On Thu, 1 Feb 1996 aalbano(at)linnet1.linnet.com wrote:
> I am considering the purchase of a 1966 Sunbeam Alpine.
> The car is complete and in running condition, although it hasn't seen
> the light of day in 5 years!
>
> It was running well up to the time it was "mothballed". It does
> however, have a cheesy MAACO paint job.
> Anthony
> Anthony Albano
> West Hartford, CT 06117
> Please note my new E-mail address: aalbano(at)linnet.com
I paid $750 last fall for a 66 that has some rust in the lower rear edges
of the front fenders, lower rear corners of the rear fenders, and sills.
The sills look like a substantial job; the other stuff less so. There is
no evidence of any collision ever. It has been in dry storage 16 years
and does not run.
The value of a particular car depends somewhat on your goals for it. If
you are looking for a car to use immediately, one like I bought is not
worth much to you, since it will need a complete restoration. It would
probably cost $1500-2500 to get it on the road. Better to pay $3K for
one that already works well. On the other hand, if you plan a complete
ground up restoration, as I do, you would rebuild the engine completely
anyway and replace all the hydraulic stuff, etc. Paying $3K for one that
runs would just waste $2K, because a non-running car is just as good as a
basis for a complete restoration.
Being mothballed for 5 yr is going to cause you to do some work--at least
you should rebuild the brakes completely. Guessing the worth would
depend on what you want to do with it, and would require more info.
Compared to the importance of body condition, the fact that it runs is
almost trivial.
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons(at)northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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