Avanti Bill
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Posts posted by Avanti Bill
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Detroit was always a lousy location, sorry. There are many places you could have a concours in that area which could be very nice. For a successful concours you need to have a beautiful setting for the cars and things in the area for non car spouses to do for a couple days.
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The cars value is only as a parts car. If it is all there maybe $2000. Way too expensive to restore and only worth a fraction of the cost when done. You can buy a very nice one for $20,000 or less.
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Never had points deducted with these don't know why I would. They are expensive but hold up well. This is for a 65-66 Corvair.
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I got a correct battery for my 66 Corsa convertible from Battery Central Mall in VA. It is an Optima battery in a correct case which I have had good luck with.
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On 2/29/2024 at 8:45 PM, gwells said:
Actually, Bill, I believe that's not 100% accurate.
Here's the best table I could find that I didn't have to remake. Doesn't show production numbers, but I think it gets the point across.
Ford clearly dominated sales through the first half of the '20s.
But most people don't realize that Chevy actually outsold Ford for two out of four of the Model A years. And that Chevy outsold Ford in 1927, 1932, and 1933, too. Ford fought back during the middle '30s, but after that Chevy took over until WWII. From 1926 to 1941, inclusive, Chevy was tops in sales nine times and Ford just seven.
One personal experience many years ago suggests those who target the wood-framed bodies that Ford largely abandoned by the mid-to-late '20s as the reason old Fords of this era have survived at a much higher rate than Chevys are on the right track.
In my later HS years, I bought a 1926 (IIRC) Chevrolet sedan that was essentially complete, out of a guy's garage near Nashville, for $80. This would had been in the very early '70s, perhaps very late '60s. Every single piece of body structural wood on the car was extremely rotten and all the nailed-on external sheet metal body panels were literally falling off.It's been almost 55 years, thus my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think I quickly sold the car to someone else for $200, without having to actually move the car first. I think I hleped guy who bought it from me take it to his place.
To this day, it remains the most profit, percentage-wise, I ever made on a car I bought and then later resold. LOL.
I stand corrected! I knew that Chevrolet overtook Ford but I thought it was late into the '30s.
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I always heard that one of the reasons there were so many more early Fords than any other marque was that Ford was the first to get rid of wood for the body frames. Of course Ford produced a lot more cars than even Chevrolet so that has something to do with the numbers. Way back when the wood framing gave way the car was just junked and didn't survive well enough to be restored at some later date. I have also been told that Ford set out to defeat the carpenters union early in his career.
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The early Corvairs theoretically could have wheel tuck but this was very unlikely if driven in a normal way. I have a 66 Corsa Turbo Spider which is one of the nicest driving old cars I have, easy to drive, no bad habits. When I bought it the previous owner had a a note from Nader, that he met somewhere, that said "I would rather look at it than drive it", I didn't realize he didn't have a license.
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Just like buying a chain saw, buy the best one you can afford. You'll never regret paying for quality.
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Talk about blowing your skirt up!
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I have had good luck with my Featherlite trailer, 24' with 6000 lbs 8 lug axles and aluminum floor, 2010. The Dexter axel's cracked where they bolted to the frame after about 10 years but I caught it and had them repaired and reinforced other than that it has held up well with maybe about 75,000 miles on it.
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In today's market north of the frost line 4WD normally will payout on resale or trade value. In MD you can't give a 2WD truck away.
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You can pull a great deal of weight with a 1/2 ton truck but the tongue weight has to be right or it won't handle well. Longer wheelbase and heavier the truck the more forgiving it is but the balance is critical so get a tongue scale or a weigh-safe hitch so you know how much weight you have every time.
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VICTORIA - a close coupled two door sedan or an enlarged coupe with a rear seat also known as an OPERA COUPE. Also a four door open car with folding top over the rear seat only. Known in France as a COUPE MILORD.
This is the definition from Coachbuilt.com Glossary of Coach building terms
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Interestingly enough the last vehicle I sold, even though it was for more than I paid for it, I didn't owe any taxes because I kept track of what I had put in it over the years which exceeded the profit. Storage expense and all repairs and the cost of the marketing are all expenses against any profit. The same car was sold by Mecum and they did not give me a 1099 reporting the sale. I have never made money on a car to pay taxes, perhaps one day.
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5 hours ago, Mark Shaw said:
Steve,
This thread is about Mecum Auctions. You carefully made general references to what " a good auction house" does for sellers; not Mecum.
I have bought cars at auction and I have sold them at auction the results are mixed as far as whether or not I got a bargain or, in the case of selling, the buyer got a bargain. I have dealt with Mecum, RM and Gooding on both sides and frankly my experience with the auction companies has been good across the board. I would say that Mecum has been the easiest to deal with but not much different. Mecum sells more cars than all the rest put together and obviously not everyone is happy but most must be or they wouldn't maintain that market share. I think the real problem comes from people who don't do adequate due diligence on the car they want to buy or the process. I don't think Mecum intentionally misleads anyone about a car, why would they, but I do think some sellers are intentionally misleading. Buying at auction carries incredible risk for the buyer to know the car which is not easy. As for cars selling below their value that is very subjective, sellers can put a reserve on any car to protect themselves, not so with all the other auction houses. As for buyers paying too much, no one is twisting their arm.
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15 hours ago, edinmass said:
“Sorted” is only a fleeting glimmer in time…….the earlier you go, the faster it goes out of whack.I agree with this to a point. I know lots of car enthusiast who love tinkering with their cars and could care less how often something breaks or needs patching. I would quit the hoby if every time I went for a ride I worried about sitting on the side of the road. All my cars get a NOS or a new reproduction wiring harness, new/rebuilt mechanical fuel pumps, brakes need to be up to snuff but I never add dual circuit master cylinders. I don't use battery disconnects because if there is a draw I track it down and fix it. Certainly anything can happen and with the cars Ed takes care of, which are far more complex than most, I understand the need for constant attention. With some investment in time and a little money most all the cars we deal with can be made reliable as they were when new. The problem with many people is that they expect reliability without fixing it correctly.
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Of my 8 cars all are totally reliable to a point. All could go on a major trip without issue but you may not be able to listen to the radio or the clock may not work. If I can't get a car sorted to go whenever I want to go i send it off to a new owner.
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Car prices ebb and flow as market and economic conditions change. We are in an ebb right now possibly because all the sudden money in the bank can make a safe 5 or 6% and the future is a little uncertain. One thing is for sure though really nice cars always bring the money even when the market is soft. The problem is that really nice cars represent probably less than 10% that are for sale. Condition and desirability drive the upper end of the market but even a car that is not very desirable will bring more if it is flawless. The bottom line is if you want more for your car improver it.
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I think Oldsmobile83 covered this already but it trips up a lot of people and wanted to make it clear.
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I just reviewed the guidelines for the GN judging and the winners must be within 5 points of the best car in their class and at or above 380 for a Jr and 390 for a Sr.
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In the Nationals you have to be within 10 points of the best car in your class at that event. So if there is a perfect score car (400) you need 390 for a first place even though you only need 365 for a first Jr or 375 for a Sr. I assume this is true in the Grand Nationals as well so if you are going for a First Grand National and there is a perfect score car in your class, and there often is, you need 390 instead of 380 to get the first place award. Unless there has been a rule change I am not aware of.
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On 11/3/2023 at 4:49 PM, zepher said:
Now why would you go and bash Rickenbacker like that?
I don't believe that Rickenbacker would fall into that catagory! But to some extent many cars of that era are hard to make the numbers work today eventhough profit should not be your motive in restoration.
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The biggest mistake most people make is confusing "rare" with valuable. There are plenty of low production hard to find cars that aren't worth restoring.
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I have owned several Thunderbird convertibles from nice drivers to perfect score cars that were trailer queens. The top mechanism is extremely complex both electrically and mechanically. I can not stress this too much, a car that is otherwise perfect could be a money pit to fix the top. A standard convertible, a "Z" code car, will never be worth enough to make a bad top correct. An 89Z code car, a Sports Roadster is marginal and and and 89M code Sports Roadster with the 3 two barrel set up can bring big money. Having said that there may be something simple wrong and it can be corrected easily, finding someone to work on it will be tough. The 63 has better front end engineering/geometry than 61 & 62 and in my opinion is better looking as it has a feature break down the side which breaks the barrel sided look of the earlier cars of that series. They only made 37 M code Sports Roadsters and about 1400 Z code Sport Roadsters and these are the only ones that bring any money. Be careful, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap car!
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Detroit Concours (formerly Meadowbrook and St. John's) canceled for this year
in General Discussion
Posted
There are a number of great Venues near Detroit but the one they chose for this Concour just didn't work. Most Concour quality car owners prefer to be on the grass and spread out. Being on a parking lot even partially and in the city I think is a mistake. Detroit may have turned around, I haven't been there in a good while, but it still doesn't have a a good reputation as far as I can see. The cost of putting on these shows is enormous as has been pointed out and without strong corporate sponsorship and a lot of volunteer help it isn't going to succeed.