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Nice! but not that nice.

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Bret

Bret

Yoda
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Nice Rubber Bumper B
I’ll admit that it is “almost” a perfect specimen but for the “buy it now price” I could think of a lot of other classic vehicles I would want first.

I found a couple things that bugged me under the bonnet but with all those pictures the one thing I noticed missing was any under the car pictures.

Hard to judge by the pics but I’d say it looks like about a $10,000 car tops! But even at that price you could purchase a cheaper Rubber Bumper B and spend a two or three thousand and have a car at least as nice as the one pictured. And still have money in your pocket.
 
Boy that is a nice ride but I'm with you. I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a "B". Someday it might be worth that much but you would need to hold on to it for quite sometime. Still, it is one of the best examples of "all original" that I have ever seen.
JC
 
Woo! Expensive is right. Looks like they might be asking that much to help pay off the mortgage on that lovely house.
 
Or to pay the real estate taxes on that lovely house!
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif JB, they are going to buy a Healey!---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif
 
You guys are KILLING me. First walter, now you??
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
I really like the OD switch... pretty nifty design.

Say anyone else notice the milage on the Odo?... *me thinks this is Satan's car*
 
I'll be the odd guy out...I think the car is worth the $ for the BIN.

They are not making any more of these cars...To buy, restore, repower, repaint a B to this level is insanely expensive...parts alone! Look at the price of parts lately..$800 or so for a friggin hood!

The parts (retail) for my motor job last year were about 5-6K, if not more..(granted it is a pretty heavily modified motor) never mind the rest of the car...

If the car is half as decent in person as the pics show...it is a steal IMO.

Go ahead..buy a $5000 beater...then redo the front end...rear end...motor...interior...add an OD...add it up..not cheap..even if you do the work! Unless recently serviced..all the bushings will have to be replaced..probably the kingpins if not kept up..gas tank..brake lines..fuel lines..brake rotors/calipers/etc..never mind cosmetic work...body work IS NOT CHEAP to get done right. If your rocker panels are rotted/rusted..and ur castle rails are bad..you have a parts car..unless you take on the huge job of replacing them.

My mechanic regularly sells his restorations (as nice, if not better than this car) for well over $20K. They all sell..and the buyers are thrilled. I should have bought his last one...would have saved a bundle over what I have into my B.

18 grand...who do I make the check out to?

Paul
 
Make your check out to 'findgreatcars.'

As far as $5000 beaters, I have seen some incredible MGB's for $5000 or less. The problem with an $18000+ price tag is that a majority of people don't have the $18000+ to just write a check out for a car like that. A $5000 beater may SOMETIMES end up being an $18000 car, BUT that can be done over months and years of restoration, a little at a time, as funds and time allows. You can't just walk into any lending institution and ask for a $18000 loan to buy a 30+ year old car, they won't give it to you. So the money has to be available up front. And for some of us, that sort of money may be available, but a car with a price tag like that is a bit too frivolous a financial investment.

I'll take my $4000 'beater' any day. It didn't set me back financially, it looks okay, runs okay and I do not have to worry about driving it daily and putting 8000 miles or more on it a year. And when all is said and done, I'm probably enjoying my car a lot more than the person that plunks out $18 or $20000 for the same thing.
 
There ARE spectacular deals out there..but if you want something of this level of restoration.. you gutta pay..is it WORTH $18K? its up to the buyer..I can't say this one is either..without seeing it in person for a full blown inspection.

But they are not making these cars anymore..the newest one is 25 years old...there are great values out there for sure..but to take an average daily driver to the level of that car...would cost more than $18,000 without a doubt.

I've been doing my 'rolling restoration' for 3 years now..not close to being complete..but the mechanicals are done..have to do the interior...but I have an insane amount of $ into the car...certainly a case of more $ than brains for sure..but then again..my car is pretty fast..without a supercharger (about the same HP as a Moss S/C B)..it handles like it is on rails.

After going through what I have done..I would entertain a B 'already done'

Paul
 
[ QUOTE ]
There ARE spectacular deals out there..but if you want something of this level of restoration.. you gutta pay..is it WORTH $18K? its up to the buyer..I can't say this one is either..without seeing it in person for a full blown inspection.

Paul

[/ QUOTE ]

Paul,

Sure it may be worth $18K to somebody (the seller obviously) – but not me. Now depending how much of the work he did himself (or paid someone else to do) - I wouldn’t be surprised at all to discover the seller spent that much money to bring this car to its current “level of restoration”. But as everyone knows – if you expect to make money or let alone break even restoring a vehicle, you’re only kidding yourself. Been there, done that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

As for this car’s level of restoration? Sure like I said “it is nice”. But I wouldn’t consider it “spectacular”. In fact I’ve seen much better “fully restored & accurate” specimens for thousands less than what this guy wants for his 79 Rubber Bumper B. Now I’ll admit that it’ll take a much better trained eye than mine, to accurately quantify this car. But from what I can see it falls short of a true factory specimen. My untrained eyes noticed a number of things that looked tired, missing or just out of place. The engine bay has some components like the smog pump, air rail & the master cylinder (to name a few) that look at if it’d seen better days. The interior looks nice but it is hardly restored to original either. Because if that is what the seller was trying to do – he missed the mark. As for the exterior – I think the bumpers aren’t in bad shape but if you look closely they are hardly pristine. Also as I already pointed out in my last post – suspiciously missing were photos of the underside of the vehicle. Not saying he’s hiding something, but for that kind of money I’d expect it to be spotless under there. That said - I am kind of curious what his reserve is?

As for Beaters? Like you said there are lots of deals to be had if one knows what to look for and avoid. I picked up my 78B seven years about for $2K. No rust was the good news but the bad news she barely ran when I brought her home, but I had most of the gremlins where worked out the following weekend with little or no real effort or cost. Not counting normal maintenance & tune-up stuff - since then I have probably dropped another three grand getting it into its present condition. Is it still a beater? Maybe to someone it is but I actually got the Third place award in the Rubber Bumper Class last weekend. Truth is I thought there where nicer Rubber Bumpers there of those that showed up - but obviously enough folks liked my B.

Future plans for my B involve an engine that I am rebuilding on the side and a new paint job. The engine is almost paid for – with maybe another $1K of engine work & final assembly. And I bet I could still put a $4 grand paint job on my B and I’d still be ahead almost $10K of anybody who might pay the asking price for that car.

$0.02 (more like a buck fifty /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif )
 
Im not into accurate restoration..especially with RB MGBs. I would always remove the emmissions crap...lower it...change the carbs/exhaust...redo the motor..bushes..touch everything on the car...Make it fit my needs...

so if I could find one already done...it will almost always be cheaper to buy one done than to do it yourself. I have parts receipts for over 18K never mind labor. Parts for these cars are not as cheap as they used to be

I don't know the car on ebay at all..but the casual glance I gave it...looks good. Not sure what the underside looks like..that would/could change my opinion..but if it is half as good as it looks..it is still a bargain IMO. If the seller got it to just look good..and it needs a total suspension rebuild..shocks...king pins..gas tank...trans rebuild..hidden frame rot...whatever...then the value would tank.

If it is as described..the price is right.

FWIW..My B got third place in late RB Bs at British Invasion this year..I wouldnt part with my B for $30K.

Sounds like you got a good deal on your B. If you were to buy it today in the condition you bought it..it would most certainly cost more..unless the seller was a moron.

I have seen up close (at my MG mechanics shop several times a week) $2-5K cars that come in with new owners...half of them can't even get on the lift for an inspection, as the frame is non existant under cosmetic patchwork...For every 10 'driver' B's I have seen in the shop..only one would be considered decent.Then again...we are in the north east (Boston area) and we use a lot of salt in the witer and most of the Bs just rot away.

There is a butt for every seat...If I had the coin..I would take a ride down and look at that B...but I am really looking for a 1980 RB BGT (Yes there are some in the states)

Paul
 
800 mile mgb click here

Paying that much for a driver would be nuts but for a collector who's going to do nothing more the wipe it with a diaper I can see that happening on a regular basis. But for someone looking for an original driver even a very nice original driver it could be done for about half of that unless you paid a shop to do all the work.
 
[ QUOTE ]
800 mile mgb click here

Paying that much for a driver would be nuts but for a collector who's going to do nothing more the wipe it with a diaper I can see that happening on a regular basis. But for someone looking for an original driver even a very nice original driver it could be done for about half of that unless you paid a shop to do all the work.

[/ QUOTE ]

The difference between this example and the one I originally posted are quite telling.

Unlike the “restored” 79B, the 1979 LE at least has some aspects that merits an insane amount of money. First of all (and this is significant) it isn’t a “restored” vehicle it is a “survivor” – big difference!

While you'd certainly want to confirm this before you take the seller at his or her word - but the second thing that jumps out at you is that it is a Limited Edition B. You could easily be confirmed through NAMGBA or a number of other sources.

Third if we are to believe the odometer – it looks as if it has been just sitting around unused for years. This can easily be confirmed if the car resided in a state for emissions testing like California. All you have to do is get a vehicle fax and it will show you the odometer reading at the time of its smog tests.

But alas while I still think it is a more desirable specimen than the first “restored” 79 MGB I still think 18K is way more than I’d pay for one. In fact if I was to ever get my hands on a vehicle like this, it wouldn’t be any fun – because I would be too afraid to drive it.

The black LE is the type of car that should be purchased by a collector. Then left unmolested and admired.
 
I agree with what Bret is saying (as usual).....I would like to add a couple of things that no-one has mentioned. Firstly, the red car is a 1980, not a '79. The obvious clue is the shot of the plate inside the driver's door, with a build date of 2/80. Even if that were missing, the second clue is the odometer. It has six digits, whereas '79 and earlier would have only five.

Another (to me) niggle is the obviously fresh black underseal in the wheelwells, and (no doubt) the underside as well. This is reinforcing Bret's suspicion about the underside. There should be shots of the underside, and under the wheelarches, with a car as supposedly immaculate as this one. I suspect repair jobs. This car would have come with body colour under the wheelwells. My MGB, another 1980, is the same colour under the wheelwells and all the way along the underside. It is, to use Bret's words, "a survivor", original 27,000 miles. It's driven often (not extensively) and has had some things done to it, such as repairs to the dogleg panels, a Motolita wheel, leather-covered gearknob and new carpets, but the paint is original, and so is the underneath. I would value mine, cleaned up a little, as being worth around $10K or so if I were to sell it, so Bret's estimate is spot on in my view. $18K is way too much.

I respect Phantomracer's opinion as to why it might be worth the asking price, and he makes some valid points, especially in relation to bringing a car into perfect condition, but you can buy what in the UK would be termed "minters" (in mint condition) for nine to eleven grand, that really need nothing, much nicer than that red car. The vendor knows nothing about the car (he thinks it's a '79 for goodness' sake, when one of the photos that he supposedly took shows that it's a later car) which makes me smell a rat, and the absence of shots of the bottom of the car makes me even more suspicious.......
 
After finding numerous things that are not original & that point to a restoration - albeit a very nice restoration,
I emailed the owner:

me: "do you have photos of the underside of the car?"

him: "Sorry no Jay 201 232 4040"

me: "do you have a way to take a couple?"

him: "Tony if we speak and are close to a deal I would gladly take a few jay"

me: "thanks anyway...tony"

him: "YOU ARE WELCOME JAY"
 
Tony is right.....I did look further at the photos, and this is definitely a restoration. A good one, but still. Maybe he's got that much into the car because of that? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devilgrin.gif
 
No, Steve, he didn't restore it - he's a dealer...look at his other auctions...I think the guy really believes he has a low mile, original car...he has lots of positive feedback - but, he doesn't know MG's like we do!

& if anybody likes, I can list at least 20 places in the photos that show its been restored (& some things left off!)
 
yep, & when they redid the engine compartment, they forgot to paint the air pump or the clutch master cylinder...& some things they painted silver should be gold cadmium plated
 
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