Does It Pain You To Find An Abandoned Child?

Did Enzo himself not authorize the dismantling of many a car to provide parts or chassis to keep the company going( the 125 S comes to mind).

A fair amount on the early Lampredi road cars were dismanteled to supply the race cars with spare engines and Chevy drivetrains were stuck in the less desireable road cars which are now being coveted.

What we must all remember is that Tom provides a service to all of us and after dealing with this abuse he is still doing it seven days a week 18 hours a day.

Not all cars are worth restoring.

Zac

 

AND I own three of those fine Abandoned rides 0313EU, 0337AL, 0493SA. I am not angry at the re-engineers before me, they have provided me a way to own some pretty great cars. No hard feelings!

Live by the sword, Die by the Sword!

BTW Love the abuse, keep those cards and letters coming , especially Dave XX

 

Tom has become the famous "back door". I for one am glad that Enzo acted the way he did. The chassis remains of one of the race car he disconstructed and scrapped has finally found a home and IMO that is a good thing.

 

I'll bet if the 246GTS has a sound restorable body/chassis and clear title that one day it will live once again. The 330 2+2 series 1 parts car if its missing its motor has less of a chance unless sold cheap enough. What defines a "parts car" vs a future restoration candidate?

Freeman

 

Freeman,

I was told they were parts cars by the owner of the shop. The 246's drivetrain was going to be used for something else possibly a racecar. They are (were) sitting outdoors uncovered with no engines. The 330 was missing some of its glass so the interior was shot. I don't remember much about the 246 except that the exterior was Blue and covered in mildew.

I haven't been there in a couple of years so they may be gone now. Although it was sad to see, the exotic junkyard was one of my favorite things about the shop. Also, the stuff inside was incredible!

Regards,

Art S.

 

The problem is that many less valuable (read 2+2) Ferraris are owned by people who cannot afford to drop $25k + for an engine rebuild, and certainly can't afford to do it if it means being $25k underwater in the car.

There are always people who will do uneconomical restorations on cars, Ferrari or not. However, as the dollars go up these sort of restorations become the exception not the rule.

 

I'm confused. If the engine is in such BAD, unknown, stuck, condition that it is not worthy of saving, how come the engine is in such GOOD shape that somebody in Switzerland wants to buy it for an SWB project? Was somebody in Switzerland willing to "write a check" for an engine in possibly UNrebuildable condition? Was it sold with a guarantee? It so, then it WAS possibly in good enough condition to be rebuilt and reinstalled into the GTE, thereby saving another decent Ferrari, was it not? And if it was NOT guaranteed rebuildable, why would some guy in Switzerland be willing to pay for it? If he was only buying it for spare parts, what guarantee did he have that any of the parts were usable?

Sincerely, confused Horsefly

 

Because they're always worth saving, Arlie - regardless of rebuild costs !
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Any engine can be rebuilt if it's all there. It's just a matter of cost. Some are worth it and some are not.

Ken

 

Tom doesn't sleep anywhere near that much!

 

Enzo Ferrari's philosophy was you bought the motor and got the body for free. Tom just happens to get more out of it.

Freeman

 

And now another side of the story. Not blasting Tom specifically, because I've seen it regarding many other makes of collectable cars. Everybody always praises how a dealer is doing everybody a big "service". From my dealing with Corvettes and other rarer cars, the only "service" a dealer ever did for me was get in my way when I'm trying to buy a car or parts. Like most hobbyists, I work for a living and can't take time off in the middle of the day to drive 100 miles to look at a car that might be advertised in the paper. I have to wait until the weekend. But the local "wheeler dealer", who lives in a house trailer surrounded by hound dogs, can drink his morning coffee and tool on up the road, buy the car before I even have a chance to see it, then trailer it back home and mark it up for the next resale. The "wheeler dealer" has done absoulutely nothing for me except intercept the car and cost me more money. And when they start chopping up cars, they're preventing somebody else from having a decent car project. I've seen it on Corvettes, antique cars, rare parts, etc. I'm perfectly capable of tracking down cars in state, out of state, or wherever myself. It doesn't take a rocket scientist. It only takes one underemployed redneck to beat you to a deal and spoil a potential purchase. And those rednecks always seem to have thousands of dollars in cash to buy a car out from under you, but they can't seem to spare $50 to buy a decent jacket that isn't covered with grease stains. Or visit the dentist occasionally.
But what cars and parts that I have; they've been obtained by detective work. As Tom says, by the time they've hit the publications, they've already been through several "wheeler dealers" and the appropriate price gouging.
And I know about chasing leads. Once drove 465 miles to a hick town in Kentucky to look at a '57 and a '54 Corvette hulk. Too rough. I passed. After taking 30 minutes to look at the cars, I jumped back in my car and drove 465 miles back home. And that was in 1987 when the speed limit was 55 mph. Bummer.

 

Correct, my mistake. I mis-read the post by the owner of 4221.

 

Arlie,

Are you calling Tom an unemployed redneck with a dirty jacket and bad teeth?!?

Regards,

Art S.

 

No, but I've seen quite a few of those type of guys. Because they have no real gumption, they don't have steady jobs. They just troll around (OOPS, he said TROLL ), and look for cars and parts so that they can jack the price up about 1000%. A friend was telling me that one year at the Pate Swap Meet down in Texas, the Corvette money grubbers were swarming the swap meet area with walkie-talkie equipped employees who were buying up every rare part that they could find. Then they brought the parts back to their swap space where they marked the price up through the roof. Real swell guys who were doing their best to HELP their fellow car enthusiasts, I'm sure.
I've also seen it locally at the swap meet where the fat, beer drinking, parts hawkers sit around their bar-b-que grill like vultures waiting for some sucker to be stupid enough to give them the absurd prices that they are asking for their parts which they probably bought at the last swap meet. Most of them look like a bunch of haggard carnival barkers who drove all night while wired on crystal meth.
But I should be glad that those guys are there to help ME.

 

Attn: Sidelines and Saviors

Which no one has answered !!!!!

What is a GTE that needs everything worth????

Mine is sold, look at EBAY results, I got paid today on the roller and car left this afternoon.(who cares)

I will tell everyone and Freeman Thomas picked the car up with me, (with a 3hp compressor to pump up the tires, 50ft extention cord and a winch and a 7 year old helper and a Automotive designer,(pusher)) so I have a witness.
I paid $35,000 + a commission for 4765GT (see description above)

So whay is it worth???

PPI results NEEDS EVERYTHING!!!!

 

Tom,
The fact of the matter is that no one here will be THAT willing to save a Ferrari. But they will sure talk like it. I'm also looking for a car with" issues" but not that big of issues. I think your the only one around here that knows what to do with it. Maybe Horsefly is ready to save the whale.

 

I'll take the bait.

To me, its worth $7500.

 

It's worth right this instant, $35K plus commission. That's what you paid for it.

tomorrow, it's gonna be worth whatever you get paid for it, either through an ebay auction, or a private sale. I'm not up on the 250 market, that's why I asked you in the first place.

My wife loves the looks, and I thought I'd try to get a feel for the market, with your assistance. Hence the questions I posed earlier to you in that PM.

However, since you'd rather make it a public guessing game, I'll take a shot.

Car needs at least $50K worth of work. Probably more. Motor could be $25K all by itself. Suspension and brakes $10K, wheels and tires $10K, tranny $5-10K, paint $7-15K, chrome $5K, wheels $5K, Interior $10K to replace, $5k if some is useable.

Toss in $10K for misc. stuff I've missed, and the obvious cost overruns that are bound to happen.

So, looks like $60-95K, depending on a bunch of indeterminate variables.

What's this thing worth fixed, $110K, maybe? That's the part I do not know. [edit] found one in good shape for sale at $110K (www.250swb.com) [end edit]

Take my high side estimate $95K, plus your $40K with commissions, and you're at $135. You'd probably like to make $20K on the car, so that puts it at $155K worst case.

Am I getting close??

How can this car possibly be worth that much really fixed?

DM

 

My offer still stands. Can send a check DHL today. You should get it Monday/Tuesday.

 

And I am not looking at buying it to part it out, but actually restore.

 

Probably closer to two...

 

No disrespect intended but you might be able to get the short block if it is rebuildable for $7500.00
You'll need to come up with a better offer if you want the whole engine.

 

How does that old saying go: Spend in haste; repent in leisure. That's my attitude toward any car. There is ALWAYS somebody else out there with more money than me, and conversely, there is ALWAYS another car to be found (by me). If that was NOT the case, then Tom would be looking for another line of work. It's obvious that he also believes that there is ALWAYS another car out there to be found. And my other theory is that NOBODY knows where EVERYTHING is located. If they did, I never would have found the car projects that I have. Do I own a Ferrari? No, not yet. But why spend in haste, when one can search in leisure. Much less painful on the wallet. When crazy buffoons were paying $20,000 for mid year Sting Rays back in the late 80s, I was buying mine for $6500. Let the hungry hogs run to the trough. I'm in no hurry. It's just a hobby. (a radical idea for some.)