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What's up with this sale?

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The "no-expense-spared, ground-up, nut-and-bolt rotisserie restoration by a premier specialist" apparently didn't involve anyone who knew which way is up on the radio speaker grille. However, the good news is that the fender spears are correct!

The worst part is that such sales cause many owners to badly overestimate the value of their BJ8s, although insurance companies love the extra income when those owners increase the agreed value of the car and subsequently pay a higher premium.
 
I did some drilling down on this car and found the following:

Here's the chassis number: HBJ8L42154 Google it and you'll see a lengthy auction history with the last a B-J sale at Las Vegas in 2016. https://azure.barrett-jackson.com/E...N-HEALEY-3000-MARK-III-BJ8-CONVERTIBLE-198617 The car was done by BMC in Philadelphia and was originally auctioned in 2006: https://www.soldbyauctions.com/homes/advert_details/JixDYFAtIyxVCmAK/

At all the auctions this has been in, the description has remained pretty much the same and I can't tell if it's been restored again since 2006. This report from 2016 says it looked like an older restoration: https://www.sportscardigest.com/barrett-jackson-las-vegas-2016-auction-report/11/ And I couldn't find any claim that it was an original GBM car, nor a picture of the BMIHT cert which I would think you'd see if it was.

I agree, seems like a curious sale
 
I've deleted the link, but there was a low-mileage (60K?), all original BRG BJ8 for sale on eBay a couple weeks ago. Car was located in Napa. Looked to be a cream puff, nicer than this one, but it didn't sell at a 'Buy it now' price of $65K, and high bid was, I believe, $50K. I was tempted. This one looks to be at least as nice:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Austin-Hea...ash=item56ad736c6a:g:a3cAAOSwdhla0Ogx&vxp=mtr

I wonder if the recent Wheeler Dealers BJ8 'resto' and sale at B-J has caused a--probably temporary--spike in prices? Maybe red interiors are 'the thing' now?'
 
My just finished 64 is a lot cheaper than that and done better .
Problem is the hype that surrounds Barrett Jackson and in particular BJ8s done in Metallic Golden Beige usually done by dare I mention KT .
He must have gallons of spare MGB in his shop as its the only colour he seems to do cars in :cool-new:
 
Bob_Spidell said:
I've deleted the link, but there was a low-mileage (60K?), all original BRG BJ8 for sale on eBay a couple weeks ago. Car was located in Napa. Looked to be a cream puff, nicer than this one, but it didn't sell at a 'Buy it now' price of $65K, and high bid was, I believe, $50K. I was tempted. This one looks to be at least as nice:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Austin-Hea...ash=item56ad736c6a:g:a3cAAOSwdhla0Ogx&vxp=mtr
'
Click to expand...
80Gs .....and yes thats 80Gs in US dollars for that leaky dirty rotten carpets and who knows what else hiding under the dirt clunker .......
I have seriously undervalued my recent 64 restoration based on this ?..
Mine is positively bargin basement priced .
 
I dunno, On top of the other comments about panel fit, radio grille, etc. I think I would want the boot lid cable stop mounted correctly and a prop rod for that kind of money.
This just looks like an ordinary Healey, not something particularly 'special' and based on the photos I would suggest this is more like a 40-50K car.
But if MGB makes that kind of price difference, I may have to re-think my current project.....
 
Well, from the photos it looks to me like a perfectly wonderful - if not quite perfect - BJ8. And Gold with the red interior really pops (Gold with black interior looks so drab).

If I recall correctly, it was a Golden Beige BJ8 restored and auctioned by Kurt at Barrett Jackson maybe about ten years ago that first broke the $100,000 barrier (for a production big Healey with no special history). I remember the figure $143,000 which I believe included the buyer's premium. I was there, standing on and next to the stage photographing it. It was exciting to see a big Healey sell so well.

I believe that Kurt was also the first person to paint a big Healey in "Aston Martin Green," and it was an immediate hit. With a beige/cream/tan interior it is very impressive. With a black interior it is a missed opportunity.

I spoke with Kurt at the Arizona auctions a year ago (or was it two?) and he said that he's no longer restoring cars, just selling them. Obviously some of the cars he restored are coming back around through his hands again.

Of the bidder who just paid $157,000 for a BJ8, it makes you wonder if it was an impulse purchase since a similar car could have been had for considerably less. Of course, then it wouldn't have involved all the fun of buying at a big auction, on TV, bidder's bar humming, all the lights, the pretty girls, the photographers. Auction houses - at least the good ones - know how to create excitement, and excitement equals an open checkbook.
 
The California sage with tan interior is really nice even though its not a true Healey combination but Im not a purist as you all know so paint it whatever turns your crank .. lime green with orange polka dots probably would be a tad too much though
 
Editor_Reid said:
... Of the bidder who just paid $157,000 for a BJ8, it makes you wonder if it was an impulse purchase since a similar car could have been had for considerably less. Of course, then it wouldn't have involved all the fun of buying at a big auction, on TV, bidder's bar humming, all the lights, the pretty girls, the photographers. Auction houses - at least the good ones - know how to create excitement, and excitement equals an open checkbook.
Click to expand...

You can't argue with B-J's obvious success but the cattle auction vibe with the prattling auctioneer--must be a name for the Porky Pig 'ba-dee-ah-ba-dee-ah' fast talking--and the screaming "buyer's assistants" or whatever they're called leave me cold. I prefer Bonham's, and others, with the ultra-polite little English guy 'auctioneer.'
 
Don't forget the free drinks for bidders, great sales lubricant. At least the fender spears were not backwards. Sadly, the auction hype has helped make Healeys and many other fine cars unaffordable. They are really pretty decent cars but IMHO hardly belong in the collector car stratosphere.
 
I can't watch those kind of auctions. Seems you don't even know who (or what) you're bidding against. Just a LOT of noise and confusion and a bunch of muscle cars I haven't the slightest interest in. OTOH, I really enjoy the Gooding auctions and even Bonhams though their auctioneer is a bit stiff.
 
pdplot said:
I can't watch those kind of auctions. Seems you don't even know who (or what) you're bidding against. Just a LOT of noise and confusion and a bunch of muscle cars I haven't the slightest interest in. OTOH, I really enjoy the Gooding auctions and even Bonhams though their auctioneer is a bit stiff.
Click to expand...

Each auction house has its own character, its own "act."

Barrett Jackson is like a HUGE circus with a carnival barker for an auctioneer.

Russo & Steele is like a bar fight in a disco club. Not that there's anything wrong with that! I bid on a few cars there a year ago in Arizona. Just tune out the music and flashing lights and stick to your limit.

Gooding is sedate and dignified yet playful thanks to the auctioneer Charlie Ross.

RM/Sotheby's is slightly livelier than sedate Gooding, but I've never enjoyed their new auctioneers since Max Girardo left to form his own brokerage.

Bonhams is also pretty sedate, with the bidder-auctioneer interaction almost like a friendly conversation.

Silver Auctions ... well, I actually tried to bid on a couple of cars there at their Arizona auction a year ago. It was impossible to tell what was happening, where the bidding was, if the bids were from real people or "chandelier bids," etc.

P.S. I didn't win any of the auctions, and when I got home I thanked myself.
 
I sold a GMB with red interior a couple years back to a guy in New York for $55k , he promptly sent it to R&S and it sold for $78k. I was happy with the $55k but it did erk me a little, I didn't know he was a flipper but good for him. Drug my feet last week on an local original paint one owner 66 BJ8 for $32k. The 67 I did last year wore me out so I Couldn't pull the trigger.
Marv
 
Marvin Gruber said:
I sold a GMB with red interior a couple years back to a guy in New York for $55k , he promptly sent it to R&S and it sold for $78k. I was happy with the $55k but it did erk me a little, I didn't know he was a flipper but good for him. Drug my feet last week on an local original paint one owner 66 BJ8 for $32k. The 67 I did last year wore me out so I Couldn't pull the trigger.
Marv
Click to expand...
The “flippers” are getting more creative with their stories and are bordering on out n out lies. I had one contact me recently and was found out by a Healey friend of mine. Treat the sell of your Healey as one that is for your profit for your work and ownership and all prospective buyers do not want to keep it and could eventually flip it for thousands that should have been yours.
 
Profit and loss aside, these Healeys of ours carry more intrinsic value that shows every time we take them out on the road.
 
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