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

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Comments

  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,737
    I like the Acura as a runabout but it really is just a used car to be put into service, IMHO. I feel like $5k on the street would have been right. At $5500 on an auction, you are what when done? More like $6k? I don't know the BAT rules/fees.

    '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

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    qbrozen said:

    I like the Acura as a runabout but it really is just a used car to be put into service, IMHO. I feel like $5k on the street would have been right. At $5500 on an auction, you are what when done? More like $6k? I don't know the BAT rules/fees.

    Seller pays $99. Buyer pays 5% of selling price, minimum $250 up to $5,000 fee, with a $5000 cap for any selling price over $100K.

    So if you bid $6K on that Acura, you'll pay $6300 + shipping of course if it's not local to you.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    And hope like heck it doesn't have a bad transmission or stink like dogs, spilled milk and cigars inside!

    Buying an auction car sight unseen has many pitfalls but you can get lucky too!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Yep, it's a crap shoot. Being artfully deceptive is not a skill practiced only by dealers.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    edited January 2018
    Our store once bought a beautiful used Odyssey at an auction sight unseen except for photos that were beautiful.

    If SMELLED so bad inside that I'm going to spare all of you would could have been a very GRAPHIC assessment. Just think the worst and it was ten times worse than that! The detailers tried and eventually refused to even get in the car. We sold it at auction and no doubt got spanked in the process!
  • tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 16,959
    A buddy of mine had a 98 Grand Prix (fully loaded pace car replica with the supercharged 3800, nice car for the time).  His wife as driving the car in the heat of the summer and managed to spill almost a whole gallon of milk in the rear seat.  

    It wasn’t cleaned properly and after a few days the car started to smell.... bad!  I helped him steam clean it, pull the rear seat to see if it got under there somehow, but we could never fully get the smell out.  

    2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic

  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Milk may be the worst. I once took in a nice Civic that the owner had used to cart around an 80 pound SMELLY Bassett Hound. It smelled SO bad! The problem got even worse when the detailers pulled out the entire interior and power scrubbed everything. It then smelled like a WET Bassett Hound.

    Another sweetheart for the auction.
  • gsemikegsemike Member Posts: 2,413
    1990 BENTLEY Hopper Empress II

    https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cto/d/1990-bentley-hopper-empress/6468251142.html Is this actually a thing? Could this money be remotely sane?
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 11,107
    edited January 2018
    I don't know, but that's the least-impressive interior I've seen in a Bentley/RR - those seats and steering wheel could be out of an Accord...
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,023
    I'll confess I spilled chocolate milk in my 2000 Park Avenue once. Fortunately it wasn't *too* big of a spill, and I cleaned it up when I got to work. Also a good thing, I guess, that the car had a light brown interior, so the milk blended in! :p

    My Dad used to smoke like a chimney, and unfortunately, the '03 Regal I inherited from him had that inflicted on it. It actually has diminished, with time. He hadn't driven the car since September of 2016. And after he passed away in March of last year, I left the windows cracked, to let it air out some, until I finally brought it over to my house in May. We had left it over there so the house at least looked somewhat occupied, until we could get it sold, but in retrospect, the car got so dusty, it probably wasn't fooling anybody. Probably looked abandoned!

    Anyway, the smell is mostly gone, now, but every once in awhile I'll catch a whiff of it. Hell, maybe the car is a more modern GM version of Christine, and what I'm actually smelling is Dad's ghost lighting up a Maverick! :o
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Yep it's real, and no, the money isn't sane. That era was not a bright time for Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Looks like it was on BaT, too:

    https://bringatrailer.com/2017/08/15/one-of-six-coachbuilt-turbo-r-coupes-1990-bentley-hooper-empress-ii/

    And has been seen elsewhere over the years:

    http://www.bentleyspotting.com/2008/06/bentley-hooper-empress-ii-market-wrap.html

    If I wanted a weirdo car like that, I'd buy a Camargue for a quarter of the money, and at least get a Pininfarina badge.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 20,287
    Dealerships use a product to get rid of smoke and other odors that are resistant to cleaning but I can't recall the name of the stuff.

    2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6

  • gsemikegsemike Member Posts: 2,413
    fintail said:

    Yep it's real, and no, the money isn't sane. That era was not a bright time for Rolls-Royce and Bentley. Looks like it was on BaT, too:

    https://bringatrailer.com/2017/08/15/one-of-six-coachbuilt-turbo-r-coupes-1990-bentley-hooper-empress-ii/

    And has been seen elsewhere over the years:

    http://www.bentleyspotting.com/2008/06/bentley-hooper-empress-ii-market-wrap.html

    If I wanted a weirdo car like that, I'd buy a Camargue for a quarter of the money, and at least get a Pininfarina badge.

    The whole thing, the styling, the proportions all looks very awkward to me. Can think of a bunch of cars I'd take that cost half as much
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    gsemike said:

    1990 BENTLEY Hopper Empress II

    https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/cto/d/1990-bentley-hopper-empress/6468251142.html Is this actually a thing? Could this money be remotely sane?

    Decimal in wrong place.
  • tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 16,959
    ab348 said:
    Dealerships use a product to get rid of smoke and other odors that are resistant to cleaning but I can't recall the name of the stuff.

    I think they use a machine “ionizer” or something like that.  

    2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic

  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 26,023
    From certain angles, those Bentley coupes make me think of those clunky Century/Cutlass Salon "Aerobacks" from the late 70's. And for some reason, at a quick glance, the dash makes me think of my grandmother's old '85 LeSabre. Anyway, not the most attractive looking beasts.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    An Aeroback 442 would probably be a better buy at 1/20th the money - easier to live with, no worse looking

    If I wanted an oddball big British coupe, this is what I'd choose - yes, a guilty pleasure

    The depreciation floor is still insanely high for these - the style reminds me of a really fancy Fiat 130 coupe.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 20,287
    I never liked the R-R designs from that era.

    2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6

  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Big pile of trouble. In my book, a nominee for one of the worst Top Ten cars in the world, ("And now---in the postwar, non-commie class--may I have the envelope please?"). A car company resting on its laurels, with a product built by disgruntled union labor and managed by backward-thinking luddites.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    The steering wheels in period Rolls-Royce amuse me most, so stark and plain, like something out of a 1920s car - and they kept them that way until airbags became mandatory.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 20,287
    fintail said:

    The steering wheels in period Rolls-Royce amuse me most, so stark and plain, like something out of a 1920s car - and they kept them that way until airbags became mandatory.

    I know. Imagine the first-time buyer of one of these, finally coming into wealth, and seeing... that.

    2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6

  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,354
    I am speechless. Of all bizarre cars to do this to, picking this as a base?

    Not sure what is my favorite part. The green wheels, or the roof basket.

    https://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/1992-volkswagen-fox-airbagged/6478856963.html

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,737
    stickguy said:
    I am speechless. Of all bizarre cars to do this to, picking this as a base? Not sure what is my favorite part. The green wheels, or the roof basket. https://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/1992-volkswagen-fox-airbagged/6478856963.html
    Low miles...but I won't tell you how many.
    fully restored...but I won't tell you what I think that means nor show pics of the underside or engine.

    Seems like a $1500 car with $4k in aftermarket garbage and likely a $995 paintjob.

    '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

  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,354

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Maybe staring down the bonnet at the Spirit of Ecstasy, smelling the wood and leather, feeling the wool rugs, made up for it. Not that I'll ever know B)
    ab348 said:



    I know. Imagine the first-time buyer of one of these, finally coming into wealth, and seeing... that.

  • qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 33,737

    '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

  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,354
    Lots of crap in those fields. With a few almost worthy to restore mixed in. But looks like the majority should go right to the boneyard.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Letting somewhat desirable cars sit outside for eons, brilliant way to maximize that ROI. I assume this was more of a hoarder than collector.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    tjc78 said:


    ab348 said:

    Dealerships use a product to get rid of smoke and other odors that are resistant to cleaning but I can't recall the name of the stuff.

    I think they use a machine “ionizer” or something like that.  

    They don't work. They help but the smell lingers. A smoker's car will always retain the odor in the A/C vents. On a hot day with the A/C going you'll get the smell.
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 17,687

    tjc78 said:


    ab348 said:

    Dealerships use a product to get rid of smoke and other odors that are resistant to cleaning but I can't recall the name of the stuff.

    I think they use a machine “ionizer” or something like that.  
    They don't work. They help but the smell lingers. A smoker's car will always retain the odor in the A/C vents. On a hot day with the A/C going you'll get the smell.

    Yes! Smoker cars, dog cars. I have owned two cars that were dog houses in their previous lives, and there's just no getting that smell completely out of the car. On both of mine, it wasn't really noticeable except during the summer months when the interior was hot. But, oh man... what a reminder! :D
    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
  • gsemikegsemike Member Posts: 2,413
    Hey guys, i know I've been on the fence for quite some time but I finally made a decision to bit this today . 09 X5  it's coming from a well regarded BMW specialist and he went through it pretty thoroughly.  I only drive 6 or 7k a year so it should serve me well . 

    After a few years in a Sienna, I am pretty excited 
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 20,723
    @gsemike, I can see why you are excited. I haven't seen many with running boards.
    2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,354
    nice looking. Enjoy. I think my SILs X5 has the running boards. Just be prepared to have dirty pants cuffs on a regular basis, if you aren't careful getting in and out!

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Had the old dear out on a Saturday, which is unusual - I tend to stick to Sundays, as traffic volumes are lowest, and the car and I both have little patience for traffic and lowest common denominator drivers here. As the weather forecast for tomorrow is uncertain, I took advantage of a rare dry day. The car started right up and ran fine, idle for 3 weeks and 6 days - gotta love fuel injection. Turned a few heads, which is more common as the car ages. The tires are just about 5 years old right now, aging well. Two gratuitous shots for today, one in the garage, one out in the fresh air:








  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 53,354
    somehow, I never noticed your driving lights before.

    Car still looks good.

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Thanks. It's holding up.

    The fog lights are period accessory items bought by I think the second owner around 1970.
  • gsemikegsemike Member Posts: 2,413
    stickguy said:

    nice looking. Enjoy. I think my SILs X5 has the running boards. Just be prepared to have dirty pants cuffs on a regular basis, if you aren't careful getting in and out!

    I’ve heard that too but it wasn’t a problem when I was checking it out today
  • berriberri Member Posts: 10,165
    Fin, I think that M stands out because 1) it looks like an MB and 2) the color.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    The color definitely helps a lot. Colors like that were gone by the late 60s for most cars.
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,934
    edited February 2018
    fintail said:

    Had the old dear out on a Saturday, which is unusual - I tend to stick to Sundays, as traffic volumes are lowest, and the car and I both have little patience for traffic and lowest common denominator drivers here. As the weather forecast for tomorrow is uncertain, I took advantage of a rare dry day. The car started right up and ran fine, idle for 3 weeks and 6 days - gotta love fuel injection. Turned a few heads, which is more common as the car ages. The tires are just about 5 years old right now, aging well. Two gratuitous shots for today, one in the garage, one out in the fresh air:








    You could probably convince people it's a wrap job given the unusual color and great looking condition of the paint.

    So when are you scheduling the Plasti-dipping to black-out the chrome? :smile:

    Apparently it's what millenials would want to do to your car.
    '18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,934
    Pearl Paint at Night looks good to me:


    '18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • andres3andres3 Member Posts: 13,934
    I'll take a blue Ferrari too:



    If it had a black interior I'd kick it out of the garage, but this one is safe.
    '18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Funny, there's a car similar to mine with black painted chrome - but it was done in the early 80s, when the car was customized (also has kind of a candy apple red paint job). Everything old is new again.

    The paint on my car is definitely in the "10 footer" (or more) category. It looks pristine from a small distance, but definitely has a bit of patina when you get close. As quality body and paintwork would fly past the value of the car, it's not on my list unless I win a powerball.

    The youngster trend for old MBs is putting them on airbag suspension, and taking endless pics of the cars sitting on the ground, wheels tipped out, for social media dopeyness.
    andres3 said:


    You could probably convince people it's a wrap job given the unusual color and great looking condition of the paint.

    So when are you scheduling the Plasti-dipping to black-out the chrome? :smile:

    Apparently it's what millenials would want to do to your car.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Your Audi does seem like a "project" car, with all of the work you put into the brakes. The Ferrari isn't one yet, but as it ages, might be.

    And I too prefer a non-black interior.
    andres3 said:

    I'll take a blue Ferrari too:
    If it had a black interior I'd kick it out of the garage, but this one is safe.

  • berriberri Member Posts: 10,165
    Don't tell me that Fintails are becoming the new Chebby B)
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Lowrider MBs (but not the bouncy hydraulics scene) are definitely a thing, and a fintail is kind of a 57 Chevy of Germany in terms of being a period design piece.

    image

    image
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 58,419
    Parts car, project car, tomato, tomahtoe

    Nice colors on the W123.
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 20,723
    That Jeep looks like a G Wagen only better.
    2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 20,287
    I rather like that Jag.

    2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6

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