I would really love for those Barrett-Jackson prices to be realistic, but
Spridgets of any vintage are still short on respect. The Sprites were always
looked down upon by the "Big Healeys" and The Midgets get the same treatment
from the MGBs. To top it all off, the development that should have gone into
Spridgets wound up in the Mini! In this country, the price of a Mini is
almost exactly twice the price of a Midget of the same year and condition.
And that was true before the New MINI came out, too. For that matter, a lot
of Bugeye owners think of Midgets as donors ;-(
The prices have gone up in the last five years and the availability has gone
down, but not to the point that the Barrett-Jackson numbers would imply.
Maybe in another ten years or so. Sadly, the Barrett-Jackson cars will
probably never get driven, and that IS a shame. Had you been on this list
during that auction, you would have heard us laughing at the description of
that Bugeye with the wrong thermostat neck and many other flaws. Neither
original nor concours. I would like to be able to tell you that your
friend's Bugeye is worth as much as you think, but if it does sell for that
kind of money, it will spend the rest of eternity parked (hopefully in a
garage, but you never know), because the person who paid that price for it
does not know anything about Spridgets and is not going to want to learn. If
he did, he would have invested the time to learn what he should be able to
get for what kind of money. If your friend really loves that car so much
that he has hung onto it this long, he will be more interested in finding it
a good home to appreciate and love it than to sell it for a lot of money to
someone who will either destroy it or park it forever (or both). Expect to
get somewhere between $4000 and $8000.
David Lieb
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