Leake Oklahmoa City Auction (Mondial Report)

"Largely original" is also a definition that leaves to be desired hahaha.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

I don't believe the Price Progression includes a major service for this car that is needed due to its age on hoses, belts, and engine components, I'm sure with only 12k miles none of the short time owners bothered to spend any money on maintenance. Put in another $7k for a Major and its about the right price in today's market for a good condition 3.2.

There is no cheap Ferrari, pay now or later !

 

I see a lot of things listed as "Good"

 

No Cheap Ferrari!

This is a well considered default position. I bought mine as a 'total loss' expenditure. That means I do not plan to sell it even if it becomes a door stop. Also, I committed myself to driving the vehicle as a daily car.

The total maintenance cost for two years and 9,500 miles is 1) $450 starter; and 2) a total clutch sytem rebuild - $3,500. This last one was from my own negligence and I do not actually believe a normal driver would have had the problem. A couple of oil changes.

Anyway, here is my total to date for a car 44,000 miles, a previous recent major, I think and very well presented though not show car quaility.

1) Prurchase price $30,000
2) Premium to seller for payment upon delivery rather then up-front: $2,000 (protection against basket case).
3) Shipping about $2000
4) Clutch $3,500
5) Starter $450 plus $100 labor = $550.
6) Misc manuals, and incidentals like carbon cleaner, 2cycl oil etc = $200.

Round it out to $37,000. I suspect I could easily retail it out for $26,000. Eleven thousand dollars in costs for about 10,000 miles. Insurance was same as for any of my other cars so I don't count that. By comparison I totalled a Caddy CTS in first year and lost $6,000.

But here is the kicker. The Mondial has been otherwise drop dead reliable, runs MUCH better then when pruchased the car. Starts every time first time thousands of times in two years. During that same time my sister has had her late moded Buick towed in twice.

I don't know how long this streak will continue. However, my experience is once a car is shaken down it does not much change at all after that for, perhaps, a decade. The car is two thirds the way to a belt change but I am not sure I want to do that. EVERY belt failure I have read about happened after installation of new belts.

And these belts look milspec M1-Abrams. Like they are supposed to last 15,000 miles of track work. Anyway, I have entirely retrieved my value from the car already. Every mile is just gravy!

I recommend it.

 

PS! I wore the new Pirreli P Zero Neros out in 6,000 miles and replaced them with Contintntal ExtremeContact DW Summer for about $560 installed. These are really aggressive GT tires. They are softer then aggrssive performance tires but seem well matched to the shocks and give a tight but smooth ride. Instead of a jiggly ride.

Then also have a relatively high wear rating and do not bite quite as hard in full corniering mode. I am not sure I would recommend them for track work, but because they are so forgiving it might be more fun drifting them around a track then higher performance tires.

I run mine 40 psi all around but after 2,500 miles will try less pressure in the front. Just for experimentation.

 

Kudos, David. I installed P Zero Neros on my daily driver, coming from Dunlop Sport Maxx TTs. A much inferior tyre in all aspects in relation with the Dunlops. I've also used Continentals and I find them to be very balanced tyres indeed.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Good Afternoon, Nuno

One of my favortite tires ever was called something like Dunlop D-60 A2 or some such. Consumer reports rated it high so I put them on wifes 1994 Geo Prizm [Toyota Carolla clone - Prizm had stiff springs no front stabilizer bar, Corrola had soft springs with stabilizer bar.] But I did not know that.

Driving the Prizm in high winds I said to wife: "Wife, this car does not behave like it has a front stabilizer bar!] I got out and looked underneith. No bar. So ordered Corolla bar and had it installed on top of the already stiff springs.

BMW 1800's were breakfast treats. But I remember this. I was on business trip a week and wife said car was handling odd. I drove and and said "Yeah. A LITTLE odd." One of the rear tires had ZERO air pressure. She had been driving it a week but the stiff sidewalls behaved like run-flat tires.

Anyway, I am now running these Contintentals on the Mondial and will probably get a set for the MAXX. I have run so many different tires over the decades I have no hard and fast criteria. But I bought some Bridgestone Turanzas and just threw them away.

And one set of Kuhmos was baddly out of round or out of ballance. What I like about the Contis is they are smooth in all respects yet do not give up on a full drift. So thats pretty good. No grief in any category.

Being an old guy I am very big on reducing grief.....

Best regards back at yah!

 

I need to know about these auctions before...not after I would have been all over that car

 

Hi,

Its a bit of a quandary. Most knowledgeable people insist on scrupulus inspections and carefull contemplation. Often I have heard "never jump at the first one you see". The problem is there simply are not huge numbers of these things to choose from. And from time to time there are people like me who DO jump at the first one!

In my case I liked the color, the price was high and the car looked good in paint, body and interior. The seller seemed to me [and was] and experienced broker. So my deal was this. I will not pay the full price up front. However, here is $2,000 extra for you to keep whether or whether not I accept delivery. If the car does not scatter parts or spray fluids all over the WalMart Parking lot you keep the $2,000 and I pay you the remainder.

If it does any of those terrible things the $2,000 you already have will pay to return it. Seemed reasonable to my simple mind. Going on 10,000 miles after two years I have no regrets.

But then there is this. Any car that has accumulate a total of about 500 miles per year for 25 years is WAY suspect for a good driver. This kind of car, to my way of thinking, is the real crap shoot. It will look new. But every last hose, seal, orifice and electrical connection has been just sitting there, unexercised in dead limbo for an entire generation.

And it will take a couple of thousand miles driving to shake it down. There are upsides. First, it might NOT have gone stale in those decades. And even if it did, the internals can be refreshed at some expense but then you have something more like a new car.

Anyway, my advice is to buy something you want before you die. My buddy bought a really good recent used 911 from the estate of a guy who owned it about one year. I suspect that guy could afford to have purchased a used one ten years ealier, paid for maintenance, and died after the first set of tires wore out.

But thats just me.....

 

I agree with this. I don't want a garage queen, I believe regular exercise is good for the car as well as the owner!!

Price and value are very subjective. Let's say you "overpaid" by $2000. Ignore the value of the time you no longer have to shop. If you keep the car only for 5 years, that is $400/ year you "overpaid", or slightly more than $1/day. 10years? Cost is negligible. Not a big deal.

And if the car turned out to be a good one, one that did not need a ton of deferred maintenance, you are way ahead.

I always figure the price of a car is the purchase price plus the first 6 months maintenance. So if I buy cheap and spend on maintenance, I haven't really saved any money.

Regards,
Jerry

 

Analysis and advice don't get any better than what I've just read. Thank you David and Jerry. Extremely useful, sound and rational points made here. These are the questions and maths every prospective buyer should address.

Kind regards,

Nuno.