Thinking of selling Raven project

autokunst

autokunst

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Many of you may know the details of my "slow burn" project, a 1973 3.0CS: https://e9coupe.com/forum/threads/the-raven-e9-project.26879/

It’s been quite a journey, but I think it is time to wave the white flag. As the years go by, I am realizing that the realities of time and space have more weight than I had wanted to admit. I feel the work I have done on this car meets a high standard. But that level of work, for me anyway, takes more time than I seem to have. My process is slow, methodical, and often times iterative. Based on my current trajectory, I will not have this car back into, well, a car before I am well into my 70s. I have gone back and forth on this big decision for a couple of months now, but it is time to move on.

I regret nothing I’ve done and learned along the way. I find the metal fabrication of this hobby quite rewarding. And I’ve met so many great people on this forum. All smiles.

Now, the big question is what to do with Raven and all the extra parts I have. A few scenarios include:
  • 1. Find someone as eager as I am/was and sell EVERYTHING – the car, the parts, the spares, the extras – all things E9. Bring a trailer and I’ll help you load up the car, the parts, the bins – everything.
  • 2. Sell the car and “one car’s worth of parts”, then sell the spares a la cart.
  • 3. Sell the body/chassis (sheet metal) as I have it sitting, then sell all parts a la cart.
  • 4. Some other version that I haven’t thought of yet.
My hope is that this car/parts help others on the forum in some way or another. It will not go to waste, and I am okay with the grind of selling/shipping parts over time if that is how this unfolds.

Would love to learn what ya’ll think. And do let me know if you know someone that wants a cool project.
 
I'm certain you're not alone in your dilemma, you're just smart enough to admit it. I'm aware of my "useful years" of working on cars and it's closing in on me too.

I think you'll have to try selling it as a package first with a deadline set when you'd start breaking it up and selling parts. When you post the complete package you'll get a list of people wanting parts anyway. :cool:

Dan
 
I would love to see you complete the project. You are off to a great start. That said, I know the pace of restoration projects can be frustrating, and there are other things in life besides working on cars (or so I'm told).

I agree with Dan - attempt to see the entire package first. You will get more money out of it selling things piecemeal, but the labor involved is pretty substantial. Best to make a clean break.
 
Stephen, i know your pain ... the long time my coupe has been in the paint shop has had me had similar thoughts / internal discussions. i am hopeful that i will be driving it next year.
 
There are certainly times where it makes sense to re-evaluate our project goals and, if appropriate, pivot.

As @dang says, selling all as a package is certainly preferable if selling is your final decision. You have done a lot of work so far, is this phase of the project the best to optimize the sale (timing and financial) or is there a close in set of projects that would yield better results?

Hopefully, when you sell, you will find a nice replacement that you can drive and enjoy!
 
Stephen, I know what is in your garage, and I know you will stay involved with this forum. No one walks away from 3,644 posts and 2,643 reaction scores from this forum.

As for re-tethering to e9coupe.com I suggest a Bavaria. The only BMW that is not named with letters and numbers. And they are lighter, better handling say some, and whole cars and parts come at a third or less than coupes.

Steve
 
Thanks for the great feedback and kind words. This has been a tough situation. I have flip-flopped about a dozen times over the last 5 or 6 weeks. I'll realize that the best thing is to move on. Then I go out and see some of the work I've done and decide I must persevere. But... then I think about the other projects in the garage that I have scheduled for big work this winter and into next year's driving season and think that I can't even "get back into the coupe" likely until fall 2025. And the cycle continues.

Whether I have the coupe project in the garage or not, I'm not going anywhere. I love you guys! Love this forum. I am quite certain an E9 or E3 will find its way to the garage again. But I'll need a bigger (or second) garage. We're busting at the seams.

I guess I will have to spend some time getting good photos of all of the parts bins to effectively "market" the project as a whole. That sounds daunting enough. I will have questions!

And I might begin to list some of the spares just to start the process.
 
I think you are very smart to actually consider selling what you have been working on. I mean, there is only so much of you, and you have Family, work, and that precious garage time, well, can get spread too thin. Easy to take on too much. E3s and E9s are amazing cars, we all want more of them. But you have your plate full, and realizing this is a great first step. You mention 70 years of age. I believe many of us on this Forum are in our 7th decade. We have to "economize" on our projects. I am currently, finally nearing completion of a 64 year old Little British Car, that I have been working on for, well, too long. Year ago, I lamented my slow progress to a younger friend of mine. He said: "It is not a race, Mike". Well, it kinda is!
You will find your happy medium, Stephen, and we all are here for you.
I like that Bavaria idea!
Best of luck!
Mike
 
Stephen, here's an idea, albeit sometimes tough considering the huge piles of money that us architects do NOT make ... and that is to hire somebody to do a little bit of the heavy lifting on a few very time consuming projects. even if they aren't fast, it will give you some 'away' time from your coupe. i am 67, so what you are saying isn't wasted on me. my issue is slightly different, the painter's shop took a lot of things apart, so putting some of those back together (without having taken them apart) is daunting. i will definitely be leveraging some contacts and pay to have some of that work done.
 
Here's what happened to me - perhaps my story is somewhat familiar. I was 51 (53 now) and two things happened to me as a result of being involved, and being present right here, right now...


First, I went to see $10 for 10 comedians at Hermosa Beach Comedy and Magic Club. [One of my favorite places.]
Mario Joyner got onstage and made this joke: "I love living in Hollywood. I'm 61 and I get to date women half my age because I'm famous, but going to the doctor sucks. No matter where I look, I can see the graveyard on the horizon."

Shortly afterwords, I was watching David Rubenstein interview John Chambers (Cisco) on Bloomberg.
David asked: "John, what would you tell young people coming out of college?"
John's immediate reply: "David, if you're not having fun or learning something new at your job, you probably need a new job."


Those two statements began to swirl in my mind.

I'd stare in the mirror while shaving and find myself thinking... "JP.. you're 51. Statistically, two-thirds of your life is over. What do you want to do with whatever time you've got left?"

In my 30's, I restored several 80's BMW's ('88 E28, '88 E28 M5 and '85 Euro M635CSI) then kinda got burned out and switched to Subaru WRX and STI's because the turbo'd motors had M5-level horsepower and the AWD is hella fun.

My mom had always encouraged me to keep a journal.. so I started a new one.. "Where would JP go now?"

I've always been a builder, so I started writing down ideas for all the stuff wanted to build.. ideas for changing my job, and projects for the future. [In the last 10 years, I've gone through two large mergers and my career was collapsing.]


Then I hit upon it:
  • I cancelled my cable package and went to internet data only. Frustration led me to start writing a streaming video app for AppleTV. It will be in the Apple Ecosystem within the next six months.
  • And a strange twist of fate - a discussion with a fellow hot rodder - led to an internet search and the discovery of this site. What was this E3 / Bavaria / 2800 thing? It looked like the grandfather of my 80's BMWs. The idea of restoring a car that came into existence the same year I did took root in my mind. I picked up a '70 E3 / 2800 for $4k.


Now I'm going to get a bit zen...

When I sold my 80's BMW's I realized something. Those vehicles were beautiful objects, and I'd been fortunate to be the caretaker. They brought me happiness, and working on them gave me a kind of self-love that comes from tinkering and building. But it was time for those objects to move on, and to bring that feeling to another person.

I've read your build. I've seen your attention to details. I know the enjoyment and happiness that comes from touching every nut and bolt.


But I there was something else that happened while I restored those 80's vehicles; I think it's really important, so I'll say it out loud: I couldn't be a man on an island and do everything myself; there were bits and pieces that I paid others to complete. I didn't have endless time; I had to collaborate.

If you have the Disney App, there's a fabulous documentary on George Lucas and Star Wars. The older George reflects on his youth and talks about his sense of perfection. And then the wise George makes a comment about the fact that movies get made with collaboration, budgets and schedules.


So, as others have said, I'll pose a question to you: imagine the joy of driving that E9 down the road, wind in your hair, sunglasses on.. knowing that you collaborated with others to complete the journey. It might not be the vision you began with, but it's still a beautiful vision and the builder in you can take happiness and pride knowing you were the dreamer.. the driving force that brought this beautiful vehicle back onto the road.

Do you want to give up on that dream and vision?
 
Hey there,
Thought provoking words for sure. Do I "want" to walk away from the work I've done on this coupe? Of course not. But I do feel that the re-evaluation of my life and what makes me happy leads to this decision. As far as my day job goes, I actually do love what I do. I also love working on these old cars. Add to that my family and friends (which I also love), and my cup runneth over. I have other car projects that are far more realistic. There's still five cars in the garage and I work on all of them some of the time - and some of the all of the time.

By the way, I did begin to pursue farming out the chassis work. I started some conversations, and unfortunately they didn't bear fruit.

I have decided to divide the "sale" into two categories:
- the chassis/shell along with a mountain of sheet metal (if someone wants "the car" and acts quickly, I should be able to include the rest of the car for a different price)
- all parts will then be sold over time

As I said, I enjoy this forum and want to remain a part of it. What better way than to offer parts to other forum members in need over the years.

The shell will be listed in the parts section shortly. Please tell your friends and restoration shops.
 
There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with having it finished by outside professionals. It's nice to say you did it but it's nicer to have it finished and enjoy driving it. I like messing with my cars but there comes a point when time is burning. Perfectly fine to seek help from outside folks and manage the project closely. My 2 cents...
 
tferrer said:
There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with having it finished by outside professionals. It's nice to say you did it but it's nicer to have it finished and enjoy driving it. I like messing with my cars but there comes a point when time is burning. Perfectly fine to seek help from outside folks and manage the project closely. My 2 cents...
Click to expand...
There are lots of ways to enjoy the hobby. For me, the project IS the hobby. Having someone else build a car for me doesn't interest me at all. If I couldn't build the cars myself, I wouldn't be in this hobby. For me, it's the journey...not the destination.
 
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