Wedge prices......Again.

Wedge prices......Again.

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Discussion

mrzigazaga

Original Poster:

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Hi peeps...Just looking through the classifieds...Some of the prices are ridiculous TBH....Greedy traders are flooding the market making Wedges unaffordable for the true enthusiasts..I know they have overheads, Don't we all?....I refuse to believe its helping to push values up just pushing them out of reach of someone looking for a hand built British iconic V6/V8 sportscar..I know they are nice but 24K for a 400SE..Bullst...Even 20K for a one owner and low mileage is a gamble as most of it will probably need replacing if its not been used...We need to set the president for prices not some greedy chance taking trader...(More on this later)..I would spend a said amount over a long period of time but if i had the cash in my pocket in a lump sum then sorry i would NOT buy a Wedge..Well maybe a SEAC...I would go for a T350c or a Tuscan....Or have the body taken off and the chassis sorted out..All the running gear replaced and whack a Griff 5.0HC in there with mappable ECU and upgraded ignition system...Probably come to 15K...Maybe a respray in candy apple red for an extra 5K but for 20K i would have a solid monster that would out perform a SEAC and probably most other variants of TVR..The main thing is..I would NOT sell it..."You would have to prise the keys from my cold dead hand"....Ziga

ElvisWedgely

2,714 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Mark, I agree with what you are saying about over inflated prices by dealers and putting them out of reach of the true enthusiasts, but it seems similarly, the Wedge is following the pattern that has happened with other classic cars. Let's take the early Lotus for example. The Lotus Elan's have been continually going up in price, pushed by the traders until it's reached a level that's not affordable by enthusiasts. There are no shortage of these cars, as there seems to be plenty around, and yet they are in the hands, more often than not, of the investors rather than enthusiasts. I have always had a passion for the Lotus Elan as well as the Wedge, but prices have always been overinflated and not justifiable in my opinion. Will the same happen to the Wedge?
It certainly seems to be heading that way.

Tony. TCB.

Graham

16,368 posts

283 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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I think I'd rather see wedge prices going up, and the cars being preserved, rather than whats been happening that they are worth so little they get raped for the engine and trans and the rest scrapped as has happened to far too many cars over the last few years...


JVaughan

6,025 posts

282 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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£24k !.... so If I spend £10k on a new chassis, full respray, refurbed wheels my 400SE will be worth £4k more than I paid for it back in 1998 !!!

interesting that its a 1992 Reg .. Wonder what the chassis number is..

matt-man

2,665 posts

218 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Guys...why do you insist on putting wedges down.

They arent a f£cking charity! All other cars are stupid money. 20K for mint stag is OK but a wedge it isnt?

So, in other news... a 1960's mercedes SL is a 50-80K car but a 2000's SL55 is a 10-15K car - logical? better car? no. just the way of the world.

be happy you own one!

hallsie

2,184 posts

219 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Rubbish!

If dealers are setting the precedent on prices as high as they are, then it will only mean that when someone wants to sell their car then they can achieve a price a little closer to the amount of cash thats been spent on them over the years!

Once finished, my FHC will be valued well over the 20k mark and insured for closer to 30k.

wink
Stu


stevoj

798 posts

160 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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.All the running gear replaced and whack a Griff 5.0HC in there with mappable ECU and upgraded ignition system...Probably come to 15K...Maybe a respray in candy apple red for an extra 5K but for 20K i would have a solid monster that would out perform a SEAC and probably most other variants of TVR..The main thing is..I would NOT sell it..."You would have to prise the keys from my cold dead hand"....Ziga
[/quote]


You after a Cobra then Ziga!biggrin

smash

2,062 posts

227 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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It wouldn't have a Rover lump if he was! wink

Post £20k wedges are way out on the edge of the bell curve and not indicative of what wedges in general are worth, only the size of the balls of the person trying to sell it!

If he can sell it - great! Does it mean wedges are worth £20k plus - not yet they're not.

Stag values didn't flip overnight - they rose steadily to where they are. Wedge prices - or more specifically - what's being asked for wedges is on the rise slowly.

Are they selling though....

hallsie

2,184 posts

219 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
stevoj said:
.All the running gear replaced and whack a Griff 5.0HC in there with mappable ECU and upgraded ignition system...Probably come to 15K...Maybe a respray in candy apple red for an extra 5K but for 20K i would have a solid monster that would out perform a SEAC and probably most other variants of TVR..The main thing is..I would NOT sell it..."You would have to prise the keys from my cold dead hand"....Ziga
You after a Cobra then Ziga!biggrin
Mine wont out perform a SEAC, but is will be RARER than one, and with a 4k respray, new chassis, 220 BHP plus engine, and essentially all new mechanicals, not to mention re done interior, in the RIGHT hands itll keep up with any SEAC driven by MOST people!

And just to reiterate, IM NOT SELLING.

Stu

mrzigazaga

Original Poster:

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
Looks like i have stirred up a bit of a hornets nest...smile Don't get me wrong i love my Wedge and i will NEVER drive another car and I'm certainly not putting them down, I feel very passionate about them as some of you know by my reaction to PPC magazine that time......Okay..Some..Not all classic cars fetch high prices due to rarity, Most of the highly priced ones have had a nut and bolt restoration to mint condition and generally they have had all the creases ironed out..If say the 400SE has had a full restoration to body..Chassis..Engine including wiring then for that money i would say fair enough as its basically a new car...But nearly the same for one that has been sat around for years?..Its irrelevant if its been dry stored..Has it been in a climate controlled environment all this time..I doubt it which means moisture in the air has an opportunity to get in to places that are hard to see..Would you pay 20K for a car that needed a possible 10K+ spent on it in a few years time?...All good if you can D.I.Y but not everyone can!...

I really hope that values are increasing across the board as when I'm 70 i can cash mine in and go out in a drug induced pleasured state and have some left over to bury me...If not then the Wedge will be my coffin/Tomb..

It mostly annoys me that when traders buy your car for peanuts they double their money whereas if you or i were to sell to another prospective owner then the price would probably be more realistic/Affordable..And yes its also worrying when they get raped instead of saved but who's fault is that...The people using what they can from them or the people letting them get in that state in the first place?..I foresee an increase in more getting scrapped or raped due to them not being in a particular standard of condition unless they have a particular history surrounding them..Okay they will become rarer if this happens i guess which will most certainly push values up..

My personal view is that we should set the values based on the fact that most of us know our car..We have spent the time and money on them and we know what still needs to be done in most cases so this gives us a true perspective on value..Traders chancing their luck doesn't...

After all who has kept the Wedge alive all this time...YOU...And thank fk you have or i would certainly not of been able to live my dream...Cheers...Ziga






ToneyCaroney

1,032 posts

183 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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If you already own a wedge, it's good. If you don't, but want to, it's bad.

mrzigazaga said:
I foresee an increase in more getting scrapped or raped due to them not being in a particular standard of condition unless they have a particular history surrounding them.
As the best become more valuable they will drag the less good up behind them. The benefit of this is that restoring (rather than scrapping or cannibalising) becomes a much more financially realistic option. This can only be a good thing.

btw, I'm not convinced that there's a correlation between being a 'true enthusiast' and the amount of money a person has/doesn't have to play with. smile

JVaughan

6,025 posts

282 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Im not surprised though that Wedges have started to increase in value .... The Tasmin challenge saw a lot of good wedges bastardised for track use, being modified with rough fibreglass or ali plate & perspex

mrzigazaga

Original Poster:

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
ToneyCaroney said:
As the best become more valuable they will drag the less good up behind them. The benefit of this is that restoring (rather than scrapping or cannibalising) becomes a much more financially realistic option. This can only be a good thing.
I really hope you are right mate..But going by todays prices for i:e Chassis restoration = £1500-2K for low end, Body raised and only what's visible addressed and 5K top end for a full body off..Thats without steering...Differential...Suspension and fuel tanks addressed which could add another 2-3K..Paint 2-5K...Engine rebuild...3K..Interior...depending where and who does it..2-4K..20K tops for a car thats worth 5K???..Obviously this cost is dramatically reduced if you are able to do most of it yourself and is not so bad if done over a period of time.

ToneyCaroney said:
btw, I'm not convinced that there's a correlation between being a 'true enthusiast' and the amount of money a person has/doesn't have to play with. smile
I think it does..As above the cost can spiral and then it does matter how much you have or have not, Almost every person that i have met who owns a Wedge..(And Griff..Chim..Tuscan) is a down to earth kind hearted person who digs deep when it comes to helping those who really need it and most of all they have a passion for these cars...Traders just pull ya pants down..shaft you and then do the same to the potential buyer...It would be interesting to see if these people offer a warranty on the Wedge like they do with other variants of TVR..Up until now some of them would not of touched a Wedge almost to the point of looking down their noses at it.

I know business is business and you have to be hard sometimes to make money but i just don't like seeing people being taken the piss out of due to their unfortunate financial position..And i have seen this quite a lot recently as regards to Wedges...Anyway..Long live the Wedge and long live TVR....beer

V8 Fettler

7,019 posts

131 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Brave trader to sell any 30 year old car, particularly at the cheaper end of the price range (for classic cars), trader will add a substantial mark-up to cover his risk.

Asking price could be a long way from the selling price.

Boost Wedge values? Get it onto a music film. Sorry, music video.

mrzigazaga

Original Poster:

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
V8 Fettler said:
Boost Wedge values? Get it onto a music film. Sorry, music video.
Thats happened twice as far as i know it...Although one was some years back...I think it was a 390SE in a Gary Numan music vid and one recently with Wedgeinalds 280i...Although i can't remember who that was???... smile

MethylatedSpirit

1,893 posts

135 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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All classic car prices are going crazy.


Talk to classic range rover owners. The prices have went mental for good models. These were considered bangers a few years ago... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1994-Range-Rover-4-2-LSE...


mrzigazaga

Original Poster:

18,534 posts

164 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
It would be nice if the Wedge did start to increase in value as its such an under valued car anyway..As said many times..What else could you buy for under 6K that will have a V8..Look fantastic..Sound awesome and go like the clappers...Also as a plus its a slice of British hand built sports-car heritage..I smile every time i drive it and it makes 9 out of 10 bystanders do the same...Today in Greenwich park mine and the Gredge was swamped by Japanese tourists..I said as a gesture to some of them taking pics.."£2.50" and they looked very happy to pay..

However i would appreciate the rise in value more if it was a genuine appreciation for the car instead of someone using it as a bargaining tool just to line their pockets....Cheers...Ziga

Wedg1e

26,760 posts

264 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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Graham said:
I think I'd rather see wedge prices going up, and the cars being preserved, rather than whats been happening that they are worth so little they get raped for the engine and trans and the rest scrapped as has happened to far too many cars over the last few years...
But on the other hand we also see people buying them cheaply and then weeping buckets when they find what it costs to up the condition. No different to any other old car of course but somehow people seem to think that 'it's a kit car, it'll be a cheap way to get some image, innit'. I reckon the Wedge forum should have a big sticky at the top that says 'if you want an old performance car that just works, just buy a 944'.

I bought my 390SE 14 years ago next month, in that time nobody but me has worked on it but if I'd had to pay other people to do the work I've done to maintain it as transport, I'd have got rid years ago. It's my hobby, the value is irrelevant.

ianwayne

6,243 posts

267 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
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MethylatedSpirit said:
All classic car prices are going crazy.


Talk to classic range rover owners. The prices have went mental for good models. These were considered bangers a few years ago... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1994-Range-Rover-4-2-LSE...
That's ridiculous. I saw a green M reg Range rover for sale last week for £1000 outside a car valeters. Can't vouch for the condition but it was sold the next day.

Wedg1e

26,760 posts

264 months

Wednesday 30th July 2014
quotequote all
JVaughan said:
Im not surprised though that Wedges have started to increase in value .... The Tasmin challenge saw a lot of good wedges bastardised for track use, being modified with rough fibreglass or ali plate & perspex
I'd spent a lot of hours and a (for the time) good bit of money improving the condition of my S1 Tasmin (chassis 36), including an £800 respray, after seemingly years of neglect and bodgery - and it was only 15 years old when I bought it, so how fast it must have declined from some Leeds company director's pride and joy to being a bargain-basement shed is a tad depressing.
Anyway, once I'd got it reasonably tidy I then bought the 390 and sold the Tas (although it took a year to find a buyer) to a guy who wanted to turn it into a race car. I was a bit miffed but his money was as good as anyone else's. Sure enough the car was converted and is still out there, 13 years on. Maybe if I hadn't done the work I did, it'd have been scrapped years ago...