Price difference between 100-6 BN4 and BN6??

[Chet Zerlin]

Along with my latest edition of Sports Car Market I also received their 2017 "Pocket Price Guide". I (of course) immediately turned to the section for Austin Healey and saw this....


Anyone venture a guess as to the reason for such a substantial price difference?

 

[Marvin Gruber]

Easy, look at the column to the left. 11k made BN4 vs 4k made BN6. Plus the two seater does look better than 4 seater.

Marv

 

[Editor_Reid]

I used to be the author of the Austin-Healey prices in the Sports Car Market "Pocket Price Guide" (and also the Triumph prices). However, a year or two ago they changed to using sales results. This has the advantage of saving money - they're no longer paying consultants - and it's inarguable as it is based on actual sales.

It may be less indicative of the overall market as it is based on a market slice that does not include private sales, but for auction-goers it is good data.

So to answer your question, the "reason" for the price difference is the marketplace, based on the cars that were offered and purchased. Opinions may differ on whether or not those results are indicative of the overall market, but that's what the slice of market that they can see has shown. It results on some strange anomalies such as a BN6 listed as worth more than a BJ8 (which would never have happened when consultants were authoring it), but think of it more as a market data snapshot rather than an overall, long-term "worth" of the cars.

 

[Chet Zerlin]

Thanks for your replies! Reid, if based now on "actual sales" there is the potential for one very large sale to skew the results.....I guess in general I would prefer the former manner of market value as being more accurate.
That said...since I have a BN6....I'm SURE this greater value is highly accurate! :joyous:

Chet

 

[Editor_Reid]

Thanks for your replies! Reid, if based now on "actual sales" there is the potential for one very large sale to skew the results.....I guess in general I would prefer the former manner of market value as being more accurate.
That said...since I have a BN6....I'm SURE this greater value is highly accurate! :joyous:

Chet

Yes, indeed it does result in some skewing. The value guide originally named Cars That Matter but that is now published by Hagerty Collector Car Insurance once showed a 1955 100M as having a value of something like $175,000 while a 1956 100M was listed at a value of only $90,000. Obviously this was based on just a couple of auction results, but to the uninformed it would look like a 100M made in 1955 was worth nearly twice what the ones made after the 1955 Christmas break were worth.

I wonder if anyone with a 100M that was made in November 1955 but registered as a 1956 model went back to their local DMV, armed with a BHIMT certificate, and insisted on changing the model year of their 100M back to 1955. After all, it would double the value of their car!

It's all a good example of how you have to be an informed consumer of data, and not just take things at face value. Same applies in other areas as well, but we don't do politics here and so I'll leave it at that!

 

[vette]

As soon as I looked at your listing I saw the column marked "Invest Grade". My 1st thought was if they are comparing like vehicles why is the grading of each vehicle different. Then I figured the analysis had to be based on some objective sales data. So the BN6s value rating is based on a better grade of vehicle than the BN4. (the black square hides the invest grade of the BN6 but I believe it says 'B'. ). You can have a near concourse quality BN6 for $68,00 or a rat rod quality BN4 for $34,000.

 

[blueskies]

Some of those numbers certainly do look suspect, and a small sample of sales can skew the values a lot.

Here's a BN6 on BAT, closing today. If it sells for anything near the current bid of $6500, that could drop BN6 sales prices below BN4 prices.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1959-austin-healey-100-6-bn6-2-seat-roadster/

 

[Rob Glasgow]

That looks like a good start on an exciting project. If I hadn't just finished a 3 year restoration, I might be temped.

 

[blueskies]

I'm tempted too, but with several projects already on the go . . . Maybe someone else on here will buy it and keep us informed on their progress with it.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Wow, I hadn't seen those pictures of the front/rear suspension; somebody sure had big dreams!

I hope it wasn't a case of the project outliving its creator/concocter...

Currently at $7700.00 (or not quite double what I paid for BN6L/942 back in 1978). Sobering.

 

[aero3113]

Do they have a price listing for BN1's and BN2's in the price guide?

 

[Randy Forbes]

Do they have a price listing for BN1's and BN2's in the price guide?

Yes, $66,000.00 for either one (100-M w/complete LeMans kit - $82,900.00...).

 

[aero3113]

Yes, $66,000.00 for either one (100-M w/complete LeMans kit - $82,900.00...).

Thank you

 

[DTDuck]

Yes, indeed it does result in some skewing. The value guide originally named Cars That Matter but that is now published by Hagerty Collector Car Insurance once showed a 1955 100M as having a value of something like $175,000 while a 1956 100M was listed at a value of only $90,000. Obviously this was based on just a couple of auction results, but to the uninformed it would look like a 100M made in 1955 was worth nearly twice what the ones made after the 1955 Christmas break were worth.

I wonder if anyone with a 100M that was made in November 1955 but registered as a 1956 model went back to their local DMV, armed with a BHIMT certificate, and insisted on changing the model year of their 100M back to 1955. After all, it would double the value of their car!

That would be a particularly nice trick since all 640 100M's were '56's. You could have a '55 BN1 with a LeMans Kit but it would not in fact be an "M"

Dan M.

 

[HealeyRick]

That would be a particularly nice trick since all 640 100M's were '56's. You could have a '55 BN1 with a LeMans Kit but it would not in fact be an "M"

Dan M.

The Austin Healey 100 M "Le Mans" "factory-built" sports cars were produced between September 5, 1955 and July 16, 1956. https://www.100mregistry.com/history3.html In the fall of 1955, at the Earls Court Motor Show in London, a new Austin-Healey model named the 100M was introduced. The Austin Motor Company production records indicate that 640 examples of this model were made between September 5, 1955 and July 16, 1956. All 640 were from the BN2 series, and it is these 640 cars, and these 640 cars only, that were named and marketed as the 100M. They are the only cars that are properly called “100M.” https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf/showthread.php?79916-What-is-(and-isn-t)-an-Austin-Healey-100M