WANTED: A Nice Superformance At A Great Price

[Bean-Towner]

Used Cobra prices are dropping.

If you have a very nice Superformance for sale, then I will pay up to $35-K for it. Please e-mail me with details.

No "beat to hell" cars, please. I will have the car thoroughly inspected.

Don't wait until the market becomes even more glutted. Prices (and my offer) will drop further.

Call me a cheapskate....but I have cash and will buy your car at the right price. Paul.

[jrichard]

$35k for a "very nice" SPF? best of luck to you.

[bnewell]

Not sure if you will be able to find a dealer who will knock 2 grand off.

Brian

p.s. what will you be doing for a motor and tranny

[BCompy]

One yellow, Black stripes ,428 RDI built big block , 5speed tremeac ,1000m miles, Superformance , many options ,(Spats mats and such).
Hows that saying go ,Stop dreaming and start driving!
$45,000.

[wadesdad]

Paul,

I've seen it happen twice in your price range in my area. Reasons for dumping - car is TOO fast and scared the hell out of the unsuspecting (naive) owner, or it is broken and the owner is bored with it.

Rare, but possible.

-wadesdad

[GeorgiaSnake]

Anyone paying attention has seen several sb SPF's sold for less than $40, one really nice one for $35. Good luck Bean !

[conway]

Have at it and good luck. I've always heard that money talks and b. s. walks. I think you will find something, keep looking.

Conway

[Bill Wells]

bean towner, i am sure your phone is ringing off the hooks by now with your generous offer ...LOL...

lets not forget folks that there are older spf's out there in the marketplace from 1995, maybe earlier. those cars were bought for alot less dollars than todays cars. further they had standard equipment much different from todays cars, some of which was optional back then and now standard with the price increased accordingly. thus, there are some cars for sale that do not have true knock off's but fake ones, have ford brakes and not willwoods etc. each of those two items were about $2400 each as an option before they became standard.

further, other running changes have been made over time too and price adjusted for in some cases as well. so, just cuz one or two spf's may have sold for under 36-38k , they most likely recovered their investment !!! something to think about as a sale alone does not tell the whole story folks relative to value, comparing an older car with no options is like apples and oranges to todays cars.

also, many folks have a financial or health or legal (divorce ) reason to sell so they need or want cash in a hurry, so buys can be made but they are few and far between. the same can be said about any brand car on the used car market.

this time is also the time that values go down due to winter season in 1/2 of the country plus the many 401k's (before ) that are 101k's now, unemployment is high, bonuses are down etc. I am not so sure the market is flooded any more than it normally is this time of year. remember the used listings in total might be up , but so are the units in operation as new car sales have continued to be strong. so, if 10% (pick a number ) of the total avail cars were for sale one yr ago and 10% were for sale today, the percent could remain the same but the quantity for sale in total would be up.

new spf sales remain exceptionally strong as others have reported from other mfrs as well. times are not all that bad, many folks getting out of their replicas and many more are still buying new or paying good money for used. the depreciation on these cars is low compared to what it is with a new lincoln or caddy or ...or....bought new today and sold in one year. some folks are over their heads in investment though as costs and good sense got away from them, and those folks will see more depreciation than others.

for the record, any early spf for sale at a price below todays newer cars would bring is still an outstanding investment as almost all of the upgrades could be retrofitted to the older cars. ...just my $02 worth . bill.

[GeorgiaSnake]

Bill,
Point well made, however a few things you didn't address must be. The well heeled group has not been hurt much by the last 12 months. This group almost always buys new name brand cars, thus the strong sales of SPF's, ERA's, Kirkhams and the like.

The people hurt by the economic down turn are the middle and upper middle class - the group that drives the upper end of the used toy market. I suspect the lower level new car markett is now getting this group of buyers.

I would probably jump at a good used high line replica if it were priced at 70 to 80% of new. I won't pay a premium for the excess motor or a silly signature (CS) on the hood or dash. I am looking for a car that can be driven several hundred miles without incident and gets more than 8 mpg. In my opinion a car that cost $50K new is worth $42K tops not $52K. As I have said before the cars are way cool but not rare. I bet I can find 25 SPF's less than 4 years old on the market - bet you can't find 25 buyers.

I hope to be driving one the better cars come spring but I will not pay a premium.

[Chaplin]

To Bill's point, SPF 052 is still listed on cobracountry for sale at $37,500- a nice looking older SPF in bean-towner's target price range.

[Great Asp]

Beanie,

I have not seen prices falling on SPF cars (which are the only prices I track).

You might see some of the older SPFs going cheap, but the ones I am aware of that were in decent condition (my idea of decent) and newer s/n's were well over 40K. hell, my old 992 WITH the deer damage sold for almost the price you want to pay.

A couple of 500 series went 3 months ago for just over 50K, as they had FE motors in them, and those seem to get the best resale price. a 1100 series car JUST sold in St.Louis for 47K, from owner, to owner.

Use a second on the house, join the club!

Eric

[Bill Wells]

as i said before on another thread not too long ago , 052 is a steal. and at that price you can retrofit any upgrades you want and be money ahead when done . white color is more rare, a low take rate so to speak, which does not help. paint it blue and resell it at a profit ! quite an engine in that car too. remember folks, buyer #1 takes the resale hit, buyer #2 can usually break even or come out ahead , even 2-3 or more yrs later as the new prices escalate and there is some residual upward affect on the used prices then too. for ANY brand. re the other comment on 25 cars for sale, heckers, check out cobra country cars for sale. there are multitudes of cars for sale of ALL brands at ALL prices. same on ebay ! those that lost control during the build process or got cute$y with their engine build will pay the piper vs what else is on the market. some higher end folks got bit on their investments today too, dont kid yourself georgia snk. also, the shelby mustang market is on FIRE ..prices continue to skyrocket as they did in the late 80's...investors deciding to go the car route vs the stock exchange i guess....not all win in either investment category: cobra replicas, cobras, stocks etc. my spf 156 was built in 1996 and looks as good today as the brand new spfs in the 1400 serial range! quite a tribute to then and today. a friend owns era #005 , built over 20 yrs ago, looks like a brand new car today too, superb long lasting quality and it is still original body/ paint/ seats etc .. like brand new too ....the higher end cars retain the luster, the quality remains beyond the first couple of years. ya get what ya pay for. not all can say that. .. i have seen owners of early spfs who bought them new sell them for MORE THAN THEY HAD INVESTED ! I could do that too ! something to think about....052 could be yours bean towner ! pay the price and join the club ! you won't lose . bill.

[Bean-Towner]

I have gotten some leads. Seeing is believing, of course.

I am like Don (To Dream the Impossible Dream) Quixote. I will not give up. Surely I can find one nice one at my price.


Regarding the guy who paid $35-K for the "deer damaged" car, he's the kind of guy I would love to SELL a car to. I might be wrong. But I bet he spent a small fortune fixing that car up. Probably better off to buy a brand new car. IMHO. Paul.

[Great Asp]

He fixed it for 6K the way he wanted to have it fixed. Not the way I would have fixed it, but he is in a 52K car for 40 and change. Plus, I had that car so tight, that you could use a table spoon to figure out the oil loss after a 2000 mile oil change!

Also, it was my car before, so the value did go up

Eric

[wadesdad]

Is it just me or does every thread end up with Evan pontificating about how wonderful he (I mean his car) is?

Food for thought.

[B L & sons]

Paul
Take a look at Roadwarrion post in the all cobra talk forum looks like a good deal on a SPF.
Bill

[rlearp]

I know the guys with SPFs want to make sure the value stays high, and I think the values will stay high.

But I'm always looking for Cobras, SPF especially, and I've seen a couple go for $35k - one recently that a fellow had to sell for health reasons. It was a nice car too. And that one wasn't exactly a quick sale, it took awhile if I remember correctly. Also remember one way back in Nov-December that went for the same locally (Eastern NC area) that was a little better. Keep looking, you'll find one eventually.

R

[HIQ]

People who really want cars don't negotiate on the internet! This guy is just blowing smoke.

[Bannon]

rleap,

If the car you are talking about is the one Im thinking of the story is as follows. That car was a late model and sold within 1 hour. I know because I saw the car the next day and was crushed. I would have bought the car. I am going to buy new this December but it was one heck of a deal that I would not have passed up. The message on Cobra Country stated that the guy had 80 emails, 5 offers and a buyer within one hour. If I rememeber correctly it got bid up a bit too. I personally am glad if it did get bid up as I hate to see anybody forced to loose their dream for any reason let alone poor health.

John

[JBAIRD]

Bean-Towner, keep looking. Your Dreaming!!! LOL