Nicole, I too was very disappointed for you with regard to that sale. Compared to 928 sales over the past few months, the car was worth more. BAT did not serve you well, as I thought the reserve should be around $40K..

Made a similar post on the '928's for sale sticky. Too many 928's listed at the same time. Also, I've felt for a long time that mid November through mid March was the best time to 'buy' a car and the worst time to 'sell' a car - especially the 'fun' type car.

Hope the walk on the beach helped a little bit. I'm sure you'll be especially sad to see it leave now.

Gary.

 

What do sales numbers have to do with any any of this? 1978 over 46,000 Corvette's were sold followed by 53,807 sold in 79 (highest yearly sales of all Vette's)

Comparison to other cars is really kind of pointless. People are not buying these vintage cars for their quality and daily driver abilities. The opening line of that BMW auction says it all: "one of 225 examples built for the US market during a two-year production run"
As for the 308, it's a Ferrari, also produced in far less numbers. Exclusivity costs money, always has and always will. Same reason why BMW Z8 Apina sells for significantly more than a similar non-Alpina Z8. Are they a significantly better car? That's irrelevant, they only made 555 of them.
Why do 1963 Corvette's sell for more than other Vette's of similar style? The '63 is one of the worst built Vette's of all time (first year production problems, the 68's are worse). The 65-67 cars are far better drivers but people pay a premium for that one year "split" in the rear window. Side note, it was a popular option to remove that split back in the day to make your '63 look more modern.

Trying to apply logic to this discussion is a fools errand. It's emotional combined with speculators trying to get ahead of rising markets.
This is where the mileage discussion hits. Nothing is going to change the fact that mileage will always have an overall affect on every car in the collector world. As I've said many times before, your typical car collector doesn't care how well these cars are built or the fact that you can go 200k miles without having to do a full service on the engine. Let's just be thankful the collector car world doesn't see German cars the same as Italian or we'd only see these rising numbers on sub 20k mile cars.

This doesn't mean every low production car is worth a fortune. You can still get a good deal on a Ford Edsel.

All that being said, I still think Nicole's car was well bought, I figured $40-$45k easy but the non-stock items combined with mileage over 100k seemed to have had a bigger affect on the bidding than I anticipated. The number of 928's that popped up for sale at the same time didn't help either along with a sudden uncertainty in the stock market that hit just before turkey day.

 

Only the buyer pays:

• Buyers pay a 5% fee on top of the final sale price to BaT, with a minimum of $250, and capped at $5,000.

"Reserve" : bidders should be aware that BAT will "help" an auction reach its reserve if it is close. I think they call it "make you whole" with respect to the seller. If you are tempted to play "guess the reserve" and bid just under what you think the reserve may be, you might end up winning even though you bid below the actual reserve. BAT will make up the difference to the seller in order to reach the reserve. I can report from experience of a dead beat buyer in this community who is now banned from BAT. He bid, won, had unknown issues, paid the commission and chose to not pay the seller (me). So one can end up paying several thousand and get nothing.

 

" during a two-year production run" ------------- because it was a problematic sh1tbox that nobody wanted LOL only a FOOL who wasn't awake back then would think that is a selling point

"Why do 1963 Corvette's sell for more than other Vette's of similar style?" YOU MUST BE KIDDING! The Split Window vette is one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL cars ever made! Wide agreement on that

keep in mind The Vette in the 80's was equivalent in price to the 944

"What do sales numbers have to do with any any of this?" ---- They prove what was desirable and sought after by an educated public at the time of sale

" it's a Ferrari, also produced in far less numbers. Exclusivity costs money" --- it's a game Hack, one that you have always fallen for. Ferrari sells one less car that it has demand for. The 308 is a POS! The offset pedals, the cramped, poorly upholstered interior, the weak little engine with 0 tourque. Most ferraris are overrated crap. IN FACT for many years Ferrari has been a PUBLIC stock company with only 1 goal > MAX PROFIT! They have many cars that WON"T SELL and they play the game of forcing customers to buy these dogs just to get on the list to buy a good car. ..................... >>>It's a ferrari<<< WHAT A JOKE GROW UP

 

End of the day, I think it was just this. Too many 928's, over 100K miles, which is a tipping point always, and some mods (no matter how tasteful or desirable, mods cost you at sale). I would have thought $45 to $50, based on the peanut gallery cheering section and the knowledgeable seller. But I wasn't surprised where it landed

 

Now I wonder, if I should have removed all the extras - which wouldn't have been very difficult to do... But then again, it no longer matters.

 

Some years ago I was shorting the stock market for a little too long after the 2007 crash. I paid. As I complained to my MUCH more experienced trader friend on the CBOE that every indicator I could think of showed the market should be continuing down longer he simply smiled and said "The Market is never wrong....period. If it's raining put on a raincoat, and don't blame the rain for getting wet."

The Market has a pretty strong message on early cars and GTS and GT lately...for now. And it has a message on Automatic S4s with 100k plus miles...for now. I don't really know Nicole and have never seen her car in person but all indications were positive for long dedicated ownership, care and condition. I think the colors hurt this car's potential in the current market. I happen to love the color combination, any shade of gray paint on these is unusual and it makes the car look really reserved and dignified to me. Magenta carpet would have added 10K to this...IMO.

I'm with hacker...well bought. It'll be obvious to everyone in a few years.

 

Maybe Nicole but you did some very tasteful modifications.
These mods only made your car aesthetically better. At least to me.
And I'm sure that you were very pleased with them too.

I did few modifications too on my car since I bought it.
A bit too many and went back to stock on few of them (particularly this year).
But there's some mod. that will stay for as long as I will own the car. Like the aero mirrors, luggage cover...
And it will not go back to full stock when I'll sell the car...

Maybe that the timming was not the best to sell your car (on BAT).
The buyer got a real deal. I hope he knows...

My two cents.

 

My bias is that many BAT buyers are looking for the closest thing to the dealership experience that they can get. They want the drivetrain serial numbers, the books, all the keys, tool kit, accessories, and for the car to look like it's been dealer prepped. Take your vacuum cleaner and manicure the carpets like it's the infield at Fenway park.

And anything that isn't stock is a detriment to that kind of buyer. I agree with Nicole that her car likely would have done better with all the original bits back in place and sitting on a set of D90s, regardless of how excellent an example it is (and it really is!- the buyer got a bargain.)

 

Thanks again! I hope the new buyer will appreciate what he got, and take care of the car going forward.

For me, this ends almost 25 great years of 928 ownership (this was my 3rd 928), and completes the switch to fully electric transportation.

I have always been a design and technology person. The 928 was way ahead in both at its time. It fascinated me since I first saw one around 1978, when I referred to it as a "potato" (because of its round rear end). It was revolutionary with its integrated bumpers and equally integrated dash, console and doors. The clean design was what always kept me interested, even as the technology aged. I still think it is one of, if not THE most beautiful car ever produced.

I still have a whole closet full of 928 literature - factory marketing materials, books, articles. It's probably one of the most comprehensive 928 literature collections in the world. I still have to decide what to do with it - keep it, or find a long term home for it. In a perfect world, it would live with someone who writes about Porsches and would use it as a reference. At this time I have no intention of splitting it, or selling individual pieces. If someone here is interested, please PM me.

As I stated earlier, I will start making an inventory of all the items I have and offer some of them for sale in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

 

Pete Stout should get that library.

 

Rob Edwards should buy that library.

 

I want a library card if you do!

 

PS: I also have a set of PorKen Lifter bars, but will only sell those locally (no shipping)

I have spoken with him about it at some point. But was not ready to let go at the time.

That would be a great home for it. And given the size and weight, could be easy to move: I come through LA on my commutes to the condo a few times per year and could deliver.

I would love for it to go to someone who actively participates in the 928 community and uses it as a reference to educate other owners. That's what it has always been for!



I'm sure you can work out something...

 

I would _love_ to be the steward of the collection and be a source for sharing its information with anyone who's interested. I met Pete at Greg's a few years back and made the offer to help him and others should he ever need 928 info.