Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with classiccar

Help me ID this classic car, please.

MrToad — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:41:58 -0800

Could someone possibly ID this classic car for me? My friend is trying to identify the old car in these pictures. I'm guessing possibly a Packard of some flavor, but I'm no expert.

Anyone able to let us know the make and model?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sell a classic sportscar with a brand new Ebay seller account?

JustDerek — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:22:15 -0800

Selling classic car Filter: Can a seller with no history/feedback/seller rating realistically sell a 1978 De Tomaso Longchamp for $25K on Ebay? My boss, a wealthy executive and occasional classic sportscar collector, is having me list his 1978 De Tomaso Longchamp on Ebay. He bought it about a year ago at an auction for around $25K. His wife got as far as setting up a seller account on Ebay, getting 12 good pictures of the car, (all angles, interior, odometer, engine, etc) before turning the task of listing it over to me. She also told me what reserve price to set.

My question is, are they wasting their time? Are they way more likely to make a little profit on the car by selling it on a different site, or by listing it in some other way offline?

You can't put a price on love, but let's say that love has a 6 cylinder 225 in it...

rileyray3000 — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:40:46 -0800

How much do I charge for my lovingly restored 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger with a salvage title? So about four years back, I got a 1970 Dodge Swinger on the Craigslist for about 1500 bucks I think. My plan? Put in like 2 or 3 grand tops and just enjoy the car I'd been lusting after since I was nine.

That plan lasted all of about a week. Then came the first front end work. And the brake booster. And several alternators. But, like some mad scientist villian, I just couldn't accept my plan was the wrong one. So I kept pouring money, and time, and lost girlfriends, and money, and bus rides to my mechanic and money into the thing. How much? Today, I'm looking at, conservatively, somewhere over 20 grand.

When you factor in a remanufactured engine, a transmission and the fact that I can do NO labor on my own (and have to pay my mechanic) it all makes perfect sense. It doesn't make it less idiotic, but at least the math comes out right.

Cut to the holidays of 2005. My car was parked on the street in Koreatown. A drunken kid whacked into my beloved car and took off. I got my money from his insurance company eventually. If you want the full story, click the link.

The Full Story

But the upshot is I got what I asked for, and then some. But, in exchange, they were going to "total" the car. Which meant, from this point on, it was going to be a salvage title. I realize I should have fought it but I was riding the bus in LA due to lack of transport. A metro line that smells like badger pee will skew anyone's judgment over time.

The upside is that I ended up fixing - to get said title - a bunch of stuff that I would never have done otherwise. The downside? After completely restoring the car to a level that I never dreamed possible, it's worth, I think a lot less than I hoped for in terms of resale.

Which brings us to today.

I never thought I'd get tired of the preferential treatment afforded by mexican valets to my swinger. Or the lusty looks of rockabilly chicks. Or how every guy over 45 would give me that look of admiration for driving his favorite car of his teen years.

And yet, in the face of the lack of AC in a sweltering Valley summer looming in LA, I've had to rethink my car dream. This weekend my drum brakes started pulling again, a belt started whinnying that it was time to be replaced and my brake pedal started coming up to higher level demanding re-adjustment.

Put plain, I don't think this is gonna work as a daily driver anymore. It is simply not worth the sacrifice when I have to drive as much as I do in LA. And, for the record, it pains me to actually admit this.

I'm not at the income or parking space level where I can keep a second car. So it's time to get rid of the swinger. Sadly. And the million dollar question?

What do I charge for it?

It's an LA car so it's practically rust free. There was a minor accident but all it did was take off the rear valance. I have receipts for over 20 grand worth of work and parts including, but not limited to, a whole new front end, new paint, new interior, new 225 6-cylinder engine, new tranny, matching hubcaps that cost me a few bucks and months of my life on ebay.

In fact about the only things that are original are the differential and the frame with the serial numbers that are registered "SALVAGE" up in Sacramento.

Unfortunately it's that latter thing that's gonna kill some of the value.

So that all being said, what's the price I should throw at this thing? And where do I put the ad? Hemmings? Craigslist? Ebay? The LA times? A consignment lot? Where does one sell a classic car these days? And what's my best pitch for the car when I do get interested buyers?

1966 Ford F100 Value

weretable and the undead chairs — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 11:55:03 -0800

I need help determining the private party value of a 1966 longbed Ford F100 pickup and advice on selling it. I am seriously considering selling this vehicle, it was my father's truck and that is the only reason I still own it. The only reason I would keep it at this point is if others with more knowledge of classic cars and the market think I am better off keeping it as an investment, which I doubt.

This vehicle has minimal rust and no rust-through or anything close to it, only a few small dents in the bed itself, none on the hood, roof, sides, etc. It has never been wrecked and the engine is in very good shape. Runs great. It needs to be painted. Needs some interior work but this is minor stuff like replacing the plastic on the inside of the doors. It would not take a great deal of time or money to make this truck look spectacular.

Most online sites either do not have pricing for cars this old or do not give you any options on grading the vehicle so it is difficult to determine just what it is worth. Or I am just bad at using google.