ERA2031 Needs help determining asking price.
 

I plan on putting ERA2031 for sale in the spring. As most of you guys know ERA is very devoted to accurate powerplants sitting between the framerails of ERA cars. Mine is an interesting exception. I have a 4.6L DOHC SVT Cobra motor in my FIA car.

Anyway, I have learned that I prefer building cars more than driving or owning. So I am going to sell the car to fund the next project. Perhaps a Porsche or perhaps a GT40 heck I don't know yet.

Since the car is not typical of ERA cars it is hard to say where it's value lies. I've spent about $100,000 but thats because I broke the cardinal rule: "keep it simple stupid" You might have seen the car's article in August's Mustang and Fords magazine. More photos are located at my website www.bloodenterprises.com/cobra

Here is one of the photos from the Magazine article.

Adam-
I can't help you with the pricing (but if you want to let it go for a song, I'm here for you, because that's the kind of guy I am :D ), but I did see the article in the magazine last month and just wanted to tell you that it is a beautiful car. I doubt you will have any trouble selling, even with the "non-original" engine. Great car and great pics in the magazine.

Mike

That's a fine looking car. There should be someone out there looking for something a little different. How do you put a price on it...Don't know:)

Adam,

The tough part of trying to place a figure on a "one of a kind" Cobra replica is that there are no "comps" for which to judge it against. In this case, you built a beautiful Cobra to suit your own personal tastes at that time, so to find a buyer who is looking for that exact same car is going to be difficult. However, the factthat it is a one of a kind, coupled with the fact it is in a national magazine could offset the detriments. based on what I have seen on your website, it is my educated guess that it will sell somewhere in the $50,000-$59,000 range. Yes, I know, you do have a lot more invested in it than that, but based on what you have, the parts used, and the personal preferences you have chosen, this is what I believe the market will bear..................


I do wish you the best of luck in selling it. If you have any questions in regards to marketing the car properly, just let me know.


Sincerely,

Bill S.

Appraised Value
 

You might try contacting House of Cobras, I believe they do appraisals.

http://www.houseofcobras.com/

unfortunately these cars , like most/all? , colector cars are easy to buy and hard to sell. pricing is difficult, especially in these times when economy is tough and 'toys' ( boats, unique cars, planes etc) become a financial burden and are listed for sale in droves with cash hungry (need it now ) folks taking lower offers when selling for personal financial constraint reasons.

hopefully for you the spring market will show some economic recovery and the typical seasonal upturn in sales..and hopefully any other high end replica cars have seen a resurgence in increased pricing/sales so that you can benefit from that too..for comp purposes.

in my restoration days of mustangs and thunderbirds i have found that restorer number one can expect to lose 25-35% of his investment on the resale. buyer #2 is the winner, usually able to drive that same car for 1-3yrs and recover his investment, sometimes making money. a 57 bird can cost 60k for a concours resto and be worth 45-50k the day it is done. likewise , your 100k will not be recovered...so be prepared to write off to a portion of it to a fun experience. how much will you lose :? who knows..but you are better off asking the 'how much should i ask for it' question in the spring.

so many folks go hog wild on their builds, or other car restorations, reaching a point of no return,and then continuing forward to completion ...they just need to know that they will take the hit, and the next buyer benefits.

moral to the story...want to minimize your losses, be the second buyer and break even or come out ahead. want to minimize your losses, buy a roller with a fixed engine intsall budget and know what your bottom line is going in. want to take a chance...build your own car, restore an old bird or mustang...and lose track of the dollars totally spent, then add it up when done. then have a trained medic on hand to bring you back to life when reality sets in...now, if the dollar loss doesnt bother ya, then go for it..otherwise, bend over..

great car, great magazine article..and pray the spring market brings improved economy and resale values...or be prepared for a big price hit .

build another car ? lord love ya....wish i had that kind of money...might be better to keep what ya got or be buyer number two on what ya want instead of building it yourself. your personal satisfaction in 'the build' will cost you more money after this car and the next one than i have...

just my $.02 worth, after having taken a big bath on a few restos in my time, but loved every minute of it ( i think). good luck to ya...bill.

Crazy,

The value of the car is what you are willing to part with it for on the day someone offers you an amount. Or if you reverse that it is the amount it sells for.

I think the question goes back to you.

What do you want to put it on the market.

$100,000 --- Could buy a very nice avroominum car from Shelby or Kirkham

$80,000 -- Would probably still get you one of the above, or at least the person buying would consider the few more dollars it would take.

$65,000 -- This is the area you get into the REALLY nice ERA's at the top of the market.

$50,000 -- $55,000 --- Someone will get into the game in this range for your car -- imho.

The engine and car look great. Do your mods create a hangover for the next owner though?

Thanks everyone for your input. I spent my money out of passion and never once expected the car to be worth what I spent on it. I thought you guys would have valuable input from being owners yourselves. I am glad to hear nobody thinks such a project completely devalues the car. I figure I'll post it at about $56,000 after I have the rock chips repaired from driving the past 20,000 miles.

Then I'm going to look into an ERA GT to build down at Bloodenterprises. Definitely with EFI webers....

As for Headaches from the modifications. I'm practically offended. :) I don't build problem cars, I build driveable automobiles (hence the claim "stop waxing and start driving") I challenge you to a duel! :) We'll meet at the Missippi and race to our respective coasts.

Exactly the opposite!

I viewed your website and you look to have a great deal of talent working in that space.

Isn't it easier to deal with an engine that has a carb sitting on top than dealing with a computer control engine. Afterall -- most of the car guys like to play with the engines at home and all.

Actually,

I'm a certified ACCEL EMIC so that makes me quite comfortable with EFI. I've never owned a carb, what do they look like?

I programmed the system over a year ago and have never touched it since. Furthermore, when you do little modifications the 0-2 sensor corrects the fuel curve for you.

You can tinker with the DFI Gen-7 computer to your heart's content with a Laptop. But I prefer to drive and haven't needed to break out a laptop to tune in over 7,000 miles.

Once you use use a good complete system, it becomes clear why all production cars are EFI. More efficient, lower emissions, less moving parts. etc etc Nobody is ever on the side of the road looking at a fuel injector.

The key to efi is not trying to fix a car with carb problems by installing efi. A good efi system will need to be developed from the ground up. Not that retrofitting a car can't be a good thing. But often wild cam cars with poor manifolds get efi webers installed and continue to be tempermental. Cam and manifold selection is very important to having a seamless EFI installation, as is selecting a extremely good EFI computer

Adam Crabtree
www.bloodenterprises.com