31K Miles Series I 240Z Up for Auction on BaT - Over $100k on First Day!

[siteunseen]

What's this say? I've never seen a rubber stamp that cancels a title but hey, it's me. Is it "surrender to Nevada"?

[Zed Head]

It's licensed in Nevada as WAY240.  But there are no driving or engine running videos.  Weird.  And the guy with the top bid plans to just store it, apparently.

I think this car is like one of those rare stamps or coins, with defects or strange histories.  Only valuable because of its weirdness.  Like a side-show attraction at a circus.

Some of these guys seem to have marital problems also...

[siteunseen]

I googled the Pangborn guy, he died in 2010.

Frigidaire wives...

 

[Zed Head]

The Quail 2018.  Q?  Hmmm...  Rarified air.

https://www.peninsula.com/en/signature-events/events/motorsports/2018/event-overview

https://sportscardigest.com/quail-motorsports-gathering-2018-report-photos/3/?envira_id=282882#envira-gallery-wrap-282882

[Captain Obvious]

They hooked up the heater core and something under the dash leaked. They talked over with some of the prospective buyers and have decided that they don't want to pull the dash to preserve the originality.

But the carbs on the car are from a completely different year and nobody is making a fuss? All the chatter is holding this car up as a beacon of originality.  

I'm not a member over there, but I'm surprised nobody has asked if the original carbs are included with the sale. Hopefully somebody saved them in a box somewhere??

[Zed Head]

I think the 240Z's, at least this one, has/have moved from 240Z collectors over to the realm of old car collectors.  Collecting not because they like Z's but because they're old and "expensive".

Doesn't seem like Wob really knows Z's, he has comments about other old cars but misses the point of some of the things that a Z person would know.  The heater core bypass is bad for cooling, it's a straight shot from the back of the head to the pump inlet.  The coolant just cools picks up heat from the block then goes right back to the pump without seeing the radiator then does it again.  He could fix that without disturbing anything.

The hose clamps are the kind that everyone hates, boooo.  It's not even really a good restoration.  It's probably a good base for a restoration though.  And it's good entertainment for flaw-finding.

[HS30-H]

On 10/15/2020 at 9:24 AM, HS30-H said:

It appears that many comments are vetted by admin and weeded out before publication, whilst certain 'known' characters get free reign and treat BaT like it is their own personal club. 

Some of the loudest voices on there clearly don't know their stuff. This 'MRM' character bumped up the bidding by 85k in one bid, then passed comment on it being a '200k car'. Is it only me that finds this kind of behaviour totally lacking in credibility? This is not the technique of a smart buyer, nor the action of an informed marque enthusiast.

Apparently this same guy owns the 432 that just won an award at ZCON 2020, so it figures that he doesn't actually know what he's looking at. Seems like the ZCON judges don't either. These are all symptoms of a bubble that is inflating too quickly.

 

I went back to remind myself of what this character actually said. He bumped the bidding from 15k to 100k in one shot, then dropped this comment:

 

Despite Chrystal's words, I feel that people *should* question such antics. If this MRM character doesn't go on to bid "250k+++" then what is the true nature and purpose of his participation? On the face of it, this looks like a classic example of market pumping.

Of course these sorts of shananigans go on in all kinds of fields, most obviously in the art market. Public auctions are a strange circus at the best of times, but the Bring-A-Trailer format has that extra ingredient of allowing comments (well, not all comments...) and where early S30-series Zs are concerned there seems to be a relatively small cast of characters sitting in the front row: 

 

 

[HS30-H]

8 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

But the carbs on the car are from a completely different year and nobody is making a fuss? All the chatter is holding this car up as a beacon of originality.  

I'm not a member over there, but I'm surprised nobody has asked if the original carbs are included with the sale. Hopefully somebody saved them in a box somewhere??

I'll ask. Lets see if the question gets past admin there, and what the reaction is if it does.

[240260280]

The very bright yellow paint on the rear suspension/differential mount hardware stops discontinuously at the adjacent black structural members so they were re-painted. The bolts and washers also have misaligned paint so work was done.

The oil pressure sensor was also changed.

The hub caps look like the Chinese fakes.

 

Edited October 16, 2020 by 240260280

[26th-Z]

Your question is posted, PZR.  Looks like Lstepp4re is having a "non-constructive" moment.

Edited October 16, 2020 by 26th-Z

[Captain Obvious]

1 hour ago, 26th-Z said:

Looks like Lstepp4re is having a "non-constructive" moment.

It appears he's is challenging the claims of original paint, and to combat that challenge, the seller posted a video walk around underneath.

I tried to watch the video, but it came up "private" for me. For those who can see the video, does it bolster the original paint belief?

[Zed Head]

Some threads are unraveling in the story that's being woven.  Wob says he's known the car's history since new.  But it was in storage for 21 years.  Apparently it's still in the Malamut collection, he has to travel out there to get pictures.  Wob seems to be a salesman, an agent for the real "seller".  He wants to "squash" dissent quickly.  He's probably the one flagging comments as "non-constructive".  Doesn't seem right.  BAT seems to be turning in to a tool for the high end sales people.  Shame.

Wob says he posted a video but it's private.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Zed Head