For Sale Not Mine - 1971 Imperial on eBay

[saforwardlook]

I talked with the seller of this 24K miles Imperial this afternoon and found out more about this car. He is apparently the 4th owner of the car, with it originally having been sold in Canada (I believe it was Montreal but not certain). It does have a Federal emission control label on it. It then went to PA and then to Colorado, and to him in California now. He has owned it since 2015. He seems to have a collection including other cars as well, including GM vehicles at least.

Everything works on the car except for an automatic park brake realease that doesn't always release as such, but always will of course with its foot release pedal on these cars. He thinks it might need some lubrication to be consistent. The a/c system was converted to 134 when he got the car and hasn't needed to be charged since that work was done 5 years ago, and it does blow very cold still he says - so that is a very positive comment. The steering wheel has no cracks and the rim blow horn still works fine. He even showed me a photo of the coolant in the radiator and it appears to have a nice dark green color, which suggests good maintenance over the years.

Although the listing says it has anti-skid brakes, it does not and he was surprised that the listing indicated it did (he has another party taking care of the sale of the car at Ebay for him).

He is a really super guy, very honest and very willing to help answer any question I had and even offered to do a walk around video of the car as well. Basically the car is as close to brand new as one can get and has been given excellent care by all of its previos owners.

Here are some additional photos of the car for anyone interested in bidding (mostly of the underhood including the body code plate):

I was considering bidding but decided at this time I would not for a number of reasons, but for anyone considering this car, I don't see how it could be any closer to brand new.

 

[330dTA]

Any info on how long this car spent time in Montreal, and PA? I suspect rust.

 

[saforwardlook]

Any info on how long this car spent time in Montreal, and PA? I suspect rust.

I did not ask that question specifically. He did mention to me that there was no rust anywhere on the car. And he is believeable.
Of the cars 24K miles, he put on 4K himself, so any previous owners didn't put much more than that on themselves it would seem.
He did say all the previous owners took great care of the car, and I believe him - he didn't seem to try to hide anything at all and in fact pointed out tiny things I would not have noticed myself or be concerned about.

 

[78Brougham]

Any info on how long this car spent time in Montreal, and PA? I suspect rust.

Just because it came from PA doesn't mean there's tons of rust, especially this vintage. People from N.Y., for example love cars from PA. Especially from southern PA, where salt was used to bare minimum.
This car was hardly used by what Steve ascertained, and probably never driven in crappy weather by the sounds of it.
The only way to be sure is to go and look at it.
If I was interested, and Steve (who's opinion I respect immensely) spoke to the owner, I would be on it like right now.

 

[USSMOPAR]

4 wheel Antilock brakes were an option. It was called sure brake-look in the service manual. Nice Nice car, I don't expect rust...wow

 

[ayilar]

The bidding is up to $12.6k, with just 2 hours to go (Edit: the auction closed and the reserve was not met at $14.2k).

In many ways, with its superb original condition, YM43T1C224704 (the GA8 4dr being discussed) reminds me of YM43T1C178683 (a GF3 Imperial 4dr from Idaho that sold on eBay back in 2013). I didn't record how much that triple green beauty sold for seven years ago, but if anyone can share that info, please share it? Lots of pics of the GF3 LeBaron can be found here.

 

[Marv]

Auction ended at 14.200$ with reserve not met. Some one stated in an earlier post that the reserve would be about 20k and that seems to be correct.

the seller should work out a deal with the high bidder I don't see a bid higher than 14,2k if it gets relisted but that's just my 2 cents

 

[saforwardlook]

Auction ended at 14.200$ with reserve not met. Some one stated in an earlier post that the reserve would be about 20k and that seems to be correct.

the seller should work out a deal with the high bidder I don't see a bid higher than 14,2k if it gets relisted but that's just my 2 cents

In my discussion with the seller, he was very clear the car would not leave his garage unless it went significantly higher than $14. I believe that car is worth more than $14 significantly as well. It will likely sell outside of ebay but it may take longer. A lot of folks don't like bidding on Ebay and wait for opportunities like this one.

 

[Marv]

I believe that car is worth more than $14 significantly as well.

What do you think is an adequate price then and why?

 

[ayilar]

I believe that car is worth more than $14 significantly

What do you think is an adequate price then and why?

GA8 is the rarest of all Chrysler colors in 1971. I happened upon Chrysler's info re: 1971 color choices on the Hamtramck registry -- a mere 0.4% of all Chryslers, and 0.5% of all Imperials, were painted GA8. A total of 11,569 Imperials were produced for MY 1971. That means fewer than 60 were painted Slate Gray -- how many of those are left, and how many are in such superb shape with such low miles?

I hope that the seller can find the right buyer and/or make an arrangement with the top bidder -- and that we get to see more of this Imperial!

 

[saforwardlook]

What do you think is an adequate price then and why?

This is a very rare car in this condition, virtually showroom and well-maintained over the years - and it is a desirable model to fuselage era fans. If it were mine, it wouldn't be sold under $20K. Go find another one.

There is nothing quite like a very original low miles car that drives like new. No restoration seems to capture the true essence of that experience. Most folks will buy a car model like this for $12 - 15K in poorer condition and then put another $10K into it to refresh everything when they get done, and then have something less desirable than this car and will have spent more money in the end. You seem to be one of those folks since you harp on the price more than appreciate the real beauty of an exceptional, well-maintained original low mileage one.

I have some idea what I am looking at as I have been doing this a long time.

I already know of a buyer not in the U.S. who is actively considering this present car assuming $20K is the likely price point needed. He is a very smart guy and bought a 1971 Imperial sunroof car from me not too long ago and it is one of the very few of those cars that were ever made. He understands all of this and that is why he now has my former very rare 2 door 71 Imperial and is doing a great job with it (mine needed some restoration).

You will continue to be a wannabe buyer unless you are willing to pay what these cars are worth and can't see beyond the price.

 

[Marv]

I was asking for a reason and I got my ( little harsh) answer.
Anyways I learnt something and that's always a win.

 

[saforwardlook]

I was asking for a reason and I got my ( little harsh) answer.
Anyways I learnt something and that's always a win.

My apologies if I sounded harsh as it wasn't intended. I can sometimes look back on what I write and realize that what I stated could have been done more patiently.

I have been doing restorations/rennovations a long time over the years and it just takes a lot of time, patience, effort and $$ to do them and when I am done, folks don't seem to realize what it takes and when I go to sell them because I find something else I would rather have and yet have to be mindful of not having way too many cars, I find it frustating to have folks make me offers on them that don't even allow me to recover my costs, even minus the value of my time spent on the project.

And when I see vehicles like the one at hand, I find it difficult to realize that folks do not understand just what they are looking at in terms of saving a lot of time/money by buying something like this rather than buying low and investing more than the car is worth. I see this car as a very rare opportunity rather than one too high priced.

Thanks for understanding.

 

[Marv]

First let me say that although not knowing you personally I know from being an active member on fcbo for half a decade now that you are not the kind of person being rude so I it's all good. And I appreciate that you take the time to list facts to make your point

Furthermore I am a huge fan of cars that sport the first paint, original interior and and drivetrain but they need to be well maintained and reliable as well as I enjoy driving these cars as often as possibl. I usually rack up about 5.000miles per year with the Pontiac and am looking for THE perfect car for me to add to my garage. I prefer a reliable driver over a perfect original still - got - the - original - 50 years - old - tires - on - it kind of cars. That distinguishes me from a real collector who consideres options + rare color and a low mileage as the ultimate combination.

Let me add that my personal taste in these cars is that a special car deserves a special color. over here in Germany 90% of the cars you see on the road are black / white or silver/gray. Therefore I don't get the hype about triple black classic cars. And I don't get hyped about this cars' color combination.
But I do understand that GA8 is an extremely rare color (thanks Ayilar) and that this particular 71 is probably one of a kind in this condition and color.

Long story short I do appreciate this cars' condition but I wasn't aware that this car distinguishes from other 71 4 doors in a way to justify 20k$.

 

[ayilar]

@Marv: this car is very rare indeed, and as @saforwardlook pointed out in other posts, the fact that it has H51 (rather than H53) A/C adds value as well. IMHO, the color is a great one. While gray and black cars are all over the place these days, they were rare at the time -- which is also a plus in my book (rarity is not the issue, rarity and good looks together are). This said, the fact that I recently acquired a dark silver (i.e., gray) '73 NYB -- the one I have called Ming -- partly explains why I did not bid on this beauty: one gray car is enough for my stable

 

[Marv]

Pssst I like Ming more as the 73 NY front end is really high on my list but that's another story

 

[LeBaron1973]

Pssst I like Ming more as the 73 NY front end is really high on my list but that's another story

Perhaps you should buy Ming, and ayilar can buy this 1971 imperial and you'll both be happy. I agree with Steve, that, although more expensive than most, this well cared for low mileage example is the way to go compared to paying 5K then another 20K for a rebuild. Whilst Mike (Doc McNeedy) didn't quote the suggested repainting cost I got the impression it was somewhat eye watering, making this example a bargain.

 

[saforwardlook]

Perhaps you should buy Ming, and ayilar can buy this 1971 imperial and you'll both be happy. I agree with Steve, that, although more expensive than most, this well cared for low mileage example is the way to go compared to paying 5K then another 20K for a rebuild. Whilst Mike (Doc McNeedy) didn't quote the suggested repainting cost I got the impression it was somewhat eye watering, making this example a bargain.

I have my body/paint guy on site, and a really nice paint job can not be done for less than $12K when labor and materials are totalled (and that is for a rust free car) - to do these paint jobs properly, all the trim has to come off and then the whole car stripped and then any imperfections have to be addressed. If you don't need or want show quality, (which would be needed to match the finish on this car for sale on Ebay), the job can be done for less.

 

[LeBaron1973]

I guess it could cost up to 100K or more by the time you purchased, stripped and repaired every piece of a car like this, let alone paint stripping, body work and reassembly.

Makes 20K a bargain.

 

[Imperialist]

I guess it could cost up to 100K or more by the time you purchased, stripped and repaired every piece of a car like this, let alone paint stripping, body work and reassembly.

Makes 20K a bargain.

Agreed. Makes me wonder how much Julian over in Frankfurt is spending on his down-to-every-nut-and-bolt ‘69 project.

This is why I never keep records. I don’t want to know how much I’ve spent.

‘71 is not my “year” but if it was a ‘69, I would be all over this gray beast. I remember trying to get my Dad to buy a used ‘69 LeBaron in this same gray at Jim Keehn C/P/I on St. Charles Rock Road in St. Ann, MO about 1971. Instead he bought a ‘71 Caprice in the green of the day.