$500 basket case Merak

Maybe someone could use it as a parts car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251037180592+&viewitem=#ht_500wt_1021

Thor

 

Thats just criminal, doesnt even look like its been wrecked, just abandoned

 

I wonder what the reserve is? The seller should at least make the effort to disassemble the car, sort out the good pieces, clean them up and offer them for sale individually. Then he might get something. Sad to say, a lot of the car looks like scrap metal.

 

It's hard to imagine a more expensive car to restore than an old Maser. Just to make a decent driver out of that one could cost more than the nicest complete running car that you could find for sale.

 

Not hard at all, Miura, Espada take your pick. At least with the Miura you have a shot at getting the money back one day. Espada or Merak or even a Bora ???

 

Spoke with the owner, reserve is $4,000 !

 

4,000 Indian rupees? That's about USD 78. I would take it for that price.

 

LOL, I was a little set back myself, however the owner of this one wants $8,000 with no engine!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&item=160777748017&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

 

Well, guys can ask whatever they want. They think they've got something special but don't understand that they needed to maintain the damned thing rather than neglect it for all those years. The amount of money and work required for a proper restoration is just much more than the value of the car. Even if you got the car for free.

A few months ago, I looked at a Khamsin to broker or maybe to tune and flip. The guy wanted more than twice what we offered. Recently he contacted me and was willing to talk in the price range of my previous offer. But upon having a better look at the car, I realized that even that was too high and walked away from it. He's listing it now for two to three times what it would be worth to a knowledgeable buyer.

There has been a Ghibli for sale by a Beverly HIlls dealer that seems to be a total mess. I'd like to see what happens to that also.

 

there is a trend these days to have owners selling for 2 or 3 times the value. I thought that was confined to lambos. but obviously not. Wonder why this is going on..

 

Bubbles start small and then ...

We are in inflationary commodity times and here in the USA the dollar is headed for the Marianas Trench. Meanwhile, hard assets like real estate are only doing OK in very limited areas. So maybe vintage cars will creep up?

That being said, this guy will be heading to the metals recycling yard with that mess or if he relents it will be cut up for parts by someone like MIE or Maseratisource. As yet Meraks are nothing that special over here from a value perspective. But they too have crept up in the last ten years.

Remember when it was a case of when you could get the best Merak in the world for under $25K but why would you do that to $25K? Not all that long ago.

 

How about another leap of hope then?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Maserati-Merak-3000-/280863942778?pt=Automobile_IT&hash=item4164cba87a


Julian

 

These look like attempted restorations gone wrong, or the owner just plain ol lost interest. Very typical and happens to any kind of car all the time.

 

That car wants 50,000 to be restored and even then it would still be valued at 20,000.

Probably worth 2,000 to 5,000 as spare parts only, and could be worth buying by someone who has a Merak with citroen in it, so he can have a long lasting supply of spare parts

 

Yes,

You're right...but probably worth money for those spares

Heres the $20,000 Merak you buy and save all the time money and effort instead

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Maserati-1978-MASERATI-MERAK-SS-ORIGINAL-CAR-EXCELLENT-MECHANICALS-/170823171817?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item27c5dabee9


Julian

 

The eBay advert says: "Sinistrata senza prezzo di riserva".
Roughly in English: "Disaster. No reserve".
At least he's honest.

 

Damaged is more correct translation I think, which the car actually is at the front....

 

I think you're right. My Dad would know the word for sure but I am third generation American. My Italian is very weak.

 

I wonder how many Meraks there are left out there for parts (and hopeless projects)? Not many outside the US and Italy, I think.

 

Unfortunately, a lot of exotics fall down the "drain", this is what I mean as "drain":

after the first owner sells the car, the price of the car falls considerably and after 5-10 years and several sales the car is worthless.

this means that at some point, the car is cheap enough to be bought by someone who doesn't have the financial means to support the expenses of the car, so he uses it to do his "thing" and eventually the car has too many problems and deferred maintenance, which is passed to the next guy, at "peanut" prices.

at some point the car is in very bad condition or has an accident, the owner of course can not restore or fix the car and either dumps it somewhere or sells it to a scrap yard.

the Biturbo era cars are exactly like that, the Merak as well. The 4200 will soon be like that (if not there already).

some people don't realize that a Maserati is a Maserati and spare parts will cost a lot more than a Honda. Maintenance of a classic car is also something to take into consideration if you have no previous experience.


PS:
Another major factor, is the resale price of the Merak. If Meraks cost 200,000 or so, then you wouldn't see many of them in the junk yards. They would all have been picked up and restored in record time. But now, with a resale price of 20,000 or so (for a Merak with citroen stuff) or 40,000-50,000 or so (for a 100% Maserati Merak SS) then there is no reason to go into the high expense of restoring one and selling it for profit.

 

All true.

Of course you don't mean "selling it for a profit", but rather "losing your shirt on the deal".

 

heh indeed


Since I'm not in the business of selling cars, I don't really mind that my Merak doesn't have the same value as a Ghibli Spyder. I bought my cars to drive them, so spending a ton of money on them is like a hobby to me.

DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT

 

... for an ambitious restorer:
http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/maserati/merak/1410453.html

 

At $500.00 it's Chumpcar eligible!

 

that one has all the wrong things put together, it is a US-citroen-nonSS! and at the point were you thought it couldn't get any worse, you realize that the car is in "spare-parts" condition as well...