Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Old-Nail]

I was watching a really nice Austin Somerset recently on ebay.

I contacted the seller who revealed that the reserve was £1500 and that he had owned the car for twenty years, mostly in storage and it was a genuine low mileage example.

I decided to bid on it and missed the end of the auction to find that it had actually sold at £2200. i would have paid that for it but as I say I missed the end of the auction.

Imagine how peed off I was when this morning I saw this ad for the same vehicle http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C35139

It really infuriates me to see dealers buying up the vehicles on ebay that genuine enthusiasts would cherish, only to massively inflate the price.

The same process that has made house prices astronomical and unaffordable these days is now being applied to classic cars by greedy B**tards like "Spinning wheel classics" of Chesterfield.

Why can't people be satisfied with a fair profit anymore?

[47p2]

Everyone has to make a living and car dealers are no different, but when you see this sort of mark-up you just have to wonder.
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[Rick]

Interesting, the listing on carandclassic says 'sold' in the title, and was listed on there on the 2nd Feb? was the ebay listing more recent than that?

R
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[Old-Nail]

It might be that long ago now week seem to pass so quickly these days, hope I'm not wrong after such a rant!

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Are you sure the dealer hasn't put it on ebay, and made a loss? hehe

Cheers

Dave

[Brian M]

Sorry O-N these are not the same car!

EBay reg no PSY 399

Delears: OBP 908
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Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

[Old-Nail]

Bugger!

You can see how the mistake was made though Brian, those two cars are - registration apart identical (except for the price tag) even the mileage is the same if I remember rightly.

I'll allow myself to feel only slightly guilty for accusing the Chesterfield dealer of profiteering... because an asking price of six and a half grand for a Somerset probably is!

When, in the 80's this kind of 'investment' thing happened with Bugatti's XK-120's and the like, it didn't concern most classic car fans as those are the sort of vehicles that often end up in private collections anyway.

We still had our 'ordinary' family saloons to play with, but when this sort of price tag is attached it won't be long before everyone is then asking similar prices, and our hobby will suffer as a result.

I'm off to buy a Trabant before they reach the dealers attention!

[Uncle Joe]

I suppose you have seen the rumour that Trabants are going to be put back into production with modern running gear? Yet another nostalgia trip...

[Rick]

I can't see Somersets climbing £heavenwards though, regardless of what a dealer marks an exceptional example up for. Most Somersets and other 50s plodders (my Devon included here) will always be at the more affordable end of the market I think. From looking around it seems to be the 70s stuff if anything that is accelerating price-wise, certainly the RWD Fords of the era (which thankfully I've little interest in )

R
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Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[Old-Nail]

At the other end of the scale, but equally upsetting is this.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1955-Black-Austin-A50-Ideal-Restoration-TBP-247_W0QQitemZ140210968923QQihZ004QQcategoryZ29753QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Classics falling into the wrong hands for want of a better term.

That car looked to have been something quite special given the originality, low mileage, and condition now even after years of abuse, all the seller seems to care about is
not the damage he has done but the value of the registration number...how sad.

[Rick]

yes that looks like a very original example, hopefully it'll come back to life without too much work required

R
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop