What if you had to sell your GT40

[John B]

I'm Just curious! If you had to sell your GT40, Considering all the cost you have into your car, What would you list the selling price for? If you reply to this post, Please list make/ conditon/ engine/ and tranny so people can justify you asking price if you had to sell. I ask this because as I tally the cost of thes cars and the market is going to go up because of the new cars that are being produce today by RF/SPF/CAV. Thsi is definatlyu a deep pocket car. for the money we spend, You can afford a top end Porsch or a middle of the road used Ferrari.

Regards
oliver

 

[Tim Kay]

My guess is 50k tops. Low, IMO, but realistic. 1995 Tornado, G50, 302, condition scale 1-10 about 9.

I don't believe there to be a large market of buyers for a used GT40 replica, and certainly not for what’s invested. Particularly with the price of new rollers at relatively reasonable prices.

I think the majority of GT40 replica owners fall into two categories: Either, (1) Have extra disposable income to purchase one then fall in love with the car and it's history or (2) Have been in love with the car since they saw one as a kid or young adult and it's appeal never diminished. Either way it's a small number of potential buyers that dream of owning one.

In my case, it's a "money pit" any way I look at it. So I prefer to enjoy it simply for the pure personal fulfillment. It would be futile to think I could get my investment back /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[Bill Musarra]

Oliver,
Herasy, herasy/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon_bs.gif . I think apealing to the people on the forum is the small end of the market. If all you wanted to do was sell your car for whatever reason, you are looking through the microscope from the wrong end. There is a vast public out there(at least in the U.S.) to apeal to. There are a lot of guys out there with disposable incomes who want a fast sharp looking car that is a little more than the average Porshe. I would think a well built and prepared 40 would be able to compete in that arena. You have to think a little outside the box.
I'll give you a small example. If you live in or around a big city. A check with the chamber of commerce would get you in touch with the convention bureau. There are regional and national meetings of accountants, lawyers, doctors etc. etc., that meet for required CME's, stockholders meeetings or the like. A few bucks to the doorman or parking attendant would allow you to park the car at the front entrance for all to see. A placard on the dash for contact info is all you need. How about Friday or Saturday night at a high end resturant. I personnaly think there is a vast market out there, waiting to be tapped(if I were goin to sell) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nono.gif

Bill

 

I think the market today is driven by several factors disposable income and lust/desire for a specific type of automobile. I watch the collector car market pretty closely, for several reasons, the first being I have a large investment in toys. I have always enjoyed being able to take someone to my garage and show them a unique car, take them for a ride or discuss automobiles in general. I think if I took someone to the garage and showed them a stack of stock certificates they could carte less. With that said when they see the GT40 they obviously enjoy it, a ride and they are fans for ever. But in today’s market like it or not you can buy a completed kit, a restored original, or anything else for less than you can build it for, assuming you do a first class job. If you choose to build or restore a car you have to choose to do it for the love of the challenge the reward of the chase. You cannot justify the expense when completed quality units are available for less than your potential expense, unless as I said you enjoy the challenge. Most of us enjoy the challenge. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

 

[John B]

I guess i'm used to the large growth in my collector car Shelby's that are now in my opinion tooooo high. When I bought my first 66 Shelby,It was cheap $12,000 bucks in the mid 80's. Now the same car would fetch 60 to 80,000 in a minute. My 65 Shelby is simple to expensive to drive and it pisses me off. I have to insure it for 150,000 and frankly it took the fun out of owning it. So now it sits on jack stands doing nothing except looking pretty. Hell! I used to drive the damn thing to work everyday. I can't believe that if you would build a new GT40 and invest up to 80,000 you could only get 50,000 for it. I will let it sit in the garage before I would sell it that cheap. Yes we love the car but it is also an investment. I personally think as more cars venture into the market the used value will go up do to the high build cost. Yes you may lose some money...But I would'nt expect to lose $20,000. If a buyer is in the market to buy a excellent condition used GT40 and the price is 70,000 compared to building a new one and waiting a year or so... and depending which company you go with he can expect to pay 75,80 or 90 grand for a new one and go through all the headack of completing it. I would go with the used one and your headach is done. Most people if your like me are anal about the car care. If I keep the care for 10 years drive and have general fun, it will look the same or better than the day I first bought it. I would expect it to hold it's value. I think I will be right. The build quility has been raised and the old sales of GTD<CAV and other make are not like the cars thos companies are builing today. Yes! the older cares are still nice... but the build and upgrades have changed dramaticlly. This will also push the market up. Recently, CAV posted pictures of the Yellow demo car that is absoulutly gorgous. I don't know what it would cost to buy that car but in a couple of years it is on the market for 50, or 60,00 complete. MAN! I would buy it in a minute. I personally will have close to 75,000 into my RF ...there is no way I would sell it for 50 grand. The motor and trans alone is is 25,000... high end of course!!! We we see...But I bet we are going to see a dramatic increase in the used market. Look at the used repo cobras on ebay. The better companies SPF/Factory Five cars are still fetching BIG$$$. The Gt40 Market is much smaller and the demand is higher. And personally a much cooler car. if you look at the past sales of the used GTD's and CAV's still get a decent price depending on the condition. Look at roy Stafir ..If the was just an ordinary replica and it was going for 50,000 , you would have guys lined up to buy it. Ok enough writing! ANY responses?

 

i do!, i will post sometime tomorrow, in the for sale section(cant remember my pay pal password)and someone will get a great deal from me @ $65k not a penny less! new gt40 nz lots of neat stuff less than 500miles. if i wasn't in a hurry i would hold out for 75 or more.if you can buy any quality replica, for what it cost in parts you're doing very well (like mine!)and don't forget the cost/hassle of initally registering the car(about 5k)

 

[Mike Dozier]

IMHO...GT40 replicas are similar to street rods.
Unless your name is Boyd Coddington or Chip Foose,
you will be LUCKY to sell it for what you spent...
Like Roy says....do it for the love of the car.

While I do believe the mystic/hype over the new Ford GT increases the size of the potential buyer market,
I am unconvinced it will appreciably raise the value
of used replicas in the US. I guess we'll find out in a few years when the first "wave" of replica owners starts selling. Right now there are too few data points
to draw a definite conclusion.

MikeD

 

[Ian K]

[ QUOTE ]
IMHO...GT40 replicas are similar to street rods.
Unless your name is Boyd Coddington or Chip Foose,
you will be LUCKY to sell it for what you spent...
Like Roy says....do it for the love of the car.

While I do believe the mystic/hype over the new Ford GT increases the size of the potential buyer market,
I am unconvinced it will appreciably raise the value
of used replicas in the US. I guess we'll find out in a few years when the first "wave" of replica owners starts selling. Right now there are too few data points
to draw a definite conclusion.

MikeD

[/ QUOTE ]

Even Boyd and Chip have taken losses on some of their creations,
and some first owners have taken big hits on the resale
of them as well.

The best example of a beautiful GTD, well built, plenty of
time and money spent in custom parts: Rick Merz's. A 351W
bored/stroked to 396, Webers, Porsche G50/50, custom half
shafts, Image 17" BRMs, Wilwoods all around, custom battery
box in front, aftermarket transcooler, and other niceties.
Rick estimates he spent $120K US total (including $45K US
for the kit). He struggled to sell it for $65K US. Of course,
I would have offered more if I had it since I knew what it
was, but I didn't have that kind of money at the time.

I should also add, plenty of second hand CAVs have sold for
close to original sticker (which was minus engine and transaxle)
or less. People looking for a premium are still sitting on
their cars (PI Motorsports has a CAV w/ ZF and 427W stroker
and is asking $115K - it's been there for quite some time).

Ian

 

[Mark Worthington]

Rick's car was a steal at $65k.

Hopefully I'll never want to sell, or never have to sell my car. I have, however, followed the market and have an idea of what it would fetch when completed. I think that my car, registered and completed to the high standard that I'm shooting for, would bring $70k, if I had a reasonable amount of time in which to sell it. That includes 8-stack EFI setup, forged 347 stroker putting out 400+ hp, 17" BRM replicas, air conditioning, 6-speed gearbox, Quaife LSD, fully sorted suspension and full leather interior. This price would represent about 20% more than I have into it, assuming my labor is free. Hey, building a car like this is a labor of love, right? I'm also convinced that if I dropped another $10k in upgrades into it that the car would still be worth $70k. I'm also pretty sure that the value of a GT40 replica inclreases enormously upon its completion and registration. If I had to sell it right now it would be at a considerable loss.

But this talk of selling price is really moot. Besides, how can you really put a value on something that you've assembled from thousands of pieces and stamped with your personality? What is it worth to you to pull into a parking lot and have a group of people run over to your car and start asking questions? To tell people that you built and painted the car yourself over a period of years? To have complete strangers constantly give you the thumbs up on roads and highways? That is more than worth the price of admission, IMHO.

 

[Ian Clark]

It's hard to put a price on passion.How much is it worth to see a project finished or take your car for a drive or to a criuse night.

In that regard a well turned out GT40 puts just about everything else to shame... besides nobody around here owns a McLaren F1

Something else a pro-built GT40 will do is depreciate less than more common production exotics. The GT40 has legs, this car is not going away and more people everyday are getting into the car. As a customer once told me " it's going to cost more to build in five years than now". So the value is there.

Hopefully you never have to sell your car and hold out for a good price if you do.

 

[Howard Jones]

If you build the car yourself, you can drive it for five years for free. What I mean by that is, if you discount your own labor after five years you can surely sell your car for the "sum of the parts"

I of course mean, good to very good worksmanship, valid current LEGAL registration, everything works as it should and you don't over build it. Like put a $20,000 show car paintjob on it.

Not a bad hobbie really. You can practice your hobbie to your hearts content and a few years later get all or most of you money back.

But unless you really know what you are doing (business not cars) making short term money on building these cars isn't really doable.

 

[Ian Clark]

Very well put Howard. These are extreme cars and will test you in every way, definately not for the faint hearted

Cheers