NationStates Jolt Archive

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pontiac-Le-Mans-TEMPEST-63-PONTIAC-LeMANS-TEMPEST-1-4-MILE-CAR-W-O-MOTOR-TRANS_W0QQitemZ110306170567QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item110306170567&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318


http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/10/ebay-find-of-the-day-1963-lemans-tempest-sells-for-226-521/

And this is with NO motor or transmission :eek2: Dont mind the rust and dents.

The bidding started at $500. LOL

Lucky bastard.

The comments in the Ebay ad and his addendum's as the auction went on and everyone realized what he had are hillarious.

Like a mom trying to sell her sons Amazing Stories #1...

That's some Barn Find history for ya, trying to shed a basket case Tempest (not even a GTO...yeesh) and finding out you have a piece of drag racing history...What's sad is if it'd been me I'd have tried to keep the car despite not really liking drag racing or having the capacity to restore the car...

I guess he just really wanted that piece of shit car...

Epic win.

Niiiiiccce :D

But what's in the trunk ;) ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pontiac-Le-Mans-TEMPEST-63-PONTIAC-LeMANS-TEMPEST-1-4-MILE-CAR-W-O-MOTOR-TRANS_W0QQitemZ110306170567QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item110306170567&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318


http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/10/ebay-find-of-the-day-1963-lemans-tempest-sells-for-226-521/

And this is with NO motor or transmission :eek2: Dont mind the rust and dents.

The bidding started at $500. LOLhttp://img292.imageshack.us/img292/5481/lolwutsp3.jpg
Seriously.

Classic muscle cars easily command over $100,000.

Rare models in a good condition cost over $300,000 and all the way up to $1,000,000.

I'm not BSing you.
Even what you could have thought of as ordinary:
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90304213
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90444472
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90444469

And more exotic examples pass the $500,000 mark:
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90446499
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90411529
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90454586

A race-participating car of which only 6 have been ever made, and with a win history? Even without the drivetrain, $200,000 is reasonable.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Pontiac-Le-Mans-TEMPEST-63-PONTIAC-LeMANS-TEMPEST-1-4-MILE-CAR-W-O-MOTOR-TRANS_W0QQitemZ110306170567QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item110306170567&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A727%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318


http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/10/ebay-find-of-the-day-1963-lemans-tempest-sells-for-226-521/

And this is with NO motor or transmission :eek2: Dont mind the rust and dents.

The bidding started at $500. LOL

This just shows how stupid some people are...

Classic muscle cars easily command over $100,000.

Rare models in a good condition cost over $300,000 and all the way up to $1,000,000.

I'm not BSing you.
Even what you could have thought of as ordinary:
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90304213
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90444472
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90444469

And more exotic examples pass the $500,000 mark:
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90446499
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90411529
http://www.autotraderclassics.com/details?adId=90454586

A race-participating car of which only 6 have been ever made, and with a win history? Even without the drivetrain, $200,000 is reasonable.

Some people have more money than they know what to do with.

I wonder how much my first car, a 1950 Chevy four door would be worth today. I bought it for $25.00 and sold it about 18 months later for $15.00. :eek:

Some people have more money than they know what to do with.

I wonder how much my first car, a 1950 Chevy four door would be worth today. I bought it for $25.00 and sold it about 18 months later for $15.00. :eek:
Not $15, but probably not all that much really. Cars don't automatically cost a lot because they're from 50's... VW Beetle starts from 40's and isn't worth too much these days. And even Ford T in tolerable condition can be had for under $10,000, and that's a legendary 1910s-1920s car.

It's these cars which people later realize were awesome, and want them, which cost a lot. Muscle cars in particular. Although the emergence of "New Muscle" has put a dent into the prices of generic muscle cars.

reminds me when I worked as a builder's labourer to help get me through Uni. One lunch we had a, "what's the most amazing thing you found doing up an old house?" competition.
One carpenter found a bag of gold coins hidden behind the wall of a deceased estate. The old guy who lived there had stored them away but then forgot to tell anyone about them before he died. The carpenter gave them over to the old guy's son.
The best one though was the other labourer. He had a week's job cleaning up another deceased estate. The old guy was a real horder so there was tonnes of old newspapers and all sorts of crap. The nephew told him to biff everything out of the garage, and that he could take anything he wanted. At the back of the garage, under a mountain of crap, he found a 1929 Indian Chief, in mint condition. He was honest enough to tell the nephew that he might want to reconsider his offer.


Best I ever got was when I was ripping some rotten panelling out from an old late-Victorian house. I found a solid gold ring with 4 rubies that had fallen down behind the boards (which was great as it was a week before my mum's birthday and I was too broke to buy her a present!). Also found an old settler's travel case, made of solid oak, half-buried under the house. Still in great condition, no rot. Had the person's name + ship he sailed on to get to Oz. I still have it at my mum's place.

One of three left in the world. If it's worth a lot of money to someone who's a collector, then so be it.

There's always this (http://www.snopes.com/luck/declare.asp) story about the guy who found an original print of the Declaration of Independence. I wonder if anyone talked on the Internet about the morons with too much money who bought it.

One of three left in the world. If it's worth a lot of money to someone who's a collector, then so be it.

There's always this (http://www.snopes.com/luck/declare.asp) story about the guy who found an original print of the Declaration of Independence. I wonder if anyone talked on the Internet about the morons with too much money who bought it.
iirc, some fine art firm bought it for $2.4 mill, then sold it on a very short time later in another auction for $8 mill.
nice work if you can get it.

the last car i had, more then a decade ago, i sold to someone for approximately scrap value, which was pretty much the condition it was in.

actually it had been in not much better shape when i bought it.

never really had, during the time i had it, the chance to fix it up, even paint it, i was hoping for when i did. then it sucked a rod or cracked a block or something that would have basically required a new shortblock at least.

needless to say, i was happy to get rid of it at any price.

if i'd have had any place i could have worked on it this story might have had a very different ending. that was the last car in my life i've owned, and personally i'm quite pleased not to have had the hassle of having to deal with them since.

I don't see what the big issue is? Seems like it was a pretty epic car -- one of only 6? $220k probably isn't unexpected. Imagine how awesome it'll be if done up... Wow.

Much smaller scale, but I bought my old jeep for $500, put $350 worth of parts on it, beat the piss out of it for 2 years, then turned it over for $2500, after no major repairs. Its all about knowing the market and when to sell.

However, the Le Mans... I need to change my pants.

Oooh. It's rare. Pardon me, but so the hell what?

I know, I know, there are people out there who love this stuff, and more power to them, but that's ridiculous. I suppose as long as there's at least one person with more money than sense who wants it, there'll be someone to sell it.

Oooh. It's rare.

And it has a History ! Don't forget that part ;)
Of course, had it been a painting by van Gogh noone would be surprised.

Oooh. It's rare. Pardon me, but so the hell what?

I know, I know, there are people out there who love this stuff, and more power to them, but that's ridiculous. I suppose as long as there's at least one person with more money than sense who wants it, there'll be someone to sell it.

It's rare, so it's valuable for bragging rights. Whoever owns it can say they're one of only three people in the entire world to have one. It's a drag legend, so if drag racing interests you, you have a piece of history. When fully restored, it's quite a beautiful car, so you could admire it's artistic value. And, since it's in such rough shape now, it'll be quite the restoration project. So, if the new owner is a car restoration enthusiast (and most collectors love to restore cars), then it's a great project for their favorite hobby.

You have to look beyond the fact that it's a car to appreciate all the other things it can be.

It's rare, so it's valuable for bragging rights. Whoever owns it can say they're one of only three people in the entire world to have one. It's a drag legend, so if drag racing interests you, you have a piece of history. When fully restored, it's quite a beautiful car, so you could admire it's artistic value. And, since it's in such rough shape now, it'll be quite the restoration project. So, if the new owner is a car restoration enthusiast (and most collectors love to restore cars), then it's a great project for their favorite hobby.

You have to look beyond the fact that it's a car to appreciate all the other things it can be.

The other things it can be? A bragging-rights trophy? I'll buy the restorationist argument, I've seen that happen, and it is cool. But hardly $220k cool. It takes all kinds, I guess.

Where would you even find parts for that?

Where would you even find parts for that?

And what would THEY cost?

Where would you even find parts for that?
I guess you'd need to get them hand-made. There's plenty of firms around who can do that.
Shame it doesn't have it's engine still.

Shame it doesn't have it's engine still.

It's a drag car. The engine probably changed daily.

It's a drag car. The engine probably changed daily.
I think somewhere in the exchange of people finding out what car it was someone said that they had the engine, or maybe it was the grill. I don't feel like clicking back.[/addressing the quote-I couldn't think of a non confusing way to make the transition without starting over...]

To the pointless chest beating about 'how could someone pay so much' blather...

The car is not just rare, it's unique. It's a piece of history - just because it's not a history you care about doesn't automatically make it a 'fool and his money' situation. That was the birth period of a form of racing that is immensly popular now. That car is the 61st home run ball of drag racing. And in that respect, it's peanuts for it - I watched the gavel fall on Phil Hill's Ferrari with which he was the first American to win a Gran Prix go for over $5 million.

If you believe in supply and demand, there was only one of those and clearly there was a lot of demand, because there were apparently a lot of people (or at least one other, but if the Barrett-Jackson auctions are anything to go by, several) willing to pay just as much for the car.

But it's not something you're into, so they must be suckers. A very you centered world, but I can't say very convincing.

only 6 of these cars were made. and this was driven by a legendary drag race.

if the new owner fixes it up i bet he can get over a mil for this.

Bloody hell! :eek: