Worlds dearest Bamby!

[Bob Purton]

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.

[Peel replica, Steve Fisk]

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

[Garybond]

looks very nice not really up on Bambi prices so how far out is it

[richard]

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 !

[Big Al]

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?

[Jim Janecek]

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

[richard]

Ah Jim , it was that price when I first looked . What price was it at the start then ?

[Big Al]

One Million Dollars _0       

[Bob Purton]

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? 

[Jim Janecek]

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? 

you can add "dreamer"

[milnes]

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?

[Bob Purton]

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.

[Big Al]

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. 

[milnes]

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?

[Bob Purton]

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.