Sandy,
I'll say those sets aren't rare. As I mentioned, they show up on ebay all the time (I saw one there last night in a blue cabinet, and other models, using the same chassis, in brown and other color cabinets, pop up every now and again, in good to excellent shape).
All I was trying to say in my post was that the radio I had seen that night was in very bad shape as far as the cabinet was concerned, and probably wouldn't be worth much in its present condition even if it worked. Even if it played well, the broken cabinet left part of the chassis exposed, which as one person (and I) mentioned in this thread would be a safety hazard because most AC/DC sets, including this one, have one side of the AC line connected directly to the chassis; depending entirely on which way the AC plug is inserted in the wall socket, the chassis would be hot and would be a shock hazard if it and a good ground were touched at the same time. However, if someone won that auction and got the set, the person could probably, even likely, get it to work as good as new with a full recap and transplanting the chassis into an undamaged cabinet. Those early Zeniths were well-made radios, built to last. The model in question here (and the one you said you had, but junked because it had a chunk out of the cabinet--did it still play?) is especially good from an audio standpoint, because the radio has a phono input on the back and a large speaker behind the tuning dial (Zenith referred to this arrangement as the "dial speaker" for just that reason). I have never heard any of those sets operating, but I've had many Zenith radios (still have two) that sound great. All the more reason to seek out and hold on to these older sets, especially ones made by the original Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago and RCA of New Jersey; they sure as anything don't make them like that anymore, and never will again.
If you have the room for them and can afford them, I'd say go for it and get as many of them as possible. The early Zeniths, radios as well as TVs, are well-made sets which will last years once they are restored. Imagine listening to your favorite big-band or oldies radio station on a restored 1950s or earlier Zenith, especially, say, a big Zenith shutterdial set from the '30s (I like listening on my Zenith K731 to a 500-watt oldies station 20 miles from here, and a small big band/standards station about 50 miles away; this model, of '60s vintage, is just perfect to listen to those great oldies on). These radios were early high fidelity systems, with their very large speakers, and sounded great, from what I've read in this forum from those collectors who specialize in and have the room for those great old sets.
BTW, since the audio amplifiers and speakers in those consoles were so well made and sounded so good, I have often wondered why Zenith didn't put phono inputs in them. (My Zenith K-731 table model, with its 6x9 oval speaker, heavy wood cabinet and all sorts of tone compensation circuits, not to mention a tone control, does not have a phono input, and I wonder why; the set would make a great phono amp, as good as it sounds. I don't think it would have added that much to the cost of the radio, which probably sold for $100 or more in 1963 when it was new.) There may have been a few shutterdial Zenith (and other) sets with that feature, but I don't think it was all that common in radios of the '30s as all that was available as far as phonograph records were concerned (I think, anyhow) in those days were 78s. I'm sure there must have been electrically-operated phonographs (and phono attachments for radios) that played 78s in that era, unless the synchronous motor hadn't been invented yet. Which brings up another question. When was the synchronous phonograph motor invented, and when did it become widely used in phonographs and later on in electric clocks?
BTW (2): The first clock motors were not self starting, but were started by spinning a wheel at the back of the clock after it was plugged in. When did self-starting electric clock motors appear in clocks manufactured in this country?
I apologize again, Sandy, for being so long-winded, but I like Zenith radios and TVs every bit as much as Doug Harland does. I've liked Zenith TVs, radios, phonos, anything made by the original Zenith Radio Corp. of Chicago, for many years and had a nice collection of such sets when I was living in my hometown. (Today I have my two Zenith radios and a bunch of pictures of old Zeniths and other makes of old radios/TVs on my computer's hard drive, which constitutes my "collection" these days.)
I am only sorry Zenith went downhill so quickly in the '90s. It was the end of an era, the likes of which we will never see again in these times of overseas outsourcing.
