should I ...

[messerschmitt owner]

.... sell my Messerschmitt (which is currently non running) and squander the money on a mix of tidy but less expensive microcars that are road legal (MoT/Tax) - I'm thinking Goggo, Bond, Heinkel, a French thing or two.

 

I've had the Schmitt since 1988 (previous owner since 1970) and she's been on the road in that time (about 5000 miles in my ownership). She needs a proper resto but is not rusty and falling apart, and is an original all matching numbers car, with history, manuals, tools, spares, etc. It's worth, on current prices £15k plus perhaps another £1k for the spares and tools and I could have a Goggo 400 coupe and saloon for that money as well as another car.

 

 

Discuss

 

and here's a couple of available cars that could fit the category of 'WANT".

 

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C368428#

 

 

http://www.autoscout24.eu/Details.aspx? ... 00&asrc=st

[dollywobbler]

Goggo coupes are superb things. Given the choice of one of those or a non-working 'Schmitt, I'd go Goggo!

[messerschmitt owner]

Goggo coupes are superb things. Given the choice of one of those or a non-working 'Schmitt, I'd go Goggo!

 

It wouldn't be one of those above, it would be both of them!

 

I've had two goggos in the past and they are superb and I deliberately kept the English workshop manual for when I got another.

 

The schmitt would need a new roof (about £200) and a few weekends of work full time and perhaps another £100-200 of spares from the OC to see it roadworthy - remember, no MoT on it now. I've all the other spares needed as I have been slowly buying bits and pieces that it needs to go on the road (bushes, gasket set, electronic ignition set up). I kind of fancy a change.

After the schmitt, the goggo is my favourite microcar. If I sold the Bond too, I'd have change from such a deal to buy a tidy running MkC or D.

 

The other challenge is that I would never own another Messerschmitt due to their extortionate cost.

[dollywobbler]

The other challenge is that I would never own another Messerschmitt due to their extortionate cost.

 

That's a call only you can make. it depends entirely on what the 'Schmitt means to you.Two Goggos is mightily tempting though.

 

I'm in a similar position with 2CVs. I can't afford another one. Yes, I got given one, but I'm not sure I can afford to restore it. And I can't sell my red/white one as I can't afford another one. That's why I've decided I might as well keep throwing a few hundred quid at it every year for bodywork and keep it going.

[Spiny Norman]

Cute looking wee car that TS400 coupe. I'd certainly go for it.

"Goggomobil owner" has a nice ring to it.

[STUNO]

15K is a lot to have parked in the garage gathering rust. Are you sure you are not one of those " I'm going to restore it one day" chaps we see all to often! Once you realise that the Messerschmitt has to go, that 15 K will go a long way on useable motors which do not need a fortune spent on them. That Goggomobil looks lovely !

[messerschmitt owner]

the schmitt doesn't need much to get back on the road (perhaps a grand would see it tidy with new roof and interior, plus a few other spares) but the point is that to get it to the condition of that American spec Goggo would cost a fortune and selling it, I could have two or three cars in almost perfect nick rather than one tatty, rat look one.

 

messerschmitt kr200 smart roadster fiat 126 bis by messerschmitt owner, on Flickr

 

She's a little dusty but that is how she looks with a quick wash.

 

Emotionally I am very attached to it and have done thousands of miles driving it, know how to work on her but don't have the time this year to do anything to her.

[Rocket88]

Get rid, buy a Stimpson Bug........................

[messerschmitt owner]

Get rid, buy a Stimpson Bug........................

nope, seen too many bastardised Berkeleys to want a mini based kit car!

[barefoot]

A Nobel 200...

 

[messerschmitt owner]

A Nobel 200...

 

I've had two of them! A three and a four wheeler! Like them but not enough ...

[Junkman]

The one to get would be a Victoria Spatz:

 

[plasticvandan]

I would keep the schmitt. If youve only done an average of 200 miles a year in it since 1988 then whats the sense in having a load of micros that you would use each one even more infrequently? stitting idle doesnt do them any favours.Plus as you say you would be able to get another.THEN AGAIN it all depends what you want.if you want something to use and enjoy,s schmitt is prob one of the best to have.If you want a collection of trailer queens,then sell it and go shopping

 

Personally if i was lucky enough to have a schmitt in such a lovely untarty condition with that history,i would be giving it a full mechanical spruce up and driving it as much as possible,take a trip to Germany etc etc and give it a second lease of life

[messerschmitt owner]

ah, if I had had the time, the schmitt would have been roadworthy over the past decade when it has in reality sat in a garage doing nothing. Addition of a kid in 2002 stopped play on it!

 

I can't take both wife and kid out in schmitt hence thinking of buying a four seater!

 

In it's first year back on the road it did 3000 miles and on its second 1500, dropping to about 700 a year for the next three years before going off the road in 2000 with a broken gear lever (now fixed).

 

I like it a lot, would happily put it back on the road but kind of fancy a change!

[Junkman]

A four seater?

 

1 Yourself

1 Wife

1 Kid

=========

3 Seater

[alf892]

Keep the schmitt..............sell other stuff (house, wife, baby, kidney etc) and buy the Goggomobil

 

Also commit to getting the schmitt roadworthy without playing time as the excuse! You have a workshop attached so could potter about an hour or two at a time

[messerschmitt owner]

Keep the schmitt..............sell other stuff (house, wife, baby, kidney etc) and buy the Goggomobil

 

Also commit to getting the schmitt roadworthy without playing time as the excuse! You have a workshop attached so could potter about an hour or two at a time

this is the first time I have been lucky enough to have an empty (apart from the cars) garage and I don't know, which is why I am asking. Financially, I have kept the schmitt through thick and thin, even when I needed the money but I wonder if I'd rather have a couple of cars (or three) for the cost of one - it would be a no cash deal in terms of selling one and using the cash to buy the others. Insurance is negligible and the schmitt owes me nothing - I do love it though!

 

Nowadays, in strict financial terms it is always going to be the most valuable and easily sold microcar and anything else would be a backward step. A bit like selling a Morgan three wheeler and buying a BSA and a Raleigh and an Austin 7.

[messerschmitt owner]

A four seater?

 

1 Yourself

1 Wife

1 Kid

=========

3 Seater

don't quote me on this but my wife has a fat arse and she and Evie would not fit in the back of the schmitt!

[Junkman]

The Messerschmitt is certainly the safest investment if going down this route is really what you're after.

(I always am afraid I get beaten up on this here forum if I even mention such stuff.)

 

But.

 

Trading the Messaschnitzel for a cheaper other safe investment (a Goggo) and spending the overhang on a more risky investment (AWS Shopper?) may yield a higher profit in the mid to long term, seeing that the Schnitzel has kind of reached it's value ceiling and will merely compensate for inflation plus the odd percent from now on.

 

On the other hand, what about flogging the Schnitzel for 15 grand and buying a fleet of real cars? Seeing your other chod you might be in for an entirely new experience.

[Cheggers]

Toss a coin - Heads it stays, Tails it goes.

 

The moment the coin's in the air, you'll know what you REALLY want to do

[messerschmitt owner]

The Messerschmitt is certainly the safest investment if going down this route is really what you're after.

(I always am afraid I get beaten up on this here forum if I even mention such stuff.)

 

But.

 

Trading the Messaschnitzel for a cheaper other safe investment (a Goggo) and spending the overhang on a more risky investment (AWS Shopper?) may yield a higher profit in the mid to long term, seeing that the Schnitzel has kind of reached it's value ceiling and will merely compensate for inflation plus the odd percent from now on.

 

On the other hand, what about flogging the Schnitzel for 15 grand and buying a fleet of real cars? Seeing your other chod you might be in for an entirely new experience.

this!

 

I'm having a slower version of this discussion on the rumcars forum and I know I do not own a Messerschmitt for the investment potential - that has been pure luck. £200 investment back in 1987-8 has done rather well for itself but if the car was only worth a grand I would still have it and enjoy it.

 

Having money in the bank means you can buy a car when you see it and generally not muck about, being able to buy cheaply if the car right arises!

 

I really fancy another Goggo and I will have to import it from Europe in LHD if I want one. And, trust me, I want another but unsure if I am prepared to sacrifice the schmitt for one.

 

An AWS is an ugly brute of a thing and I do like them as a result! Orange plywood - what's not to like!

 

When I sold the second PA Cresta I owned I knew I was never going to have another - not with the prices today and I think I would miss the schmitt more than that but I fancy something new and on the road in immaculate condition.

[beko1987]

Get the smart fixed and into daily duties, then sell that and fix the schmitt? It did look sad sitting there!

 

And with a garage like yours there is no excuse for not getting on with it!!

[plasticvandan]

immaculate is boring,stick your schmitt in a line up of sterile,lifeless chequebook restos and see whos car has a crowd around it and the microcar rallies ive been to are some of the worst for the "my cars shinier than yours" brigade,

which is ironic considering they were brought out for people who couldnt afford anything better.

 

Also,does your wife and kid (s) actually have any interest in going to shows/runs/out in the car? not wanting to make a personal judgement,just that if they arent that interested or bothered about it,(my exes have always been the type that go along with it,but would rather be shopping,note:EXES! )then getting rid of the schmitt so you can shoehorn a family into a goggo seeems a bit daft.

 

You need to work out what YOU want,not what would be useful/nice for a change/ etc.

If i had 15k i would prob buy a Bond MKG Twin and stash the rest.

If i had a Schmitt i wouldnt be debating selling it

[Junkman]

An AWS would make sense next to a Goggo, since they share the oily bits and this would consequently reduce your spares inventory.

 

Generally, I think I understand where you are coming from.

 

I was an Imperial aficionado since I was a teenager. That's Imperials made by Chrysler Corp., not the Rootes stuff.

The 1990s were financially comparatively kind to me and I ended up importing and restoring eleven 1957-1963 Imperials in as many years. I knew that they weren't and likely never will be prime investment material, but I didn't care. I did it as a labour of love, reasoning that the quality of my restorations (two times 'best restoration' at Västeras tells the story) would add value regardless. In the end I was partially right, the cars did a formidable job to help pay for my divorce.

 

Like you, I now have no really clear cut idea what to do. My love for Imperials has significantly cooled down. Actually, my love for finned yanks in general has significantly cooled down, maybe this is age related, or a belated midlife crisis? Fact is, Imperials do leave me cold nowadays, as was clearly observed when I recently looked at a very restorable '61 for a very attractive price by any standards. I just couldn't bring myself towards it.

With a plethora of other yanks under my belt (I frequently used 70s yanks as daily drivers back then), I kind of feel a yank saturation in my life, if this makes sense, which I successfully compensated with the purchase of a Rover P6 V8, which, after 25 years of yankism, was kind of a revellation. I suddenly rather excersise attention when someone posts an Armstrong-Siddeley in the Ebay thread, and a rather tidy Alvis TD 21, which would have left me cold just a few years ago, now somehow managed to find its way into my heart, whereas an equally tidy 455-powered '68 Buick GS400 ragtop, which just a few years ago would have made me jumping up and down until I could strike a deal, failed to do so.

I also developed a sudden love for Hybrids, which hitherto wasn't a term for polar-bear-friendly motoring, but denoted a European car with a big bloody yank V8 in it, so I seem to be a bit caught in the middle between yanks and Euros - fair play, and a potential avenue to go down in future also with a view towards investment. However, this doesn't help a bit trying to decide on an older replacement for my rather newfangled and thus not likeable Peugeot 405 2.0 GTX Auto Estate.

 

But maybe you need a general change of the automotive scene around you as well?

[dollywobbler]

Gosh. I've been to Vasteras! Had the sheer fluke of passing through there during one of their American Car festival things. That was in 2007. I was in a Citroen H van, which the Americana fans seemed to like!

[messerschmitt owner]

I went out earlier and spent fifteen minutes just looking at my Schmitt.

[plasticvandan]

That to me says dont sell it

If nothing else you would have to change your forum name

[skoda_fan]

Sounds like you're answering your own question. I wouldn't be in any rush to sell the Schmitt. As you acknowledge, you're unlikely realistically to ever have another one and you may end up kicking yourself. I've got rid of several cars (none as rare or desirable as yours) in my time and regetted it soon afterwards.

[STUNO]

Retro step to a PA

Half the price and all your family and friends will love it !

1958 PA Velox $15000.00 asking

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-ca ... 569283.htm

Discussion over.

[Pete-M]

Flog it. Buy something really scary.