sorry , have to vent a bit

Belgiumbarry said:
within 3 weeks we are moving to a smaller house , as we wanted to downsize and cut maintenace, heating etc... we are getting "old " and want a easy old days.

Now my E9 is already a year for sale , asking 40k , street legal, i'm sure one of the best driving E9's around. On some occasions lowered to 34k , just to get the car sold.

But no... no interest. Is the market down ? or are most just looking for either wrecks to "restore " or high end cars to garage and brag ? i don't understand.

Seems average E9's are hobby wrenching creatures , repairing and searching parts .... who is really driving them and enjoy for what they were made ? Are most working on them in believe they create a little "fortune" worth car ? i just don't get .

OK, my car is still licensed for years in Belgium , so i can enjoy it further in regularity rallies , but must find a roof for it now.

Sorry , just had to vent... sold recent 5 cars , i always thought my E9 would be the first one to go..... no , the last one , even not yet .

PS as i sold my Morgan +4 i was looking for another cabriolet , and bought a '67 BB C2 . My next adventure :D
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dear Barry, I'm really sorry that you couldn't sell it if that was your intention.

Europe is beginning to be a compromised place for gasoline cars

On the one hand, the difficulties of transit and use of these cars make collectors look for vehicles at the top of the range rather than projects in which to invest a lot of money for uncertain results, in essence, buyers prefer that the previous owner be the one who has paid the restoration (IMHO your central console restoration is a bit creative ;-) but i do not know if that is favoured by the market

each car has its public, but perhaps in europe more original cars without modifications are sought, or on the other side of the spectrum racing cars for the circuit.

For example, many Germans go to Spain to buy cars without rust, and pay higher prices than those usually seen there.

30 or 40k on a car with parts needs (lots of them NLA) might seem like too steep an uphill for buyers, but I really don't know if 20k could even be a good price

of course I wish you good luck with the sale and I don't think it's a bad idea to think about selling it in other countries

my motto: every object has a potential buyer that would kill for it, the point is to find him
 
deQuincey , again i read a undertone of "restoring" "NLA parts" .... this car doesn't need anything to drive and have fun except gas.....

For who and what would one restore this car back to oem ? Perhaps we are the last generation that may/can drive those oldtimers.
 
+1 for trying to sell in outside of Belgium. You know this country is a disaster when it comes to the car inspection. Maybe this uncertainty of getting it passed inspection with the modifications done throws people off. It all depends on who the inspector is, if it's an enthousiast or not... I can go both ways. I would throw me off to be honest.
 
Belgiumbarry said:
deQuincey , again i read a undertone of "restoring" "NLA parts" .... this car doesn't need anything to drive and have fun except gas.....

For who and what would one restore this car back to oem ? Perhaps we are the last generation that may/can drive those oldtimers.
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Barry, I really appreciate you, and I admire your efforts, and I think your car is magnificent.

but for example I would never buy it, and that was my point:

1- All the suspension, brake and engine modifications that you have made are illegal in my country, so I would have to homologate or reverse them

2- the interior and exterior of the car do not meet my expectations by far, so I would have to restore it and look for a few parts that are NLA, and this is quite a lot of money

With this I just want to tell you that the search for a suitable buyer is related to what that buyer wants. We have fun in different ways, that is all

I think your car is worth much more than €40k because I know the value of the modifications introduced

and at the same time I tell you that I would not buy it

you need someone who appreciates what you have and buys it as is, someone who sees that the car is ready to drive and enjoy as you said

I was just trying to show empathy by exposing the difficult search that this entails
 
Hi Barry, I was wondering if you had a photo of this area, and what it looks like inside this opening in the fender well.

Might require jacking it up so the front wheel sags down in order to visualize the area.

Look at this old listing of one of my old cars and check photo 225 to see the opening I am talking about.

bringatrailer.com

1970 BMW 2800CS 4-Speed

Bid for the chance to own a 1970 BMW 2800CS 4-Speed at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #50,984.
bringatrailer.com bringatrailer.com


Geert said your car drove well.

The car market here in the USA is slowing quite a bit. Stock market down, house prices flat or falling. I had my 1953 Lincoln close on bringatrailer yesterday for about half my reserve (didn't help that we are under a hurricane warning).

Best regards,
Scott
 
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I think you should try BringaTrailer.com

If they accept your car, this website will give it very wide exposure. Even if it doesn’t sell, thousands will have seen it and talked to their friends about it. Many cars subsequently find the right buyer after the auction ends.
 
craterface said:
The car market here in the USA is slowing quite a bit. Stock market down, house prices flat or falling. I had my 1953 Lincoln close on bringatrailer yesterday for about half my reserve (didn't help that we are under a hurricane warning).
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Scott,
Sorry your Lincoln didn't sell. It is a beautiful and special car.

One other factor is that traditionally, this time of year is slow for collector car sales. In many parts of the world there are only a few weeks remaining in "cruising season" then the collector cars are prepared for storage. It is the same with trying to sell a boat or a camper this time of year. Buy activity comes back in January when car guys are thinking about Spring.

For Belgiumbarry, I like Arde's suggestion of a consignment seller. Free storage for the winter and the seller might just find a buyer.
 
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The other option for a car that is reliable, unique, and fun to drive, is to be rented as a classic.
I drove through Italy in a sad Lancia rental that required a downshift to first gear uphill... I would have paid 3x the rate to rent Barry's E9 for 3 weeks, and would have driven it to Vienna instead of taking the train from Venice.
Does it work legally and logistics wise? Who knows. In the US youngsters are using apps to rent private cars a lot. We rented a 4x4 SUV in Denver from a private party to drive up to Telluride.

If the car is rented half the days of the year, I could see a $20.000 revenue per year...
Delivery perhaps at Schipol, which is a great European hub for tourists.
 
deQuincey said:
the interior and exterior of the car do not meet my expectations by far
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This reflects a mis-alignment between 2 visions of what it means to be an E9 enthusiast, both of which are valid and respected.

DQ’s aesthetic and mechanical standards exceed the expectations of 98% of E9 enthusiasts, and the capability of 99% of classic car shops. But BB’s standards are no less correct for an E9 enthusiast whose priority is a racing/rally experience and not on originality and cosmetics.

BB, as others have said, this is a matter of finding someone who shares your type of E9 vision. You will find that buyer but it will take longer and require some well focused marketing because the pool of buyers is probably pretty small.

Someday when I sell my classic race cars I will be in exactly your position. Many modifications, far below show car cosmetics, very costly maintenance and repair, limited usability. I’ll be happy to get my original purchase price back, and the $$$ spent keeping it race competitive …. That’s the cost to play in vintage racing, and is unfortunately financially non-recoverable.

John
 
teahead said:
spent $145k to bring an e9 from Europe to the USA
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What???

A container might cost $12k from EU to the USA east coast (which can hold 2 cars, so really $6k). All the fees and import tarif might add up to $5k, but probably less.

How does a person spend $145k to import a car from the EU?

My point about BAT: it’s not just a selling site, it is also a useful marketing tool for sales which occur outside of BAT.
 
JFENG said:
What???

A container might cost $12k from EU to the USA east coast (which can hold 2 cars, so really $6k). All the fees and import tarif might add up to $5k, but probably less.

How does a person spend $145k to import a car from the EU?

My point about BAT: it’s not just a selling site, it is also a useful marketing tool for sales which occur outside of BAT.
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The car sold for 140 plus 5 buyers fee. European seller. Then buyer will pay 6k for container shipping plus 2.5 percent import duty plus a bunch of BS fees. He's in it for 155-160.

Scott
 
That car would be PERFECT for a street wide-body CSL:

BMW-3.0-CSL-E9-Group-5-Replika-E34-M5-Triebwerk-Header.jpg
 
Barry - I like your car a lot, and I'm sorry its not selling. The price seems quite good to me, but I would simply comment that there are two things working against the value of a highly modified older car. (I worry about this with my car).

First of all, most of the people I know who could be potential buyers for a car like yours and who also have the skills to maintain and repair this car already have a handful of cars and a couple of projects. This makes it difficult to acquire another car, even if it is well sorted and very cool.

Second, the mechanics with the skills to do the repairs and maintenance necessary to keep modified older cars going are becoming more difficult to access. Lots of mechanics with first hand experience with our cars are either retiring or moving to the higher end of the market. Either way, this makes it harder for someone without an existing relationship to a good mechanic to get into a car like yours. Potential buyers with a pre-existing relationship with this type of mechanic don't have to worry, but this is not a large universe of people, and here again, they probably have the necessary relationship because they already have more than one older car.

In any event, I hope your car sells soon.
 
Car looks fantastic, you're probably not asking enough, this thing is turnkey and seems to only need a few cosmetic things. Put it on the market for $55K and see what happens.
 
Hinemn said:
Car looks fantastic, you're probably not asking enough, this thing is turnkey and seems to only need a few cosmetic things. Put it on the market for $55K and see what happens.
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this is a good point, sometimes cheaper does not mean easier selling

i agree that the car is perfect in the sellers view, only must find a buyer with similar perspective
 
JFENG said:
This reflects a mis-alignment between 2 visions of what it means to be an E9 enthusiast, both of which are valid and respected.

DQ’s aesthetic and mechanical standards exceed the expectations of 98% of E9 enthusiasts, and the capability of 99% of classic car shops. But BB’s standards are no less correct for an E9 enthusiast whose priority is a racing/rally experience and not on originality and cosmetics.

BB, as others have said, this is a matter of finding someone who shares your type of E9 vision. You will find that buyer but it will take longer and require some well focused marketing because the pool of buyers is probably pretty small.

Someday when I sell my classic race cars I will be in exactly your position. Many modifications, far below show car cosmetics, very costly maintenance and repair, limited usability. I’ll be happy to get my original purchase price back, and the $$$ spent keeping it race competitive …. That’s the cost to play in vintage racing, and is unfortunately financially non-recoverable.

John
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i agree, two or more visions indeed, all valid and respected
 
car is finaly sold today ! Now , sold ? almost given away. :D ( we "downsized" moved yesterday )
I will miss that car , had so much fun with it in regularity events & wrenching for years , never let me down.

Okay , up to my next "project" .... the family convertible. :cool:
IMG_20220705_1415462.jpg
 
Belgiumbarry said:
car is finaly sold today ! Now , sold ? almost given away. :D ( we "downsized" moved yesterday )
I will miss that car , had so much fun with it in regularity events & wrenching for years , never let me down.

Okay , up to my next "project" .... the family convertible. :cool:
View attachment 150679
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Congrats Barry, love the Vette!
 
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