73 polaris on ebay

[rsporsche]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...581849&viewitem=&sspagename=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Guys,

a new high on ebay - $75k listing - reserve not met. listed by san francisco sports cars. car looks beautiful except for that gas tank filler and some of the gauges. this is an M6 motor swap along with some other stuff. vin 2240741.

 

[Stevehose]

Looks like a rocket ship but no a/c - deal breaker for me :razz:

 

[WALTER]

I had thought about that gas tank filler for my coupe...glad I didn't pull the trigger. I hope it gets the asking price, but for $75K you would expect the seats would be in better condition.

 

[Nicad]

Lousy tires (Mine came with those), hate the fuel filler door, the seat belts are dangerously mounted, that tach Egads, but the worst thing of all is that they sprayed the windshield wiper motor when they painted it. Anyway, neat car otherwise.

 

[dealhunter0]

I need an excuse to check this one out (it's right around the corner). If anyone wants some basic input on the car...

 

[jmackro]

Lousy tires (Mine came with those), hate the fuel filler door, the seat belts are dangerously mounted, that tach Egads, but the worst thing of all is that they sprayed the windshield wiper motor when they painted it. Anyway, neat car otherwise.

Clearly a lot of $$$ went into building this car, and the seller is hoping to recover some of it. I am all for allowing people to build a car that matches their own dreams, but when you do this you need to understand that when you grow tired of it (or go into foreclosure), no one elses' dreams are likely to match your own.

My criticism of this car is that the modifications aren't consistent:
- It certainly isn't a competition car, so why the "Le Mans -style" fuel filler?
- It's sort of a "resto -rod", with its tastefully hidden mechanical upgrades, but why the hideous gauges?
- It has all sort of suspension & brake upgrades, but the stock seats and amateur harness install would leave the driver flopping around during a serious workout.

This is why when you execute a project, you need to consider who the next owner will be. There are always buyers for 100% original cars. There are buyers for competition cars that conform to some sanctioning body's regulations. Modifications that follow a consistent theme (e.g., "looks stock on the outside, but has modern components on the inside") usually goes over OK. But a mish-mash of stock, kustom, competition, and ??? just doesn't cut it.

 

[bert35csi]

Nice and unique car. Other than the M engine, not really a big fan on all the other mods. I would rather do without them. A few years ago, Bimmer magazine did an article on this coupe, even then, I had my reservations.

 

[E911]

Nice driveline but the rest of the car doesn't really follow IMO... this looks like an advert for finding the car an offline buyer (at a fraction of $75k) rather than a real effort at selling the car on Ebay. After all, if you entered it as a real auction and the high bid ends up at $28k the value would be set.

 

[kwyjibo]

auction ended: 2 bids with $75,100 high - reserve not met!

 

[rb1971]

Nice driveline but the rest of the car doesn't really follow IMO...

That's kind of what I was thinking. But if the car was totally rust free and solid, and the driveline swap was done well, as a seller I'd be looking for $50k+ as well.

The seats are a relatively easy fix. I am wondering how they shoehorned the S38 with the huge plenum into the engine bay with room for a crossbar and what appears to be the stock engine springs. In my car there would be no room for either.

 

[execmalibu]

Can you say Shill bids? I do not believe a $75,000 ebay E9....

Knowing the reserve will not be met how likely is it that the seller had bids placed?

Call me a non-believer but $75K on ebay? That is over $45K higher then the highest E9 that has sold on ebay...

I hope it is true!

 

[G]

I remember reading a nice article on this car in Bimmer Magazine.
Heres a link to the last auction.
http://www.e9-driven.com/RegistryView.asp?RID=2971

 

[E911]

I'm trying to imagine staying put in those seats?

 

[WALTER]

Knowing the reserve will not be met how likely is it that the seller had bids placed?

Call me a non-believer but $75K on ebay? That is over $45K higher then the highest E9 that has sold on ebay...

I hope it is true!

Could be shill bidding, but both bidders have quite a long bid history. One of the bidders had 0 feedback however, and two bid retractions in the last month; the other had 100% positive feedback.

I hope it is true too, because this might set the bar for restomods.

 

[dang]

auction ended: 2 bids with $75,100 high - reserve not met!

Yeah, its pretty easy to see that they're shill bidding if you look at the Bidder's history, other vehicles they're selling and the bids on those auctions...

Doesn't really matter in the end. I deal with shill bidding everyday at auctions.

Dan

 

[waynesie]

registry listing from 2009 has it seen in add offered for $55K buy-it-now.
Looking the same in the pictures as now.

 

[rb1971]

This car was relisted on ebay recently:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973...rs_Trucks&hash=item23209d85b2#ht_30024wt_1182

I was actually at SF Sports Cars looking at something else (a 400i manual - not for me but I'm glad I went down there since I've been fascinated with that car for years and now I'm over it; and on a lark a 575M - the 550M with the manual could be for me) and took a look at this car. I looked under the hood and in the trunk as well as inside the cabin, but didn't crawl around underneath.

The mechanicals seem to be very well done. It's pretty clear that (unlike my approach) they hammered the fire wall back or something similar, which is a common way to do this conversion and leave more space for the fan in front. Brad claimed that the car had never had any rust - it looked to me like there may have been front rocker rust at some point, but even if I'm right it appeared to have been properly addressed. I would certainly expect a completely rust-free shell for this money, and I didn't see anything that would indicate otherwise. (If I was buying, I'd have looked underneath.) The only thing that did worry me was that I didn't see any significant chassis strengthening beyond the strut tower bar. If this were mine, I'd be worried about chassis flex (and in mine, I was and addressed it). It might be possible to fix any problems that arise with a trunk crossbar and other outside reinforcement, but it would be something a buyer should think carefully about.

I'd also want to bring the interior up to the standards of the mechanicals, but since that was the easiest part of my resto that doesn't bother me as much. Like others, I strongly suspect it needs racing seats or some sort of lateral support.

Bottom line: it would be tough do this conversion this well for the asking price, unless you do all the work yourself. If you're looking for an S38 car that is already driving to take the last restoration mile (rather than spend 18-24 months on your own project), this might be an option to consider.

FYI - Brad (the seller) was a really nice guy, willing to talk cars as long as I was willing to stand there, and I would be happy to do a deal with him. (Probably on a 550M or F430 spider assuming I can convince the wife.)

 

[Eldorado66]

True, so I wonder if there is any chance those bids were real. What real E9 buyer bids 75K on Ebay, if you want to spend 75K on a Coupe there are better places to look. These Coupes are Fantastic when done right, but at 75K wouldnt it need a perfect interior and seats, ect. This looks kinda like they have a potential buyer and are trying to use Ebay "Bid" prices to show interest at 75K. I have seen this practice used in Japan to hype certain Antique sales in certain Shops.I dont care how nice a guy is if indeed there is any "shill" bidding all niceties become worthless.

Nice driveline but the rest of the car doesn't really follow IMO... this looks like an advert for finding the car an offline buyer (at a fraction of $75k) rather than a real effort at selling the car on Ebay. After all, if you entered it as a real auction and the high bid ends up at $28k the value would be set.