Raise the price of spiders

[mdrburchette]

I'm definitely in for the long haul. You couldn't pry my 72 out of my cold, dead fingers.

[spiderrey]

I bet I could

[Gunsmith]

I make tools to assist in that.

Good thing we love you Denise...

[mdrburchette]

I make tools to assist in that.

Good thing we love you Denise...

I'm feeling the love...

[manoa matt]

While on my lunch break today I stopped by the book store to thumb through car magazines. In the current issue of Classic Motorsports magazine http://classicmotorsports.net/ There is an article regarding "Auction Success Secrets" Where they prep an early Fiat spider for sale at auction. I only picked out a few figures from the article, they were: $7950 invested in the car prior to the auction, Just over$9000 auction sale price. What I took away from it without reading the article was The time and effort involved in putting 8K worth of parts and prep into a car is hardly worth the $1000 profit. Near the end of the article they stated something like if they had a more rare or highly desireable car the profit to investment ratio would be better, they just used a Fiat because it was easily available.

There were a few good pictures of the Fiat too!

[wachuko]

While on my lunch break today I stopped by the book store to thumb through car magazines. In the current issue of Classic Motorsports magazine http://classicmotorsports.net/ There is an article regarding "Auction Success Secrets" Where they prep an early Fiat spider for sale at auction. I only picked out a few figures from the article, they were: $7950 invested in the car prior to the auction, Just over$9000 auction sale price. What I took away from it without reading the article was The time and effort involved in putting 8K worth of parts and prep into a car is hardly worth the $1000 profit. Near the end of the article they stated something like if they had a more rare or highly desireable car the profit to investment ratio would be better, they just used a Fiat because it was easily available.

There were a few good pictures of the Fiat too!

If I don't do it, someone will You should have read the last paragraph.

He paid US$6,200.00 for the car and then went on to spend US$8,000.00 in repairs and restoration. Sold at the auction for US$8,250.00. At the end of the day, the buyer payed US$9,050.00 (auction fees included). There was no profit

http://classicmotorsports.net/project-c ... 24-spider/

and here is the issue that covers this:

[mdrburchette]

He lost $6K? Ouch. It'll be an interesting read that will probably have many of us shaking our heads. First, most of us didn't buy our Fiats to resell. I bought mine to enjoy. It brings back memories of my youth and it has been an unexpected way of meeting great people. I have learned so much with this car. Like I said, without Gunsmith's tool, there's no way you could pry it out of my hands.

[mostlytwowheeled]

I bought my 1978 with a 2.0 liter engine this August for $800.00. I had to trailer it home. I thought it even looked great in the rear view mirror on the trailer. I made it road worthy and took a 1820 mile trip, and smiled all the time. I've spent another $850.00, the bulk of which went for exhaust, tires and shocks. It's not the prettiest car, being here in Michigan where they think salt on roads in winter is the next best thing since sliced bread. I always wanted a convertible and this was a great opportunity to find out if I would in fact like it, which I do. In the future I'll do some body work, drop the tube bumpers,put on some Western 5 slot mags I found and just enjoy it. I don't beleive I'll sell it and it may go up in value as more become new products. I may even look for one in much better shape one day. In reallity it's nice for the true enthusiasts that, for the moment, prices stay low. Only my 1.5 cents worth.

[Zippy]

I bought my car after it was restored. I know the PO put way more into it than what I paid. He was doing the restoration for himself and not for profit. His circumstances changed.

There are quite a few spiders around that have been restored to some degree that are a better value than buying a trashed car and restoring it yourself. That being said, some people want to tear the car down to the shell and rebuild like new just for their own satisfaction, enjoyment, confidence or whatever. Look at what Brady is doing. Obviously a labor of love. Go Brady!

When I hear people talk about their car as an investment I think about math skills. And research. Would I pay $15k for a Fiat? If it was restored to the degree that Brady is doing to his, yes. Will he have more than that in it? Probably. If it was a low mileage (under 25,000), unrestored, one owner, 69, rust free, always garaged, mint condition, maybe. Would I buy a Fiat and try to make a profit? Never.

Just my 2 cents.

[Exit98]

I've been following the "old car" hobby, and more specifically the "old car" auction market for more years than I will admit to. What I've learned is that, excluding unusual circumstances, you can't make money buying and selling old cars one by one. First of all you'd have to be registered as a dealer, whatever that might involve in your state, because otherwise you will be paying state sales tax, insurance and whatever to register the car you intend to "flip".

That British show on HD Theater, what's it called?, they buy low, fix up the car, then sell it for a few pounds more than the parts they put in. They never mention though the value of the labor of the guy doing the work. And as a matter of fact he's a talented restoration guy. And they do the job on the "cheap", fixing only the obvious stuff.

Anyway, there's no way to make a buck on an old Spider and who cares. That's not what 99% of us considered when we bought ours. Actually I think its pretty cool how we fly under the radar. Good MGB's are up around $10K and TR6's, a better car, are now $12 to $20K. And forget about Austin Healey's, they are out of sight.

Meanwhile we are having all the fun on the cheap. Seems like we are the winners here.

[mdrburchette]

Hey, I like your way of thinking, Doug! That's exactly how I see it.

[Exit98]

HI Denise,

Happy New Year.

Now Denise's 72 I'd buy for $20K in a NY minute. But I know she'd never let it go for any price.

[manoa matt]

While on my lunch break
thumb through car magazines
I only picked out a few figures from the article
without reading the article
Near the end
they stated something like


OK,OK i'll admit I was wasting time and looking at girls in the coffee line.

[wachuko]

...OK,OK i'll admit I was wasting time and looking at girls in the coffee line.

hahahahaahahaha

[TX82FIAT]

Good Stuff, so based on the responses we are going to hold our cars unless circumstances dictate otherwise. The key items are fun, passion, hobby. Spiders are not investments (at least not yet). Nothing new! We just need to be patient. Never should have sold my 83. I may never come across an all original, no rust, low mile, unmolested perfect example of a Spider again. So... I'm putting more money into my current 82 than it is worth. Chasing the dream

Ray