BAT-What'll it go for?-- '72 Tii-- 20 Hrs.to go

[mac]

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-bmw-2002tii-18/

 

Mac

[BarneyT]

It’s already over what I would thank it’s worth...

[MitchaPaLoOza88]

Ya, that's craziness

[Conserv]

If you really want a factory-Colorado 1972 tii, and you want a largely complete, largely original example, that hasn’t been rebuilt according to someone else’s vision, your choices are limited.

 

Further, more than a few people like the idea of saving a down-and-dirty old car (or old house, to speak of my other passion) from “certain death.” My factory-Inka ‘73 tii was exactly the car I was looking for.  Although someone gave it a $200 Malaga paint job in perhaps the ‘80’s or early ‘90’s (no sanding or, apparently, washing before the paint went on!), it was largely complete and largely original.  I admit, it is a California car with virtually no rust.  I paid $10K for it at a time when I would have said the market value for round taillight tii’s in similar condition was $7K.  So I “overpaid” by $3K or 40%+!

 

Given what I will pay over the next years to overhaul the mechanicals, to re-paint the exterior, to perfect the interior, the $3K by which I “overpaid” is simply inconsequential to my long-term cost.  And my decisions were made at a time — not too many years ago —when $40K was the “ceiling value” for a fabulous round taillight tii.

 

If I were buying a similar car now, given that restoration costs are still high, but with fabulous round taillight tii’s in the $60K-to-$100K+ range, how much would I be willing to “overpay” to get a round taillight tii in the right factory color (in my case I also needed a factory sunroof and very low rust)?  That’s a rhetorical question, but for someone dreaming of a Colorado 1972 tii, I wouldn’t be shocked to see someone pay $20K for even a rusty example like this.

 

If you’ve convinced yourself, or your spouse, that you’re buying a car as a financial investment, someone’s going to wind up disappointed....  I say “Face the truth upfront.  Pay what you can afford without jeopardizing the mortgage payment, the kids’ tuition, or the retirement!”

 

That’s my view.  But a view probably shared by whoever has already bid the Colorado car up to $17,500...?

 

Below, my ‘73 tii, for which I paid a shocking 40% over market!  No regrets! ?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited January 31, 2018 by Conserv

[mac]

I wish I lived in Southern California and had a garage space I could stash this "diamond in the rough" in  "'til it was time"..........

 

Mac. 

[Mike_R]

Wow I hope the value of mine goes up accordingly! That would make my clean car worth like $75,000!!

[mac]

The hammer fell. 

 

Final price, $18,500.  (plus a 5% auction  house commission).=$19425.

 

.......... it's a rare example. 

 

Mac.

[inkatouring]

I rarely comment in BaT but couldn't resist kvetching when it got bid to $15k, more than I paid for my Alpina restoration project.  And from the BaT pictures it wasn't clear that the Alpina really needed a full restoration (it did).  That's stupid money, IMHO.  Yes, it's a great color, but Tiaga and Inka are better and it needs a LOT of work.  Geez!

[saaron]

Yeah, maybe someone really wanted that particular car and color, and as Steve says, if no one is selling, then this is the only one out there.   Limited choices.  

 

Maybe someone bought it to restore, and thought they could restore it without being too far underwater, given desirable roundie tiis have crested six figures on occasion.  

 

Or maybe someone very handy just thought they could F Bomb it - mechanically bring it back, and just drive it as it is, otherwise.  Rob Siegel's Louie was in better shape than this (especially the body/chassis), but not massively different in other ways.  Of course I don't think Rob paid this kind of money for the Louie car.  But someone could do the same basic routine - mechanically restore it and more or less drive it as is after that.  Assuming the chassis is safe, rust-wise, of course.  

 

But things get weird when people think cars are already valuable and are going to gain more.  My brain just hasn't recalibrated to "a complete roundie tii basket case (but all there), in a desirable color, could be worth almost $20k" in the right circumstances.  But technically, that could be correct, I suppose. 

 

I mean last year I bumped my insurance value on my tii to a number I never thought I would see connected to that car.   

 

Steve what is going on with that Malaga thing?  I'll give you $12,000 for it if you are too busy to get to it. 

 

Scott

[Conserv]

14 minutes ago, saaron said:

 

....Steve what is going on with that Malaga thing?  I'll give you $12,000 for it if you are too busy to get to it. 

 

Scott

 

Scott,

 

You are kind and generous!  But I simply couldn’t burden you with “that Malaga thing”!  It’s my burden, and I will shoulder it up the hill... ?

 

(It’s been waiting for the completion of the ‘76’s Big Re-Paint, which has just wrapped up.)

 

Best Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Conserv]

I haven’t a clue who purchased the Colorado tii, and, obviously, haven’t a clue what their intentions are.

 

But allow me to take a flying leap:

 

1. The buyer is going to sink an additional $60K to $100+K into it and it will emerge 3 to 5 years from now looking absolutely scrumptious.

 

2.  At that time, dozens of would-be tii owners will be shaking their heads and saying, “Sh*t!  I coulda bought that for only $20K!”

 

 

I looked like a total fool when I paid $10K for “that Malaga thing” of mine.  Now I’m starting to look like a friggin’ genius.  You can’t drive or restore “the dream car you hope to find at the price you dream of.”  You need to actually own the car.  By actually owning one of my dream cars, the tii, even though I couldn’t afford the time or money to restore it during my ‘76’s Big Re-Paint, I’ve had years to patiently collect many of the parts it will need, at reasonable prices.  But you’ve gotta own the car, not just dream about it.

 

My one grandfather passed at 94 in 2001.  As he would say in the 1970’s, “There is no way I’m staying at a motel for $60 a night.  We used to drive to Atlantic City, in the 1930’s, and stay at perfectly decent hotels for $2 a night.” So if you’re still looking for that $2 hotel, good luck!  ?

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by Conserv

[bublinki]

All of the comments on BaT made for good lunchtime reading.

Last post from the seller, states that it is going to Bulgaria.

Wow, the last time I thought about Bulgari was while playing that game on my computer called

"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

The game was on a 5 1/4 floppy disk, remember those?

[thehackmechanic]

Scott Aaron mentioned Louie, so let me follow up on the comparison. The Colorado car on BAT was very analogous to Louie in that it appeared to be a correct unmolested "early '72 tii," meaning close-in pre-2 1/2 mph bumpers and plastic intake plenums. Although there weren't really many photos of the undercarriage of the Colorado car, the assumption on which the dollars were based was that there was no or little rust-through, and that the rust was largely limited to the seam and under-trim rust, which was indeed pervasive. Louie, in contrast, has a nasty line of rust-through on the nose below the bumper, and one weak spot on one rocker panel. Louie's interior, though, was better.

 

I haven't revealed in print what I paid for Louie, but in Ran When Parked, I say that it was offered on the Facebook 2002 page a little over a year ago for $5000 with one photograph and a title problem (the title had been stored in the glovebox and was literally eaten by mice). For the life of me, I still can't figure out why people jumped all over the seller instead of snatching up the car. I contacted him only to tell him that I thought the car was worth two to three times what he was asking (that was before I knew about the line of rust-through in the nose). Still, having him contact me before he put the car up on BaT and give me right of first refusal for a price I couldn't say no to (which was a little less than five grand; how much doesn't matter) was a gift of circumstance and karma. 

 

I haven't added up what I've put into the car to make it the reliable "shabby chic" runner that it now is, but I'm certain that, even with my skinflint tendencies, it more than dwarfs what I paid for the car. 

 

More to the point, I've owned something like twelve tiis, including Kugel, my other '72 that I still own. On paper, Kugel should be better, but there's something about Louie that feels like an early '72tii is supposed to feel, like all is molecules are vibrating together at the same correct frequency.

 

--Rob

 

[saaron]

7 hours ago, Conserv said:

(It’s been waiting for the completion of the ‘76’s Big Re-Paint, which has just wrapped up.)

 

Now that the '76 is going into that big zip lock bag ("don't even look at it, please") are you going to start the Malaga / Pink one?  I think you should just get the M/P one operational, and wash it every other weekend, and pretty soon it will be original color.  

 

I'm a helper, 

 

Scott

[saaron]

49 minutes ago, thehackmechanic said:

"shabby chic"

 

That will be in a BAT listing title within 30 days...

 

"Early 240Z, Shabby Chic Project"...

 

Scott

 

PS I thought about buying Louie 110 times during two days.  So did 10 other people I know.  Oh well, to the crazy go the spoils!  It was your density, I believe.