Thursday 13th November 2008

Ebay Seller Strikes it Lucky

One man's junk truly is another's treasure...

---

In America, a wrecked car placed on Ebay for a starting bid of just $500 eventually sold last week for $226,521.63.

In the original item description, the seller admitted knowing little about the car and sounded almost apologetic about its condition. A string of emails and forum postings followed, and thankfully the seller soon realised what he was sitting on!

It turned out that the car, a 1963 Pontiac Tempest Super Duty Le Mans Coupe, was one of just 6 made by Pontiac as drag racing specials. This particular car was raced by Stan Antlocer from Detriot, Michigan.

Only 2 Super Duty Tempest Le Mans Coupes were thought to still be around, but some savvy Ebayers spotted this hidden gem about to change hands for a tiny sum of money, and promptly contacted the owner.

A flurry of interest followed, and 71 bids later the seller was looking at a final bid of nearly a quarter-of-a-million dollars. This is despite the fact that the car is in a sorry state of repair, lacking even an engine or gearbox, and was covered in rust and dents. The owner couldn't even unlock the boot (edit: trunk).

It is likely that the car will follow the fate of its surviving sibling and end up being restored, and perhaps displayed in a museum or private collection. But whatever happens to the car, its owner is likely to be getting the rounds at the pub for quite some time.

[timewatch]

Well done mate a real piece of good news and got to say your a jammy sod too !!!

TW>>>

Edited by timewatch on Thursday 13th November 12:06

[stuart-b]

Wow, amazing... people will buy all sorts of crap on ebay ;-)

[martyn748]

Ebay must be having a party with commision they made on that!!

[Deva Link]

I bet the people who were hoping to pick up a bargain due to the missing information where a bit hacked off!

[Droptheclutch]

It's nice to read some good news for a change. Well done that man, and hats off to the gents that got in contact to enlighten the seller!

[sniff diesel]

Droptheclutch said:

and hats off to the gents that got in contact to enlighten the seller!

Good on them, anyone selling a car for $500 could obviously do with the money more so than the guys paying $250,000 for it.

[sprinter885]

Why anybody would pay $1/4M for that is beyond me.. Crap body, no engine or box, bodywork hardly even looks "drag racerish" .
Utterly nuts
Only in America..

[Mini-MinioN]

Thats awsome. Well played to the guy selling it.
Still... Seems a hell of alot for a rusty old car with nothing in it

[Darth Paul]

I'm always amazed at the amount of money Americans spend on classic 'Yank Tanks'. Six figures on old mustangs and camaros isn't uncommon.

[motormania]

I bet the guy who first spotted what was being sold feels a prick now! He'd could have kept the info to himself, buy it cheap and then resell it with all the back history.

Well done to the seller...

LOSER to the informer

[Mannginger]

This is a great feel-good story, especially that people got in touch with the chap to let him know he was about to be stiffed.

Fair play to them and well done to him for getting so much for the car.

[vz-r_dave]

sprinter885 said:

Why anybody would pay $1/4M for that is beyond me.. Crap body, no engine or box, bodywork hardly even looks "drag racerish" .
Utterly nuts
Only in America..

One of 6 made and two left in existance. I am not suprised, anything can be restored to full original condition.

You have no soul

[brum]

martyn748 said:

Ebay must be having a party with commision they made on that!!

Yeah - they are really struggling.

[Mr POD]

sprinter885 said:

Why anybody would pay $1/4M for that is beyond me.. Crap body, no engine or box, bodywork hardly even looks "drag racerish" .
Utterly nuts
Only in America..

One man's hobby is another man's mental illness.

[motormania]

martyn748 said:

Ebay must be having a party with commision they made on that!!

Technically ebay to not get paid commission on the final selling price - that would be PayPal if that was the chosen payment option. Then again eBay and PayPal are the same company, so what ever happens both make out of it

[dpbird90]

Nice, I hope the seller is now bathing in a bathful of Bollinger

[TigerS6]

he had a BIN on it of $4000 originally.
I'm sure people were kicking themselves for not hitting that before it disappeared!

[davey sprocket]

They appear to have fitted the wheelie bars on the wrong end of the car!!

[Si_man306]

eBay charge a 'final value fee' which acts as a commission in most sales and this really can add up. In the case of cars and house sales however, this is limited to ~£20 IIRC.

So the only way they would have made a killing was paypal (extortion and 5-7 days before you can get your cash- even though it is still an electronic transfer!) but this wouldn't have gone through that so he's home free- amazing sale!!

[Alfanatic]

Mannginger said:

This is a great feel-good story, especially that people got in touch with the chap to let him know he was about to be stiffed.

Fair play to them and well done to him for getting so much for the car.

+1