quote:
Originally posted by Chad
This car is probably every bit as good as a w113 can possibly be. It looks great. But I admit that I too am somewhat turned off by the price of it. Yes it can cost $75k and even probably $100k or more to restore the w113 to better than new. I would love to do this. But these cars were mass-produced in the sense that almost 17-18,000 w113 made it to the US. What I mean is, it's still a relatively common car... an excellent car, but a common car. Restoration costs should not absolutely equal value/for sale costs, only for the truly rare type of cars. I think for more common cars that are being driven on the roads like a w113. I think many may have spent this much on a w113, and that is wonderful! But I just think that $75k is too much for a Pagoda. Beauty and value are in the eye of the beholder and buyer, though. Maybe this would be an unpopular opinion.
-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, 123.193
CD,
I'd argue, CD, that the 113 is hardly common. The number you said that entered the USA, remember, was over an 8 (some say 9??) year period from 1964-1971, and the newest of these cars is now 34 years old. Many of these cars are gone forever, and the guesses we've had is that perhaps half of them still exist? Compare and contrast for example, the
single model year of 1997 when 35,000 SLK's were made. Oh yes, you'll see them on the road more common in places like Southern California and less common in others. But realistically I don't think it fits any definition of, or is what one should call common.
Restoration costs are almost
never recoverable on
any car, so one does not approach restoration with the thought of resale in mind. I don't care if you are working on a 1932 Ford, a 1957 BMW, or a 1969 Mercedes. As the rarity and exclusiveness of the car increases, so does the cost of restoration. Many classic and rare collector cars have to have parts made for them. We can buy a new hood/bonnet for $2,000, but
fabricating the same for a car where you can't get the piece might cost $20,000--maybe more. Multiply that over the myriad parts one needs to restore a car, and you'll see that a "million dollar classic" might cost close to that to restore.
You may think that $75,000 is too much for a Pagoda, but understand that there are probably some buyers out there who simply don't want to go through the trouble of restoration, and will gladly pay that for the right car. This buyer may not be around today, but maybe tomorrow. Also, every Pagoda is different. Many of them out there, and this may be your frame of reference, are just old cars--they don't look new, they don't drive new, and they don't behave new. They leak oil from multiple locations, they need constant maintenance, and judging by some of the threads here have all kinds of peculiar problems stemming from thrifyy mechanical or body work; improper machine shop work, lack of proper parts, and just plain ignorance of the peculiarities of the car. These are the kinds of things we generally inherit when we get an old Pagoda. Trust me, mine was about as bad as you can find with
all those problems and more.
So, if this car is as good as it gets--and only a direct intense observation with backing data would prove that--it may have $100,000 worth of work done to it, and it may indeed fetch $75,000 which means it is worth that money. Let's remind ourselves that they have sold for more then that as has been pointed out.
Let me suggest as Norton just indicated, that eBay may not be the place to get these high prices. Private sale through reputable sellers such as Rancho Merced, Alex Dearborn and others would probably bring the right buyer to the right car more so then eBay.
Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored
