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We are trying to value our new car?????


Guest thomas flyer

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Guest thomas flyer

My father has gifted this car to us.It is registered as a 1911 thomas. It had oregon historic plates in the trunk,so i did a title search with the oregon dmv. The car was first titled in 1981 with an affedavit stating that it was built with 1918 dodge roadster frame, axles, wheels, and body, 1911 EMF headlights,and a 1940 ford motor to resemble a 1911 thomas. On the title under "first registered" it states 03/1911. My father bought this as a 1911 thomas. There is probably nothing we can do now,but i would like to know what the value of this car might be. Thank you for any insight you might have.

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Guest Gary Hearn

I know nothing of this vintage automobile, but do know enough to opine an original vehicle will be worth far more than a vehicle cobbled together with the parts you listed. I would start by taking pictures of the items listed and posting them so we can determine what your car is made of.

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I know nothing of this vintage automobile, but do know enough to opine an original vehicle will be worth far more than a vehicle cobbled together with the parts you listed. I would start by taking pictures of the items listed and posting them so we can determine what your car is made of.

I agree.

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Wow... Looks like a Dodge body with a make-shift Ford-like hood and radiator. The interior is more like a rod with the pleats in white, and the door panels are not period. I hate to be blunt, but I would be hard pressed to put any value on it. If it were all Dodge, in that condition, maybe 10-12K, but with the non-authentic parts, it's anybody's guess. Good luck with it...

Frank

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There are some good parts there, but as a whole the car would have to go to someone as an interesting assemblage of parts. I personally think it might bring 6-8K to someone who wanted it, it's hard for me to think more than that. Also, as mentioned, not to hurt your feelings, but you asked.

The "40 Ford motor" comment has me intrigued, is there a V-8 flathead under the hood? Dodge roadster body worth 2K, headlights and fatman steering wheel another 1K, flathead V-8 1K, and so forth, but as a whole I'd stand by my above mentioned figure.

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You are definitely in a undesirable situation. Your car as it now sits is almost certainly worth less than a stock condition Dodge. And it goes without saying that it would be worth a small fraction of what a genuine 1911 Thomas would be worth. The choice is yours; use and enjoy it as is, or sell it for whatever it's market value turns out to be {ebay?} and concider it one of life's hard lessons.

Greg in Canada

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I do not know if the 6-8K is a accurate guess or not but it is pretty amazing to think that for that little money you could be driving something with so much history and character. Even if it is and assortment of parts from different cars it still comes together to make a really cool car. It would be a nightmare to buy parts for though.

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Guest thomas flyer

Here are some pictures of the motor. Thank you for the help. I'm not offended by the comments, i would like to know what we have here. The only thing that bothers me is that the title does not reflect that this is NOT a 1911 thomas. I appreciate all the help AND comments.

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Edited by thomas flyer
want to add a little more dialog (see edit history)
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Ford 9N tractor engine, 120 cubic inch, 40 horsepower....a very interesting choice for an early composite car...good horsepower, not high revs....I spent many an hour behind the wheel of an early 50's Ford tractor with this engine, would run forever with proper maintenance, pulling cotton trailers at a cotton gin my brother and I owned, we had two 9N's, and for three months, they ran 18 hours a day each, we never shut them off. Then, at the beginning of the next season, I'd play with them, get them tuned up, "break" them if the clutches were stuck (and tractor guys will know what that means). I wish I'd had the foresight to keep one....

Yes, for the money you could have fun with this vehicle.

So, we get to a question about "value" versus "worth".

The car might be "worth" $15K to someone who just wants to have fun with it, show up at shows registered as a "1911 Whatsit"...and talk to the people who comment on the car.

The car's "value" is something totally different, and I stand by my value stated above, of value of parts there plus a smidgeon of fairy dust and ground unicorn horn.

Yes, it would be a fun car to own and show and talk about. No, it's not a true antique automobile.

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What history? Its a pieced together pile of parts... curious enough but doesn't even look anything like a real Thomas. The oldest parts on it are probably the headlights and they aren't rare. There's probably 3 pair of brass headlights for every brass car extant. As for the title... how many "1914 Model Ts" are there out there that haven't got a single part older than 1965... not even the T radiator the 50s hot rodders might have used. As for selling the car (if that is the intent), simply be honest with what it is. There are lots of titles out there that are a joke... maybe more than there are for real antiques. I think trimacar's estimate is probably right on, if not generous. It reminds me a bit of those VWs with the fake RR radiator shells that were around in the 70s.

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Guest my3buicks

I think if it runs well and is well sorted out someone that wants something fun but can't afford an authentic vehicle in this era would pick it up quickly. Toss it on ebay, that will give you the value quickly.

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Guest AlCapone

Likely the best value is to keep it yourself and enjoy it. I am sure the previous comments have likely discouraged you because quite possibly your father unknowingly got scammed. Keep it and all the memories in your family.

Wayne

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As you can tell already getting a actual value is not going to be possible with a car like this. If you want to sell the car then throw it on eBay. If you just want a value for insurance or estate reasons you can put it on eBay with a $40,000 reserve and see where the bidding ends. If you get a fair number of bids (say 10 at least) then the final bid should be considered the fair market value. Use lots of good pictures and give as many details as possible.

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Original post "nothing we can do now" comment let's us know that the family realizes there's an issue. I think we're being civil, there's some value in the vehicle, but no one, including the family, is pretending it's an actual production vehicle of 1911...

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As you can tell already getting a actual value is not going to be possible with a car like this. If you want to sell the car then throw it on eBay. If you just want a value for insurance or estate reasons you can put it on eBay with a $40,000 reserve and see where the bidding ends. If you get a fair number of bids (say 10 at least) then the final bid should be considered the fair market value. Use lots of good pictures and give as many details as possible.
With a 40 grand reserve, that car will get, exactly, zero bids.
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With a 40 grand reserve, that car will get, exactly, zero bids.

Since when do bidders get to see what the reserve is? Put an opening bid of $1000 and the $40K will make sure the car does not actually sell. If you think that car will get zero bids then you are very disconnected from the hobby. it does have value because it is a running, driving conversation piece that someone can regularly enjoy without the risk of ruining a irreplaceable car. Is that value $5000 or $20,000? That is the question that no one can answer except the person that shows up with cash.

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Since when do bidders get to see what the reserve is? Put an opening bid of $1000 and the $40K will make sure the car does not actually sell. If you think that car will get zero bids then you are very disconnected from the hobby. it does have value because it is a running, driving conversation piece that someone can regularly enjoy without the risk of ruining a irreplaceable car. Is that value $5000 or $20,000? That is the question that no one can answer except the person that shows up with cash.
Yeah, I blew it on the reserve ploy. But, for you to suggest that I am disconnected from the hobby is an ignorant supposition. I have been very "connected" with the hobby for over 55 years. Can you make the same claim?
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Guest thomas flyer
I hope it is a 1911 Thomas..

Thank you for this image. This image is the actual car that we have. My father had it on display in scottsdale for awhile.

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From personal experience I would venture to say that cars with no or low reserves get bid higher than cars with high reserves that don't get met. Once the reserve is met, the bidder's know it's going to be their's if they are the top bidder. With the reserve, they play around and loose interest.

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Agree that a reserve does make a difference in the ending bid amount but I don't think he is actually trying to sell the car, just get a value. This is a tough one. You can have an appraiser come but likely you will get two results. 1) The appraiser will not be experienced in cars like this and assume it is ultra rare and appraise it at like $75,000. 2) The appraiser will just walk away saying that it can not be properly evaluated. That is where eBay comes in. I admit it is not the most gentleman like thing to do in listing a car that you do not intend to sell but at least you will get a rough estimate of what it would sell for if you were willing to let the car go. So if the bidding ends at say $6500 with reserve not met you can add maybe another $1000-2000 if it had no reserve and it was spring time. That number gets bigger as the price increases. If it ends at $70,000 then you could probably add another $10-15000 if people know the car was going to actually sell. I have actually bought a few motorcycles like this. The seller has a very inflated value on the bike and I try to be reasonable with them and make a fair offer. They decline so I tell them to do this exact thing, list it on eBay and see where the bidding ends. A few times the bidding was close to my offer so I was able to buy the bike. Few others times the bidding was close to my offer and they still said it was worth 3 times that and wouldn't sell.

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