RAL said:
>Jim, that may be true of the more exotic cars, but I watched a little
>last night and saw some cars go for less than it probably cost to
>restore them.
R:
Sorry to add a little note of paranoia here, but perhaps your integrity or
lack of thieving ways is showing. While I am absolutely not accusing any
company or anyone else of anything, I would comment that there are
restorations and restorations.
During my student years, I spent a few summers working in a body shop that
handled a lot of insurance and new car work. They also had a considerable
side business doing "prepare it for sale" work for used car dealers (and new
dealers). I was absolutely amazed at the tricks the pros knew to cover up
problems and make the car look completely immaculate and drive well; for 2-3
months. After that, well the warranty only covered 30-90 days. I have seen
paint jobs that you would swear were original paint on clean metal that were
in reality a quickly brazed bit of tin shot with a layer of plaster (honest
to God, Plaster of Paris!) then rubbed down while soft and painted. And done
fast too. I got so that I didn't need a pin to detect the fakes, but I still
needed to crawl about tapping the cars. The guys who did the work could see
it 100 feet away. The best "cheat" jobs weren't done on rusty Toyota
Tercels, but on nearly new slighted accidented Mercedes. I wouldn't buy a
used Mercedes without putting the whole car through a Catscan machine! And I
don't mean buy it used on the street...
I would be very very uncomfortable buying a "completely restored" machine
for $40K+ without spending at least a day crawling over every inch. (That's
assuming I had the $40+K without having to mortgage my soul and could hide
it from the wife ;^) )
I am sure the top end companies like the one you are discussing would never
get stuck in this because they would lose their reputations which are worth
more than any one sale, but greed is a funny sort of thing. I have seen some
amazingly wealty people do some incredibly petty things. I have an
acquaintance that is in the high-end antique and art business. He tells me
tales that just leave me shaking your head. "one of a kind Louis XIV? Right!
Made in Hong Kong or Macao, shipped by the container load to Venice for
painting then "found in a chateau France" and shipped to the US for sale.
I guess it's still all Caveat Emptor eh?
(paranoid mode off)
Cheers,
Mark Hooper
-----Original Message-----
From: R. Ashford Little II
To: 'Jim Hill'; '6-Pack'; 'Triumphs@autox. Net'
Sent: 18/01/03 1:39 PM
Subject: RE: Barrett Jackson
Jim Hill wrote:
>I suppose they ARE reasonable prices . . . for someone with more money
>than anyone I know will ever have--and who wants to add a 25th, or 50th
or >100th car to his/her collection.
Jim, that may be true of the more exotic cars, but I watched a little
last night and saw some cars go for less than it probably cost to
restore them.
I remember seeing a Shelby GT350, in immaculate condition, go for 43k,
and a really cool older pickup go for 10k. In both cases, it would
appear that the cost of the restoration came close to or exceeded the
selling price.
While most of the cars go for exotic prices, it would appear that those
cars are in condition worthy of their price. That's why I said
"reasonable prices for the make."
I didn't mean to imply that the cars were cheap. But as we all know,
many times it's cheaper to buy a car that's already been restored than
to buy a car that needs a full restoration.
R. Ashford Little II
www.geocities.com/ralittle2
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