Daytona, Dino, Merak on e-bay, technical questions.

Albeto. i would say you would be getting a whole heap of trouble, but if the price is right!

To me the building does not look like it was that well sealed and not being used for since 1979 is not good, i have bought low mileage cars before and the least you can expect is dry bearings, dry seals, things like water pump, alternator, etc will need replacing, or restoring. Daytona's especially do not like standing and the engine will probably need a full rebuild if the water has been left in it. You need to take a good look and work it out on the worst case scenario, if the body work is not great, then we both know how much these things cost and the time involved!

 

Yes full rebuild on these cars. No way around it. They would be very expensive even if you got them for free. Better off buying one in good shape.

 

+1

 

http://bringatrailer.com/2011/04/05/dirty-tease-norcal-ferrari-dino-and-maserati-vault/comment-page-1/#comment-217313

One of the guys commenting has seen the cars a few years ago. Total rebuilds and you need to calculate your time as worth something ( My time is worth $250/Hr)My wife says no more restorations for me. She said buy anything you want restored as it is a lot cheaper.

 

They're likely in better shape than in a barn with a dirt floor and pigeons crapping on them but I would (as mentioned before) expect a significant amount of restoration necessary.

Keep in mind that just because they have low miles doesn't mean they are in good mechanical condition.

 

Hard to admit she is right but she is. I had 9 classic cars at one time and she got sick of it. She said get rid of the cars and get a 22 year old girlfriend you will have more fun. Sold the cars.

 

really....
LOTS of rain up there...
Dirt floors in pics, look at stains on Daytona tyres as they are clearly evident...
anybody look at the tags of front of the Daytona?

I lived in, and restored racing Ferraris, in California in this time period...I "just missed by a week" a series 2 GTO, in late summer of 1979-just ouside of Dartmouth Colllege-for 100K!...put this into its proper perspective...

People who would have bought these kinds of cars, and "locked them away in the middle of NO where" in a "hermetically sealed" garage....remember-it says sealed since 1979!!
puhleeeze...I doubt that anybody in Weed, CA. knew what hermetically sealed meant in 1979...

These cars are mfor experts ONLY...
they could EASILY be a bad deal even if they are given to you...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FERRARI-MASERATI-YOU-THINK-YOUVE-SEEN-BARN-FIND-/190522373024?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2c5c04b3a0

Re-listed with more pictures. Brave doesn't cover it but hope someone is willing to take them on.

 

Already bid at way more than they are worth. Somethin ain't right

 

There seems to be some sort of mania for "barn finds" which motivates people to bid way over value. I would start with the wholesale values, deduct twice the estimated cost of recommissioning (because I've learned that I always under-estimate!), and stick with that bid. But what do I know?

 

+1

 

It is not like they are one off Ghia bodied show car and rare like a 212. These are production cars where they made way over 200 of each of these. I do not see the appeal.

 

You get some of your buddies ( they know what the reserve is) to bid.

 

Would it kill them to wash the cars? geeez

 

I would certainly not dismiss them off-hand.

A thourough inspection is essential: IF the storage space was dry, at least the bdies should be in absolutely great shape, and with the low mileage, things like glass and possibly the interiors may be perfect. Interiors may have also become hard and brittle, one would have to see.

Mechanically all of them would have to come apart completely, engines re-assembled with new bearings, rings, valve-springs possibly, and everything with new seals. Gears may have corroded where not submerged in oil, all brake-systems will be gone/need replacement.

The Bora is a different story alltogether, as the whole LHM-system will need its' cylinders re-sealed or replaced, costly and laborous.

On the up-side, you have a chassis that's not tired yet, and, to me, that'd be worth something.

The e-bay auction suggests that something is not quite right, the combined value of these in good operating condition leaves very little room for the inevitable cost of re-commissioning.

 

The bidding is now at 470K, someone is really taking a gamble. The bench mark car in this group is the Daytona, a very similar low mileage car in red and not in need of a restoration sold last month at Gooding Amelia Island sale for 300k. (324K including fees.)
http://www.goodingco.com/car/1972-ferrari-365-gtb4-daytona

Being overly optimistic that it will only take 50k (LOL) to get the Daytona to same condition as the Amelia Island car.

Then you have the Dino and the Bora, add the same 50k in for each car. You're in the cars for $620k. If the finished Daytona only brings 300k, does anyone think that the Dino and the Bora can sell for another 320k just to break even?

 

When the seller says "YOUR CHOICE" in his description is he talking about them getting detailed or "YOUR CHOICE" of 1 of 3 cars?
Very confusing auction.

 

My experience tells me that all of the license plates in the photos are from the state of New Hampshire, printed in the style that was used throughout the 1980s. I know this because I had similar plates and number sequences in the 1980s.

The left decal would be for month, and the right side decal would be for year. Can anyone enlarge the pics and get some improved resolution??

Apparently this collection started in NH and ended up in Cali, maybe someone moved there and then passed away. Pre 2008 would have been a better time to unload the cars. NH is a small state and F car community, I have never heard of or seen those cars in use since the 80s. No surprise since they have been abandoned for quite some time..

 

I thought April fools day was a couple of weeks ago.

 

I still own property in the Granite State, I am not convinced of this conclusion, i do, however, agree on the size of the community of these cars there in this era....

I was very involved with these cars then and there, and again, I agree-I probably would've heard of these-there was a rumor of a stash such as these... outside of Portland, Maine... FWIW..and they were seen in the flesh, NOT an uirban myth...

You MUST also remember that there was an enormous illicit drug/narcotic industry in New England in that time frame-based principally upon the college age population of youngsters in and around Massachusetts, Southern Cow Hampshire, and Vermont...Maine is another story......
there are more colleges in a 100 mile radius of Cambridge than any other place on the planet...and it's not close either...talk about a target rich environment in a permissive time frame...jeez...
the point is that eventually...most of those folks all went to jail...not ALL of the cash paid for assets were seized/found...it's possible
Makes for GREAT inbternet fodder...huh???

 

Listing ended by the seller again.