At 10:24 AM 1/27/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>In regard to the storm David D started with his legitimate worries that
>MGBs may have prices too low to guarantee their survival, Michael P.
>Ohleger wrote:
>
>> good. Just because someone put $14,000 into his restoral doesn't justify
the price. I
>> haggled with a neighbor that wanted $5000 for his rust bucket of an '69
MGBGT because he
>> had $4000 in parts receipts. It's still sitting in his yard with the sign
on it - been
>> there a year and he's clueless.
>
>I offer a comment and a possible explanation. It seems odd to me, but
>true nevertheless, that those on this list have generally a lower (and I
>think more realistic) view of LBC value than some outsiders. Like
>Michael, I saw a reasonably straight 69 BGT about 3 years ago, which I
>found tempting. It needed sills, upholstery, paint, and probably new
>wires (had chrome wires going rusty). It was sitting in a field next to a
>rather shabby body shop. If I remember correctly, the asking price was
>$4500. I figure that to be about $3000 too high, at least. The last time
>I went by, about 18 months ago, it was still sitting in the dirt,
>undoubtedly getting rustier by the day while the owner waits for a
>miracle.
>
>My impression is that prices on B's and A's have held fairly steady for
>the last few years, and T-series cars have held steady or possibly fallen
>some. My explanation is that for a considerable time, there were no new
>roadsters. If you wanted a roadster, you had to resurrect an LBC. That
>drove prices up. Then came the Miata, and more lately the BMW, Mercedes,
>and the Boxster. Some of the Miatas are now falling into the moderate
>price range. I think there is a certain class of owner that wants an open
>sports car, and does not much care where it comes from, or if it is old or
>new, if it does what he wants. He now can choose an LBC or any of a
>variety of newer competitors.
>
>What we have to hope is that the cars we like stay affordable, without
>getting so cheap that they get crushed. The thing that will keep rusty
>cars out of the crusher is for them to have restored values that justify
>the cost of fixing them up. A friend has offered to sell me his 72GT. It
>runs, and he is not asking an irrational price, but it needs a good deal
>of work. When I add up what it needs to be a nice runner, it is much
>higher than the cost of buying something that already is a nice runner.
>So his car does not get restored.
>
>David is performing an important service in trying to find good homes for
>cheap cars. He has to be doing it for love, because there is unlikely to
>be money in it.
>
> Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
> Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
> gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
>
>
>For what it's worth, I agree with these statements. Our hobby (or if you're
lucky enough, profession) provides us with a great deal of pleasure and most
of us actively seek to bring this pleasure to others. Even my slightly ratty
'76 'B gets looks of appreciation (and maybe envy) fairly often.
As an investment it's a looser for the time present but, then everything in
life shouldn't be judged strictly with the head...the heart deseves its' say
as well.
Enjoying my " 'B-ing",
Rodney McDonald
'76 'B 393703
Spanish Fort, AL USA
|