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

fintail

411/12 for the same people that collect Yugos and Trabants and old non-sporty Fiats etc.

Doh I didn't notice the Cortina was an auto. 0-60 in 20 sec I am sure.

Mr_Shiftright

The Buick Reatta club thinks they're worth $15,000...the rest of the world thinks they are worth about $6,500. Same problem as the Allante...supply outstrips demand.

Mr_Shiftright

Re-construct your own Prius.....

Mr_Shiftright

This 2001 Porsche was actually totalled: (payout will be substantial).

fintail

Was the Porsche rolled?

Mr_Shiftright

Nope, sideswiped...all the damage is visible except that the left front shock tower is torqued and you can't see that so well. The cover is to keep the rain out of the posh interior. The car has serious salvage value after all. Yes, it's true, they don't put a cover on geo metros.

xwesx

I find it incredible that a car with that amount of damage could be considered "totalled."

Not that it is anywhere near the same caliber, but my grandparents had a 2000 Ford Expedition that was T-boned by a PT Cruiser (PT going about 25 mph at time of impact), then were pushed into another vehicle (parked) and it busted up one of the turn signal lamps and fired off the airbags. I would classify the damage as "slight," as the majority of the damage was a seriously torqued front passenger door. But, the repair bid came in at over $13K and the insurance company totalled it. I suppose you need to have a highly technical eye to spot every little speck of damage......

Mr_Shiftright

You will see more and more cars being totalled. It's a definite trend. Labor costs are high, and liability considerations are another factor.

Who would even WANT a repaired Porsche that had $36,000 in damage done to it? It's virtually unsaleable, so you might as well junk it.

jrosasmc

How about modern full-size trucks like Ford F-150s? They're still modern but I'm sure because of the full-frame construction, they won't be totaled as easily as other vehicles cause they make so many of them. I mean, parts are everywhere and they are cheap to fix, am I right?

boomchek

There's a new Porsche Carrera GT driving around Vancouver, I mean THE Carrera GT.

It's the only one I've seen so far but I've been told the owner, a young guy, already had an accident in it.

Apparently it was mostly to do with body work in the front but since much of the car is made of carbon-fibre the damage was about $40k. Ouch :surprise:

rorr

That would be THIS car:

http://www.wreckedexotics.com/carreragt/carreraGT_20050107_001.shtml

Car spun in the middle of the street, ending up over a center curb median. Apparantly ripped the undercarriage out of the car requiring a trip back to Germany for repairs. I'd bet the repairs ran something more than $40k..... :surprise: :sick:

lemmer

How friggin fast would you have to be going to spin a Carrera GT on a city street?

I liked this 968, but was afraid to bid without a close exam as the Buy it Now price seemed a too cheap. Someone snatched it up in no time. Some of the guys other cars seem a little iffy, feedback a little iffy too.

stickguy

looks nice, high miles though.

fintail

Andre-Mobile

One for Carlisle

stickguy

not sure what you would do with it, but at least it meets my basic criteria for a project car: good bones (seems pretty straight, and supposed to be rust free), and pretty cheap.

I don't like these at all though, but that's just my taste.

andre1969

something like this brute for a project vehicle? It's the surviving truck from the movie "Duel", which I was suprised to discover has been kept alive all these years! Evidently it still roams the streets of Southern California.

Wonder what something like that would be worth? In a sick, twisted way, I'd LOVE to have it! :shades:

last minute edit... OMG, check this out! :surprise:

stickguy

that first link doesn't work from me (the tripod site comes up blank), but I got it through the Ebay link. Pretty cool.

Was that the paint job from the movie, or just rust?

And, I think that is the first listing I ever saw with mileage over 1 million.

bumpy

something from a movie that would fit in your driveway? It's old enough that you should be able to legally import it without having to do a ton of work to it.

andre1969

Well, here's the url where I got that pic from...

http://members.tripod.com/webzapper/dueltruckataol.html

lemmer

That looks like a good daily driver for someone with traffic filled commute. It commands respect.

Mr_Shiftright

The 968 is now at exact retail market....list price, no deal there.

Mr_Shiftright

These "movie" cars are kind of a crap shoot to place a value on. It is kind of a cult film though, so it might bring, say, double retail value, so maybe $8,000 or so? Higher than that, and you'd better be able to exploit the truck commercially somehow. Myabe a "movie car museum" where you can charge rubes $10 a head.

lemmer

I think the asking price on this (very average) local car threw me off. Or maybe the Cabriolets are worth a lot more.

968

andre1969

I think it's a decent looking car. I thought an SJ would have Rally wheels though...that sucker looks like it just has cheap LeMans hubcaps. And it's strange, but whatever quality the '76-77 LeMans has that sends me into an almost irrational lusting, the Grand Prix just doesn't quite have it. I think that shade of red is what my '76 LeMans originally was, before it got repainted a more burgundy/purple-ish hue.

That '72 Sedan DeVille is pretty sweet, though. I really like that color!

Mr_Shiftright

No they aren't. It's a dealer and he's trolling for suckers. He's about $8,000 over high retail, so don't ask me what he's smokin'.

fintail

I noticed that too about those GP hubcaps. I don't know how a SJ should be trimmed, so I can't tell if it is real. Still not the worst car for the $$$

Worth finishing? Hard to tell, but in these muscle car clone crazed days...

andre1969

and it looks like the SJ was the mid-level Grand Prix that year, and considered the sporty version. I'd guess that the Rally wheels would have been standard then, but it's possible that over the years they might have been swapped off that particular example. Also, the SJ came standard with a 400-4bbl. Sadly, as impressive as that might sound, it only had 185 hp, just 25 more than the 350-2bbl that was standard in the base GP. Kinda pathetic that an extra two barrels and 50 more cubes would only get you 25 more hp. But then even the top 455-4bbl only got you up to 205 hp that year.

fintail

I wouldn't doubt they were swapped, people like those rally wheels. Were those "lace" wheels similar to what is sometimes on a Firebird offered on a GP? I swear I've seen it before.

Those engine outputs are sad, seeing as my mere 2195cc fintail puts out 140hp. Of course, no emissions controls on it.

stickguy

certainly looks to be worth finishing. Souldn't take too much to get it looking ready for the cruise in. Now the price seems a tad high, since it still needs body work and paint, but probably not too much given all the mechanical work just done.

Or, he should have made a Pontiac out of it, since he was redoing the whole front end anyway!

andre1969

I actually forgot about those other Pontiac wheels they had back then! The Rally I was thinking of looks like this

However, there was also a Snowflake Rally and a Honeycomb Rally

I'm not sure what year those other Rally wheels came out, but they may have been available in '76. And I know I've seen them on '77 Grand Prixs and downsized Grand Prixes and LeManses, so they were offered on cars other than the Firebird/TA.

lemmer

"restoration started" - never a good sign

It is all there, just put it back together

lemmer

I like the rally wheels, but I think the Snowflakes and Honeycombs are best left behind.

Mr_Shiftright

I don't see any upside on that Corvette at $10,000 to buy in. It needs everything and you can just go buy one for maybe $35K all done, so what's the point? $3,500 would be plenty

People forget that they make a lot of Corvettes every year.

rorr

"People forget that they make a lot of Corvettes every year."

Which reminds me - has anyone been watching any of the Jackson Barret highlights lately on Speed Channel? Last night, I saw a pair of Corvettes being auctioned: a beautifully restored (over restored?) '53 Vette (white w/ red interior) and a MATCHING 50th anniversary '03 Vette (white w/ red interior) which the owner of the '53 had worked out with GM that the '03 would come down the line with the same last 5 digits in the VIN number as his '53.

I think the pair of cars went for the ABSOLUTELY INSANE price of $500k. As far as I could tell, the biggest draw was the fact that the VIN numbers for the two essentially matched.

And the other jaw-dropper of the night was the guy who spent $3M (yes, that's 3 MILLION dollars) on the last Olds F88 concept car from the early 50's.

Okay - it's a one of a kind. But what the heck makes it any more significant than any number of other 'one of a kind' concept cars built in the '50s?????? Three Million Bucks?

I don't get it.

Mr_Shiftright

Most of those high bidders take a beating a few months later, but the concept car is "one of a kind" so all you need is two people with money who want it, and the race is on!!

AS for the "matching Vettes"----I don't get it either. The roadster if we allow every possible amount for it might be worth $175,000 and the '93 Vette is just a used car....so I don't know what to say about this....drunk maybe?

xwesx

A fella in Washington used to store his cars in my Dad's quanset hut when I was growing up. He had a pair of SS El Caminos in there for about 6 years. One of them was a '69 (midnight blue) and I think the other was a '70 or '71(dark green), but I cannot remember which. He had them tricked out with alloy wheels, custom steering wheels, and the engines were covered in chrome everything (not sure why someone would really want to have chrome parts on their engine, but to each their own!). The most memorable thing for me was that the fuel lines were transparent. For some reason I always found that intriguing..... anyway, they were amazing machines and could really get up and go!

In addition to those, the other one I remember as quite a beauty was a..... I might be wrong on the year here..... 1956 Volvo. I think it was a coupe (sheesh, I should remember that better!). It was painted black and had tinted windows that were so dark you couldn't even see into the car. I never had the opportunity to ride in that one or even look inside it, but it was sure easy on the eyes.

ghulet

....this price doesn't seem to jibe with the car; if it's half as nice as it looks in the pictures, this is an aggressive price. Then again, getting rid of a land yacht like this in October in Chicago, with $3.20 a gallon gas, apparently isn't easy; this has been on craigslist for at least a week, listed several times. The complete lack of a real description (no list of options, body condition, what works and what doesn't, etc.) should worry anyone (and what's a '305' engine doing in this big ol' thang?). I love vague declarations like 'run good' on a forty year-old car, as if that's the only thing to worry about.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/101005691.html

I love '65-66 Pontiacs, this could be nice. I'm bored tonight, maybe I'll go check it out (it's about three miles from me).

boomchek

THAT would be the Porsche Carrera GT.

I dont suppose there is another one in Vanocuver anyways. It's kinda neat being one out of 2 million people in a city to own such a car. :shades:

But not so neat that every car enthusiast that knows about your car also knows about your driving skills. :sick:

fintail

Something like that will attract the spoiled posers. I remember seeing an Enzo in a similar state om a website. I am sure a SLR or two has bit the dust that way as well. I kind of snicker when I see a 20 year old in a 200K+ car.

Early example of these old beasts, they seem to have somewhat of a following

stickguy

looks nice for it's age. Might even move along quite nicely with the big block Buick. Hopefully they spend a few bucks on the brakes to match the power!

fintail

I think it's kinda neat, but too steep

I didn't know of a "Lincoln-Mercury" brand

Yeah it's a big old dinosaur and it's got a dented fender, but the price is almost nothing

boomchek

The Wolseley look like a Trabant fron the back. :P

Those Buicks must have had strong B half-pillars to hold up the heavy rear doors without flexing.

fintail

Not much of a project, but I'd take it over a 2001 model with 50K miles

Not exciting, little upside, but an attractive looking driver

lemmer

I wonder what engine is in that Monte Carlo.

Mr_Shiftright

Actually the Olds looks like a better buy than the Monte, price-wise.
But if the Monte were an SS 454, it would be worth the money and maybe more.

andre1969

in 1971, or was that just 1970? I have a feeling that '71 Monte is just a normal, basic 350. If it was a 2-bbl, it put out 255 hp gross, which comes out to around 165 net. I like that '56 Olds, though.

And for the price I REALLY like that '70 LeSabre! Heck, I'd even take it with the dented fender! I'm guessing that "350 HP" really just means it has a 350 V-8?

andre1969

there were some pics to go along with this. For $325 though, I guess you shouldn't expect much!

I remember back in the late 80's, looking through the used car ads I came upon a dealership near the DC border that had a 1977 LeMans listed for $195. Also had a 1977 Catalina for $295 and a 1978 Catalina for $695. I was shocked that they had that many Pontiacs of that vintage (and that I liked!) Well, I drove by there one day, and the LeMans wasn't there. The $295 Catalina was, though. Boy, what a wreck! It had some pretty major body damage, and while it ran, the whole under-hood area was greasy and oily, like everything that could leak, did leak! The interior was pretty torn up and greasy too, like maybe a mechanic used the car to make runs to the junkyard or something. If the $295 car looked that bad though, I'd hate to think what the $195 one looked like! As I recall, the $695 one wasn't too bad, though.

This little dealership occasionally got interesting, but junky cars, but ultimately went out of business. It's just a parking lot now, and they store buses on it.

fintail

It's a lower line car, but looks very usable as-is. In fact, maybe a little too cheap...I wonder what's up

andre1969

I'm booking my one-way plane ticket right now...Fintail, can you pick me up and drive me out to pick up my new Windsor? :shades:

fintail

Sure, let me know when you fly in

But really..I'm almost tempted to call that guy. I need that car like I need a hole in my head, but it looks awfully nice for the money. It would look especially nice wearing some wide whites.