• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

Ebay Alpine

puff4

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Well, it's purty, but you'd think they'd at least have cleaned up and painted the boot! Wrong rear seat, as well.
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
alpine

it appears to have decent body lines. the head light rims seem to match the fender lines and all the gaps seem good. it is missing the cover for the top boot area and few things such as a heater but nothing major. a few hours and a few hundred dollars would give you a nice trunk area. as far as restoration cost goes i will say that we're double the cost of this car on the series 4 with me doing all the assembley work and it's not done yet. we're being told 250 hours @ 75.00 per hour plus materials to finish the harrington body. that would be giving us back a painted shell not including suspension work and everything else. if you do the math,this car is not a bad buy.
 
ALPINE5GT

ALPINE5GT

Diamond Level Sponsor
Never seen the 1725 badge on the left side of the boot lid! Makes you wonder what else is "not quite right".
Very nice car though.
 
RootesRooter

RootesRooter

Donation Time
I'm not quite sure about that oversize back-seat pad. On a couple of the photos it looks like its positioned on top as a combo boot/back seat area cover.

A few Alpines is similar condition went for more than this on eBay - pre-recession. My guess is that it won't sell here, but will sell afterwards locally for around $16K, saving the new owner enough to install a stock boot cover, heater and brake booster.
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
alpine

the badge should be on the right side but that's minor. it's also missing the pentastar on the right fender,a few grommets in the engine bay, wrong door weather stripping and furflex and the covers over the seat hinges. it also has the vin tag painted, wrong color on hood hinges and lacks the black paint in the grill area. as i said before these are easy items to repair or replace somewhere down the road. you can't restore a car to the appearance of what the photos show for what they're asking.
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
alpine

the rear seat pad has the cutout to fit the rearend bump in the floor. wonder what is under it?
 
puff4

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Well, let's start a little list, shall we?

  1. Damage: Bent front valence.
  2. Damage: Passenger seat squab seam parted
  3. Missing brake booster
  4. Missing heater hoses & control valve (cable for heater still present, so it's not a 'heater delete' model)
  5. Missing convertible top boot cover
  6. Missing spare tyre
  7. Missing jack
  8. Missing tool kit
  9. Missing boot floor liner
  10. Missing Pentastar on lower right wing
  11. Missing grommets in engine bay
  12. Missing sun visors (brackets present, so was ordered with this option)
  13. Missing tonneau cover (studs are installed, so was supplied with this option at one point)
  14. Non-original coil
  15. Non-original carburettor & intake
  16. Non-original vent pipe hose
  17. Non-original brake master reservoir
  18. Non-original keys (wrong shape - boot should be rectangular, ignition should be triangular)
  19. Non-original rear seat padding
  20. Non-original hose clamps
  21. Non-original headlamps (should be Lucas)
  22. Non-original screws on boot side panels (should be black)
  23. Non-original door weather stripping (also missing a bit on the left door)
  24. Non-original Furflex
  25. Non-original size tyres (wider than standard, extending outside body at rear)
  26. Non-original edge trim strip installed at top leading edge of convertible top boot well (should not be any there at all - should be bare painted metal edge)
  27. Incorrectly installed: Badge on wrong side of boot lid
  28. Incorrectly installed: Fuel pipe from pump to carburettor incorrectly routed (should be behind thermostat)
  29. Incorrectly installed: Temperature sender wire (should have P-clip to thermostat housing bolt)
  30. Incorrectly installed: PCV flame trap 45 degrees out of line (inlet and outlet tubes should be vertically aligned)
  31. Incorrectly installed: Oil cooler hose bracket attached to the wrong bolt on the valve cover (should be under front securing nut)
  32. Wrong colour: Side-plates on seats (should be black wrinkle-finish)
  33. Wrong colour: Oil filler neck (should be black)
  34. Wrong colour: Bonnet hinges (should be body colour)
  35. Wrong colour: Bonnet prop (should be body colour)
  36. Wrong colour: VIN tag (should be unpainted)
  37. Wrong colour: Boot floor (black rattle-can spray in tyre well)

For ~$19,000 we should be getting a VERY original and well sorted car... this isn't close.
 
puff4

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
65beam said:
...lacks the black paint in the grill area...
Click to expand...

Actually, I do see evidence of this being right... note the slight overbrushing near the chrome grille surround in photo #8.

65beam said:
...you can't restore a car to the appearance of what the photos show for what they're asking.
Click to expand...

Perhaps true, but they haven't posted photos of the underside of the car... that could be an unholy disaster, in which case we might be looking at a repainted, decently upholstered 'good runner'... and that wouldn't be all that hard to pull off at well under the asking price.
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
alpine

a very original car is worth a lot less due to it's condition. poor paint since original paint was bad to start with, chrome plating would be bad, the stiching on the seats,etc would come apart with constant use, all badges would be faded,rubber would be bad, etc,etc. even panel gaps were poor on the cars when new. it's time that the value of these cars goes to where they should be.
 
puff4

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
65beam said:
a very original car is worth a lot less due to it's condition. poor paint since original paint was bad to start with, chrome plating would be bad, the stiching on the seats,etc would come apart with constant use, all badges would be faded,rubber would be bad, etc,etc. even panel gaps were poor on the cars when new. it's time that the value of these cars goes to where they should be.
Click to expand...

Oh, I don't disagree! The value of Alpines has always been far too low for the performance, comfort, style and rarity they represent. Heck, that's why I have owned mine for over 30 years, and kept it as original as I can.

I've always thought that an original car should draw far more money than a modified one, but in the past it's always been the tricked-up ones that go for the cash. I think, to some extent that worm is beginning to turn, in that original cars (of all brands) are slowly being recognised as a true rarity as the 'tricked' cars start to outnumber the originals.

But at present for $19K I think you could find a pretty good Alpine runner, get the important bits re-chromed, do a decent repaint and get some new carpets and still make a dang good profit.
 
Alpine 1789

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
The car is only about 15 minutes from my house. Unfortunately, I will be be able to see it before the end of the auction, but would be very surprised if it sold. So, if anyone wants me to go take a look at it next week, let me know. I may try to do that anyway, but will make more of an effort if anyone is truly interested.
 
65beam

65beam

Donation Time
alpine

kevin,
the wife and i are fortunate in that we are able to travel around the country to british car shows and vintage races. we see very few original cars. the number of semi restored, fully restored and modified cars are probably at least a 100 to 1 ratio to original unrestored cars.
 
Eleven

Eleven

Platinum Level Sponsor
Really nice looking car! Why you would do all that great work and then leave the trunk crappy with the beginnings of rust is beyond me.
 
mototron

mototron

Donation Time
wow , you guys picked this car apart .
My thoughts were that if some one did not paint the trunk area
what else lurks under that pretty blue paint and the Tires sticking out past the
fenders looks Pretty bad
 
John W

John W

Bronze Level Sponsor
This is a great place for buying or finding out what you're looking at buying. The real difference between a $4,500 Alpine and a $24,500 Alpine is all about the details. I don't think there's any doubt that 60's cars have increased, maybe doubled in value over the last decade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top