Seriously?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Well, maybe I'm wrong Dave - what I see is a very rare and pretty original motor car. It is not my cup of tea (because I'm a tightwad) but the market for historic motor cars favours patina over fresh paint, so I rather suspect repainting it might reduce its value in the UK (again, not my thing, but that is what the market likes).

I'm still not convinced the motor car is worth nearly £9,000, but the market will decide.

Alan

PS. As you will know from our previous discussions Dave, I've considered having the RB repainted in the past, but always concluded it has taken 41 years for the patina to look as good as it does :-).

There's patina and then there's scruffy Alan - i believe this one comes down in the scruffy camp whereas the RB has patina. I see your point about painting it losing the value though but it's a very fine dividing line between scruffy and patina and everyone will see that line in a different place.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

There's patina and then there's scruffy Alan - i believe this one comes down in the scruffy camp whereas the RB has patina. I see your point about painting it losing the value though but it's a very fine dividing line between scruffy and patina and everyone will see that line in a different place.

We'll have to disagree about that one then Dave.

I'm no expert though, so I'm probably wrong.

Alan

[loki_the_glt]

Originally Posted by Othen

Royal United States Air Force Alf? I don't think the cousins would sign up to the Royal bit since 1776!

If my memory serves me right Soesterberg was operated by the Dutch AF (hence there would probably be a Royal bit somewhere in its title, I can't remember exactly where). I think you are probably right, the 242 was probably owned by either a serviceman or consular official - either American or other NATO and supplied by AFFES.

Alan

The soubriquet "Royal United States Air Force" should, with hindsight, have been put in quotation marks.

During the Cold War era the USAFE leased based from the host country - e.g. RAF Ben****ers, Lakenheath, Alconbury etc - and were the sole occupants EXCEPT in Holland where they were co-located with RNethAF units. Consequently the Soesterberg-based USAFE units were referred to as "Royal" by the plane-spotting and military aviation enthusiasts.

A further indication that the Dutch car was ordered by someone associated with USAFE is the taillight clusters - like the RB it has 5-segment lamps, but the RB's rear fog lamps have been replaced by reversing lamps; this was standard on US-market cars ad may have been standard for at least some European markets.

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

I had another look at the ad in the light of jasons' post saying it looked scruffy. I've posted one of the pics above showing the back end. I think scruffy fits!

Shame because if it is a Jubilee model, that paint would need fixing (all over the car) to make it worth its real value.

I don't think I could paint it!

It has a certain charm. Unless it's covered in rust scabs, I'd have to just stabilise it and keep it fairly clean.

Is only unrestored once!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

I don't think I could paint it!

It has a certain charm. Unless it's covered in rust scabs, I'd have to just stabilise it and keep it fairly clean.

Is only unrestored once!

You're on the "patina" side of the very fine line then Andrew! I agree it has a certain charm and in many ways i'm undecided although my general opinion is "scruffy". If it was to be painted it would have to be part of a concours restoration but then i'd be scared to use and enjoy it.
That said it's manual so not for me anyway and as for the handlebars being on the wrong side, i've driven a few and just couldn't get on with them, they just felt "wrong".

[Othen]

Originally Posted by loki_the_glt

The soubriquet "Royal United States Air Force" should, with hindsight, have been put in quotation marks.

During the Cold War era the USAFE leased based from the host country - e.g. RAF Ben****ers, Lakenheath, Alconbury etc - and were the sole occupants EXCEPT in Holland where they were co-located with RNethAF units. Consequently the Soesterberg-based USAFE units were referred to as "Royal" by the plane-spotting and military aviation enthusiasts.

A further indication that the Dutch car was ordered by someone associated with USAFE is the taillight clusters - like the RB it has 5-segment lamps, but the RB's rear fog lamps have been replaced by reversing lamps; this was standard on US-market cars ad may have been standard for at least some European markets.

I agree it was most likely an AAFES supplied motor car Alf.

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

I don't think I could paint it!

It has a certain charm. Unless it's covered in rust scabs, I'd have to just stabilise it and keep it fairly clean.

Is only unrestored once!

That seems to be the consensus of the historic motor car and motorcycle markets Andrew. The modern trend is to lacquer and leave it alone. As I explained to someone the other day: running older motor cars is all about nostalgia, and that means originality - warts and all.

This is something of an academic discussion as the motor car is 400 miles away in the Netherlands, none of us is likely to see it in the flesh but people are pontificating on how scruffy the paint is.

Alan

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

You're on the "patina" side of the very fine line then Andrew! I agree it has a certain charm and in many ways i'm undecided although my general opinion is "scruffy". If it was to be painted it would have to be part of a concours restoration but then i'd be scared to use and enjoy it.
That said it's manual so not for me anyway and as for the handlebars being on the wrong side, i've driven a few and just couldn't get on with them, they just felt "wrong".

I don't like lefties in this country. Lorries are worse than cars. As you say, just doesn't feel right! Takes me ages, (hours), not to be a metre from the kerb!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

I don't like lefties in this country. Lorries are worse than cars. As you say, just doesn't feel right! Takes me ages, (hours), not to be a metre from the kerb!

Round my neck of the woods, being at least a metre from the kerb/edge of the road is a necessity!

There is so much subsidance, particularly on rural roads here where the edges of the road are sinking into dykes or the edge of marsh and/or agricultural land that driving within a metre of the kerb/verge would have you visiting a chiropractor followed by a dentist - first to get your back sorted out so you could walk again and the second to repalce the fillings and/or teeth shaken loose in the process of doing your back in!

One particular place has recurrent subsidance despite having been resurfaced about 3 times in the 9 ish years i've been here. When it's bad, it's perfectly capable of writing off dampers if you catch it wrong at anything over 30mph (and has done on more than 2 of my cars) so i now either slow down to ~20mph or swing over to the other side of the road (if safe to do so) to avoid it.

Might upset other people but they're not paying for my dampers or time to fit them and repairing any other damage caused.

[jasons]

Originally Posted by Othen

Good morn,

I don’t for one moment believe that used car prices have increased by 16% in one month (except perhaps in Zimbabwe) or 30% in the past 6 months, but it is entirely up to you if you want to believe those things jasons. We just disagree,
Alan

That’s ok alan, the used car market is a huge market with many niches.

I was referring there to the mainstream market but in particular cars 5-10 years old, cars I’d actually want to source for clients, by that I mean decent full service history, mot history bodywork paintwork condition and decent tyres.

I don’t deal in the tight wad price important over condition end of the market such as eBay or Facebook.

My personal experience in sourcing cars is the dealer market is paying 25% over just to replenish stock, the market is wild, I see many cars sell trade to trade for 25% more than the main dealer gave as px, now whilst some cars have always traded higher than book value I’ve never seen it so widespread as it has been of late, it has made my job extremely difficult due to the market.

Of course it’s supply and demand, and the crud that no one wants doesn’t make good money for that simple reason, but then I’m not looking to source stuff like that.

As you’ve gathered by now, I’m nearly 2 decades within the motor and motor racing arena and I am talking of my own recent experience here which for me is good enough evidence, but like I say it’s a big wide market.

I don’t think we disagree, I think we are just looking at different areas of the market and maybe the Volvo 240 niche has no price increase, and that’s why I was asking the question, but that doesn’t mean other areas of the market have not seen the increase though alan.

For instance the motoring press reported a 16% increase in just one month