RUMCars Forum
General Category => Sales & Auctions => Topic started by: Bob Purton on June 26, 2014, 04:15:54 pm
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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121372127763?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
I don't usually flag up microcars for sale on ebay in case a forum user is biding on it but at this crazy price I don't think there is much danger of that.
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It's a shame all these micro cars are at massive prices young people trying to get in to the hobby like me struggle to buy any thing original , one day something will come up
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looks very nice not really up on Bambi prices so how far out is it
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i don't know bob . what is it worth ? remarkably frank description of what looks a car in great condition . i really don't think his " frank " description will make it , or others of this type , any more desirable though . he sounds like a nice guy , do we know him ?
are Bambys really that bad ! WOW !
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I could not possibly comment other than to say how many unmolested ones are left? Even here the suggestion is to modify the car. For me that is to remove value, as it makes the poor driving experience a little more faster, at the expense of originality in a vehicle where the majority are already not original, for £15,000? Is someone seriously going to buy this to drive at any price? Its in the land of Peel, Mopetta and such. Yes you can but only the brave do.
Will there be a meeting to drive Bambys round Scunthorpe in another 20 years?
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no one is '"bidding it up". It is a fixed classified ad price, also available is "Best Offer"
I rather doubt the seller expects anyone to actually pay that. But perhaps someone really really really wants it. And they don't want to wait.
Also- the price is now £12,995
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Ah Jim , it was that price when I first looked . What price was it at the start then ?
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One Million Dollars _0
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Well Jim has categorised us all by our forum posting habits, why not do the same with our microcar selling asking prices? clueless, cheap, fair, greedy? ;D
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Well Jim has categorised us all by our forum posting habits, why not do the same with our microcar selling asking prices? clueless, cheap, fair, greedy? ;D
you can add "dreamer"
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Yes i know the seller and you are correct he is an extremly nice guy, who has done an honest restoration on the Bamby. The reason why he has it at that price is 'A couple of people advised him from the Microcar community thats what it's worth'!
Is it? I don't think so.
I've talked to the seller and he thinks it would be lucky to achieve 8 mph on a flat road. For those in the know and who have driven a Bamby, is that correct or does the engine sound as though it's on it's way out?
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A Bamby and a Cursor should do at least 25mph.
If this one is only achieving 8mph it sounds like it is not changing up into the next gear.
The Suzuki CS50 unit wasn't that good in the scooter so put it in a small car and its really unsuitable. Its an over complicated automatic unit with a different clutch for each gear. Once some wear is added they tend to not want to change up.
Its the old dilemma, you can leave them original and not drive them or you can modify as I did and use them. I'm not really one for modifications on classic microcars but then again when I did it the car wasn't a classic microcar. Its debatable now of coarse.
The easiest mod is as the seller mentioned, find the 80cc version of the engine, not only is it 80cc but had constantly variable transmission via a belt. If the original 50cc unit had this, the car would have been more drivable. The good thing about this mod is that the engine mounting hole are in the same place and it doesn't change the appearance. re values, we could debate that all day but the last tidy one that sold on ebay last year as I remember made less than half the asking price of this one.. I will stand corrected if I have got that wrong.
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Indeed so, Bob. This is why many cars got modified. Then some got modified again and drifted into one off territory as such things do.
My feeling is we are at the parting of the ways here. The few original cars will be attracting the collectors as they realise the remaining worthy originals are few. The modified cars will sell to the more hands on type owner, who might take them to events. These guys are going to be much more resistant to higher prices for a number of reasons. A few will probably revert to original where they are little modified, but I have seen some cars that would be pretty hard to return to original. So it could be a bit like the Berkeley situation. Where the genuine item was, for a time, eclipsed by various modified versions, but re emerged as the collectible car the connoisseur wanted. I believe we are at the point where the unmodified cars begin to realize their true value. Its a natural and organic process with cars that perhaps failed to live up to thier target market requirements.
That said I am not venturing a valuation. I know what I want for mine, a very good original with docs. There is interest from collectors. That said there are a few of these cars that would change hands if the price was to double from the previous scale I think, as clearly some have been bought as investments. I include myself in that, but I bought as my car is jolly near bung perfect. Even a 125cc Bamby would not induce me to drive one very far. So I am in the suited camp on this one.
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I'm all for keeping cars as original as possible but i'm also a great believer that the cars should be used, so dilemma. I've put a 70 cc engine into one of my cursors, just to make it more usable, I've also fitted a mechanism to allow you to reverse the car, so guess this Cursor is far from standard but at least it will be used.
The seller of this Bamby likes to buy, restore and sell, mainly as a hobby rather than a way to make money. However when some people in the microcar community persuade him that his var is worth more than double what he thinks, he has to try the sale at that price.
I dare say the car is worth what someone is willing to pay, if that's £12k then thats the price, who are we to argue!
I guess the same was said about the Peels some years ago and indeed the same is being said about the AC 70's.
I still don't think the Bamby is worth £12 k, not at the moment. Maybe in the future who knows, as Big Al said he bought his Bamby as an investment, so he is holding out for the price he feels is correct, it doesn't make him wrong, it maybe just means he will have a Bamby for quite a few years, who knows?
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Yep. Time will tell.
I must say, I have always thought the Bamby was a cute looking little car for the eighties and wondered why the Evans's just didn't rework the Bamby with proper mechanicals, a good up to date engine and re-launch it as a Bamby for the 21stCentury instead of converting Chinese quads into P50's.. I'm sure it would find some buyers.
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http://minimicros.wix.com/bamby-home#!the-bamby-p50
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Hi Folks .... I'm the Bamby boy ..... and this is my first ever post!
I totally agree that my Bamby is not worth anything like £12995.00! My plan was to offer it for sale somewhere between £8,000 & £9,000 and see what offers I got. However, I was advised that, due to the rarity of Bambys and this being the final (black) one it was worth klondyke. It was suggested I offer it at £14995.00 so I did But I couldney sleep (that's Scottish for couldn't) so I quickly reduced it to £12995.00. But even asking for that amount is causing me grief. It's really open to reasonable offers .... hopefully somewhere in excess of £7,000.
I like to buy unusual cars, usually Isettas, Heinkle/Trojans, classic mopeds and the like, then spend some time restoring them. But when they're done they're no use to me so I sell them on, get my money back and then search for my next project. I've identified it already hence the need to sell my Bamby.
I'm a retired lecturer in Motor Vehicle Engineering and I've got a wee shed measuring 8' x 9' .... hence my fondness for microcars.
Though nobody seems to like it, I'm pleased my Bamby has at least generated some interest.
Kindest Regards to All
Johnnie
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Hi friend glad I said nothing derogatory now :)
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Hi Bamby boy. Welcome.
The car looks delightful. Its only the price that is shocking! :D and even more so if the engine is kaput. When I had mine all the parts were available for the CS50. Not sure about the situation now. I replaced several gears and clutches to get it working as it should but frankly it just wasn't up to the job.
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Still will not be drawn on value. Such things find their level. There is alway the option of a swap or part ex. Might have a candidate here, for instance.
With the performance my suggestion remains that some excess friction might be present. The engine is marginal when working well so any drag combined with an amply padded person will find poor performance. I forget to recall if a mileage was quoted. The engine has to work hard.
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Hi Again .... hey! .... I'm really getting in to this posting business!
I've read all you comments with a keen interest and agree with everyone that I'm asking much too much for it. (I'll come back to that)
As regards its performance .... I'm convinced that its slowness is not due to a faulty engine (it's definitely not 'kaput' as Bob, understandably, suspected) but perhaps due to the clutch mechanism not operating as well as it should .... or to put it another, not operating at all! Having said that, it seemed to drive O.K. to the testing station. It was coping with the gradient leading up to my house on its return journey that proved to be too much for it.
I think I was hoping that it would go to a collector rather than someone who wished to use it. The only reason I chose to have it MoT'd was to demonstrate to potential buyers that the work I did had been completed to a reasonable standard .... not to make attractive as a road-going vehicle.
Those who advised me to set the price as high as I did assured me that it would prove to be attractive to overseas collectors. Whooppee, I'm thinking. But I've since learned that a classified ad on Ebay does not reach international audiences. Aw .... sh^t, I'm now thinking!
So, I'm now considering taking it off Ebay classified and putting it back on as a normal listing which should then reach a larger audience. (Unless, of course, any of you guys know better.) I'm going to ask for somewhere between £6 & £7k. (Unless any of you guys know better)
You probably saw in the pics that there were no headlamp covers fitted. I'm having a pair custom made and these should be with me later in the week. When these are fitted I'll reconsider how best to promote it.
I'm grateful to you all for your comments and opinions on my Bamby.
Regards
John
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Makes sense to me I think . I have never sold a vehicle on eBay but surely the advice must be to start it at the sort of price you mention. That being the lowest price that you would be happy to accept
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For International sales, or any sales that tend not to attract time wasting whompers, classified ad on Car and Classic is best. Its also free. Ebay can then advertise that advert. My conclusion is that eBay is great for getting rid of rubbish. Why do I think that? Most of what I bought was rubbish unless I went to look at it, or could verify the seller. My rubbish sold well as people who knew what it was bought it and got a bargain, like the pound box at autojumble. Would I sell the crown jewels on eBay. Nope. Replica crown jewels, more than likely. Please sell for £12k or above. then my car will be worth more money. (That would equate to saying the car should be £12k, not that I have an interest in it selling for a lot, a'hem).
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so we are back to Talking values up again. High values means more investers, dealers etc. Less cars in the hands of hobbyists and users. Younger people not being able to buy them hence no new blood in the hobby. Bad for the hobby in my opinion.
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What more hobbyists not driving Bambys, rather than collectors not driving them? I am with John, I will have the extra money, if its there. I am happy for useless cars to be whatever price they like. After all if they are useless, not driven, then you can buy anything really, like an IC, and very successfully not use it. Its all the rage. The damaging thing is usable cars like Isettas getting outside hobbyists budgets. One might expect them to be used still in some numbers. Of the usable it would seem to be Bonds followed by Treinkels kicking bottom per head of cars left, and they remain the least expensive so there has to be something in this priced out of use equation. Which begs the question as to why buy a usable car to not use, when you can buy an unusable car not to use. But I might not be using it because I have no spare time, to paraphrase MPFC.
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I used my IC Model 70 for shopping etc. I would say that it is far more usable than the Messerschmitt and If I were to hit a tractor with it, I would only be £1,200 out of pocket (£15,000 to you as an unusable collectors car). ;D
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Precisely. Bonkers isn't it.
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What more hobbyists not driving Bambys, rather than collectors not driving them? I am with John, I will have the extra money, if its there. I am happy for useless cars to be whatever price they like. After all if they are useless, not driven, then you can buy anything really, like an IC, and very successfully not use it. Its all the rage. The damaging thing is usable cars like Isettas getting outside hobbyists budgets. One might expect them to be used still in some numbers. Of the usable it would seem to be Bonds followed by Treinkels kicking bottom per head of cars left, and they remain the least expensive so there has to be something in this priced out of use equation. Which begs the question as to why buy a usable car to not use, when you can buy an unusable car not to use. But I might not be using it because I have no spare time, to paraphrase MPFC.
I'm talking about microcars generally across the board as I think you know ;). Although I did demonstrate that with a few mods a Bamby is usable.
You are right about how few Isetta owners are driving them these day. Very disappointing. Schmitt owners are pretty active drivers though arnt they?
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I used to think so. Tell you after The Kettlering Grand Prix next week at Stickweed Park. Or was Wickstead Park, Kettering? Seems this is to be the home of the main event, partly as its not to far from Essex and more central than the Cotswolds. Unless there is a firm offer of an event to be organized elsewhere, which is fair enough. Does rather nail the colours to the mast, but at least there are colours. Where is the Isetta Rally these days? (I can recal one on a football field somewhere which I helped at. Forget where now). We run back into another discussion, which it would seem folk do not want to have, or are not interested in.