I can't understand why they cost so much

[carlo]

I thought of this thread whilst browsing Ebay as I'm wont to do several times a day.

 

There's always one car which has stood out for me as being overpriced these days for what it is, and that's the Fiat 131 in all its incarnations.  They all seem to be in the range of £5 - £20000, even bog standard ones.  At the end of the day they were a fairly nondescript Italian Cortina.  The equivalent Lancias don't seem to fetch anywhere near this money, and even Alfas struggle to keep up.

 

With most cars I can see why they might fetch what they do, but not with this one.  Unless someone has their own better example?

[mercrocker]

Are they really asking that much?   I haven't even so much as thought about a Mafioso since I drove them as company cars.    They were bloody good drives, then, though - miles better than anything else in the car pool c.1981.       

 

Even so, I can't argue with your puzzlement.

[DodgeRover]

Are they cheap in Italy or have they all dissolved beyond the point of saving there as well?

[carlo]

Just one of quite a few in the same region

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-131-Supermirafiori-1600TC-/252710160478?hash=item3ad6b3085e:g:6KEAAOSwV-RXFJd4

[MrDuke]

There's always one car which has stood out for me as being overpriced these days for what it is, and that's the Fiat 131 in all its incarnations.  They all seem to be in the range of £5 - £20000, even bog standard ones.  At the end of the day they were a fairly nondescript Italian Cortina.  The equivalent Lancias don't seem to fetch anywhere near this money, and even Alfas struggle to keep up.

 

I suspect you may have answered your own question there...

[garethj]

Worse than a Cortina, they were the Italian equivalent of a Mk2 Escort with rally history and everything.

 

See prices of Mk2 Escorts for similar despair.

[chodweaver]

I remember them having something of a cache(sp) at the time -  I think it was in the running when my Dad ended up with his first Solara - I was fascinated by them - they looked good in the brochures and obviously, being Italian, would be twice as quick as anything else.

 

Later on, I tried to convince him that an Argenta was what he needed.

 

Probably best to leave my teenage appreciation of cars at that, really...

[Lacquer Peel]

"Do a bo11ox" and buy a left hooker 132. Thinking man's 131.

[Vin]

I thought of this thread whilst browsing Ebay as I'm wont to do several times a day.

 

There's always one car which has stood out for me as being overpriced these days for what it is, and that's the Fiat 131 in all its incarnations.  They all seem to be in the range of £5 - £20000, even bog standard ones.  At the end of the day they were a fairly nondescript Italian Cortina.  The equivalent Lancias don't seem to fetch anywhere near this money, and even Alfas struggle to keep up.

 

With most cars I can see why they might fetch what they do, but not with this one.  Unless someone has their own better example?

 

When anything is that age the price is always what somebody is prepared to pay...

 

For a 'fairly nondescript Italian Cortina', the three world championships that it won are probably also a factor...

 

[Junkman]

Look at this pile of gopping, pure, unadulterated shit:

 

 

How much????

[Doctormop]

My Dad nearly bought a snot green Mirafiori estate in 1985 from our local Fiat main dealer, My Mum hated it, he liked it,(He was 44 and entering mid life crisis phase)  when he just happened to glance underneath the rear floor,

We made our excuses and left.

He bought a Chrysler Alpine and domestic bliss resumed, although he also considered a Citroen GS estate and neither of them liked that, I've never really forgiven either of them.

[Pete-M]

I had a few 131s. One 1600 and a couple of 2.0 TC. They were ok. £5k? No. £20k? Fuck no. I wouldn't pay £20k for a Mk2 Escort either, to me a car would have to be very very special to justify more than about £10k.

[Junkman]

10 fucking k? For a car?

I wouldn't pay 10 fucking k for a nuclear submarine!

Let alone for a house.

[Pete-M]

10 fucking k? For a car?

I wouldn't pay 10 fucking k for a nuclear submarine!

Let alone for a house.

Heh. There are some cars I would pay £10k for, but not a lot of them.

[warren t claim]

"Do a bo11ox" and buy a left hooker 132. Thinking man's 131.

Sadly they're not. The 131 steers and handles a hell of a lot better than a 132.

[warren t claim]

Isn't it ironic that plenty of 131s died to provide engine and gearboxes for RWD Escorts?

[PiperCub]

^^ That's what crossed my mind before reading this post! 

 

Had a shit-brown coloured 1600 saloon in about 1987, from the local auction. Bought it to 'Flip' as they say nowadays. Had experience of them a few years before as they were often company cars at dad's workplace. Nice drive I thought, the T/C engines were great. Used to watch them rallying on TV. 

 

Prices? As above have said, rarity and nostalgia, would pay a grand for a good driving car but no more, similarly, wouldn't pay much more for a comparable Mk1/2 Ez either, nice at that money otherwise I'll pass. 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

In the early 80's there was an Abarth in Universal Salvage in Bedfordshire. It was only slightly damaged and they'd got it put to one side, so that it didn't get trashed, I once asked about it and was told they'd only entertain offers over a Grand. I found this hilarious , as all I wanted it for was to put the arches and wheels on a £100 Sport , stick an Italian flag sticker on the back and sell it to an Italian with a perm ( most of em at the time).

Wonder where that is now, come to that I can't remember seeing a Sport for 30 years, could never see the point in them - heavier and slower than an RS2000 but cost loads more when new.

[Mr Laurence]

Original Minis, especially the later 80s and 90s cars that got shonkier panel fits the older the tooling got.Hilarious fun on the right road but dismal at being a car. I seem them as fun £2-3k classics for a nice summer's trip to the pub but worth no more than that.Alas, the market disagrees. Nice ones change hands for way more an invariably end up with central Playmini fart cannons and union flag roofs.

Mini prices are absolutely crazy. The prices people charge for the sort of junk that should have been bridged long ago is stupid. Bargains are still out there, but it takes a hell of a lot of patience to search through all the unsellable junk with stupid exhausts and massive wheels to find them

[Junkman]

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C738025

 

 

Price: £122096

 

I would really like to know what those guys are on so that I can avoid it.

[fordperv]

The sierra sapphire cosworth

 

What I can't understand is why these have become so valuable, the 3 door cosworth I can understand with its racing heritage and over the top looks, the sapphire though come on its a sierra ghia with a turbo twin cam pinto and a couple of dress up body parts, your average person in the street will often mistake a standard glsi for a cosworth (I get it all the time when out in my saph) they rot like a normal sierra, I am a blue oval fan as you can probably guess from my username but I am a realist, I also can't understand the prices on most old ford's and parts

[Junkman]

Old Ford parts prices I can understand to a degree. There are shitloads of cars out there but very few parts available.

Look at old BMWs for contrast. There are hardly any cars competing for piles of spares, hence they cost nothing.

[Lacquer Peel]

Sadly they're not. The 131 steers and handles a hell of a lot better than a 132.

 

Aye. I forgot that the 132 is different car.

 

Tofas from Turkey then.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Buy a Lancia Trevi instead then, obviously the sensible option.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

The sierra sapphire cosworth dfd5a0b002518873b752008bd935a7d0.jpg

 

What I can't understand is why these have become so valuable, the 3 door cosworth I can understand with its racing heritage and over the top looks, the sapphire though come on its a sierra ghia with a turbo twin cam pinto and a couple of dress up body parts, your average person in the street will often mistake a standard glsi for a cosworth (I get it all the time when out in my saph) they rot like a normal sierra, I am a blue oval fan as you can probably guess from my username but I am a realist, I also can't understand the prices on most old ford's and parts

+1.....for a while the saph cosworth could be had for reasonable money, especially the 2wd ones.

 

I think classic shape impreza turbos are likely to go the same way soon

 

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

[fordperv]

Yep i remember well when the sapphire cosworth was a council estate chariot of choice, I've been saying the same thing with the early shape impreza for a while to anyone who would listen, the Colin mcrae rally playstation generation have grown up now so they will want to live out the dream

[Cavcraft]

Those Mirafiori Sport things are proper nice looking cars.

 

 

The market place is full of stupidly priced cars that scene tax people have ruined by greed/stupidity. As much as I knock the VW gang, those old 1960's/70's campers are pretty class looking things, and I'd certainly have one, the prices are just stupid. Ditto the Escort Mk1 and 2s, smart enough looking things but like the VW campers, they're not that special and hence the market values are ridiculous. Ok, the Escorts were good at rallying back in the day, but not in a fucking 4 door 1.1 saloon they weren't.

[JeeExEll]

[Pete-M]

The sierra sapphire cosworth dfd5a0b002518873b752008bd935a7d0.jpg

 

What I can't understand is why these have become so valuable, the 3 door cosworth I can understand with its racing heritage and over the top looks, the sapphire though come on its a sierra ghia with a turbo twin cam pinto and a couple of dress up body parts, your average person in the street will often mistake a standard glsi for a cosworth (I get it all the time when out in my saph) they rot like a normal sierra, I am a blue oval fan as you can probably guess from my username but I am a realist, I also can't understand the prices on most old ford's and parts

The 3dr Cosworth is ridiculously floppy. Seriously, I've driven rusty Saab convertibles with more solid feeling shells. The Sapphire Cosworth is much, much nicer to drive than the 3dr. Better suspension, better handling, better riding. Which is why I bought a Sapphire instead of a 3dr.

 

I collected a new 3dr Cosworth from a dealership in 1988 (they didn't sell all that well, this one was an E reg) and even though I was 18 it was obvious that the shell on the thing was seriously lacking torsional rigidity. The Sapphire doesn't suffer anywhere nearly as badly.

 

I wouldn't have a 3dr Sierra, I would have another Sapphire Cosworth.

[Pete-M]

Those Mirafiori Sport things are proper nice looking cars.

 

 

I had a 131 Supermirafiori Sport. TUT131X. It looked good and had a hugely velouresque orange interior. I also had a Mk2 RS2000 at the same time KHD114W.

 

The Fiat was roomier and more modern feeling inside (this was around 95), it also had a 5 speed box which would have been a major bonus when new. It was no quicker than the Escort and not as much fun to drive, but passengers did tend to like the Fiat more than the Ford. I preferred the Ford.