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Tough sell---- get what you can and don't turn down any real money on the table, would be my advice. You can sell it cheap with a clear conscience that you haven't done something dumb, I assure you.
I went ahead ahead and purchased the database at collectorcarnet.com and it ended up being extremely helpful. The database had real sale prices for both cars sold in auction houses and through dealers. Having an idea of what a specific car sold for and what condition it was in at the time definitely helped me understand what I should be expecting to pay.
Oh, I’m shopping for a coupe - preferably in close show condition, but I’m willing to fix up a thing or two.
Brooke
I am preparing to sell my 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport with a custom drivetrain. It is truly a custom car, so I'm not sure how to price it. It has a full race suspension and a handbuilt Chevy BB (468), for example. Provided below is a link to a page with a few pics and an info sheet. Please be kind enough to comment only if you read the info sheet carefully. By the way, this car has been on blocks, engine properly pickled, in an indoor storage facility since 2003. Thanks very much for your help...
http://davidb.net/spasm/car.html
it is a 1971 pontiac gto with the gt37 lemans package
i dont have an engine in it right now i have a picture of the body
there is no rust on the body or frame of the car at all, the paint is a little faded and the leather interior is cracked but i know it would make a very easy restoration any input would be greatly appreciated thanks
By "like" I mean:
1. same type of car (muscle car of same vintage, sports car, luxury car, etc)
2. the quality of the workmanship (built by someone known, or home-built, or ???)
3. the list of components and options (customs with disk brakes, AC, modern o/d transmissions, F.I. are usually worth more than those without those things).
4. trophies & awards
So best way to price your car is shop places like Hemmings Motor News, http://www.autotraderclassics.com/, www.carsonline.com and look for really accurate comparables.
Another VERY rough gauge is that your value is rarely, if ever, going to approach the total of your receipts and in fact is often 2/3 to 1/2 of what's put into a custom.
Why? Because one person's choices are very individualistic and don't appeal to a wide range of buyers.
Naturally, to run an auction you'd have to provide a lot more information that you have given us, such as:
Is it an XR-7?
What engine?
What transmission?
What DOCUMENTED proof do you have of the mileage? Are you the original owner or is the mileage hearsay?
What is the condition of the vehicle. Collectible cars are rated #1 (show room perfect), #2 local show quality but not perfect; #3 clean daily driver #4, running decent car with needs #5 running or non-running, rough car #6 parts car only.
Values for this car will vary enormously depending on model and engine and transmission.
Unless it's a 427 or 428 GT I don't think a museum would have much interest. Besides, donating a car isn't as beneficial, tax-wise, as it used to be now that the donation rules have changed.
Thanks again!
Sharon
RE: Identifying the car. The VIN number would have the 3rd and 4th digit as "91" for a regular Cougar and "93" for an XR-7.
The 5th digit of the VIN represents the engine code. The normal engine is a 302 V8 and would have the digit "F" or "6"
A 390 V8, which is worth more, would have the 5th digit as X, Y or Z
The digits Q, 8 P or W would be a home run for you but I doubt a regular Cougar would have these engines.
If you post the VIN #s and the numbers on the data plate (I think riveted to the drivers door), we can translate it for you.
65A D 1B 02D 31 5 w
body color trim date dso axle tran
VIN: 8F91C559040
A20274830
I am trying to contact a former garage owner wh inspected this vehicle for many years to verify mileatge.
Thanks again for all of your help!!
So this is a 1968 (8)
Built in Dearborn Michigan (F)
Cougar 2D hardtop (91)
302 V8 (the "c" must be a 6)
Door Plate:
This is a Cougar 2D hardtop, bright blue metallic, blue interior, built April 2, shipped to Buffalo DSO, with a 3.00:1 axle and C4 automatic transmission.
As you say, nothing special except for condition and mileage.
Here's a very similar car with similar low miles for sale (that hasn't sold BTW):
http://cars-on-line.com/29871.html
Personally I think the car will sell between $8,000 and $15,000. Anything in there is possible. Naturally I'd try for the high end. It would depend on whether it has working AC (that's worth $1,500) and how good it really looks.
If someone put "real money" on the table and made any offer in the teens, I'd certainly think twice before turning it down.
Thank you again!
cougar: good luck selling it.
What changes have you noticed in the collector car market over the past several months? I was curious if the recent spike in gas prices is redefining the collector market.
I recently purchased a 1972 Datsun 240Z that gets in the low 20's in mixed driving, much better than my 1968 442 which got about 8 mpg. I was just curious if you have seen any trends towards for fuel-efficient collector cars.
Gary B
By the way, my 442 sold exactly for what you had estimated in the market valuation that you did for me last year. A great service that you provide to us in the Bay Area.
The only CERTAIN trend I'm seeing is a healthy drop in prices of later model exotics, like Ferrari, Porsche, Lambo, etc. By this I mean cars from the late 1990s, early 2000s, which are just off lease or being discarded by their obviously affluent owners for 2009 models. These cars have dropped $30K-50K in a matter of months. They are also pretty wicked gas hogs, but modern enough to be used as daily drivers. So here, in this case, gas mileage matters.
I realize it sounds absurd that the owner of a 2004 Lamborghini Murcielago worth 1/4 million 6 months ago and now willing to sell for $175K would be presented as a person interested in gas mileage, but you know, if you drive it 10,000 miles a year, and you're sucking maybe 8 MPG, that's almost $6,000 in gasoline a year in the California area. Not chump change. Especially when you add it to the $50K depreciation whack you just took.
Another trend I think is *real* is a fall in value of generally "worthless" gas hogs from the late 1970s and 80s....you know, those Lincoln Mark Vs and VIs, those big conversion vans, those old 3/4 ton pickups. I'm sure you could all add to the list of relatively unimportant gas-guzzlers from the Dark Age.
But I don't think the owner of a valuable 70s Dodge Challenger, or a 59 Cadillac, is going to care about gas mileage. These types of cars are driven so rarely anyway.
my gut hurts from laughing
80's car with a 50's name
Not only has the term "classic" been horribly abused to the point of ridicule, but the term "muscle car" is now being applied to 1965 Thunderbirds, so you know the end of the world is close at hand. :shades:
You mean to tell me my grandparents' '82 Malibu Classic wagon...WASN'T! What's next...the realization that my old '89 Fury wasn't so GRAN, after all. :shades:
As for those Fairmonts and Zephyrs, I actually kinda like them. Not enough to over-pay for one, and to be honest I find the Fox platform a bit tight inside. They seemed like a good idea at the time. Intended to compete with the likes of the Nova and Aspen/Volare as a compact car (remember in 1978, a midsized car was generally considered something the size of a modern Crown Vic. CR actually classified GM's downsized '78 Malibu et al as compact!), they were about 500-600 lb lighter, yet had similar interior room. They were light enough to get by with 4-cyl engines and the lighter 200 straight six, whereas the Nova started off with a heavy 250 CID unit, and the Aspen/Volare a 225 slant six that weighed almost as much as some V-8s!
I imagine that when equipped with the 302 V-8, these cars were pretty quick for their time. The only way to make a Nova fairly quick was with the 350-4bbl, or a copcar 360-4bbl for the Mopars. And then you ended up with something that weighed almost as much as a downsized Caprice. And while the 302 could probably break 20 mpg on the highway, I seriously doubt a 350 or 360 could!
How about "un-slow"?
Kind of a cool movie, as those types go. Lots of car chases, wrecks, etc. When I saw it, I thought that it might have actually inspired some of the stunts they did in "Smokey and the Bandit", a year later. For instance, there was a scene where they drove a police car under a tractor trailer, shedding its roof. And even a scene where they took a 70's airbag-equipped Olds and wrecked it, deploying the airbag. Must have been quite a sight for the time. In "Smokey and the Bandit", towards the end, they ran a '74 98 into a '77 LeMans, but the impact wasn't enough to deploy the airbag. About all it did was put a scratch on the Olds, while smearing the LeMans. I read somewhere that years later, that car was used in a crash test video, which did deploy the airbags.
OLD TRUCK -- Well, I've heard the "corvette engine" story many times, but there's a way to tell.
Face the truck. Open the hood. Look to the cylinder head on YOUR left side. Go to the front of the cylinder head, and you'll see a horizontal pad, just below the front of the head, with numbers and letters stamped on it.
Get us those numbers/letters and we might be able to tell you what engine it has. You can use a toothbrush and some soap to clean up that pad so you can see better.
Another set of #s would be the casting numbers, which you can see by going to the driver's side, lean over the fender, and shine a flashlight between the engine and the transmission, straight down from the driver's windshield wiper in other words. You will see LARGE numbers (about 8 or 9 of them). Get those, too.
Also a VIN # would be helpful.
Any old running pickup should be worth $800 if it's not badly rusted, and a '56 has collector truck value. But rust can kill you on these, if the cab is badly rusted where the door frame meets the truck frame. Also things like broken windows can be expensive to fix.
You can put any Chevy engine you want in there, sure, as long as you mate it to the proper transmission or get the right adaptors.
Most people hook up a Chevy 350 to a TH350 automatic, that's the easiest.
Actually, how stable would those airbags be after 30+ years. This actually is a relevant question, since I like those big mid-70's GM cruisers, and could see myself with one some day. And even though that was a rare option, I have seen them from time to time at classic car shows, so they're still out there.
If you ever want to join in a conversation about the increase in overall car value caused by having the proper bolt head markings on your left rear bumper bracket on pre-1930 2 door cars only, go to a Model A Ford owners meet. (ironically).
be careful if they want only cash
My questions are: where to find an owners/repair manual and what would something like this be worth? It does need the interior and top redone. It has new tires @ $250 each.
Does your engine look like this?
As you can see, stuffing a Liberty V8 engine into that car wouldn't have been very easy. And this engine never really went into production because it vibrated so heavilyl apparently.
Penberthy/ Ball & Ball made carburetors, not fuel injection.
And a Lycoming engine didn't power the first aircraft until 1929. They never made engines for Oldsmobile but did make engines for military trucks in 1917.
What you might have here is probably the normal Olds engine, which is actually better for you.
Hard to say what it's worth without really looking it over, since restoring a car this old is not going to be all that easy, if parts are missing. I'd guess a car like this in "Fair" condition, all there, not running, might be worth $5,000 to $10,000 dollars.
I removed the front wheel assembly and left tie rod end. The bearings ( actual roller bearings and not ball bearings ) and races look brand new and the tie rod shaft had no wear and shined like a mirror. The points, rotor and distributor cap look like new.
I am thinking about going through the starter prior to applying power just to make sure that corrosion hasn't caused any problems.
I have a digital camera, but do not know how to transfer to the net.
I have discovered that this particular car was originally purchased by Flanner and Buchannon Mortuary in Indianapolis, Indiana for use as a funeral limosine definitely not as a high performance street vehicle.
The only identifying marks are cast into the brass lid of the fuel bowl and reads
" Ball & Ball, Pemberthy Injector Co. Detroit Mi. "
Now, I have the spare 9/23/1918 cast iron engine he purchased somewhere. Here are the idendifiers for the fuel system:
It has a 1 barrel carburetor that is only 6 " long and 5 " bottom to manifold flange. It has only 1 cable to control the throttle and 1 cable for the choke. There is only one fuel mixture screw and 1 air idle adjuster screw. It appears to be made of cast iron.
The only identifying marks are cast into the sides of the fuel bowl on both sides and reads Stromberg, South Bend, USA.
Now, tell me what you think we have here?
If you're going to do more research on this car, you'll have to get the names straight or you might waste time. It's PENberthy and LyCOMING, not "combing". FYI.
As for the engine, we'd need pix.
Also, as far as value goes, it would be better to have the original engine in the car. The UFE (Unidentified Flying Engine) could be put aside and perhaps, once ID'ed, it could turn out to be of some value to someone who has a car for it.
Actually I wouldn't try to start the unknown engine either, as you might damage it and thus diminsh whatever value it might have.
Without pictures I'm easily confused :P
fetching over $100k in excellent condition!
http://www.mustangandfords.com/featuredvehicles/95438_1968_cougar_xr7_gte/index.- html
http://www.theclassiccougarnetwork.com/gte/
My bud had one and let it go years back for $5000! It is in the GTE registry
and is currently in SanDiego.
He sure kicks himself now!
A rare and unusual car and only one has been sold in the past few years
according to the Marti report at $125k.
I had met with Jim P. from the registry to supply info. on the car and if
it had factory tilt and rim-blo along with add on a/c installed when my
bud had the car in the 70s. Also by suprise there was another GTE
that we knew about in a nearby town that had been sitting in a driveway
for years. Turns out it was one of the early experimental mules and how/
why it ended up in the Syracuse area.
Both cars ended up with a Ford nut registry member in downstate NY.
He kept the experimental red one and my buds dark blue car ended
up with a collector in San Diego......................