Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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what is it worth
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They're cute car, and I rather like them as objects to look at, or drive around town slowly. As you know, they are a bit frightening to drive with any verve, so as long as you know you're not in a sports car, they can be a lot of fun. And you can steal engine parts off an MG if you need them!
If not, the value would be around $10,000. With those low miles provable, I personally would not refuse an offer of $15,000 if someone made it. This presumes a perfect car...deduct accordingly for defects in paint, upholstery, etc.
There is a similar car offered in Hemmings for $19,500, but I myself think this is the moon and stars for the car. Of course, more power to someone who gets that price, but it seems too high for the market. But if you're willing to wait, advertise a lot, etc., who knows?
77,300mi, good chrome, no rust, no dents,
red paint is a little dull so it could use a paint job but wouldn't need it to be a daily driver.
could you give me a ballpark selling figure?
I'm just curious what you think of the Mopar M-body police cruisers. I've got a 1989 Plymouth Gran Fury. It was a Richmond VA sheriff's car, pretty well equipped, with power windows, door locks, mirrors, tilt wheel/air bag (how many cars had that combo back then ;-) cloth interior, stereo system w/ cassette, etc. It's a lot nicer than most of the cruisers back then, which usually only had vinyl seats, rubber mats, and no power accessories.
I've got about 110 K miles on it (bought it in the summer of '98 with 73K on it, and it's been pretty reliable. I would think something like this, while hardly a classic, would at least be worth more than a civilian M-body. It has a 318 4bbl with 175 hp, 2.94 gearing, cop tires, cop suspension, etc. By comparison, the civvie versions would have only had 130 (maybe 140 hp), 2.43 gearing, limp suspensions, etc.
As far as ridiculous pricing, how does this sound...I saw a civvie Gran Fury, 1987 or so, at the Mopar nationals at Carlisle. It was in nice shape, but not much nicer than my ex-police car. He wanted something like $7 grand for it! I guess it just goes to show that some people think just because it's old, it's valuable!
-Andre
My reasoning abou the civilian vs former police car value is that without the equipment, the police car is just a repainted and pretty well used civilian car anyway. True, it might have some special equipment, and perhaps that would appeal to someone, but in general most old police cars, once stripped of their equipement, don't have much eye appeal. There could be exceptions, but all those bells and lights and sirens are what people want.
Even so, police cruisers in top shape with all their equipment don't really pull big prices, nor do ambulances or fire trucks, etc. Your best bets are still convertible anythings or coupes with monster engines.
My problem is: Stupid, beginner looker for a great old classic - Which numbers matching are the most important , if looking for original. How much does not having matching numbers hurt?? If you modify, will this change the value, if you do not touch numbers?? Mostly common sense, I know, would tell you the more original "sitting in my barn for 54 years....only 15 original miles" is worth more BUT what are the guidelines? Everyone I ask has a different answer...Is there a book to read or internet for Very Naive New Collectors?
By the way, I will NOT buy until I have researched so thanks but no thanks to the sellers who see me as an easy mark..I may be cheap but not easy.
They are usually cheap for a reason.
First, you need to define what you really want.
Ultimately a car is worth what someone will pay for it. But there are certain guidelines when choosing your first "collectible" car.
First of all, however, you have to ask yourself this question:
Am I interested in a car that will retain or increase in value, or do I just want to drive an old car? (BIG DIFFERENCE therefore in what you buy!)
RE: MATCHING NUMBERS--- I really don't know how this crazy business got started with mass-produced cars, but there's no turning back and there seems to be no way to apply common sense to it--so we are stuck with this idea that matching numbers are important.
But are they with all cars? I don't think so. Probably they are important in cars that are a) truly, truly rare and can be counterfeited (e.g., certain muscle cars) or b) cars that identified the engine in the car's VIN number. But does it matter if a 1964 Impala 283 V8 has matching numbers from a factory build sheet? No, I don't think so. Do old Jaguar owners care? Often they don't--as long as the correct engine is in there. Do vintage race car owners care? Often not, as long as the engine is a contemporary power plant.
Does a 1980s Corvette owner care? Yes, he does, but for the life of me I don't know why he should worry about that on such a car. Does someone shopping for an original Hemi Cuda care? Yes, big time, and he probably should.
Basically, ANY kind of "special equipment", ANY kind of "rare option", ANY kind of low production number.....all of this ONLY MATTERS IF SOMEONE CARES!
In other words--a 1965 Blatomobile with pink sun visors and optional power mirrors is a very rare set of options...in fact, no one has EVER seen these options on a '65 Blat...and you know what, it's worthless, because nobody cares about the '65 Blat, so why care about the options?
As a general guidelines, open cars from well-known manufacturers are the most valuable and collectible, with two door hardtops following. The least collectible are 4-door cars, with a rare exception being 4-door American muscle cars...TRUE muscle cars, however, like Hemis or 409 Chevys...not just a big 4-door with a big engine...that won't cut it in the collectible market.
"Off-makes" will be worth less, like Studebakers and Deloreans and Nashes and modern (50s) Packards, with certain rare exceptions such as open cars.
Also, certain eras of cars are worth less...20s cars are not as desirable as most 30s cars, and late 40s and early 50s cars do not attract the attention that late 50s to early 70s cars do. Most 1980s/90s cars are not collectible, and may never be, again with the rare exceptions of supercars and rare expensive models in an open or coupe configuration.
Last of all, you should always try to get your information from "disinterested" parties. Club owners are GREAT for technical and historical info, but they tend to overinflate the value and sometimes the importance of their cars (understandable, I do the same thing, so don't ask me about Alfa Romeos!).
A great publication to subscribe to would be Sports Car Market Magazine --have a look at www.ecarcentral.com
good luck with your search!
Shiftright your host
That being said, the TR250 and TR6 will probably continue to go up in value as their numbers decrease...you have to remember these were not expensive or high performance cars to begin with, so they can't pull prices like old jaguars and ferraris.