Curt,
I beleive you GREATLY underestimate the cost to pay professionals to
fabricate a car from scratch and 80's over-valueations are not likely
to return any time soon. Your theoretical Cobra insured at half the
$150k value would hardly cover the cost of a complete (concours
style)restoration on a decent, fairly complete car to start with
(again, paying pros to do it). I can verify this as fact with receipts
if you are interested. Regarding the "air-Cobra" you reference... would
it have sold as a real Cobra at the same market price after completion?
If not, then that is reason to insure an original car at full value.
My small car collection is among the assets that will eventually be
sold off in retirement (except the Tiger), so if a fire totalled all of
them, I'd be counting on full market value from the insurance and I
wouldn't be very interested in going through the trouble of re-creating
any of them from the ashes. If Tiger values go up high enough, I'd sell
mine take the $$$ to buy something I can enjoy more without the
financial exposure. I no longer push the Tiger @ 10/10s on the street
or track (it's down to about 7.5/10ths) because the risk/consequence
exposure is far too great with the appraised value no where near the
cost of the restoration. By contrast, I could total my '91 Miata and
not loose much sleep over it... and it gets driven at or very near
10/10ths every time I drive it.
Stephen Waybright
--- Curt Bowland <cbowland@msn.com> wrote:
> Listers
>
> Read with interest some of the more recent comments about NOT driving
> cars
> like Cobras due to the high insurance costs. Let me share a true
> story.
>
> During the mid to late 80's when the collector car craze was
> gathering
> momentum I witnessed a Cobra created from just a VIN or chassis
> plate. This is
> what is termed as a "air car". Now a "air car" may have been a
> original car
> that was completely destroyed, possibly for insurance purposes, or
> damaged so
> extremely that realistic repair at that time was not economical to
> the
> insurer.
>
> I saw a frame replicated and a complete aluminum body manufactured
> and I can
> just about guarantee that the price for all this was less than the
> market
> value for a original Cobra in the 1980's
>
> The point being that almost ANYTHING can be copied/created when it
> comes to
> automobiles. While it may not be practical for the average person to
> expend
> these types of $$$ it CAN be done. From Bugatti engine blocks to
> Ardun heads
> for Ford flathead engines if there is demand it may well appear.
>
> A more prudent approach to insurance would be a "stated value" policy
> that
> would protect an owner for what the damage to the car would cost on a
> worst
> case scenario. A Cobra could in all probability be replaced at far
> less that
> the dollar value they are going for at auction today! If an owner has
> a valid
> title and the VIN tag IMOH I believe they would have the option to
> replace as
> much of the vehicle as necessary but only at the cost of the
> "replacement"
> work not the theoretical value of the total vehicle.
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