MadaboutKitcars

Chris should work for the government with a statement like that but whatever he says Nubodi is right it does put a cap on unfinished sale cars.

Concerning colour, any colour is fine if you want to keep the car forever, paint it pink if you want..but do not expect a good price if you have to sell it.

Evans is a ******

I bought a part finished project from Chris because when purchased i didn't have the time or space to build one from scratch i am glad that he is going to carry on with this part of the business as using this short cut made it possible for me to own a well put together basis to add my own mark to.

Colour .......I guess it depends to a large extent on what you intend to do with the car, If you intend to enjoy it yourself then make it whatever colour you want. If building it to sell there may be certain colours more likely to achieve that aim, however if you would prefer a different colour and can't then sell the car for the price you would like, then you are going to be driving around in "second choice". personally I'd like to try a 250SWB in turquoise (don't know remotely why, because I've never really had a urge for the colour), but I think it would look good, and be different to the usual. Can anyone with the skills I don't possess give an idea of what it would look like? I could have started something here!!

Black!

Cars should always be black. My wife told me that when I planned to get the Z300S painted red.

I don't care if the whole of the rust of the world disagrees, it is Valentine's Day and I am not disagreeing with MrsWCA...

...and she does have a point, all of my best cars have been black.

hoooooooooo can of worms you got to laugh. anyway plan is to be silver as that is the cars original colour still 50/50 on the sterling moss number stripe combo. going to hold off to closer to the show no point having it stood under trees with fresh paint for the next 3 months.

good choice (i still like white cars though)

agreed mate your car looks pukka

Pick a silver ,make it period looking as much as possible ..got to make it an easy sell

Car designer of the century (20th), Giorgetto Giugaro, preferred silver for his concept cars. I once read in a car mag that he'd said it was the best colour for any car because it showed off the styling features to best effect (I've tried but can't find a link to that statement I'm afraid, but I do remember reading it).

I've found that silver really works on my Spyder, it draws a hell of a lot of attention and people have even asked me if it's polished aluminium.

Got to agree that red will probably sell very well on an 'Italian' car though, but I'd be tempted to use the darker, burgundy reds used by Lancia/Maserati/Ferrari in the 50's. I also think it's sensible painting the car the same colour as the donor was.

Good luck with the sale, I'm looking forward to seeing it in silver paint.

I appreciate its a personal choice, silver is great but I dont understand when you are given good advice by someone who is very experienced and obviously successful you don't take the advice. To get the best price (whether you like red or not, I don't by the way) a Ferrari lookalike has to be red. Im guessing you will lose 10-15% of your potential price not painting it red.
You were also advised to sell to the Classic car community for maximum price, selling at Stoneleigh will realise a lower price as you are selling to the kitcar community which is in recession. The classic car market is booming.
Its up to you but it seems common sense to me?

Exactly!!

Same principle for Cobras, for top price they have to be blue with white or silver stripes. It may not be your choice but that's what the majority of the market wants.

At the end of the day I really do not care what colour you paint it, just trying to help.

The only problem I have with red is its the classic kit car trick pretending to be a ferrari it can look good or toy town. its all down to personnel taste I remember the GTO that came up a while ago in red with the padded interior. looked like a tarts bedroom to me. but to the guy that did it bet he thought it was beautiful. You knock ebay but there is some expensive cars and kit cars on there its world wide my GTO sold thanks to ebay for 8k to a guy in Ireland. if it was not for ebay I would not have built it in the first place because its ware I first saw them. I also agree with what you are saying about the classic sites and de personalizing the car, but I would still not paint it red they look more authentic in silver personal taste maybe

I did bid on this car but the reserve was more than I was prepared to pay. By that I mean a price which reflect the cost of the donor, the kit etc and time spent putting that together. Andy admits that the top bid would have done this and given him a profit so I would rather wait for another car to come along. Andy chose not to sell which is clearly his prerogative and I am no way criticising him for this. This what ebay is all about and the car has found its level in the market which is useful to buyers sellers alike.

However what I find a bit upsetting is that Chris is berated for selling his product in various states of completion at a price which he feels acceptable. If Chris decided to increase the price of the kit significantly since after all if a completed 250 is worth double that of a Kobra than why should he not have a piece of the action due to the popularity of this particular model which he created, I am sure some people on here would be outraged.

There appears to be an expectation for Chris to put up the prices of his part completed/completed cars up but at the same time keeping his kit prices low so others can profiteer by leaching off Chris's successful concept. As the manufacturer Chris is entitled to offer his products at the right price for him, the market will decide how much demand there is at these price points. If there is profit to be had in completed cars, then logically Chris will sell more kits and part completed cars, others will finish cars to high standard and achieve what they consider good prices , a win win situation all round.

Personal taste again...you are selling it, hopefully for the highest price. Only £8000 for a GTO, does that not tell you something? If you factor in all costs and a bit of labour someone got a great deal but not you. Ebay is fantastic for bargains but the classic car world is way to go.

No one is suggesting Chris should increase the cost of the kit. No one has suggested that. He is welcome to ask what he wants for a built car but I wish he did not advertise them on ebay, maybe better through this forum or the club. As he does not sell finished cars he does not have an interest in his customers getting high prices from their meticulously built cars.
I was going to put an order in for a 250SWb but Im having reservations now.

By saying Chris should not be advertisining on ebay you are dictating who he sells how and why he sells his product. Been involved with kit cars for over 30 years, and generally the cost of the building is greater than the resale value. I think with these cars there is a good chance of getting back your cash so if you are building for your enjoyment/hobby then why would you have reservations about placing an order. If on the other hand you are looking for a business proposition then you cant expect Chris to reduce his return just so you can increase yours - and of course if there's no no Chris there no kits and no cars.

I said 'wish he wouldn't', where is that dictating!
Why do we have to be content with building a car, spending hours and hours buying parts, building, etc and then have to accept what is the sum total of bits.
I prefer to enjoy building it and then sell on with a margin which includes some of my time so I can build another better next time. What could be better build enjoy, drive enjoy, sell enjoy and have more funds to build a better one?
These cars have massive retail potential which is being stunted. Personal opinion but thats all it is.

You said you were reconsidering placing your order, it would be natural for Chris to take this into consideration before advertising a part completed car on eBay as by doing so he may lose the sale of a kit.

I would agree that the cars have massive potential in my view this is partly because of not despite of Chris low kit price. If a "profit" is available for hobbyists/or professional builders than thats great as I dont resent anybody making a profit.

Chris obviously feels that he needs sell a few part completed cars at what is perceived as a "low" price to make his business viable , thats his choice and he should not be berated for this. If he followed a different business model and produced only high end completed cars he might make more profit, but then the opportunity for all the people who want to build their own car would have gone. On the other he could increase the price of his kits, sell less and no part completed cars but make the same return and retain exclusivity keeping up the price of completed cars but fewer people would be able to enjoy and the margins on completed cars would close. This all assumes Chris is perfectively rational and his only motive profit, it more likely he making some decisions on basis of what he enjoys doing.

It is just classic example of not being able to have your cake and eat it.

My personal opinion (and of course that's all it is) is that Chris has it about right. There are many kit car companies from history who tried to sell just complete cars in order to maximise profit, and as a result they don't exist any more. I know that's the other extreme, but it's an example of what can happen. There is a successful product which has now changed hands (I shan't reveal which one) and I believe is being relaunched at Stoneleigh but only as a complete kit of parts for 11k. I can see that strategy failing dramatically............ Ok some would say to get all the parts will cost that (or more), but the kit-building public may want slightly different spec parts/maybe use 2nd hand parts etc. Also from a marketing point of view it looks expensive (even if it isn't). I recall stories of manufacturers selling a 'kit' which then needed a 'suspension kit' and a 'glazing kit' etc etc. This still goes on today, but it makes the basic price look good, and draws folk in. The more popular a car is on the road, the more sales it generates - look how mainstream manufacturers chase this figure... to the point of calling all bodystyles the same name. Ford quickly changed the Orion to made it the Escort saloon to get the numbers up. A few Tributes (maybe?) sold for high money may not generate as much return as a lot sold for a lower price. Ebay (it has to be said) has such a market coverage that it is the place to sell these days. I put a Sierra in local rag, gumtree etc and got 3 replies in as many weeks, on bay I had 30 views in 3 days and 3 buyers queuing up. That's the market we are in.

I recall stories of manufacturers selling a 'kit' which then needed a 'suspension kit' and a 'glazing kit' etc etc.

I was looking at an Ultima a few years back that seemed quite reasonable until you factored in the options which included the engine. That was a kind of important option I felt and depending whether you went for the boggo 350bhp all the way up to the quite tuned 1020bhp option the prices went from high to out of reach.

Now you have to email them to inquire about pricing

Bottom line the 250SWB and the Kobra are still new to market and will take a while to establish values. The older Cobra scene is well known and values can be defined by maker and spec.
There are other factors with Trubute cars which need to be considered.
The donor car choice is more important because the donor is "The Car" to which you bolt on your panel kit. There seems to be a rush to buy the cheapest Z3's often with the 4 cylinder engines and high mileage. I would suggest a low mileage car with the better 6 cylinder options would make better sense for most. Also the auto box option has never been a favourite with kit buyers but there are many Tribute cars with this feature.
So with a view for resale , a large engine Z3 with low miles and manual box should be the donor of choice.
A finished car will always be worth more than a project , simple!
Colour choice would be a matter of choice but for re sale I would say dark blue, silver or red. Black trim would be best and subtle Ferrari badges to finish.
Values imo for this of spec £20 - 25k all day.

I prefer to badge it as a Tribute - BTW what happened to those lovely chrome? or Stainless Tribute boot badges ... where they produced? How Much £?

I still have my 300z mainly because, I believe, it was unfinished well not painted (and just before Christmas). I was hoping for around the £4500 but was only offered £3500 which was well short and not worth selling for so little. I will be trying to sell it again in the Spring and it will be done in Silver as I believe this colour to show the cars lines off to the best. I've been into classic cars all my life and have seen many 250 swb and oddly enough a lot them have not been red. Yellow, blue and silver seem popular and even not all the reds are Ferrari red, my scaletrix one was blue.
Mine is badged as a Tribute which gets as much interest as the car.


Andy

Like the Tribute badge where did you have it made ?



Gary

Not silver but Ferrari Grigio Mahmoud just back from paint today. Class.

Nice!