Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

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Comments

  • akanglakangl Member Posts: 3,282
    Actually have someone on thier way to look at the Sebring. Its strange, it went from no interest to people calling all day today to come look at it. Go figure!

    I decided it was time to just cut my losses (ok ok, there's no losses) and let the car go. I don't need it, nor do I want the headache of fixing it. 'Cides, there's probably another project car out there waiting for me! :blush:
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    I like the looks of the VehiCross, as they're called. I think they have a bit of cult following. Not many around, on;y have seen 2 or 3 in the wild.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
    Definitely a slick design, but at 13k the seller is about 3K high. These are available all over the country (check Auto Trader) for 10k, and most with below average mileage.
  • akanglakangl Member Posts: 3,282
    That's that, the Sebring is gone. Got $1350 for it with its second set of 17" alloy wheels. I guess that's not too bad.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Cash the check immediately :P

    Congratulations! You did the right thing.
  • akanglakangl Member Posts: 3,282
    Cash the check immediately

    Congratulations! You did the right thing.


    I don't accept checks for cars! She gave me cold hard CASH!!!

    I think I did the right thing, I mean I didn't need the car, her son was thrilled with it. He's going to fix it and drive it......teenagers!!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    perfect car for a kid---pre-damaged.

    Okay then...cash that cash! Do they still take cash where you live?
  • akanglakangl Member Posts: 3,282
    perfect car for a kid---pre-damaged.

    Okay then...cash that cash! Do they still take cash where you live?


    LOL, yup, cash works. I was going to keep the Sebring for my son to learn on since it is a perfect teenager car.

    Now off to search craigslist for my next project. I hear there's a nice little Protege at the junkyard......... ;)
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Last night I watched some of the highlights they keep showing.

    Prices are NUTS and what would a person do with one of those Trailer Queens?

    A 1959 De Soto Convertable went for 285,000!!

    It was over restored and drop dead beautiful.

    As I watched, I was thinking, what if? What if someone backed into it and damaged an irreplaceable piece of trim?

    What if, ANYTHING happened to it? How in the world could anyone take the chance of driving it around the block?

    285,000!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Must have been some rare model or prototype and the bidder was probably drunk besides. One sale doesn't make a market. We'll see if such a car can sell again at that price in the future.

    Oh I think I know that car---that's an Adventurer....they only made 97 of them originally, and this one (how many could be left) was given a cost-no-object restoration by Greg Groom, the Chrysler 300 specialist.

    So you've got not just a Desoto convertible, but an extremely rare model with maybe 10 left in the world, and probably well over $150,000 spent on it.

    This is what the average observer doesn't get informed about by the media when coverning B-J auctions.

    This is really more a metal sculpture at this point than a car. Even the paint on the air filters looks better than the outside of a new Maybach.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
    Not a project, but if you like fintails, it's too cool not to share

    This is a very early W112, with the thin window trim and weirdo upholstery. Looks good. These cars bring a little in Europe. This car was probably updated over time, as it has a later steering wheel and W109 headlights.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Forgetting the De Soto, what would a person DO with any of these 100,000 plus cars? Certainly not drive them.

    In the case of a '57 Chevy, everything is reproduced these days and a minor mishap wouldn't be a disaster.

    With an oddball car like that De Soto certain parts I'm sure are completly unobtainable at any price.

    So what do you do? Seal it in a galss bubble?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Well you take it to shows for a while and tell everyone about it and then that gets boring and you sell it at Barrett-Jackson and buy something else. Or if you are super-rich you just put it in the back of the garage and forget about it and go play with something else.

    A few people have the ambition to just drive the hell out of them and bang them all up and then restore them all over again. That's certainly what I would do. I wouldn't care how rare or expensive it was---I'd drive it wherever and whenever I wanted.
  • 210delray210delray Member Posts: 4,721
    Nice-looking fintail, and that gunmetal gray color suits it well.
  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,788
    A few people have the ambition to just drive the hell out of them and bang them all up and then restore them all over again. That's certainly what I would do. I wouldn't care how rare or expensive it was---I'd drive it wherever and whenever I wanted.

    that's exactly how i feel. i want cars to drive them, not show them off or stare at them just sitting there.

    ok, maybe i wouldn't quite drive them "whenever or wherever" since I'd keep them out of the bad weather and wouldn't park them in bad parts of town ... but other than that....

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S

  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    I'm always amazed as to how old cars like that can be restored anbd clean to like new conditons.

    I mean, even the undercarriage looks very clean for an old car like that.

    When I had my first new car and detailed it myself all the time, and remembered as to how it could take all day long to clean all the nooks and crannies, and hard to get places. Then I'd take it out one day it would start raining and I was back to where I started before.

    Even if these cars aren't driven they still get dusty and so on.

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
    Yeah, I noticed that car looked amazing underneath. My fintail certainly isn't like that!

    I can't get into the undercarriage detailing. I like to have extremely clean paint and chrome, but that's just too much. I've barely ever even cleaned out a wheel well before...I'll get the insides of the wheel opening/lip, and that's it. If you drive the car, it's too hard to make that effort not go to waste.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    translation: "I bought it to fix up, discovered how much that would cost, and now I'm selling it to you".

    Price is fair enough though if there's nothing horribly wrong with it.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    My feeling is, if I'm afraid to drive an expensive old car, that would take the fun out of it.

    Nice, reasnoble restoration, fine. Trailer Queen? Not for me!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Somebody should carry a small ball peen hammer and put a little ding in every newly restored car, so that the owners can experience liberation from worry and just drive the damn things. This "ding of liberation" will not carry any point deductions at car shows and will, in fact, be required to enter one for prizes...
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    At Barrett-Jackson they have cameras mounted unneath the floors and they slowly roll the cars over these cameras to show the undersides.

    NO WAY did these cars come rom the factory with spit shined like that! Shiny black driveshafts etc.

    Nice to look at but unrealistically over restored.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Powder-coated frames, perfect panel alignment, ground and polished welds.

    Not very much like the slam-bang assembly done in the late 1950s early 60s in Detroit. More like dripping body sealer everywhere, over-spray, badly aligned doors and hood, crooked bumpers, etc. I remember one film clip of pistons being installed with wooden mallets.
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
    and I'm sure CarMax will pay top dollar ...

    dogged mustang
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
    and I think the ad says it all ...

    Cowboy Truck
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
  • jlflemmonsjlflemmons Member Posts: 2,242
  • justaveragejoejustaveragejoe Member Posts: 268
    It looks like the cheerleaders got drunk and puked on that truck while they were customizing it.
  • 1racefan1racefan Member Posts: 932
    If I were bored/rich, I would buy that truck, re do it in the Washington Redskins' scheme, then drive it back over to "show it off" to the owner.
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 17,761
    :surprise: Emphasis on "rat." What a waste of a '67 body. :cry:
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 2013 Ford F250 Lariat D, 1976 Ford F250, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    You can get good money for accurately restored VW bugs but this car is very dubious. The pix of the headliner alone makes me cringe. And no mention of mechanical restoration.

    Looks more like an amateur cosmetic refurbishment, which is not a "restoration", so $5,500 for that kind of work is high, yeah.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Last summer, at a car show a guy had a unbelievable 1967 Beetle for sale. Most VW people consider that to be the "best" year for VW.

    He wanted 12,000 for it which seems crazy but you wouldn't believe it. It started as a low mile CA car that he had done the right way. He had a photo album of the restoration process. No reproduction parts. The engine and transmission had been totally rebulit using all german parts. Nothng Mickey Mouse and it wasn't over restored.

    I should have bought it.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
    I've seen a really cool oval window Beetle kicking around Bellevue now and then, I think it is grey, with semaphores and wide whites, and I believe a period roof rack. The car looks fairly immaculate.

    At an auction in Canada maybe 5-6 years ago there was a very nicely restored ca. 1959 Beetle as well, it brought around $8K US, seemed worth it, it seemed very well done.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Bugs are easy to restore and the convertibles can bring big bucks. The 23-window vans are not easy to restore however--and they bring outrageous prices (for some strang reason I cannot fathom).
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I saw that one last week!
  • lilengineerboylilengineerboy Member Posts: 4,116
    146,000 miles. 5 speed manual
    Automatic Transmission, 292000 miles

    In some way, I think its funny we like to pick out cars that drive you nuts. I think its because we know you chuckle reading the descriptions.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Oh I don't mind old Volvo wagons. These seem cheap enough. They probably run like the tired old dogs that they are, but hey, for the money, can you beat it?

    It would be nice to make one out of the two of them. Cars with a lot of rust in the body always freak me out because you never know what's going on with the suspension. I just looked at a rusty car where the front wheel fell off at 60 mph. Not pretty. A-arm just broke off.
  • lilengineerboylilengineerboy Member Posts: 4,116
    In the early 90s, one of my friends had a 70s Accord that she bought in California from someone who had lived in Massachusetts. The car eventually failed at the shock tower and clapsed in the HS parking lot.

    As far as random suspension failures, I have a couple of friends that are concerned about the E36 rear suspension mounting bugaboo. I guess it requires removing the rear suspension and differential and welding in support brackets.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
    I've seen it a few times, it is sometimes parked in old downtown. Even out in the rain. It sounds like it is running well too. It's an occasional daily driver, I suspect.
  • boomchekboomchek Member Posts: 5,516
    Hmmm, maybe this one is actually bulletproof.

    The tires seem chunkier than the factory tires, and it looks as if it's sitting about half an inch lower to the ground (the wieght of the armor?).

    2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,604
    Could be suspension issues, too. I don't know...I see so many claims of 140s being 'bulletproof' due to those thick windows. Maybe I should go give the car a "test"...but that might not go over very well.

    If it's a true armored model, then it is very cheap.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,097
    for that "car collector's dream" is that those must be two of the most rust-free 1976 Volares around! :P

    Oh yeah, the "Super Six" 2-bbl setup the seller hypes up boosts the slant six's horsepower by 10. So now it has all of 110 hp. In a car that weighs about 3500 pounds.

    Hey, on that 292K mile Volvo, I notice the seller says "No third seat". Did they actually offer these WITH a 3rd seat? I didn't think that it was possible, or at least easily doable, to get a 3rd row seat in a RWD wagon this small. At least, I don't think the domestics ever offered a 3rd row in a compact/downsized midsized RWD wagon. Usually about the smallest RWD wagon that would offer a 3rd row would be something like a '77 Malibu, '78 Monaco/Fury, or '79 LTD-II/Cougar, or the downsized Ford/GM fullsizers.
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