A nice offering.....no relation to seller. What's your guess.....$$$..? Maserati : Other 3500 GTI in Maserati | eBay Motors Ciao and best.
Not a Sebring.....but certainly a nice example of a 3500 GTI. The carpet does not seem correct, but I'm no expert. Nice though. Comments?
....that is true. I thought your reference to "bubble, bubble, bubble" was the "market" and not the paint. I see your point.
That car belongs to a member here. He is a great guy and I would be very comfortable buying from him. The car looks great. Best of luck with the sale.
The car has a great patina on the paint, small little cracks and confirms the age of the paint. This was one point that made this car very special and one of the reasons of the current owner to buy it. This car something what totally restored cars doesn`t have anymore - aura! .
I have seen this car at the nürburgring in 2007. Nice looking car then and still now so it seems. Marcel
Actually you've gotten my point exactly backwards. The paint comment was in jest though I doubt you could check the paint out properly just from those photos. While the current bid (just over $100K) isn't in bubble territory it's also not met reserve. Someone recently said these are $350K cars. Well maybe so, just not something I'd want THAT badly. I think those kind of numbers are reflective of the general bubble atmosphere in vintage cars right now. As always I may be wrong. At those numbers I'd be tempted to sell right now and possibly pick one up again when the hysteria dies down - bubble bursts. Nice theory, maybe harder to accomplish? Best of luck to everyone. It certainly looks like a nice example to me.
While it is true that the market for such cars waxes and wanes somewhat, never doubt the fact that the overall trajectory will ALWAYS be in one direction....and that is up. Like beach-front property, there is only so much in the world. Hand-made vintage cars will always always be fascinating to men. As long as there are men, and men with disposable income...there will be an increasing demand, because the supply can never be expanded. So....a beautiful 3500GT may rise to $300K in this "bubble" to then retreat to $200K, to then rise to $500K in the next bubble....rinse..repeat. Each "bubble" establishes a new higher base for the next "bubble." The only question for an investor would be..."how long can you wait?"
A quick review of what happened to Maserati's and Most Lamborghini's before, during and after the 89-90 bubble will say otherwise. Depends on the car. But there are no guarantees in any of this. The activity level in vintage cars is incredibly more active now than it was then so it may be different this time around. Ghiblis & Boras went way up back then and it was in 1990 dollars too. Mybe Ghiblis have almost recovered certainly the spyders have. But Boras have not. Many good drivers are still $50-$70K here in the USA now. I guess top flight ones are around $100-110K? Ghibli Sypders were $80K and less for a long time after that bubble popped. But they didn't reach $800K back then either. I haven't looked but is the price for that one done in Candini's shop a realistic number now or was that spike?
I use to hear the "they do not make any more beach front property" argument from Florida real estate agents all the time. People were paying $600,000 for condos 5 years ago that are now worth $250,000. It took over 20 years to recover from the last car market bubble ... the "how long can you wait" can be a very long time. Many of the larger collections are owned by men in their 70's and 80's. What do you think will happen as they die and their heirs want to cash out? Buy a car because you really like it. If investment is your primary motivator just be aware that this is a very risky market. Sorry for the off topic ... now back to the pretty 3500GTi Ivan
it's at $150,000 and hasn't met reserve. Beautiful color combo, IMO. Very nice Maser in many respects.
Florida beachfront property is on fire...probably higher than it was in 2007. It is all about location, just as vintage cars are all about which one. I could have bought a Ferrari 246GTS about 9 years ago for ~$75K...now about $400K. Bubble..sure...it will drop, but not back to $75K...those days are gone. I stand by my assertion, old hand-made cars will go up in value over the years. Now..having said that I personally wouldn't buy one for an investment...I would only buy for pleasure and then if it appreciates by the time you want to move on to something else then so much the better.
Pick something other than a 246GTS and see what happens. Folks ahve lost their minds over that model though it is pretty. So it depends on the car as well. Last time around even Duncan was looking at the exotic car market for tips on building a better yoyo. F 308s will drop again as will those Maseratis that haven't made the leap. Ghibli coupes are all that high yet so ... Even the spyders went up & down.
OK so back to the car,..................$165K and counting. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Maserati-Other-3500-GTI-1962-maserati-sebring-base-3-5-l-/231067183221?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item35ccad6875&vxp=mtr A fine example, this may fetch $185K, and it should. Ciao and best!
I am interested to know what the chattering class thinks now? The car was bid to $165K with no last second flurry of bids and with no sale. Does anyone have an idea what the ask price is? Was the bid market correct? Should the seller have sold it? Did it sell after the auction? I would like to hear from the seller, with his take and experience on the process. The car looks to be very nice and well sorted (from the photos anyway) There were a number of items that - for me - kept the car from being a true #1 car. I am also wondering how much of a price hit the weber conversion takes, if any, or does it add to the value? The books & tools looked to be first rate. How much does that add and conversely how much does it subtract? FGM
I'll stick my neck out and give an opinion. I think in this market $165. should have bought that car. Maybe his reserve was 170K maybe the car was really close or has he been looking a Symbolic's page and looking at their $239k 3500 for sale. I felt the photos showed what looked like a pretty nice example of a late model 3500 GTI. For me the drawbacks were the poorly executed carpet, most likely the wrong type of carpet, (square weave? that would have to have been special order) the trunk being not properly refinished. There were a bunch of other small issues to deal with as well. Also the matter of the fuel injection, I would prefer the fuel injection installed and properly functioning. So as I looked at the car I felt there was at least $20 - 25k I could burn through to make the car basically right. that would make the car around 190k . 190k might be on the outer edges of this market?? The pundits say over and over "the market rewards great cars that are ready to be used" or stored in museums I suppose.. Was this 3500 a great car? There were a lot of hard to find details included in this sale and a few obvious drawbacks as well. Sadly the only reason 3500's are going up in price, to these levels, is they are being pulled up due to the comparable Ferrari 250GTE being worth up to $400k. A rising sea lifts all boats. Nevertheless this is where we are right now. Frank, I'm not sure if this really answered your question but these were my thoughts. John
The value calculation is no doubt very complex, but I think a lot of the value of these cars is tied to the cost of their restoration. If you want one, you can either buy one and restore it or pay someone else for their trouble. As the cars get (re)discovered, more people want them and their intrinsic value increases, so it makes more sense to do a high-quality restoration, which in turn props up the prices. If you want an excellent example, then you pay a premium, which encourages others to ask the same for their not-so-excellent cars. Something similar is happening with Dinos as a lot of long neglected cars get very high-quality and complete restorations, which makes it more difficult to get a reasonably-priced driver. Dinos have a (un)healthy dose of speculation too, of course, but that's another story. There also seem to be some relative values tied to many of these cars (rising sea comment above). Looking at cars in the late 50s and early 60s, there is an interesting pecking order. I was looking at some Porsche 356 coupes last night and I was amazed at their very low prices compared to the convertibles, which are in the $100-200k range (interestingly E-type coupes and roadsters are similar in price as the 356 coupes and speedsters). But then I realized that's what a Maserati coupe of the same era sells for. Maserati spyders in turn sell for what a Ferrari 2+2 coupe of the same era sells for. On the other hand, Alfa Romeo Giuliettas and Giulias always seem to be valued somewhat less than the E-types and 356s. Fiats even lower. There are many exceptions, of course (e.g. Maserati 5000, Fiat Dino Spider, Alfa Romeo SS, etc.). Interesting though.
I don't think the cost of a restoration has much to do with the valuation of a particular car. You probable couldn't do a quality restoration on most cars for less than 100k and I'm talking Porsche 356 coupe, triumph TR3, Austin Healey, alfo Romeo, etc etc, yet cars like these don't sell for any where near those restoration numbers. As for a Maserati, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston the cheapest restoration facility, in CA, wouldn't be much less than $100. per hour making a total restoration nothing less than 200 k plus. then ad the cost of the car and your sunk by 100k.... Minimum.... You could pay to restore, or completely re manufacture, a ferrari 250 GTO many, many times over and you would never be anywhere near to the cars actual value. As of now $50 million The intrinsic value is based on other factors, as you point out the value calculation is indeed Complex. Sadly, while reviewing my latest copy of hemmings motor news I view all their photos from Pebble beach and I don't see one picture of Frank's fantastic all original 3500 Gt, "The Mitchell Car" The picture they choose from the "post war preservation" category is an Aston Martin DB5. This is part of the complex value calculation, some cars are just worth more than others no matter how much has been spent on them.. Some cars garner a crowd more than others.....
