rusty 71 Coupe for $13k -what am I missing?

[mschnittker]

item 270096062491

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=270096062491

Just sold for $13,061 on Ebay. Now that it's over I have a few questions. What am I missing here? Ok, it's leaf green, probably repainted cause not stickers in back but a nice color. And it has a sunroof. Cool. And it has those seats that sure look like S sports seats. Yeah.

But the motor hasn't run in who knows how many years and the driver's side rocker is totally rotted so who knows how rotted it is (which means it's plenty rotted). If the seats are $4k (at max, at least one is ripped), and you add $2k for sunroof which may or may not be working, leaking, etc.

So my question is - is it worth $13k - $6k = $7k in parts? Not to me. What am I missing?

[berettafan]

How much were you hoping to pay for it and what was your plan?

[kenikh]

I'd call it a high to borderline nutty price in terms of parting it out. Assuming nice deep sixes, solid door pockets, etc.

You could get your money out, but why go to the trouble to break even?

[Tom F.]

This is another example of the principle that an old car is most profitable when it's completely a wreck, such as the "fresh barn finds" that we see so often on eBay. In the history of an old car that goes from rust bucket to restoration, the first resale from the barn (or the original owner) is where all the profit is made. No use worrying about it - the market for old cars has always been like this, as far as I can tell.

Mr. Schnittker, I still owe you the photos of your 71. I haven't forgotten.

Tom

[mschnittker]

What interested me was I like the color, wanted those seats, liked the sunroof, it was not impossibly far away, I know how to overhaul Zeniths, etc. etc. I sent owner a note and he sent the pictures that showed the rust. I bid once at $8k something just for s*** and grins, really didn't want to win at that price (too many cars already) but didn't think it'd break $10k. What really burns me is I have a really pretty and great running 73.5 T Targa for sale for very little more than what this piece of junk sold for! If you cut me do I not bleed!

[matt13421342]

I'm sure some of it has to do with rarity of color and the lack of general molestation of this example. Most restorers would rather refresh a car that needs lots of attention but is original than spend half their time sourcing parts and undoing a bunch of custom mods. If the build sheet indicates sport seats and Fuchs, you're that much closer to original.

I'm not saying it makes sense, but that's been my experience in watching the actual values of some of the early cars.