This one seems to be a relatively unmolested Intermeccanica speedster from the California days. Nothing special in the specs, but it'll be interesting to see what it brings.
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I haven't seen a VW with the original Select-A-Drop beam adjusted in a long time. The as found patina was cool! Argh still has missing engine surround tins!
If this goes over 30-35K, I give up.
I owned one of these many moons ago. The gaps we’re really bad, and the doors did not line up flush with the body. I had re gap the doors and do a few bodywork tricks to line up the body. It turned out to be a very nice car in the end, and I had a lot of fun with it.
@Sacto Mitch posted:
SOLD for $207,000.
Make that money
Said make that money
Make that money run like honey
On your tongue
Gotta love the Lean back of the drivers seat. In his driving video you can't even see the seat, looks like he is sitting on the floor. Rest assured it will sell for more then it should.
Wonder if I could cast some aluminum hinges with INTERMECANNICA on them for my CMC? Would double price. Lots of sand for the casting. I have the beer cans already!
As old as it is it would need a complete redo from the windshield frame issues and keep going you will get down to redoing everything but then someone is going to pay WAY too much for it. IMO with the euphoria of the market today and where they listed it.
@IaM-Ray posted:As old as it is it would need a complete redo from the windshield frame issues and keep going you will get down to redoing everything but then someone is going to pay WAY too much for it. IMO with the euphoria of the market today and where they listed it.
Not a big deal. Only took me a little over two years. I paid $12K for mine (two truckloads of parts) and figure I've got a total of around $30K in it. Plus the 80 hours of assembly time.
Not 40 hours ?
Yeah..... And he had to build that Paint Booth, too.
love that island but after 2 weeks I get Island Fever
Maui was the only vacation where I wasn't ready to go home half way through it.
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Island life must get routine after a while, just like anywhere else.
Every morning, you put your board shorts on one leg at a time, check the surf report, chase the tourists taking selfies out of your front yard, and get on with the day.
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Nearly 10 years in and still not tired of living here. It really helps to have our only son and his family here, too.
Plan ahead, get your only child to marry someone from abroad and convince them to settle down on Maui. Good planning is the key to happy retirement.
The real reason I was able to finish in only 80 hours was good help:
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Yup. Lot'sa help, well..... Helps.
Having your washer and dryer right there in the garage is a plus, too. 
Along with a grandkid or two to get at those really tight places (in exchange for ice cream or gummy bears).
My kids both aged seven years during my project build. Not because of the stress of building the car, but because it just took that long (but it was still faster than Greg). Of course, we tend to forget that one of those years was adding a third bay and big family room to the 2-car garage and doing all the work myself.
So, @Michael Pickett - Now that the Speedster is more or less completed, what's the next current project?
@Gordon Nichols posted:So, @Michael Pickett - Now that the Speedster is more or less completed, what's the next current project?
My next project is to try to be half as chill as El Guapo. I've done a PERT chart. Attaining "coolness" is on the critical path, but I really think I can complete it in 20 years.
Sold for $39K. There's your baseline for a 40+ year old Intermeccanica that's had just a smidge of updating.
@Michael Pickett posted:Sold for $39K. There's your baseline for a 40+ years old Intermeccanica that's had just a smidge of updating.
Wow. Just.... wow.
Good Lord! Just saw the final price of $39k as well. This world has gone mad! I fully expected this one to stay below $30k with it being the pre-tube frame Intermeccanica. Unreal. The seller is celebrating no doubt!
It is total madness without any hint of logic anywhere!!!
I guess BAT, means the Tucker goes up to BAT. Take your best shot .... the Lotto is alive and well and living in the used car dream world. 
Boy do we need a reset 
O )))
$39k plus the buyer pays a 5% fee to BaT! Buyer says: Plan to drive and enjoy her as much as possible, and keep her all original. How does one keep a replica "all original?"
Lol, as much as possible you buy fake parts
@Benjamin You think it’s gone mad look at the one for sale on BaT now! The price is over 35k and 6 days of bidding left! Crazy Times
Well…. Intermeccanica is not building anymore ice roadsters or speedsters once those in current production are completed. There is at least one customer who has had his initial deposit returned. I don’t know how much impact that will have on the pre owned IM’s but it will be interesting going forward.
That old IM went for 39K. Absolutely certifiably crazy
Here's a contrast case on BAT that I think Arden mentioned. It's a CMC on what looks like a 68 chassis with a 2150 engine and a paint job that includes fake rust. Current bidding is $35K but there's 6 days to go. Let the wild rumpas start...
The crazy part to me isn't so much the amount of money that these Speedsters are bringing, but the consistency money-wise that they sell for regardless of the age.
For example, how does a 40 year old Speedster bring $39k but a dang near brand new one with modern motor, air conditioning, heat, etc not even bring $50K?
It seems they all end up selling for $40-$50k regardless of age (with exceptions) and that just baffles me.
@Benjamin posted:The crazy part to me isn't so much the amount of money that these Speedsters are bringing, but the consistency money-wise that they sell for regardless of the age.
For example, how does a 40 year old Speedster bring $39k but a dang near brand new one with modern motor, air conditioning, heat, etc not even bring $50K?
It seems they all end up selling for $40-$50k regardless of age (with exceptions) and that just baffles me.
Right now the market (the BaT market, anyhow) seems to be discovering how cool these cars are. However, the bidders have no experience with them, so they have no idea of the wide variety of finish levels, etc. encompassed in the hobby. They see the shape, and one looks like the next, and they start bidding.
Also, the closer the thing replicates a showroom stock 356 Speedster, the more money it seems to bring. Drum brakes, tiny engines, spartan (vinyl) interiors, even aged and checked paint don't seem to drive the price down - indeed, it may even drive it up. Nice cars with bigger engines (that look non-stock), with disc brakes, nice leather interiors (etc.) are like swimming pools in real-estate. The extras don't make a car worth a lot more, and may make it worth less.
I worry about what this is going to do to the reputation of these cars in the long-run. If a nearly 50 year old Intermeccanica sitting on a pan of unknown condition with a balky transmission, sketchy brakes, ancient paint, a vinyl interior, and powered by a lawn mower engine (that can't really be called "fancy") is the standard these cars are known for - we may be headed for a valuation crash as people actually start to drive them.
The only two things the red '77 BaT car and a car like Bob's or Ray's have in common is the shape and the builder's badge. They are somewhat equal in the eyes of BaT bidders, but comparing them in any way is pretty silly.
@Stan Galat I think you make some valid points however I have a different perspective on it. In general almost every category of classic and muscle car is having an enormous uptick in selling prices. There are very few Speedsters on the market at any given time and the demand for them has escalated dramatically in the past couple of years. As a result potential buyers can either have their dream car built and wait 1-3 years or get into the bidding frenzy on one that looks nice to them and be driving it within a week or so.
While there are some novice bidders out there on BAT I can tell you that there are also a lot of pretty well versed bidders who have done their homework as well. The BAT bidder changes on a daily basis as more people learn about the platform and get their "bidder paddles".
I totally agree that the prices on certain cars seem to make much less sense such as that red older IM build and even the current CMC car which I doubt is going to see very much bidding and will probably sell close to current bid. The IM car sold for more then it should partially because IM has a great reputation even though their early builds are WAY different and less impressive then their newer builds.
When it comes to the newer builds that have more power and better options I think they usually end up bringing significantly more then cars like that IM or CMC but it is relative as they should bring WAY more in my opinion.
I realize you have been a Speedster enthusiast longer than me but I would not at all worry about the reputation or a valuation crash of these anytime in the near future. These are "bucket list" cars for most people and as a result they get driven sparingly, enjoyed, admired and then sold with low mileage put on them for folks to then experience the next car on their list. As long as the real ones continue to fetch $250k+ I think these cars are still a great investment and regardless, are a blast to drive.
I for one hope the BAT trend continues, but then again I have a vested interest since I will be selling several on there in the coming months.
Stan, there was a used 2017 IM directly from IM that sold last week in the low 60's ....
"They are somewhat equal in the eyes of BaT bidders, but comparing them in any way is pretty silly." no kidding
@Stan Galat posted:The only two things the red '77 BaT car and a car like Bob's or Ray's have in common is the shape and the builder's badge. They are somewhat equal in the eyes of BaT bidders, but comparing them in any way is pretty silly.
If you are referring to me, I was comparing the ‘77 Intermeccanica that sold for a whopping (in my opinion for a pre-tube frame) $39k to the JPS one with Suby motor, A/C, etc that just sold on BaT for $49k.
The JPS sold for correct money, in my opinion, but not the old Meccanica.
That’s the part that baffles me.
I am sure that Bob and Ray’s are on a completely different level, and they would be the “exceptions” that I mentioned.
@Benjamin posted:If you are referring to me, I was comparing the ‘77 Intermeccanica that sold for a whopping (in my opinion for a pre-tube frame) $39k to the JPS one with Suby motor, A/C, etc that just sold on BaT for $49k.
I wasn't Benjamin.
I was referring to the BaT bidders, who seems to have trouble distinguishing. You and I were actually making exactly the same point.
The older pan-based CMC that Arden spotted on BaT closed at $38,250. That's where we are these days, folks.
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These new market forces are creating a dilemma for some of us.
I was thinking about upgrading the gauges on my VS to the new VDO's. But would I be devaluing the car by installing real VDO's? Are the crappy Chinese repops now considered more period correct?
They're only cheesy once.
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