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

stickguy

some classics in that bunch for sure.

explorerx4

Last year the Mustang wouldn't run anymore, so I put it away until late June this year.
I bit the bullet, and had it towed to a local repair guy.
Told him I didn't need the car immediately.
It took him about a month to figure out what was wrong and then a couple of weeks to get it fixed.
He runs a busy shop. I called a couple of times during the first month and he would say I should have it by x day of the week, but I'm killed with people needing their cars for vacation, or just to get around. It was never ready.
Like I said, I was patient.
The car ended up needing a new engine computer and it was sent out to get rebuilt.
Car is back running now, but those 6 weeks sitting outside were hell on the exterior.
Slowly, I been cleaning it up and I'm finally done.
Last thing was the hood and the top of the front fenders, which took me over 4 hours today.
Car was washed the other day.
This morning I cleaned it with some diluted Simple Green, clean off and let it dry, sprizted some water on it, clean off and let it dry, clay bar it, clean off and let it dry.
Repeat all these steps.
Apply polish and buff it, then wax and buff it.
I'm done!
While I was doing this, I washed and waxed my wife's Escape.

fortee9er

Back in the late 90's early 2000's I remember seeing many Lincolns, Cougars, and Thunderbirds painted in what looked like a pearlescent pink/cream color. It seems like this color choice was fairly popular around here back then. While I still see many of those cars from that period I don't see any in that color anymore. Do any of you remember what the name of this paint color t was, and perhaps venture a guess as to why I don't see them on the road anymore.

Mr_Shiftright

Went to look at a 20-car collection to appraise for an estate. The deceased owner had plans for each of the 60s and 70s cars he collected, but alas, he never got around to them. The 20 cars are now, at best, parts cars worth a few hundred dollars. Severe rust, weather damage, mildew, etc pretty much destroyed them.

tjc78

Could it look silver straight on? If so, it's called "Opal Frost" my Grandfather's 93 Town Car Cartier was that color.

If it's looks cream all the time it's probably "Pearlescent Ivory"

andre1969

My guess would be the Pearlescent Ivory. Here's one for sale:

http://www.hyundaiofsomerset.com/VehicleDetails/used-1997-LINCOLN-Continental-4d- r_Sdn-Somerset-KY/2001679493

To my eyes at least, it does have sort of a pink/rose tint to it. I had forgotten about that color, but now my memory has been jogged. It did seem fairly common for a time.

tjc78

I think in 95 or 96 it was exclusive to the Town Car Cartier then moved on to lesser TCs, Contis, and Marks.

I don't remember it on any other Ford products except maybe the last year of the Cougar like mentioned.

andre1969

Yeah, for some reason I can picture a Cougar or T-bird in that color, but not any other Ford or Mercury.

fintail

Have the fintail on the road today, first time it's been driven in maybe 6 or 7 weeks. I was a little leery of the 6.5 year old battery, so I brought my jumpstarter along. It fired up on the first turn of the key, like it had just been driven yesterday. Gotta love the old thing. Running fine, only real quirk is still the turn signals, which work at random times.

fintail

This brought decent bids for the market

fortee9er

The car is in beautiful shape but the price seems high. As a rule older MBs, and BMWs are not very collectible. When I think of collectible Mercedes from the last 40 years I picture 6.3s, 6.9s, W123 Diesel wagons, the W124 500E, or AMG specials. I hope the buyer of this 560SEC is out there the day I decide to sell my 2004 CL500.

fintail

It is high for NA, but for the right buyer/seller there might be just a little room for profit if it is being sent to Europe, or maybe someone is going to hold it and bet.

Those are a funny thing. 560SEC are already worth way more than the 450SLC that preceded it. 126s have a cult behind them, especially in Germany where there are clubs and have been specialized sites for many years. W124 500Es are still pretty stagnant, along with early AMGs. They've probably hit a depreciation floor, but not much upside yet, even in Europe.

Your C215 might be a special interest car in another 30 years or so. People do find them pretty. A CL65 will be a minor collectible, eventually.

Speaking of the German 126 cult, I like this image from one of their sites - a bunch of them in their natural habitat, a gas station (note the prices)

fortee9er

What site(s) are you getting your information from? I'd like to take a look. BTW there is one other older MB that interest me, the 1977-79 500SLC homologation special. I've managed to find just one for sale in the last few years. As far as newer MBs the 2003+ CL600 twin turbo is another MB on my radar. The C65 is still too pricey for me.

fintail

Which information? I monitor US and German sales sites pretty often, and I read specialized sites constantly. Between sales sites and forums, one can get an idea of asking price vs sales price.

A 5.0 SLC is a very rare car, all here will be grey market. I am unsure if I have ever seen one in NA. The lightweight model would be super cool and will have value. Normal SLCs sadly don't. I kind of like them, when they have proper bumpers. This gorgeous car brought a mere 6K at auction, a few years ago

A V12 car could be fun, seems to be like it would be driving a jet. If you want to hold and keep for collectibility, save and wait for the CL65 - I don't know if normal CL600s will go anywhere, as the C140 variants haven't yet. The turbos do add a lot, and the 03+ models are more reliable, but it might be tough going for awhile.

fortee9er

fintail I wasn't questioning the veracity of your information I just wanted to know which sites you were monitoring. I have an E23 BMW 745i and I would like to know how much they are bringing in Germany.
The 500SLC I found for sale was on a Copart lot in the Tampa area. I had the VIN checked and it was the real deal but it was going to need a fair amount of work to bring back to decent condition so I did not bid on it.

fintail

Oh, I know you didn't mean it that way

This is the best site for cars in Germany - can waste a lot of time browsing around. There are no doubt specific online forums and clubs for old BMWs, too.

That's the problem with most any old MB that isn't an SL (an SLC is maybe half of one) - restoration costs will far exceed market values, so unless one adores the car and wants to keep it forever, it's a losing proposition. I could spend 30-40K to do my fintail and have a 15K at best car when I am done (albeit higher in Europe), but it runs, drives, and looks OK as it is, so why bother.

I know a lot of odd grey market stuff made it into FL back when a certain industry was really flying high there. On a MB forum I read, someone claims to have found a Carat Duchatelet SEC in Miami, I think.

lemko

Well, if you ever hit the lottery and win some insane amount, you could restore your fintail to be the ultimate example of its kind. I could see restoring my Brougham to that level should I hit the lottery or get some unexpected windfall though I would no way no how recoup what I would spend.

What I would really like to do is make my Brougham the car it SHOULD'VE been - replace the plood with the real thing, modify the powerplant and supspension to deliver world-class performance, upgrade all the materials, workmanship, and give it a finish that Rolls-Royce would envy!

fintail

If I won a big jackpot, I would do that - give it a concours quality rebuild, while trying to use as many existing parts as possible to keep it "real". It still wouldn't be as expensive as many other cars, and it'd be adored at shows, so there'd be some ROI.

I wouldn't do a resto-mod like you would on the Brougham though - although I might find another fintail and do a Leno-style AMG engine conversion or something. Your Brougham redo could be something - the old styling with modern materials and finish.

Michaell

I think about this, too. With my Saturn ION.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd take it somewhere to have them convert it into a 4-door 'red line', with the 2.0L turbo engine and a slick shifting manual transmission. Update the suspension and brakes while I'm at it, to make it stop and handle as well as it goes.

Ultimate sleeper, especially in the dark grey color my car is.

fintail

Keep it stock looking - ride height, wheels (or hubcaps, even better), small exhaust tips, etc. Then go out and surprise the kids.

A fintail with whitewalls and no external hints but a 500hp engine would be pretty funny.

Michaell

Keep it stock looking - ride height, wheels (or hubcaps, even better), small exhaust tips, etc. Then go out and surprise the kids.

I'd upgrade the wheels from the current 15" to 16" - which were an option on the ION at the time.

Still, I like the idea of a Q-ship. 250+HP would really transform the car, for sure.

I like the idea of a fintail with an AMG crate engine in it. :-)

fintail

Keep it looking as non-sporty as possible. I remember Saturn always had a few odd 4-spoke wheel designs, I am sure one would work.

The only worry I have for a fintail frankencar is that the structure couldn't handle the torque. Fintails are pretty light - ~3000lbs, and never had more than a 3 liter I6. A lot of re-engineering would be needed...but that might be part of the fun. Might have go to with a lesser engine, maybe the new turbo I4, still puts out 350hp. A 550hp engine would probably allow the car to do wheelies.

Mr_Shiftright

Price seems high to me, too. $12K sounds about right. At 16K by the time you ship to Europe and pay the taxes there, you've eaten up any possible profit IMO.

eBAY *is* the global market, so whatever prices you see there are the same globally.

fortee9er

According to the person who looked up the VIN for me the car was a private import by a member of the US military.

fintail

Yeah, taxes would do it. In Germany, a mint 560SEC is a 25K car. 16K + shipping + tax would put you pretty close. Maybe someone just had to have that color combo or something.

fintail

Better than someone who was in the black market pharmaceutical industry, no doubt

I'd say a nice 5.0 SLC would bring more than a AMG SEC, which seem to hit the 30K range now. Maybe a widebody is worth more. Euro collectors would be all over it - do you know what happened to it?

fortee9er

Don't know what happened to it. Copart auctions are different then eBay. They don't publish auction results or any information on the winning bidder.

Mr_Shiftright

Copart? That's a storage lot where insuurance companies store wrecks/thefts/etc after the settlements. Was this car on a salvage title?

fortee9er

Yes. You would be surprised at what shows up. A couple of weeks ago they listed a Merc Gullwing.

fintail

A real one? Those are pretty closely tracked, so one could find where it came from.

If that SLC was really bad, it probably got used for parts. If saveable, probably went back home.

fortee9er

The Gullwing was the real deal. When I saw it the bidding was up to $200K but I don't know what it sold for.
The SLC had front end damage (one fender, hood, bumpers). When I started thinking about how much it was going to cost to get replacement aluminum fender, aluminum hood, and all the miscellaneous parts to get it fixed up I decided not to bid on it. At the time bidding was $750.

qbrozen

My thought process while viewing this car:
Hey. That's pretty cool...
Looks nice. A bit different...
Oh, Pink Panther? Ok... well, that could be removed/covered up probably...
Oh, now i see... pink and blue pinstripe all around the thing. Wonder how much to take that off...
Wait... what's with the seats?...
OMG MY EYES JUST VOMITED BLOOD!

This looks quite nice. Neat car. Shows great in the pics. Even the underside looks really clean. So why in the hell would you not remove, clean, and paint the valve covers and alternator brackets?!

Mr_Shiftright

that 68 Pontiac really falls down in the engine compartment. Makes you wonder if the rest of the car is down and dirty. The camera can hide a lot of things.

gsemike

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4123307829.html
This might be close to sane

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4118870402.html
Rolling shell? Really?

http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/4035490490.html
Who wants to tell this guy how little most mid-70s cars are worth, espeially in pieces

stkntraffic

I just saw this in an email from Harbor Freight. They restored a 67 Firebird to make a series of videos showing how their tools could be used in the restoration process.

What do you think? They claim to have 50K into it, selling for 29.9:

Firebird

Mr_Shiftright

The '67 Firebird price seems okay, if you aren't a purist for originality. You can buy the real deal fully restored, for a bit less. I'd say low to mid 20s is all the money.

fintail

Needs a little work, but I kind of want thisI love the computer, that's a very rare 126 option

stickguy

I like the end product. And it seems to roughly hit the rule of thumb about doing a resto on a normal car (you get about 1/2 of what you put in back when you sell it).

I appreciate the upgrades they did, and if I was buying something to actually use (instead of putting it in my living room and pretending it was just rolled off the production line) that is pretty much how I would do it. Except for the stick shift that mine would have!

Mr_Shiftright

500 SEC AMG -- nice car but the asking price is totally nuts.

Even if we doubled the market price for exceptional condition, his asking price is 2X over market.

Mr_Shiftright

A 67 Firebird 400 coupe isn't held in that high esteem (it's not a Camaro and it's not a Ram Air), so modding it isn't a crime.

fintail

I'd pay 25K for a mint widebody SEC AMG, seriously.

Mr_Shiftright

don't do that. Give *ME* $25K and let me deliver a mint wide body to you and keep the change.

fintail

You know of any for sale?

Mind you, the caveat is a good car, not one that sat beside a barn for a decade. You'd have no problem selling a pristine widebody SEC for 25K.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm pretty sure I could find a very nice one for about $12K, but no, I don't have one in my pocket. But vee haf our ways.......car searching is labor intensive, even through my network, so I'd need someone to be very serious about it. It's not something I particularly like to do for that reason.

fintail

A genuinely good widebody AMG SEC for 12K? Mint normal cars are bringing that. Old AMGs have a bit of a cult behind them now - you might have a hard time.

What do you think you could get an old W124 Hammer for? Or a coupe or wagon version?

A widebody 126 sedan would be good too, I think only a handful were made.

Mr_Shiftright

Rarity doesn't equate to value as you know. It depends on a) who wants them and b) what they are willing to pay.

I feel certain I could find one in the $12K--$15K range---very nice car, wide body.

I've seen many of them fail to meet reserve on eBay. Busting the $20K barrier is very tough for these cars.

fintail

And the car matters too. Some of them are gussied up money pits.

But seriously, find me a documented minty widebody 126 AMG (or Koenig Special) or a similar real documented Hammer for 25K and I'll be interested.

Mr_Shiftright

I saw one for sale up in Canada for $16,5K asking price--they said the car was tops but it had fairly high miles (although not for its age) of around 90K. I bet you could hammer that one down in price.

fintail

And it was a widebody?

Sometimes cars from Canada are Japanese imports with sketchy history. I don't know if I'd want that - as Japan has a big movement for period tuned MBs, and I'd assume the local market would take it if it was a good car. I'd want an original US import or a documented when-new grey market car.

Mr_Shiftright

yes a wide body.

Well every used car is different, so they should be evaluated on a case by case basis I think. That's a long way to travel to look at a car.