I'm just looking around for a few different old Mopars to maybe upgrade to. And it seems like 80% of cars listed for sale are classic car dealers. Do they just swoop up and buy any good deal? And then double to triple the price. I guess you have to be lucky and find something local that's not on the internet.
Case in point - my car - 71 Duster w/408 stroker 4-speed, wilwood brakes, upgraded springs, sway bars, bilstein shocks
Really nice car, I spent about $35K total - rotisserie restoration also had a lot of great help from friends
Sold it to a guy in Delaware in 2018 for just a tick over $30K, he ends up selling a few months later to a "classic" dealership in Ohio for about what he paid me - $30K - they put it on their website for $50K
Sits there for about year and a half - moves to another Ohio specialty dealership - now they want $70K (I noticed they installed power steering)
Eventually it sold at the 2021 Mecum Kissimmee auction for $68K including commission - billed as a "restomod"
There have been a few that have caught my eye in recent years. One was an '85 or '86 Daytona Turbo Z that was in the car corral at Carlisle a few years ago with the flyer from a consignment dealer still in the window--but with their price crossed out and a more realistic one handwritten in. I talked to the owner and he said his price was much lower because "I'd like to actually
sell it."
Then there's this '83 Charger 2.2 I spotted on AT Classics last Spring, right after I talked myself out of a Shelby Charger that was a Hemmings auction. Now, this is a pretty nice example of a car you never see anymore, and it has the right options (5-speed, air, lower-body blackout, deluxe interior), but they're asking $10,995 for it! Now, how many people do you think there are in the whole world who'd still be interested in a 94-horsepower, carbureted, 4-cylinder, front-drive Dodge Charger? 50? 100? Think any of us are interested in paying eleven grand for one?
Well, it was on Barn Finds in late 2022, and the price there was only $5600.
Hope the consignor is enjoying it, because he's gonna have it for a while.
