I feel your pain Ian. When mine was listed at 10K I never got a single inquiry about the car. Not one call or email period. You're best bet for getting the asking price really would be Targa guys or drift guys. Or at least that is a bigger market. The people with 17K laying around that like rally seem to think they need a fancy Subaru and tend to compete for a year or two then disappear. Getting a loan for $17K for a 25 year old car is nearly impossible.

Market your car as a race car for Targa or La Carrerra or drift, etc. Probably much more luck selling it to those guys. I mean, this thing sold in 24 hours?
http://bringatrailer.com/2010/04/27/bat-exclusive-carrera-proven-1958-volvo-444-racer/

---

Grant Hughes

Unfortunately you can't believe everything you read on Bringatrailer.
They stated that my car sold in a week because it was posted on their page.
1. The car did not sell
2. they just copied & pasted from SS
BTW it has been listed on the Targa page for almost 10 months.

Why is it that this can't still be a rally car as it was intended to be? Targa is a rally just on tarmac.
Drifting is....well...we won't go there.

I just don't get it. What do people honestly think they could build for this kind of $$

I swear I should drag it down to Carlisle and set it on fire in front of all the cheap Merkur owners just for a laugh!

---

Ian Glyn-Jones
Panach Rally Team
Ontario, Canada



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2010 03:55PM by xrian.

I have sent emails to have the car inspected and have a log book issued so this will stop all the guessing.

---

Ian Glyn-Jones
Panach Rally Team
Ontario, Canada

And it should help with the sale. Win-win

Oh yeah. To top all this off;
to date not one person has asked for the detailed pictures of the cage as it IS in the car right now and as it was built.
Go figure that one out!!! All this talk and no one asks.

---

Ian Glyn-Jones
Panach Rally Team
Ontario, Canada

xrian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh yeah. To top all this off;
> to date not one person has asked for the detailed
> pictures of the cage as it IS in the car right now
> and as it was built.
> Go figure that one out!!! All this talk and no one
> asks.
>
> Ian Glyn-Jones
> Panach Rally Team
> Ontario, Canada


don't mean to be a dick, but instead of waiting, why not be proactive and take pics of it and post them up somewhere? hell take pics of the whole damn thing.

i'm just saying...

---

-Mark
www.nocoastmotorsports.net

No problem at all Mark.
There are pictures of this car in a million places.
Most of them are on Merkursport & Merkur Club of America sites. Pics during the build and at Targa , magazine and more.

In every place that an add for the car for sale has been posted it states "email for further information and detailed pictures".

---

Ian Glyn-Jones
Panach Rally Team
Ontario, Canada

xrian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So I guess mine must be a POS !?!?!?!
> Appraised at $35,000 and over $50,000 into it and
> only asking $17,000 plus all the spares and a
> trailer to boot!!! Turn key.
>
> Nutin' but a tire kicker!!!!! Waisted my time.
> Must want sumthin' for free!!!!!!!
>
> Ian Glyn-Jones
> Panach Rally Team
> Ontario, Canada

Ian, if you are referring to my earlier posting, read it carefully. I said that the ONLY Merkur I have seen in Ont. that WASN'T a POS was yours.

Every other one that I have seen around has been nothing but tinworm material. Most cars from that era are. Not too many 15 year old cars in Ontario, thanks to all the salt.

I have a nice 82 Volvo from BC and some day, I am flying out and bringing another one back since I see all these nice 240's out in BC, Wash and Or!






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2010 10:54AM by NGTD.

Hey Dave. No it had nothing to do with what you had posted.
I guess it's just the stress of trying to move this so I can pay off the bank.
Kinda getting to me lately.
Thanks for the support guys.

---

Ian Glyn-Jones
Panach Rally Team
Ontario, Canada

No problem.

I personally think that 2wd and especially RWD rally cars are under appreciated. Everyone wants to see AWD cars, but for me there is nothing better than watching a well driven RWD car go.

Your car looks well built. I think getting the logbook will help. Get's rid of the big unknown which is around the cage.

NGTD Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No problem.
>
> I personally think that 2wd and especially RWD
> rally cars are under appreciated. Everyone wants
> to see AWD cars, but for me there is nothing
> better than watching a well driven RWD car go.
>
> Your car looks well built. I think getting the
> logbook will help. Get's rid of the big unknown
> which is around the cage.


Agreed. On both points.
I'm over on the "Construction" forum trying to get a guy to explain just what is it in the design or whatever of the 20-25 year old Golf that leads it to have him say "FWD is DOMINATING" rally in USA and Canada, and I feel that somehow that is one part of why the driver development and speeds are so lame and HAVE BEEN for 30+ years in North American rally...

Actually I clarified that I was asking him WHY, or HOW did it occur---that the 20-25 year old MkII Golf is so common andtherefore "dominant".

His loose assertion could be the foundations of an interesting converstaion----if anybody ever fawkin wrote out their reasoning "why" rather than just describing the fawking obvious....

Th other half maybe being the "gotta have a blue Sub-a-rat" mentality and the looking at any 2wd car as a "mere" stepping stone (so why get a real trannie and a real final drive and LSD and a good motor and decent brakes----but obviously I HAVE TO have all that on the new awd monster---well how nice would the 2wd car gone with the nice bits on it?)

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

It's not close, but there's two in Denver area right now, one for $750, the other for $500.

---

Grant Hughes

NoCoast Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's not close, but there's two in Denver area
> right now, one for $750, the other for $500.


You knowes what we're looking for: hows the floors, sills , pinch weld, manual or....sunroof or......
Come on Grant what is these fawking 2 line messages? Text much?

Details!
>
> Grant Hughes
> www.nocoastmotorsports.net
> Denver, CO

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Already sent an email for more info to the $500 one.
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1726726694.html

The $750 one is 5 speed with a sunroof.
http://denver.craigslist.org/cto/1691104977.html

---

Grant Hughes

xrian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So I guess mine must be a POS !?!?!?!
> Appraised at $35,000 and over $50,000 into it and
> only asking $17,000 plus all the spares and a
> trailer to boot!!! Turn key.
>
> Nutin' but a tire kicker!!!!! Waisted my time.
> Must want sumthin' for free!!!!!!!
>
> Ian Glyn-Jones
> Panach Rally Team
> Ontario, Canada


Ian, you’ve decided to express you opinion about me here, so this automatically give me the right to reply here as well.

First of all, complaining about someone who did not buy your stuff on public forums is simply pathetic.

Secondly, stop calling me tire kicker and timewaster. Thinking that anyone who’s asking questions about your item for sale is obligated to buy is ridiculous. I “wasted” one (!) hour of your precious time at most by phone talking and emailing. You should appreciate that I politely said “not interested” instead of coming, test driving the car and leaving like some people would do.

Thirdly, we did not even talk about the price, so your conclusion that I “want something for free” is irrelevant.

IMHO, you need to realise how people look at your offer.

Let’s check racing results to find out how good the car is to confirm the claim about 50+K rally monster. So what we have here:

1. Targa 2007: mechanical DNF on the first stage
2. Targa 2008: Missed 6 SSs and overall DNF

So, obviously the car is not reliable. Let’s look at the results of completed stages now. They do not look like been achieved by 50K+ car. Could be lack of driver’s experience, could be slow car – but does not look very reassuring anyway. Likely you spent huge money but it does not mean that you spent them the best way possible. Paying somebody $10K for painting a 20 years old bicycle with 20 layers of most expensive paint will not make my bike cost even close to $10K.

So 17K offer includes:
- nicely painted unreliable 25 years old car with questionable competitiveness
- no expensive dog-box and brakes
- one seat
- almost expired belts
- no gravel suspension
- cage requires work

This is exactly how I think and I bet many potential buyers do the same.

Try to realise these things:

- appraisals and costs do not determine the price as much as demand does
- very low interest indicates that the car is overpriced
- people are interested in ready-to-go rally vehicle, not something like expensive rally project car
- saving $450 to log book the car causes much bigger losses by not selling

It’s not my business but if your goal to sell the car, I’d suggest to stop blaming everyone around for not being interested, logbook the car and get real about the price.

Good luck with sale

Andriy