Austin A50- how much?

[Lankytim]

Suppost to be pretty mint, been stored a fair few years so will need brakes and clutch and other things doing before it sees the road again. Body is apparently rust free- previous concourse winner. Any ideas on how much something like this would go for? Ive been asked to make an offer for it.

[Seth]

Its difficult to put a value on cars like this. I'd expect to see a very good (not necessarily concours) MOT'd and running car make up to 2k. If all it needs is some brake work and the clutch freeing off (might well be possible without removal...) and it really is good everywhere then in someways a grand wouldn't be too much. But if its going to need tearing apart and many hours spent to re-commision it then its still going to be several hundred I'd say. Value might also depend on exact model and desirablility too.

[akku]

A mate had a really nice one, in the good original unrestored kind of way which needed brakes and a couple of silly things for an MOT and he got £200 for it.

[Seth]

There are clearly bargains to be had! It all comes down to reason/necessity to sell I suppose.

[akku]

I wish I'd had it when I heard what he sold it for.

[Lankytim]

Ive asked the guy for a price, and all hes said is "make me a decent offer" I H A T E it when people say that. What does he think a decent offer is? £1? £10,000? If I offer too low I risk offending him, offer too high and ill be out of pocket. I know most people on this forum have been in this position!

Basically, I want to pay as little as possible, ive got a budget in mind and if I overspend on the car I wont have enoughleft over to recomission the car. If the car brakes and the clutch doing it will be a bonus but I think I should really budget on alot more doing, as I'm yet to find a car that doesnt need more work than originally thought!

Forgot to mention, the water pump needs doing- easy stuff though.

Oh, and its a grey deluxe with blue interior, was concourse winner when garaged 10 years ago. I havent seen any pics, all ive got is what the seller has told me.

Ill email him for some pics now.

[anthonyg]

Somewhere around a few hundred - £400-£500, maybe more if it truly doesn't need any bodywork.

But if its been standing for 10 years it will have needed good protection and ventilation to avoid the bodywork or paintwork going rusty/bad.

I wouldn't give an offer until I'd seen it in the metal (or lack of!!). Basically what your banger mates would pay for one to race is a starting point - then at least you won't be out of pocket.

You may gather from this I'm very suspicious of 'a mates got an old car in a garage, whats it worth?' type enquires. 9 times out of 10 it's either a scrapper or at least in a condition very far from that initially claimed!.

[bmcnut]

I was put in this position when i bought my granada, it was more a case that he kind of needed to sell it, so i said all i could afford was £--- , which was way below what i knew it was worth and he said ok to that, which was a result to say the least.
I honestly don't know how much the a50 is worth, just offer him abit less than what YOU think its worth and see what he says. If he wont start with a ballpark figure then he cant be too insulted by an offer that he thinks is too low imo

[trg1984]

i wouldnt worry about offending him, u can always raise ur bid.

[Lankytim]

The banger boys would possibly pay £100- £150 for an A50, A60s go for quite a bit more as they are tougher and faster. I personally wouldnt pay that much for a car I was going to smash!

I'm just waiting on an email now. The guy seems pretty certain its rust free. I'm suspicious too but the bloke is desperate to sell apparently its "mint" and I smell the whiff of 50s leather (or leatherette!)

Ill offer fairly low. As mentioned I can always offer more, but I cant offer less if he accepts!

[bmcnut]

I'm with you on the 50/60's leather smell. Nothing, and i mean NOTHING smell quite like the inside of a 16/60 or a 6/110. Hmmmmmmmmm............. It even beats castrol R!
Ive no idea what its worth so i wont try to recomend a start figure, as long as he doesnt think its gold plated and diamond encrusted youll be ok.

[Lankytim]

I think hes vanished into thin air.... ah well been there a few times. NEXT!

[Lankytim]

Yep...................gone.

Just as well I guess. I'm not made of money!