Thank goodness it went above my range!!! Still, $90k+ for a project makes many of these completed cars look like BARGAINS!
Jeez, it’s not even an OBLock? All that premium just for the honor of having less leg room. Somewhere out there a short driver is rejoicing.
Did inflation happen to kick in over the holiday? It seems like everywhere I look everything has doubled in price overnight.
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Looks like ‘Project’ is the new ‘Barn Find’.
OTOH, they’re all projects aren’t they?
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That is just plain nuts! And Jerry Moutons car went for $95K…
Getting harder and harder to find cars that havent already been restored. A poorly restored car that runs and drives still needs to be “Restored” but the base price is just higher, and adds to the total cost.
In a few years everything will have gone through at least “Some” Degree of restoration and no bargains will be found-- driving the total completed prices even more. We arent talking about cars that were produced in any significant numbers, and time/collosion/rust hasnt been kind to a lot of them. Buy them when you can find them, for todays high prices will be tomorrows bargains…
I think this one’s price can be explained (like the last one) simply by the fact that it was a flat floor, welded louver car.
I’ve never understood putting a high premium on these cars, but it’s obviously the buying/bidding public does.
Comparing what it sold for compared to Jerry’s car is futile…it can’t be explained in logical terms.
I think it’s simply that these high priced cars are essentially unmolested. They have no “stories.” They are honest cars. They are not “refurbishments” with reputed work having been performed by the prior owner, or the one before him, with no documentation. Stay away from such cars, as pretty as they may look. They are lipstick on a pig, or as the English would say, mutton dressed as lamb.
Back in the early 90s, there were many unscrupulous “restorers” who flipped lousy used E-Types after painting over Bondo and installing a new interior while polishing the cam covers and carburetor dash pots. These “refurbushed” but unrestored cars are now showing up all over BaT. They wouldn’t make the grade at a physical auction because everyone knows what to look for and listen to, and word gets out.
Thus, on BaT, stay away from undocumented cars that have “purported refurbishments.” These cars are selling for under $100k, and they will likely need to be dismantled and properly restored. The cars that go for all the money have a documented history, whether original or have had a rotisserie restoration and been properly maintained.
Amazing… I have ZERO idea why this madness occurs.
Because it’s not 2008 anymore when I bought a running 3.8 roadster for
$30k.
It’s not amazing. There’s no madness.
It’s simple maths (note: NOT math).
The supply of clean, complete, rust free California cars has dried up. But the value of our cars continues to increase. So last year’s scrap metal is today’s “project car”.
I think the perceived madness is that decent completed drivers, number 3-4 go for not much more than that. Complete project cars, especially on BAT, seem to fetch disproportionately high prices. Meanwhile my 64 just needs a clutch and has a gearbox issue. If I tried to run it through like that it would likely get disproportionately punished. There would be all sorts of stories like, oh if those things are messed up just imagine how bad the rest of it is. I’d be lucky to reach what that project got.
I’ve got to stop showing my wife BaT examples of cream colored 3.8 FHC project cars. She says “put it back together and sell!”
On the plus side, she’s stopped saying “you paid what?!?”
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That is the madness, to which I expressed puzzlement.
I might be willing to consider a swap if you thrown in the garage with it. It’s going to be an adventure pulling an engine in this.
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This looks like a perfect setup!
It remains to be seen. I am actually really impressed with the gantry crane. It’s super strong and has no legs under the car like a cherry picker. I don’t have a way to remove the bonnet so have to figure out how to jack the whole car over the engine. In a larger space though, a gantry seems ideal for the purpose. I’m just lucky it fit, after a fashion.
Speaking of selling prices, project cars and pigs wearing lipstick, there is a red 64 OTS on BaT (1 day left) that the seller is calling a 65. He is not forthcoming with information, and is even being somewhat surly as the unanswered questions pile up. Plus, the most unhelpful driving video ever. A great example of how NOT to get top dollar for your car.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-jaguar-xke-roadster-11/
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It’s a shame because it honestly doesn’t look like a bad car to me at all. It’s not a resale red car lot special. The bottom looks fantastic at first glance. Whoever owned it before that dealer got hold of it gave it attention and used it. But this selling dealer can’t answer the most basic questions like what kind of 5 speed it has or why it’s titled wrong. My car was made just a couple weeks earlier and it’s a 64.
Unfortunately, BaT seems to be attracting many used car scammers of late. Too many undocumented “refurbishments” with glowing accolades about what the prior owner was purported to have done. Surely a proud owner would have documented his work and passed it to the next owner, and there would be no “somebody said this might have been done” stories. How else to keep the value up?
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Somehow this dealer acquired this driver from someone, I’d guess maybe an estate. I’ve been approached several times by people who I’m certain were trying to grab mine undervalue and flip it. It’s like the none stop parade of letters and phone calls I keep getting from flippers who want to make me a cash offer on my house. I got another of those calls last night. It’s quite annoying.
That will surely add to the difficulty factor. I’d try to find a local friend with room to store the bonnet in their garage then recruit a couple of friends to lift it off and stand it up. No problem driving the car back home w/o the bonnet.