Here's my point of view. You look at two cars. #1- needs doglegs
rockers and drivetrain although still functioning is not long for this
world. Bottomline is $800 to purchase. Now by the time finish with this
car you will need to drop $5,000 easily into it. #2 is good to go, with
low mileage rebuild and new paint price $6,000. What's the difference?
If you tell me a good driver is only worth $3,000 then the hard and sad
truth is you just condemned, most likely, 50% of all existing Bs left
around. Why would anybody who believes that a good condition car can be
had for $3,000 buy an $800 dollar car needing $5,000 to make it
presentable. At the same time I don't disagree that a person holding
thousands in receipts automatically has a car worth that amount of
money. I personally like the restoration process and do not hesitate to
buy what most of you would concider "basket cases". My current Midget
project is a true labor of love, BUT! I plan on keeping it and enjoying
it and that's the difference. I think I'm an exception to the rule as
far as this hobby goes. I have had some of my best MG buddies walk away
from my projects shaking their heads in dis belief. There are many who
do not wish to restore or have restored a car and for them there are
the cars that can be had all done for $6,000 , $7,000 and yes $13,500
and that car is worth ever penny of it. The sight of it makes my heart
skip a beat, nothing less than magnificent. We all look at things
differently and it is wonderful that we can discuss these different
view points. I'm not trying to "convert" or change your point of view
just hope you can see where I'm coming from as I see your point. I have
at this point bitten off as much as I can chew in the project
department and am proud to say I feel I'm doing more than my share in
preserving the species. There is no right answer here just opinions and
I thank you all for taking the time to read mine whether you agree with
it or not. Safety fast, David Deutsch
You wrote:
>
>David,
>
>I disagree with you that a '69 fully home-restored MGB is worth
$13,500. It depends. Is
>it 95 point concours? I seriously doubt it. Most amateur home-retorals
aren't that
>good. Just because someone put $14,000 into his restoral doesn't
justify the price. I
>haggled with a neighbor that wanted $5000 for his rust bucket of an
'69 MGBGT because he
>had $4000 in parts receipts. It's still sitting in his yard with the
sign on it - been
>there a year and he's clueless.
>
>I think I'm more sensitive to this issue since I started looking for a
TD. The prices
>are all over the map. But I agree with you in that people will let
these cars rot
>rather than let them go to someone who cares simply because greed and
vanity cloud their
>vision.
>
>As far as seling at a loss is concerned, isn't that what we all do
with our daily
>drivers - our Hondas and Buicks and Chevys, etc. - or is this not part
of the argument.
>I hate like hell to buy a new car only to have it lose half it's value
the first year.
>Maybe that's why so many people lease. In my own experience, I had to
replace the
>steering rack on my V*lv* to the tune of $2000 - does that add $2k to
the value or to
>the price?
>
>A question to ponder is what will happen to the value of these cars
when and if Rover
>lets the MGF into the US? Will everyone forget the LBCs and
concentrate on the new one?
>OR, will it heighten the interest and cause the "old ones" to become
even more popular?
>Time will tell...
>
>Cheers
>
>Michael Ohleger
>
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