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This is very, very interesting

Started by Denise 20352, March 07, 2006, 04:23:25 PM

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John Tozer #7946

Denise,

Just out of interest in long term investment terms, what would this car have cost new?


John Tozer

denise 20352


denise


  They sure arent worth much today, though.  Yecch!  High retail $2625.

  Just out of curiosity, I looked up my 76 New Yorker, medium retail $5100 and high retail $7500.  Wow!  For some reason, theyve gone up in value in the last two years, comparable to a 2-dr. Deville now.

  Now I dont feel so bad about putting $1500 into the engine.

-d

John Tozer #7956

...... in which case the "after inflation" increase in value of this car wouldnt even have paid the storage cost all these years!

John Tozer

Fred Garfield 22310

Only driven 51 miles in 28 years? Id be surprised if the car even started, let alone braked. Does look pretty cool, though -- even if it needs opera lights. And a continental kit. :-)

Matt Harwood

Theres nothing worse for a car than letting it sit (well, Im sure you could think of something, like storing it underwater). Sure, appearance-wise its immaculate. But I bet every major system on that car needs refurbishing: tires, brakes, transmission, A/C and probably even the engine which has had major condensation forming in its internals for two decades. Youll spend more than the car is worth just getting it road-worthy again.

51 miles? No thanks. 51,000? Probably a better car.

Richard Sills - CLC #936

Assuming this car had good careful storage and is otherwise in condition that corresponds to the miles, "book value" has no relevance to its market value.  I speak from experience both as a buyer and a seller.  I have owned a number of very low mileage original cars and have found them to be a delight to own and drive.  Most people who preserve cars like this have the sense to start them up periodically, maintain the brakes and the fluids, etc.

This car is old enough to be entered in antique car shows, and will draw more attention and favorable comments than a restored vehicle of similar age.  Someday in the not too distant future, people will be restoring late-70s cars, and an original car like this will become an invaluable resource.  

Lastly, if you just prefer 70s cars for the way they drive, theres a good chance a car like this could be used for daily transportation, with a total cost (including purchase price and a mechanical "going over") that would still be less than the price of a new one.  But if you do that, its value will decline accordingly.  

Richard

Fred Garfield 22310

With all due respect to your experience with these cars, a car stored for 20 years with only 51 miles on the odometer is going to be a problem car, no matter how many times it was started up and idled, no matter how regularly oil and other fluids were changed, no matter how many times the brakes were pumped.

If it got 20 miles of quality freeway time per wee (in addition to receiving the maintenance attention youve referred to) that would come out to about 20,000 miles on the odometer -- a far better number than 51, which to me is an ominous sign.

I have to notice that the seller says nothing about how the car runs and performs and provides photos that are poor quality, selective and few (no close-ups). The fresly painted air cleaner doesnt impress me.  

Fred Garfield 22310

Sorry, Richard -- I based the mileage on 20-year storage, instead of the 28 years that it sat there. So better make that acceptable mileage estimate closer to 28,000.

If the odometer has not been tampered with, if this is not a recent rebuild with 51 miles on it, this is a car I wouldnt touch.

Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397

Re: price when new
My parents factory-ordered a 1977 Grand Marquis (back then, the pecking order in large Mercurys was Marquis, Marquis Brougham, and Grand Marquis with the 460 standard in the Grand in 1977) and I ran across the invoice after my dads death.  Their car did not have the power antenna, tilt wheel, cruise control or aluminum wheels that this one does and the drive-out price was $7878.56.

Bruce Reynolds # 18992

A better investment would have been to put the purchase cost into stocks and shares, and the rewards would have been better used after 28 years, and without the added cost of storeage and insurance.

But, we all know that this car is not what it is all about.   A bit like those people that stored all those 76 Eldo Convertibles.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV.

denise

> Lastly, if you just prefer 70s cars for the way they drive, theres a good chance a car like this could be used for daily transportation, with a total cost (including purchase price and a mechanical "going over") that would still be less than the price of a new one.

   That is just exactly what I had in mind for it.  You guys who were able to go and buy such a car when new dont know how good you had it.  I was 42 by the time I could finally afford a decent new car, and guess what...there was nothing left in the showrooms but trucks and Japanese economy cars.

-denise

John Tozer #7946

Rusty,

By my calculation at a flat inflation rate of 3percent for the past 27 years this car has to sell for $14,300 just to get back what it cost...... that assumes he didnt finance it when he bought it or the news is even worse. Kinda depressing when I think of all the hooch Ive poured into mine over the years but then, unlike this guy, I never went into the deal thinking I would make money out of it.

Makes you wonder what this guy was thinking when he put in the final bid:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/The-Last-Holden-Monaro-Legend-Ever-Made_W0QQitemZ4611976689QQcmdZViewItem TARGET=_blank>http://cgi.ebay.com.au/The-Last-Holden-Monaro-Legend-Ever-Made_W0QQitemZ4611976689QQcmdZViewItem

Regards,


John Tozer