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Number: 1008
From: "James W. Gibat-Thoroski" <jgibatthoroski@m...>
Date: Thu Jul 11, 2002  9:34 am
Subject: Re: [ASC McLaren ] Mint asc/McLarens

Body:
Re: [ASC McLaren ] Mint asc/McLarens

>In the (near) future, MINT cars are going to command top dollar.
>People, (I have found) who buy asc/McLarens that need much cosmetics,
>soon run out of money. The more money they throw at the thing, the
>more money it needs. In the end, they have a remanufactured pig
>which cost them $4,000 to purchase, and then they have sunk over the
>years (but have lost their receipts) at least another $6,000 into in
>hopes of making it "right". Know what? After the $10,000 is spent,
>they STILL have a remmanufactured car. IF (as most do) they use it
>over the reconstruction period, it further deteriorates, into even
>more cosmetics & fixes! Yhey never get ahead of the game!!! On the
>end, you'll see the cars back for-sale once again, when the owner
>finally throws in the towel, goes off to college, needs to buy an
>engagement ring, gets married, or is having a baby. Yes, there is
>also the "Getting Divorced - forces sale" ~ ~ most of these are
>really saying, I got bored with it. now it can be YOUR problem to
>figure out the places I cut "B" and connected "A" to "C" !! Meanwhile
>they have sucked more parts out of Paradise Motors, depleteing the
>non-replacable inventory, and putting these cherished pieces onto
>Pigs with make-up! If you are gonna buy one, set no time limit for
>yourself, and go slowly and find the best example money can buy.
>Trust me, they ARE out there! They are at their lowest point of
>depreciation about now, and soon will begin to rise. Mint 1990s are
>bringing $18,000 and 1989s are at $16,000. You could just about get
>into a new Dodge Neon for this money, so it's really not a huge
>amount! 1988's tend to be beat up moreso than 1987s, so be careful
>with the 1988s. Excellent pickings among 1988s are fairly slim. A
>near perfect 1988 recently sold for $12,700. 1987s are about $2,000
>less, or about $10,000.00 - The key word is BE CAREFUL! Buy nothing
>over ebay, UNLESS you travel to go see, touch, feel and drive it.
>Take along a person with more knowledge than you, if possible!
>Unless the thing is ULTRA low mileage, mint, mint, mint asways leave
>yourself extra money to fix what you never thought would break! Do
>not depend on an owner supplied VHS video! Videos & pictures can
>hide many flaws. Trust only your eyeballs!
>

Yeah, but you do it for the love of the car. If it wasn't for the people who
loved cars, we wouldn't see Boss302s, Boss429s, 69 Z/28 Camaros...at some point
someone found a car that needed work and built it back to the way it was
supposed to be.

I know of a pair of brothers that found a 72 Capri RS2600 in the back of a
barn...pretty impressive as they were never imported here to North
America...should they have just paid top dollar for a new one in Europe and
ship it over? Probably would have been cheaper and a lot of easier...but
eventually there would be fewer and fewer cars. Without people to restore
these cars, you're going to eventually run out of them...

If you do it for the money you think you're going to get at the end, you're
going to loose...if you do it for the love of the car, then you'll have a car
to be proud of. Even if you sell it and loose money on it in the end, there is
a car that is great looking and is representative of the breed.

Just know what you're getting into and do it right...there is nothing wrong
with buying a car that needs some work and putting it back together they way
you want, or the way it was supposed to be. We may not agree with what some
people do with thier cars...but it's their car and at least it's still around
rather than getting crushed where it doesn't do anyone any good. I don't like
to see mustang body parts on a Capri, but...at least it's another Capri driving
around rather than another Mustang.

----------
76 Capri GHIA / 77 Capri RSX
http://www.mercurycapri.com .net .org
Updated July 1st, 2002