$56,000. Model A Speedster

G

Gil Sissons

Senior Member
Anyone else followed yesterday’s Bring a Trailer sale of the Model A Speedster?
A incredible flurry of bidding ended up with a final bid of $56,000. !!
Then add to that the buyers premium.
Yes.... it has a very nice fresh aluminum body... but I have not seen a sale like this.

Gil. NoCal
 
Yes i saw it and thought the car was way overpriced.

I got a kick out of those homedepo hood louvers.
 
It seems like at that price could buy a nice Roadster and a Phaeton to keep it company!! I think the highest price ever was the 30 Coupe that John Dillinger used and Red Hamilton was mortally wounded in, I guess that because of the notoriety involved.
 
I would not have bid. The aluminum is shiny but the engine is nothing special and the way the exhaust is piped would add lots of back pressure. The radiator shell is ugly. I agree that the Home Depot louvers are tacky. Not worth $56K. There are some much nicer speedsters for sale. It seems like hot rods and shinny cars go for too much on Bring a Trailer whereas run of the mill Model A's go for too little.
 
Post 6 , I agree with you on the price of restored, original cars go for too little same thing at auctions on tv . Street rods go for big dollars but even a nice original low mileage cars you really can’t replicate, like a maybe a all original 1940 Pontiac, doesn’t get much attention.
 
Where are these buyer's when I need to off something???

I follow Bring A Trailer daily. It seems for the most part, vehicles on BAT, sell for a premium. Maybe it is just the excitement of the auction.

Unfortunately, I am starting to think that BAT has become the most popular place to buy and sell just about anything these days.
 
The folks on Bring A Trailer are looking for specific things. They want something that will get attention at cars and coffee. And I'm not sure a lot of them know what they are looking at. They love things like "safari" 911s...of which there really isn't provenance in the real world. Weld a tire mount and shovel on the top of a Porsche...and you've got "safari." The worst are all the backdated vehicles. They absolutely lust after those.

That said, you can steal things right from in front of their eyes.

I scored a 1970 Triumph Bonneville T120R off there at a portion of normal list cost. Everyone just stared and commented...and even with transport I walked away with a steal.

Skip the plastic and look for the real steel - incomplete or partially restored vehicles are almost invisible to them.
 
Gil Sissons said:
Anyone else followed yesterday’s Bring a Trailer sale of the Model A Speedster?
A incredible flurry of bidding ended up with a final bid of $56,000. !!
Then add to that the buyers premium.
Yes.... it has a very nice fresh aluminum body... but I have not seen a sale like this.

Gil. NoCal
Click to expand...

Demographics are changing. Just as some antique shops are closing, interest in original Model As is waning. Sad.
 
This might revive some interest then. A true vintage sports car costs mega bucks to buy, run and insure. The body is not to my taste, but is quite practical and looks fairly professionally designed. Plenty of handles and foot holds for aging motorists.
For that money tho, I'd want professionally rebuilt mechanicals at the very least. With a Burtz block and an overhead valve head it would go well.
And no cracks in the spare tyre ...
 
Can’t say interest is waning in stock model a’s..that “speedster” is bone stock mechanically..nothing more than a stock chassis with poor body work…”all hat and no cattle” where is the speedster part?.. 56k? Bring a trailer? More like find a sucker
 
Unfortunately, that will just make model A owners think they own a piece of grandeur!


Has everyone upped their cars value 20k yet? lol
 
Bob C said:
I notice the muffler is backwards .
Click to expand...

The muffler on a Model A is really a clever design. The hot exhaust exits the engine with a larger pipe and then cools in the muffler. It then exits with a smaller pipe. The larger pipe is not needed after the exhaust cools. There are two baffles that reflect the noise back and the tapered configuration helps to reflect the noise back too, sort of like the opposite of a megaphone.
 
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any engine with paint on the head studs and nuts is suspect.
has not been driven enough to burn the silver paint off the manifold.....

BAT and Hemmings' Auctions both sell a lot of cars WAAAY above typical prices.

If you want to sell a stock Model A for a premium price, Hemmings' Auctions seems like the place to go.
 
To much or to little?

There isn’t a KBB value on Model A’s.

I am happy for both the buyer and the seller. How would you feel?

Enjoy.
 
When I see this stuff I think of a gold chainer that knows little about these cars. Impulse buyers are fine for us folks that are selling but they might be the first to try and back out of the deal too if they develop a case of buyer's remorse. Don't be surprised if it comes back up again soon.

Anyone who pays a lot more than what an item is worth has a serious problem with their thought processes.
 
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