[TR] TR3A sold at Barrett-Jackson

[don]

Hi Fred,

There's no substitute for taking a car out on the road and driving it over 
some railroad tracks, up and down a steep hill, through some curves, idle 
in traffic, accelerate briskly, stop suddenly, and so on.  Then looking 
underneath after the test drive while it idles, looking for leaks and 
listening for noises.  There are a lot of gremlins lurking in any old 
car.  Most of the old cars I've purchased I have checked out as much as I 
can to avoid surprises.  There will always be something wrong, but it's far 
better to know before you lay your money down.  I test drove a really 
pretty TR4 two weeks ago.  After the test drive, as it idled in the garage, 
there were some strange noises coming from the gearbox that I didn't hear 
prior to the drive.

I've purchased two cars at a distance that were checked out for me by 
fellow enthusiasts who gave the cars their blessings.  A Riley 1.5 in 
Hawaill and a '62 Buick Skylark convertible in Connecticut.  I didn't look 
at them or drive them myself.  When they arrived, there were issues that I 
had not been told about.  I couldn't even get the Buick off the trailer as 
the linkage on the 4-speed was bound up.  The amateur rust repairs were the 
worst feature on it though.

I have heard horror stories of people buying cars on eBay, and having them 
shipped to them, only to discover that the cars were a mess, but looked 
good in photos.  At least at a regular car auction, you can look at the car 
in person!  But can you test drive it?  I don't think so.

Don Scott
1991 Miata SE BRG
1962 MGA Mk II
1973 MGB GT
1962 TR4 (searching for)



At 02:33 PM 01/24/2009, you wrote:

>Don, I forgot to mention they are 100% checked out by B/J before excepting 
>into the auction, no flaws to these cars if they make it to the block
>=========================================================================================================
>----- Original Message ----- From: "don" <don at napanet.net>
>To: <Triumphs at autox.team.net>
>Sent: Saturday, January 24, 2009 4:21 PM
>Subject: Re: [TR] TR3A sold at Barrett-Jackson
>
>
>>That was a bargain compared to the TR4 that sold at auction for $97,200! 
>>Auction fever cause these high prices?  Hard to imagine paying that much 
>>for a car and not being able to really check it out very well either.
>>
>>  http://www.classicautomotiverestoration.com/triumph.html
>>
>>
>>Don Scott
>>1991 Miata SE BRG
>>1962 MGA Mk II
>>1973 MGB GT
>>1962 TR4 (searching for)
>>
>>
>>--


-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.10/1903 - Release Date: 01/19/2009 8:52 PM