At 01:28 PM 10/6/98 EDT, Ajhsys@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 10/5/98 7:41:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>barneymg@ntsource.com writes:
>> .... I believe MY LBC is indeed worth every penny of what I spend on it,
and I'm not talking about love of labor or the value of the enjoyment of
driving it, I'm talking straight cost vs service here.
>>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
>Sorry Barney, I didn't mean that YOUR MGA wasn't worth what you spent on
it! In all the books I've read about buying and restoring an LBC, ....
MOST of us will not be able to recoup all that was spent on the car if it
is sold.
Holy cow! Myself, least of anyone. I could never sell my MGA (or any
other car I have ever owned for that matter) for what I have in it. Who
can? If I could sell cars for more than they cost me, I'd be getting rich
running a used car business. But there are other ways to recoup your
investment other than by selling the car.
The point of my post was that the cars can be very economical to operate,
even for substantially less than the cost of buying or operating any number
of other car models, especially when compared to new cars. What I was
really saying is that I have already gotten out (recouped) all of the worth
that I put into it simply by virtue of using the car as economical (and
relaible) transportation (having nothing to do with collector or resale
value or the love of the car).
Some people have been implying that one would be better off to buy some
other "more reliable" or "cheaper" model of car if you are budget
conscious. I really hate to see someone getting put off with statements
like that. If one must buy a used car for budget reasons, a well
maintained LBC can be a sound economical investment, simply as transportation.
>.... But a professional, frame-off resto on a big Healey could easily cost
$30K to $40K and the car will then be worth about $20K. ....
Ah! But there are several paths to return of the worth of the investment:
1.) Can you get the other $20K worth out of it by using it as a daily
driver rather than buying some other (additional) car for that purpose, and
still maintain the current $20K value of the car?
2.) Or can you get the whole $40K worth out of it by using it for daily
transportation, regardless of the market value?
3.) Or will you lose less money on this car than on some other car you
might use as a daily driver?
>BTW Barney, you have THE BEST web site on LBCs I have ever seen.
>(http://www.ntsource.com/~barneymg/) ....
Thanks for the plug, and the confidence in my posted information. I'm
hoping that my web site can continue to grow with useful information and a
substantial lack of garbage, overhead, or duplication of things on other
web sites. I try to keep the image files properly compressed and the pages
simple so they download as quickly as possible. And I like to keep the
information there generally unique to the MGA model or other cars with
similar features where the MGA information still applies. Mostly I like to
present things that are NOT normally found in the workshop manuals or
restoration guides, so as to add constructively to the data base and not
just turn the same old crank.
However, there area a few exceptions to my own rules. What do you (all)
think of the CAAR-GB Canada/USA tour information and pictures? I put those
pictures on my site partly because the MGA with an attitude had a rousting
good time in the process of obtaining those pictures, but also because the
CAAR-GB web site is not currently posting much information about the
progress of the rally. I expect to remove all that stuff shortly after the
rally is completed, hoping the CAAR-GB site will pick up and use the
pictures so I can free up the space.
Cheers,
Barney Gaylord
1958 MGA with an attitude
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