Just sold on BAT. Hope Lane got what he wanted for it.
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I love reading the comments on BAT - there are people that use it as a forum to tell everyone what they have already in their garage as a reason for not bidding…..
@NeenahSpeedster posted:I love reading the comments on BAT - there are people that use it as a forum to tell everyone what they have already in there garage as a reason for not bidding…..
haha so true "I would have bought it if not for my other supercars
$65,000 was a really good deal for that coupe.
$65K is a pretty good pile of money. Wonder what he's going to buy with it?? Hmmm . . . Some think Miata 
, I'm voting for Cayman.
My guess would be a replacement for his current ride. Fast , comfortable and safe. Can't go too far wrong with a Bimmer.
He already has one of those. ??
We had to drop the reserve. I would have expected more given the number of views and watchers, and particularly given the $83k VS of last week. Oh well...
Beautiful car! Hope We see new owner around on SE coast?
No idea. The winning bidder is from the northeast, so I doubt I'll see it again.
@Lane Anderson posted:We had to drop the reserve. I would have expected more given the number of views and watchers, and particularly given the $83k VS of last week. Oh well...
The world is upside down. The auction was perfect - the 3rd party Lane chose was attentive, transparent, and informative. There were over 100 really good, well-shot, clear photographs. Carey posted and answered questions at the perfect time. There were friends of Lane who posted personal affidavits for the car.
There was soooo much big talk - "I'm going to buy this car", then just disappearing when it came time to bid. If a pan-based Speedster (no matter how nice) is worth $83K, how in the world was a tube-framed coupe only worth $65K? The bidding was poised to take off.... and then just stalled out. I had the over/under at $90K in my mind, and I would have taken "over".
Building a nice coupe is 2x the work of a Speedster. The glass and trim alone adds a freakish amount of work. I've got no desire for one, but I've been told for years that the world is pining for them.
The mind reels. People have no idea what they're doing.
Wow... $65K + BAT fees is a STEAL! Crazy...
@Stan Galat posted:Building a nice coupe is 2x the work of a Speedster. The glass and trim alone adds a freakish amount of work. I've got no desire for one, but I've been told for years that the world is pining for them.
^this
The conversations Greg and I have about the glass/trim install process... just wow... I would say it is THE hardest part and takes a TON of time...
I figured at least 75k. Oh well.
I think Lane is still right side up on this deal.
I really had a vision of $80k - $85k as it is one unique Coupe...... I would have a difficult time letting it go for the $65k but as Lane said: "Oh well".
I hope my buddy Lane is good with the sale.
That's all that counts!
You might consider the Cayman S. I think you will fit, and it is a great car.
@Stan Galat posted:The world is upside down. The auction was perfect - the 3rd party Lane chose was attentive, transparent, and informative. There were over 100 really good, well-shot, clear photographs. Carey posted and answered questions at the perfect time. There were friends of Lane who posted personal affidavits for the car.
There was soooo much big talk - "I'm going to buy this car", then just disappearing when it came time to bid. If a pan-based Speedster (no matter how nice) is worth $83K, how in the world was a tube-framed coupe only worth $65K? The bidding was poised to take off.... and then just stalled out. I had the over/under at $90K in my mind, and I would have taken "over".
Building a nice coupe is 2x the work of a Speedster. The glass and trim alone adds a freakish amount of work. I've got no desire for one, but I've been told for years that the world is pining for them.
The mind reels. People have no idea what they're doing.
The vast majority of people are followers. That’s a trendsetter car.*
Same thing only different with Ed’s Spyder.
Personally, I would have held out for some post RNM emails. But it’s not my car.
* I’m old enough to remember how universally pilloried the first “Outlaw” cars were on BaT.
Historically, 356 coupes have always trailed speedsters and even cabriolets in final sale price. Five years ago, coupes brought less than half the price of a speedster/cabriolet (I’m talking originals, here, but it applies to replicas, too).
Yes, there is an enhanced demand right now for replica coupes, simply because of the low number being produced - sort of an artificial demand because of limited supply.
Lane! let us know what you land on as a replacement DD/weekend thrasher. Maybe a 680 hp Mitsubishi Eclipse set up for a road course? 😉 🤔
Knowing BAT I'll bet shiny Fuchs and plaid seats would have been worth about $10K. Auctions always remind me of what a friend called Varmint Theory, which is to say varmints are attracted to flashy objects.
Shrug it off, Lane and start the fun part, dreaming about what you'll do next! Don't forget, we're more than happy to chime in! Spending other people's money is one of our treasured pastimes.
@JMM (Michael) posted:Knowing BAT I'll bet shiny Fuchs and plaid seats would have been worth about $10K. Auctions always remind me of what a friend called Varmint Theory, which is to say varmints are attracted to flashy objects.
To be sure. The comments about the hubcaps (or lack of them) made it clear that the world is full of doofuses. I've got a set of polished 15" deep 6 clones that they'd have gone ape over. I don't want 'em.
The crowd wants what the crowd wants, and the crowd wants a Cloud 9 speced and marketed VMC Speedster, apparently. A thing is only worth what a buyer and seller agree it is.
We all try to follow the ups and downs of these auctions because we like to feel good about our decision to own and operate these contraptions - but that's a bad way to look at them, at least in my opinion. They're plastic clown cars, and we buy them or build them because we love them. Other people's love for them is going to ebb and flow with the fashion of the minute - and I couldn't care less. When replicas brought bupkis on the auction sites, I was pouring money and time into my car... not because I thought I'd get a great ROA (or even break even), but because I loved the stupid thing.
Now they're worth a fortune if you have the secret sauce combo, and a lot less if you don't.
Does that mean people should be specing their cars like Roy does, or like they want to? The things we generally value here are not the same thing Daddy Warbucks over on BaT is looking for. He wants a slavish replication of a 1957 356 Speedster. If that means a wheezy 1600 with dual Kadrons, then by golly the car should have a wheezy 1600 with dual Kadrons. 2L mills, cars with 911 shrouds, things with turbos or Subarus (or heaven help you, turbo Subarus) need not apply. It's not just that the good stuff doesn't add value, the good stuff actually seems to take it away.
Watch me not care. I watched this auction start to stop because I like Lane, and I wished him the best. I feel like he was robbed, and like Carey's craftsmanship was undervalued, but I don't feel like it hurt me financially - because my car was never an investment.
So, we get up, dust off, and head out to the garage to flush money down the rat-hole, as we always have - smug in the knowledge that everything we do to make our car more "ours" makes it less "theirs".
I'm good with that.
Catch 22. If more people had any idea it might sell that cheap, it would never have sold that cheap.