I am a licensed Appraiser in the state of Mass. The guy with the $16,000
apparaisal has nothing worth looking at if the car is as described.
Insurance companies want justification for the appraisals from a
knowledgeable Bricklin person, not just some guy who appraises cars for 5%
of the appraised value. The more it is worth, the more he gets. As
president of the AMX Club for almost 25 years now, I get calls all the time
from insurance companies trying to settle on an AMC claim. I do appraisals
for my club members, which need to be stamped with my appraisal number and
sent to insurance companies. I justify the appraisal by touching on the
cars originality, quality of workmanship, and desirability and rarity of
the car. I also NEVER apparaised a car for monetary worth, but rather by
condition. I would then publish the values of the car on a 1-6 condition
scale in our quarterly newsletter. The owner would then send a copy to the
insurance company. (Insurance is mandatory in this state). I have had to
testify a few times for people who challenged the insurance companies
offer, and won each time. This would not happen if I did a 46 Packard,
then a 69 Camaro, then a 03 Ford. I won because I know AMXs. We have also
instituted Platinum judging at our meets a few years ago, similar to
Bloomington Gold Corvettes. We certify the car, which the insurance
company accepts.
Hate to be too long, but one other point-when my Bricklin was a total
loss, Travellers Ins Co sent an appraiser that specializes in rare and
exotic cars. He researched the Bricklins, had a number of ads for cars for
sale (mainly from Hemmings of the few months prior to my loss) and
established my car to be about condition #3 (which it was). I was paid
$7000 (in 1992). It was hard to argue with the guy, as he did his
homework, and actually was right where I thought the car should have been
(though I was hoping for more). He did note that one problem with
Bricklins are there are just too many low mileage examples around at a
decent price, so one with 80K miles really can't compare.
I have been waiting for the 68-70 2 seat AMXs value to climb for 25 years.
Even during the muscle car frenzy, the values really didn't move. I hate to
say it, but the AMC connection is probably hurting Bricklin's value. Now
if it was Camaro parts instead, the value may be double.
Sorry it was so long...
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