Why such negativity?

[Kit Sullivan]

I have noticed lately that there seems to be a lot of negative comments on the forum aimed at ads on CL and other places about cars for sale and what pieces of junk they are. In a hobby that is based around 45+ year-old cars that were not really very rust-resistant to begin with, there are bound to be some less-than-pristine examples out there. Every time a rusted-out hulk or modified-to-hell car is sold to someone for stupid money, I figure it can only drive the value of nicer examples even higher! We all benefit that way!

 

[mdan575]

Until your trying to get parts and you are priced out of the market by the latest resto craze. Just sayin I understand but it is a double edged knife. Seen it happen with various cars that were hot all of a sudden.

My dad is having a hell of a time getting parts for the 67 Ford Galaxie he is restoring. Because dudes with buckets of money are pricing him right out of the market for usable parts.

 

[Gold Rush]

Exactly, not everyone is hanging on to their mustangs waiting on the value to go up.

It will soon cease to be an affordable hobby for many of us as all the parts cars are bought up by speculators looking to make a quick buck. Just my nickle's worth....

Until your trying to get parts and you are priced out of the market by the latest resto craze. Just sayin I understand but it is a double edged knife. Seen it happen with various cars that were hot all of a sudden.

My dad is having a hell of a time getting parts for the 67 Ford Galaxie he is restoring. Because dudes with buckets of money are pricing him right out of the market for usable parts.

 

[Mister 4x4]

It's probably tough for an original owner (or even long-time owner) to understand, simply because you got in when things were plentiful and still less-desirable, regarding the attitude toward our model years.

Getting into the 'hobby' (for lack of a better word) of owning a '71-'73 Mustang these days is a mixed bag of good and bad. "Good," because there are more repop parts available, and more coming out more frequently as the enthusiasm level for our model year rises. "Bad," because as the numbers of good cars and good OE parts decline, and that enthusiasm rises, so do prices... which makes it tougher to get good deals on good things.

Then when you factor in the Fast & Loud Syndrome, you wind up paying a lot more for junk... especially, when put out there by low information sellers. People are lazy and greedy - hence the high prices for junk... or even decent stuff that's often misrepresented (ex: Rare Mach 1 Convertibles for Barrett-Jackson money).

Our negativity is a side-effect from having been educated on '71-'73 Mustangs, and seeing ignorant people scamming potential buyers, whether trying to or not (because they just don't know).

And as Gold Rush said, "not everybody is hanging onto their car just waiting for the value to go up," for whatever reason. In all honesty, I could care less what my car's monetary value might be, as I have no intention of ever selling it for any kind of profit margin - I'm a realist. I took a candidate for the crusher and [so far] have poured 10-times the original asking price into getting it back to its current 'not even drivable yet' condition. So until the day when someone foolishly plunks down over $40K for a lowly H-code home-built restomod (which I still wouldn't take), I would never make a dime back.

 

[Austin Vert]

I agree with what the guys have said above as well. I would also add to that and say my ***** is to do with a lot of parts for the '71-'73s that can't be gotton hold of for various reasons. That can make your project harder, extra time consuming and expensive.

Also when you factor in the guys who own our year's Mustangs overseas from America, the import taxes and costs with importing any parts is expensive as well, and severely adds to your cost of restoration as such.

Bottom line is nobody likes scammers or rip offs in any event.

Greg.

 

[rottenralph]

I got my Mach 1 for $8500 and found it on Craigslist. Needs a little love but had everything with a nice paint job and no rust that I can find. I like using craigslist to buy and sell spare parts. My American Racing Wheels that came on the car with Comp TA tires will go on Craigslist soon and some drag racing type will probably be glad to get it. My last Mustang was also a Craigslist yard queen. Watch out for the Bull and ask smart questions. If it looks to good to be true it most likely is a scam.

 

[Luke]

I agree with what's being said but I wonder if we would be having this conversation if we all had hemi cars, boss 9s,ZL1s and the like?

 

[Kit Sullivan]

The thing you guys are missing is timing of what to buy and when to buy it. 71-73 Mustangs are nevermore to be just a cheap used car that almost anyone can finda decent example for low cost.

The trick is to buy a future-collectible before the low-forhead collectors latch on to them and start snapping them up.

Here is my tip for anyone who wants an awesome future-collectable for mere pocket-change:

87-92 Lincoln Mk-VII LSC.

Beautiful body style, great option content. Best of all? 5.0 HO engine. The ONLY car other than the Mustang GT that Ford ever put the 225 horse 5.0 in.

Full Mustang GT-style suspension, fabulous sport seats, great gauges, handles great, quick for its era

These cars retailed for $28,000- $32,000 when new...today a good condition, pampered example can easily be had for $1000 or less.

I have THREE of them...all bought for less than $800 each, all in great condition.

It is a great car to drive and to collect.

Dont be sorry in ten years and say nobody told you...

 

[Austin Vert]

Point taken Kit, but speculating on any future event does not come with gauranties.

Greg.

 

[Luke]

The thing you guys are missing is timing of what to buy and when to buy it. 71-73 Mustangs are nevermore to be just a cheap used car that almost anyone can finda decent example for low cost.

The trick is to buy a future-collectible before the low-forhead collectors latch on to them and start snapping them up.

Here is my tip for anyone who wants an awesome future-collectable for mere pocket-change:

87-92 Lincoln Mk-VII LSC.

Beautiful body style, great option content. Best of all? 5.0 HO engine. The ONLY car other than the Mustang GT that Ford ever put the 225 horse 5.0 in.

Full Mustang GT-style suspension, fabulous sport seats, great gauges, handles great, quick for its era

These cars retailed for $28,000- $32,000 when new...today a good condition, pampered example can easily be had for $1000 or less.

I have THREE of them...all bought for less than $800 each, all in great condition.

It is a great car to drive and to collect.

Dont be sorry in ten years and say nobody told you...

Just looked these up as I had no idea what they looked like. I'd drive 1 for $800 I think they are at that point that they are just old enough for the styling to be interesting again.

 

[Kit Sullivan]

The best thing about them is most of them lead easy lives based on could afford to buy them new: older, more-affluent customer that did not beat them up like most of the hammered Mustang GTs you'll find out there.

 

[Gold Rush]

But we enjoy picking on this stuff.

Sorry nothing makes me want a Lincoln not even a free one. I have a minivan for daily driving and part pickin. Had five fox body stangs and not even close to a 7173.

Just sayin........

 

[Luke]

This would be the Aussie equivalent. Fairlane 5.0l same engine specs I believe and $1200 gets you a very good 1. I think your crown vickys are similar

 

[rpmcarter]

Unlike most folks I call a spade a spade..... if a person is over pricing a car or part...I'll call them on it. If YOU choose to be more kumbahya person and think overpriced cars makes you feel better about your car that's okay. If you feel offended that is your choice.

I've seen ads where pieces of JUNK are attempted sales at above premium prices. I've experienced personally where simple things like power window bezels and clips where presented at 1100.00 to 3000.00. BTW 3000.00 for bezels and clips are almost what I paid to rebuild the engine. And when I ask about pricing and being reasonable I was REMINDED that I needed it so that is why I was being charged so much. I've been DENIED ability to purchase from a business because I wanted to use a credit card when the seller (a business) ASK FOR CASH!!!!!

I've seen MANY other situations where fabricated stories like I love 71-3 Mustangs and I want YOU GUYS (meaning us) to have the unit...only to sell it to a stranger for much cheaper...meaning he or she was trying to play on our sympathy due to our dedication to the years mentioned and he only had a handful of post prior to the offer....and NEVER showed up again after he sold cheaper to someone else. JUST a note I was challenged on my OBSERVATION of the fake at the time and he hasn't shown up since....so I'll point out that I called the spade ....a SPADE!!

I've heard stories about sons trying to get free parts to restore their mothers beloved cars but due to the mothers dedication to a dying sister. Since she wasnt able to restore her beloved car he was trying to restore it for her and wanted donations....One fun fact the car LOST ITS MOTOR AND TRANNY by accident during the years of ownership by the mom whom NEVER knew the motor came up missing. Well a fool may believe these ads or see them as "well that's their right" I will call out a scammer when I see one. For every good value there are at least TEN over priced cars.... face it our cars are not 69 and 70 and may NEVER hit those values...we just happened to like them as a low cost car to own. Most of us acknowledge they have very little parts availability.

If you see the play on our cars and parts as the driver to increase the value of your car...more power to you.

If you choose to pay premium prices because you are an astute speculator on the value of our cars...more power to you.

If I see an overpriced car or part....that is my personal opinion and MY RIGHT to do so.

 

[rottenralph]

HAd a friend in Germany with the Lincoln and I had an 87 GT with 5 seed and no air. His Lincoln was far more comfy but my Mustang would do 150 all day long on the autobahn. After a 4 disk conversion and upgraded suspension it was only marginally dangerous. Wish I had that kind of oomph in my Mach 1. Plan to get it there.

 

[rpmcarter]

I have noticed lately that there seems to be a lot of negative comments on the forum aimed at ads on CL and other places about cars for sale and what pieces of junk they are. In a hobby that is based around 45+ year-old cars that were not really very rust-resistant to begin with, there are bound to be some less-than-pristine examples out there. Every time a rusted-out hulk or modified-to-hell car is sold to someone for stupid money, I figure it can only drive the value of nicer examples even higher! We all benefit that way!

they have not commanded as high a value as older models which makes them more affordable to guys who buy them to use as a nice driver or cruiser, as opposed to the mega-dollar examples that trade hands purely as static investment opportunities.

 

[cudak888]

Why the negativity? I think it boils down to one thing before anything else:

We don't like being taken for a bunch of chumps who are idiotically loose with our pocketbooks.

Extreme case in point: The hardly-worth-it-for-parts Pantera with a C4 transmission and rotted rocker panels - for $19.5k.

To a lesser extent: Any hopeless '71-73 project car with an asking price 200% above its actual value, especially when the ad is full of Nutsack Marketing Lingo, such as:

TAKING OFFERS!

...followed shortly by:

DON'T WASTE MY TIME WITH LOWBALLS!

...followed shortly by:

SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY.

Of which all except "make offer" are laughable when the car in question has so much rust that the leaf springs have fallen into the trunk, the asking price is $8,000, and the seller is hell bent and determined to tell you that you're an ******* for wasting their time and not buying his/her car right now as you try to walk away.

I'll bet that these phrases alone - without a car or ad attached to them - raised your blood pressure and made the hairs on your back stand on end for a minute or two. Doubly so in uppercaps.

-Kurt

 

[Kit Sullivan]

You say nothing could ever make you buy a Lincoln, then you say you have owned 5 Fox-body Mustangs over the years.

That is kinda' my point when I claim the MK-VII is a potential future collectible. The Mark VII ( along with the 82-88 Thunderbird and Cougar) IS a Fox-body. It is basically a "Mustang GT for executives". Just a couple inches longer wheelbase which actually improves handling, but with ALL of the GTs hardware, and some Lincoln goodies thrown in. The MK-VIIs are a tad smaller than a 71-73 Mustang, and is rip-snortin' fun to drive.

It was basically Ford's attempt at an AMG or M1 inspired car.

 

[cudak888]

The Mark VII is already a cult classic; just not a valuable one.

FYI, the T5-to-Mark VII transmission swaps seem to happen every week at the Mark VII forums. Everybody over there feels the VII is the Fox Mustang without the disadvantages.

-Kurt