TTAC Used Car specialist Steven Lang swears eBay’s “completed items” section is the most accurate indication of any given vehicle’s “real” market value. I have no reason to doubt him. But trolling the auction site for the quirky whips or celebrity cast-offs– the brother of the drummer of the Cars’ modded Monte Carlo– is a practice I find tedious both in execution and end result. OK, Autoblog has a keen eye and more patience that I can muster. And I’ve promised TTAC’s Best and Brightest a better mix of automobiles and politics. So I put on my websuit and surfed a few of my favorite car porn sites on your behalf. My first NEFOTD is this little beauty. The duPont Registry provides provenance: “This car was judged Best in Show at the 2003 ACD National in 2003, and then went on to win at Pebble Beach in 2004. It was restored by La Vine in Florida at a cost of over several hundered [sic] thousand dollars. The car was far ahead of its time with front wheel drive, pre-selector 4 speed transmission, stunning styling and a supercharged 8 cylinder motor developing 175hp. The car had been stored for many years before being restored to its present condition. Only 688 Supercharged Cords were made in all models at a cost of over $3000.00, a 37 Chev sold for $415.00.” If you want a classic car, you can do no better than to buy someone else’s prize-winning restoration (for pennies on the dollar). Anyway, eat your heart out eBay.
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eBay is fine for commodities or complete hoopties, not so much for special interest and/or high dollar metal. Clicky for Proof.
Q: Your car seems to be in very good condition, but do you seriously want 28k for the car and if so, do you really think you’re going to get that??
A: Congratulations. For 2008, you are Ebayer number 100,00 with “you will never get that for that car, blah, blah, blah”. So, for the 100,000th time in 2008: yes, we will get $28K for this car. Probably not on Ebay, though. Ebay is a bottom feeder market. Serious car collectors wouldn’t be caught dead on Ebay, just as the Queen of England probably wouldn’t be caught shopping for groceries at Bi-Lo. There are plenty of beaten to crap, 140,000 mile ZX’s for you if all you have to spend is five grand. If you want something that will appreciate in value, buy this one. Or not.
When it comes to moving classic metal such as this, ebay is merely an advertising medium, period.
This car will not change hands via ebay. It will do so at one of the big classic car auctions.
eBay is a great way to announce to the world that you are ready to sell your vintage car… as it costs just a few bucks to list, with no obligation to actually sell. Worldwide audience, for a few bucks.
On the flip side though, eBay is a GREAT way to sell more “pedestrian” classics. My dad had a ’54 Jaguar XK 120 OTS that had been languishing with a dealer for 3 years with nary a bite. I posted it on eBay and sold it to a guy in Europe in under a week. Both Dad & Buyer were very happy with the result.
–chuck
Sajeev — Put me in the camp that’s skeptical if 1984 300ZXs are gonna appreciate in value. But hey, nothing like insulting your customers. I’m gonna start doing that for all my for sale ads.
For Sale: Thing. Price: More than any of you bottom feeders can afford.
“Went on to win at Pebble Beach”? Win what? “Best Cord restored by LaVine of Florida”? I don’t remember this car winning anything of substance.
Stephan,
There’s a reason there are (sometimes) too many catgories judged –
As far as insulting eBayer’s, the BS flows both ways – “yes, we will sell this car for 28K…” Yeah, to somebody with 22K more money than sense.
Believe it or not, this tactic does work. Sometimes.
Don’t they know that front wheel drive is out of style for luxury cars. Or maybe, now that Cadillac has finally gotten on the trolley, it will come back.
“If you want a classic car, you can do no better than to buy someone else’s prize-winning restoration (for pennies on the dollar).”
Well, there is one thing: buy a fine original car. It’s not so easy to do though.
If you want to find details on cars that sold on eBay you might check out this site: http://www.collectorcarpricetracker.com/
They have a searchable database going back years with price charts of cars over 20 years of age sold on eBay AND they archive the full listings page with photos (eBay only keeps them live for 90 days).
There is a fee to use the site but some searches are free each week… this time it’s Alfa Romeo data.
Obviously, eBay sales include everything from dogs to Pebble Beach quality cars but it’s interesting to be able to see the full details of each car and the prices they brought.