Ebay Kirkham sells for $68,655!

[N2VENOM]

Deal of the year. I hope this is not a trend....

eBay Motors: Shelby : 427 S/C (item 290228892792 end time May-17-08 15:12:05 PDT)

[FUNFER2]

I've been watching the car and was very envious of whom ever bought it, now that it sold for unbelievable,.........$68,655, now I want to roll over and die.

Someone got a extreme deal !

[ng8264723]

This is what I've been saying. You can spend a $100,000 grand on your build but you won't get it back. Sure Kirkham and Keith Craft can sell a new finished car for $100. Try doing it yourself. It doesn't fly. This is car is about ten grand more than mine and mine doesn't have an engine tranny or rear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chaplin]

Someone got a bar-gooooon!

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Chaplin

Someone got a bar-gooooon!

So Chappy, when are they delivering it to your door

[HI Cobra]

Well guys - it is in good hands and will be staying in Texas.
I am one happy camper because it is a dream come true for me.
I have to wait a month to go get it but i can handle that.
You never know - I figured it wouldn't hurt to try, set a budget and made it.
I may have to retire sooner than I thought so I can spend more time there
in our second house so I can drive that critter more. Yahoo!

[RodKnock]

OK, I figured it out. You want to know it went so cheap? There was a small amount of wear on the driver's carpet! That's worth, say, $25K right there.

Either that or all the buyers are at the Cobra Bash. Uh, maybe it was the cast iron block. I'm digging here.

Congrats on your great new car.

[Excaliber]

By golly Flip, you got r done! You been talking about getting a K car for some time now and you went and pulled the trigger. Good for you.

See ya tommorow at the McKenna car show!

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by HI Cobra

Well guys - it is in good hands and will be staying in Texas. I am one happy camper because it is a dream come true for me. I have to wait a month to go get it but i can handle that.
You never know - I figured it wouldn't hurt to try, set a budget and made it. I may have to retire sooner than I thought so I can spend more time there in our second house so I can drive that critter more. Yahoo!

Don't you have it the othe way around? I would think most people would rather reire to Hawaii. I know I would.

[otomix]

Great for Hawaii !!.....The short sells will dry up in the next few months, and when you drive the cobras they will depreciate some (5,700 miles). 1/2 the cars are going out of the country, and a newer #400-500 and above with top quality Alum engines - 5 speed's are not / will not continue to be avaliable for the depressed prices.

[Excaliber]

I'm following Flips lead, retiring to the mainland. The cost of living is SO much cheaper and the housing costs are SO much lower. For me, it's really about the need for more 'space', I'm getting rock fever real bad living on such a 'tiny' island (comparatively speaking). I'm looking forward to getting my car back on a race track and going through the gears again!

Since they closed our only race track here about two years ago, I've been seriously considering a move...

[HI Cobra]

I have been in Hawaii for 34 years and have no intention of leaving. I just
plan on enjoying the best of both worlds and splitting my time in each.
We found a great place in Texas which is more or less centrally located in
America so we can use it as a base camp to see the rest of the country.
That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

[Bud Man]

Flip:

Congratulations on winning #142. I look forward to seeing you when you pick up the car....you should have a blast driving it down to Houston, and with 42 gallons of fuel, shouldn't have to make any stops!

Of course I would have preferred the car to bring more money, but I believe the market spoke, and it is what it is. I never bought #142 with the idea of an investment car, and, had I wanted to do that, there were several Porsche 356's (another passion) around in '01 that would have now easily doubled in value. That just wasn't my thing. Flip is going to get a great car, and I did fine, also. Win-wins are always good!

I have really enjoyed the journey on this, and like Flip, the acquisition of the body and chassis back in '01 was a dream come true for me. Not only did I have a lot of fun researching and sourcing the right parts, but I made a lot of friends along the way during the build. Dealing with the Kirkham family has been a fantastic experience, and if I were so inclined, I would not hesitate to buy another one of their cars. They - and their cars - are simply the best, in all ways. The folks in the Texas Cobra Club are fine people, and I hope I am welcome to attend an occasional meeting or event throughout the year.

Just time to move on. I have always enjoyed vintage American motorcycles, and if I can find time, hope to do a another restoration. So, if anyone knows of a decent '40 or '41 Indian Chief that needs a new home, give me a shout!

Keep the shiny side up!

Bud:

[Ronbo]

eBay is a tricky thing. How something is listed makes all the difference. The title needs to hit as many possible search types as possible so including "Shelby" "Cobra" "AC" and "Kirkham" in your title are essential. (people may not search descriptions)

Right now there are a lot of cars out there (as well as other luxury items) so how it's marketed makes all the difference.

Although ng thinks otherwise, this doesn't look like a $100k build to me. Bud hasn't stated figures but it looks like he didn't loose too much and enjoyed the car for 7 years.

Wanna feel sorry for someone, look at what Superformances aren't selling for now...

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

Wanna feel sorry for someone, look at what Superformances aren't selling for now...

There'sa dealer in the Midwest with EIGHT (8) SPF GT40's in his showroom and they're discounting them pretty good.

Congrats to Bud also. Have you seen whate early 911's are going for right now?

Regarding racetracks, we've got a couple nice ones in the Bay Area. Infineon and Thunderhill, but the Bay Area is as about as expensive of a place to live as Hawaii.

[Excaliber]

I think you would be hard pressed to duplicate this car today for under a $100K. The period correct suspension and genuine no excuses date coded side oiler are very rare. This is an exceptional Kirkham because of it's specs. To get original spec suspension in a modern Kirkham is something like a $15,000 upgrade by itself. Good luck finding a date coded side oiler, most would simply give up and be happy with a Pond 'clone' block or a Shelby alloy block.

I DO grow tired of hearing the latest mantra, "It's only a replica." Well fine then, put a Honda engine in the darn thing if thats all that matters. SOME of us appreciate the higher standards that were more common a few years back, when building a replica meant 'doing it right'. This Kirkham is a fine example of that, dare I say, 'old school' thinking.

Well done Bud, my hats off to you for a job well done and for keeping the flame alive.

[mrmustang]

Budman,

Congratulations on the sale, now the question is, what are you going to replace it with .


Bill S.

[Bud Man]

All:

Thanks for the compliments on KMP #142. Actually, I was quite happy with the number of hits that the auction got at the end of the day, and tend to believe that if you are looking for a car like this one, you will find it, but do agree that covering all your bases description-wise is also a smart thing to do. Lots of foreign interest, but glad she will remain in the U.S.

RodKnock: You are so right. I think the real bargains in 911's are the 3.0 and 3.2 liter cars from about 1982 - 1988. The earlier 911's prices are going thru the roof, and its hard to find nice solid cars, but I don't believe Porsche ever built a better car than that 3.0/3.2 series. A true 911 that is fast, well made, comfortable and generally free of the tin worm, thanks to their "long life" rustproofing efforts in the late 70's.

Excaliber: Thanks for your comments. You truly do "get it"

Bill: Unlikely I will do another car of any type, as I am looking to down-size and simplify a bit as I get older. I do enjoy antique motorcycles and currently ride a 1948 Indian Chief, and would truly like to find a old unrestored pre-war Chief. But like everything else in this overheated collector market, they are getting harder to find, and when you do, they are astronomically priced. So unless I get lucky, I will just have to hop on the 48 and enjoy it until I get too old and fall off.....

All the best.

Bud

[csx wnab]

man what a smokin deal. i have a total of 68000 in my superformance not including my labor to assemble her. (but how do you put a price on a labor of love). if only i knew.

[Ronbo]

Excalibur, I don't think in 2001 this car cost $100k to build.

I don't recall anyone disputing the wisdom of an "old school" build. I also don't see how using an aluminum block is akin to putting a Honda engine in there or why you don't mind Bud's choice of using the aluminum rear and sanded finish.

As far as why this exact car with a CSX tag is fetching $160k? Well, I don't get it either.