for $1 each, so we are pretty frugal. Will pay .50 cents for great new wave, rock, rap and punk, but huge collections of easy listening is going to be pennies. Or penny.

 

Before

Midway

Done

JBL L300s from Garage Sale

Vintage Stereo - As I am from California, I am particularly interested in the SFV based brands Marantz and JBL. I am interested in early stuff - heavy silver face wood side receivers, tube amplifiers, massive speakers. Bigger, the more epic, the better. In 25 years of garage saling, I have found one McIntosh system and it was being bought by another savvy shopper when I arrived. Would love to find a McIntosh system.

Vintage Boomboxes - big cassette tape boomboxes. Also, smaller goofy color boomboxes and units with built in keyboards.

 

 

 

 

Old Computers - Old Apple and other vintage computers. Older the better. 1970’s and 1980’s. When my interest became rekindled, I was able to buy many computers, very fast, very cheap. I have two Apple IIs, an immaculate Macintosh II from USC, Mac Pro Quad Cores, etc.

Specifically looking for a higher end Laserwriter, an immaculate bright white first generation ADB Apple mouse, Apple scanner and interesting t-shirts and ephemera. Looking for interesting and rare Apple and other computers especially prototypes.

Looking for interesting early Bell Labs, phone phreaking, big collections of pirated software, early hacking, teletype or other interesting electronic technology.

 

 

Furniture - Though always looking, it is hard to describe my specific tastes and have consequently scaled back this section. I am interested in old workshop and laboratory furniture, George Smith sofas (I have two including the kilim model seen above), old quartersawn oak craftsman furniture, Monterey and old California and barrister bookcases. Think – Oscar Wilde if he lived in Pasadena.

Americana - So broad that it is difficult to describe what I am looking for but primarily 20th century American artifacts. Particularly the hand made, folk-y, machine oriented, motorcycle/airplane/hot rod oriented. Less interested in Boston and New England furniture. More interested in handmade, well made items. Not rusty primitives, per se. Trench art. The best stuff can't be explained, it is known when seen and not before.

Old Paintings and Photos - California/West/National Parks/desert, forest fires, scientific matters, portraits, WPA/machines. It seems ridiculous to say that I buy landscapes and still lives, but, I buy those. Don't buy most. Buy some. The good ones. Not the bad ones.  

 

 

Vintage Clothing -  pre-1990 t-shirts, denim, Cowachin sweaters, old Western, camping/hunting, biker club colors, early university shirts/sweaters "wanna buy a duck? 23 skidoo" style, Pendleton clothing and blankets, old Abercrombie & Fitch, LL Bean, Red Wing, motorcycle and hot rod clothing, old work/miner clothing. Early skateboard/surf clothing - Val Surf, OP, Lightning Bolt, Sims, Kryptonics, Vision, Peralta.

Laboratory, Industrial, Military Furniture and Accessories - this could include incubators, workbenches, cabinets, desks, interesting microscopes.

Kerr's Sport Shop, Beverly Hills - Kerr's was a passion of my youth and I would be interested in seeing photos of Kerr's, brochures, catalogs, gun lists, etc. as well as buying Kerr's products. As previously mentioned, my Hunter S. Thompson style patchwork jacket is from Kerr's.

Early California - Tile, furniture from Coronado, Imperial and Monterey, old paintings of California, old California flags, Spanish revival style furniture, wrought iron, lighting, etc.

American, 20th Century Quartersawn Oak, Wormy Chestnut or Redwood - lumber or complete furniture

 

 

Commes des Garcons shirt - New, large. This exact shirt or very similar.

Books

Donald Judd Furniture: Retrospective

Kem Weber: the moderne in southern California 1920 through 1941: [Exhibition at] the Art Galleries, University of California, Santa  Barbara, February 11 to March 23, 1969

End of Living Beginning of Survival, Dash Snow

French Scenic Wallpaper by Odile Nouvel-Kammerer

La Siesta Press/Micro Press/Self-Published about the Western Deserts, Ghost Towns and Jeep Trails - I probably have 100 of these at this point. These sell for peanuts on the used market, usual places.

Porsche, VW, Sports Cars - always interested in buying original factory manuals. Also, original posters and ephemera. Buying quality books on the subject - not the remainder table coffee table books.

 

 

Gambone pottery - Primary interest is in animals, esp. the outward lying colorful lions as seen.

 

 

French Roof Cats - from the early part of the 20th century. Terracota cats that sat on roof corners to scare away vermin.

 

 

Vintage Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Goyard - scarfs and luggage, especially the trunks.  

Steiff / German Stuffed Animals / Black Forest - not very interested in teddy bears, but very interested in natural looking bears. I am putting together a Black Forest Christmas Tree for next year and want to populate it.

 

Vintage Skateboards - especially from the late 70's and 80's.

Vintage Christmas - very old ornaments. Mercury glass, figural bulbs, very old Santa ornaments.

Tansu Cabinets - old, Japanese

Air Guns - vintage European

 

 

Curta Calculators / Halda / Rally Equipment

 

 

French-style Espalier or Topiary Citrus or Olive Trees or Topiary

 

 

John Deere Lawn Tractor - modern, well kept. Would also consider a Craftsman.