1931 Minor Tourer on eBay end 11th Feb 08

[chris lambert]

This lovely two seater tourer is attracting lots of bids and ends 11th Feb.
Full description here:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MORRIS-MINOR-TWO- ... dZViewItem

Chris

[Toby]

This looks lovely, and pretty right for the year. Any guesses at the "right money"?! whoever gets it will have a very usable car. It'd be nice to see it alongside mine although I wish my weather equipment was as good nick.

[Ian Grace]

A quick check of the shiny new Master Chassis Register shows the owner to be A (Anthony?) Downing in Alphingstone, Devon. I'll call him to ask for the chassis number and ask him to connect us with the new owner.

[Ian Grace]

I'm sending a sample Magazine and a Membership Form to Tony, with a letter asking him to pass them on to the new owner. Sneaky!

[chris lambert]

Toby,
Decent two seater Minors (of either camshaft arrangement) are now fetching around the £6K mark and so my guess is that this will go for something in the range of £5.8 to £6.2K. Do I win anything if I get close?
Chris

[Ian Grace]

It's interesting how many people bid for Minors on eBay, but cars advertised through conventional means lay unsold for a year or two. Mike Hobday's timepiece fabric saloon is a perfect example. You won't find a more original Minor anywhere, but it remains unsold after over a year. And the price is very reasonable for what you get. This is another car which is crying out to for a good home.

It is difficult therefore to know whether there is or is not demand for our cars.

[chris lambert]

Having followed the fortunes of perhaps eight or ten Minors on eBay last year, the chances of a sale seem greatly enhanced if an open car is being auctioned (with a sensible reserve). The 'Last Tourer' only sold after the reserve was dropped to £5.5K. Side valve saloons fared particularly badly although I can't recollect an OHC Saloon coming up for auction on eBay in the last 12 months.

[chris lambert]

I have just noticed that the vendor has 'pulled' his item and the car is no longer available to bid on!

[Ian Grace]

Interesting. I just tried to call him, but his 'phone is switched off. It does say reluctant sale - so perhaps he decided to keep it or found a purchaser outside eBay. I'll keep trying to call him.

[Toby]

If it had stayed on I'd have said it looked like it was worth every penny of 6k, in future we should have a sweepstake on these ebay minors! Ian, if he does keep it, it might be because he's discovered the vmr;- maybe we are what he was missing!!! I am considering ebaying the cms body so I can dig out the next project to sell!

[Ian Grace]

According to my info, he also has a Minor saloon. I'll try to call him again later today.

[Highlander]

Re the e.bay 2 seater - If this is the car I think it is an article appeared in the Morris Journal not too long ago about its participation in the Queen Mothers Parade on Horseguards on her 100th Birthday. I wrote to Tony re Radiators and got a very nice hand written reply. Just where do we sell our cars these days? The Morris Register is a dead loss. The Automobile take far too long for the advert to come out so e.bay seems the modern way. My Minor looks as good as Tonys and I only paid £4000 - was I lucky? I was the only one who responded!! The next warm day I will be fitting the 4 blade fan.

[Toby]

I guess it all comes down to whether you want it. When i tracked down PJ, for sentimental reasons, I was faced with a dilemma-how much was i willing to pay? It had little to do with market value and they are all unique anyway, what does an engine rebuild add for example, do you want a slightly used look or do you prefer spotless, do you want it bang on original spec? If it's what you want then it's worth what you are willing to pay!!! I still await interest in the cms and I would like to shift a lot of other projects, I'll never have time to do it all so should pass them on but is there too few people left who want projects? I find that all minor spares in the MR newsletter are always sold when i ring for them so may test your theory about the MR!ebay can be very random.