FS: rare sales!

  • Thread starter exigeracer
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My favourite picture in that listing (which I'd never even thought to look up, unsurprisingly) is the VIN plate. Most companies would use precision engraving and CAD to stamp out the VIN number to make it easy to spot if were to be manipulated. TVR however?

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Just get Barry to write it all out with a dremel, it'll be fine. I wouldn't be surprised if a few numbers got mixed up on more than a few of these plates over the years either.
 
Like, I know that tiny bespoke sports car makers frequently can't be too choosy with what they use for their switchgear (like Aston Martin and its love of the 80s Taurus interior). Certainly the Series 1 to an extent had the same problem that contemporary similar cars like the Qvale Mangusta (albeit not quite as blatant as with that) and Panoz Esperante had even before all the production delays and cost overruns and political infighting happened that doomed the Series 1, where you're charging a ton of money for something that's made up of a bunch of secondhand American car interior bits attached to a mildly warm drivetrain on an expensive bespoke chassis that can easily be replicated by just buying a C5 Corvette or (if you're feeling particularly racy) an M Roadster. We'll even ignore the route he took to take a Northstar and significantly modify it for a longitudinal drivetrain to achieve significantly less power than if he had just bought LS1s (half a decade before Cadillac did the same thing with the XLR), since the Oldsmobile engine was in the design brief for the car from the very beginning well before GM had even officially announced the LS1 and GM probably wouldn't have given Shelby any anyway when they wouldn't even sell him C5 suspension arms or brakes.





However, at the very least, for the price Shelby wanted for it (nevermind the price that the car immediately ballooned to as production struggled) the car should have had interior pieces copy-pasted from something like the Corvette or Aurora instead of V6 Camaros and skinflint 90s Buicks. You're already buying nearly everything but the bodywork/chassis all the way down to the wishbones and brakes from GM anyway, so why pay Delco to put different decals on the Camaro gauge cluster and pull the radio out of a Regal? Maybe they could have even found an airbag steering wheel they could have used in the process and not been forced to cancel any long term plans of selling the thing.
 
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That seems really cheap for such a rare example in such great condition. I bet it sails past its estimate.
 
Tommy kiara would be a cool company to see some sort of documentary on. It seems like they had hit after hit after hit from the late 80s through the 90s and seemed poised to take the Saleen-esque step at the turn of the milliennium and then just seemingly vaporized instead.
 
Another stunning Skyline R34 coming up through Bonhams. 1 of 38 N1 models built, 6-year rebuild featuring Mine's entire catalog & engine, a faithful tribute to an iconic R34. Also has Hiroshi Tamura, the R34's designer, signature & US-certified for import.
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Starting in 2016, the vehicle was disassembled down to the bare chassis for cleaning. Aside from a rock chip repair, the lightweight single-stage paint was retained on the body, front fenders, trunk, and rear bumper. Over the course of six years, parts were meticulously acquired from all over the world to build an era-correct tribute to the famous Mine's N1 demo car. Based on research completed on a trip to Mine's headquarters in Japan in 2016, dozens of out-of-production Mine's parts were accumulated and assembled onto the vehicle as a part of its rebuilding. This includes but is not limited to a complete era-correct Mine's Stage II Complete Engine and drivetrain, complete Mine's carbon fiber aero package, extremely rare Mine's BBS magnesium wheels, limited-production titanium strut tower bar, and a host of other incredibly rare and specific parts. The depth and complexity of this build cannot be overstated - Mine's founder Michizo Niikura himself was shocked to see the details of the tribute build when he and master engine builder Toshikazu Nakayama inspected the completed car in 2022. The Mine's associates even inquired at the time to see if spares of the rarest parts - namely the Mine's BBS magnesium wheels - could be acquired from the seller.

No estimate available, should sell for a pretty penny with the amount of time, effort, & extremely rare parts that went into this.
 
I'm not so sure. The MNP on Bring a Trailer didn't meet reserve; apparently it's hammer price was under what it cost to import.
 
SVX
I'm not so sure. The MNP on Bring a Trailer didn't meet reserve; apparently it's hammer price was under what it cost to import.
Too much mileage, guy seems like he’s trying to justify his cost claiming you can’t get that car in Japan for that price. I think homie found one, grabbed it anyway regardless of the mileage. Seen it before with other cars, lesson learned for him.

The N1 above should clear $300k.
 
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Too much mileage, guy seems like he’s trying to justify his cost claiming you can’t get that car in Japan for that price. I think homie found one, grabbed it anyway regardless of the mileage. Seen it before with other cars, lesson learned for him.

The N1 above should clear $300k.
I don't really see it personally seeing as it's not a genuine Mine's car. Will watch with interest!
 
SVX
I don't really see it personally seeing as it's not a genuine Mine's car. Will watch with interest!
Whether it's one of the original 3 shouldn't matter. It's still a N1 which is what the original 3 are built upon tmu, & N1s are the rarest R34 models outside the Nismo models.

A M-Spec Nur just cleared $450,000 & V-Spec IIs are routinely bypassing $200,000. 1 of the 14 MotorRex R34s that was featured in BF Goodrich ads & affiliated with Paul Walker in promoting F&F, sold for $525,000 last year. I don't see how this example doesn't clear $300,000 minimum based on its rarity & the fact its sporting a magnitude of rare Mine's parts.
 
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Whether it's one of the original 3 shouldn't matter. It's still a N1 which is what the original 3 are built upon tmu, & N1s are the rarest R34 models outside the Nismo models.

A M-Spec Nur just cleared $450,000 & V-Spec IIs are routinely bypassing $200,000. 1 of the 14 MotorRex R34s that was featured in BF Goodrich ads & affiliated with Paul Walker in promoting F&F, sold for $525,000 last year. I don't see how this example doesn't clear $300,000 minimum based on its rarity & the fact its sporting a magnitude of rare Mine's parts.
Because it's not a genuine Mine's car. As I said, will watch with interest!
 
SVX
Because it's not a genuine Mine's car. As I said, will watch with interest!
Doesn’t have to be. The fact it’s a N1 can help it clear that hurdle.

Bonhams has update their est. btw: $400,000-$500,000. Likely gives an idea of what 1 of the genuine 3 Mine’s cars would go for.
 
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None of the Shelby continuation cars are "real" Cobras but they still go for a lot more than some Factory Five that someone banged together from parts they got out of a Mustang someone wrapped around a tree. If this is such a painstaking recreation of a real Mines that the company reached out to the builder to ask where he got the parts so they could get some too, the difference kinda becomes a bit immaterial I suspect; especially if a war breaks out between bidders.
 
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Doesn’t have to be. The fact it’s a N1 can help it clear that hurdle.

Bonhams has update their est. btw: $400,000-$500,000. Likely gives an idea of what 1 of the genuine 3 Mine’s cars would go for.
That's great, but like, it's not a factory N1 anymore. It's an N1 made to look like something else.
 
SVX
That's great, but like, it's not a factory N1 anymore. It's an N1 made to look like something else.
Mate, what do you think the original Mine’s cars are underneath? They’re all N1s for a reason.

This could very well be seen as expensive as one of the original 3 bc it’s basically a complete copy, except someone assembled it instead of Mine’s themselves.
 
That seems really cheap for such a rare example in such great condition. I bet it sails past its estimate.
Apologies for quoting this again, but I just discovered another Tommy Kaira R-S sold in Japan recently that I thought really highlights your point on this being really cheap.


This example reportedly has just under 150,000km on the odo, so it's been enjoyed quite a bit & some of the Tommy Kaira stuff has been modified. It still sold for £217,000, so the Silverstone example seems more than worthy of blowing past the £150,000 estimate w/ half the miles & well maintained.
 
This example reportedly has just under 150,000km on the odo, so it's been enjoyed quite a bit & some of the Tommy Kaira stuff has been modified. It still sold for £217,000, so the Silverstone example seems more than worthy of blowing past the £150,000 estimate w/ half the miles & well maintained.
Welp, the Silverstone example only sold for £133,875. All I can come to conclusion on is that the Japanese market recognizes the Tommy Kaira nameplate & therefore, will shell out the money for one where as everywhere else, T.K. is a "if you know, you know" sort of situation. Congrats to the owner, I think that's a solid purchase price for a Skyline right now.
 
Welp, the Silverstone example only sold for £133,875. All I can come to conclusion on is that the Japanese market recognizes the Tommy Kaira nameplate & therefore, will shell out the money for one where as everywhere else, T.K. is a "if you know, you know" sort of situation. Congrats to the owner, I think that's a solid purchase price for a Skyline right now.
I think it's because of the audience. All the importers are constantly looking at Japanese auctions and offering cars to customers, while Silverstone Auctions has a much smaller audience with likely not as much interest in such a car. That blue TK likely won't be staying in Japan.
I saw the Silverstone results and there are some real gems at crazy good prices there, like the 512TR going for $100K less than examples in USA. More proof that the car market in USA is a crazy bubble.
 
Welp, the Silverstone example only sold for £133,875. All I can come to conclusion on is that the Japanese market recognizes the Tommy Kaira nameplate & therefore, will shell out the money for one where as everywhere else, T.K. is a "if you know, you know" sort of situation. Congrats to the owner, I think that's a solid purchase price for a Skyline right now.
I think it's because of the audience. All the importers are constantly looking at Japanese auctions and offering cars to customers, while Silverstone Auctions has a much smaller audience with likely not as much interest in such a car. That blue TK likely won't be staying in Japan.
I saw the Silverstone results and there are some real gems at crazy good prices there, like the 512TR going for $100K less than examples in USA. More proof that the car market in USA is a crazy bubble.
That TK was cheaper than expected, for sure, but looking at where it was auctioned i'm not entirely surprised. Seeing 'Silverstone Auctions' i was expecting it to had been held at Silverstone Circuit, but it was actually at the Race Retro event at Stoneleigh. I've been a few times and it really is a club racers event. I don't imagine it usually attracts deep-pocketed JDM collectors. I know these events are well publicised online and collectors from around the world bid remotely over the phone, but i can see why there wasn't a vast amount of interest at the event itself.

Looking through the sales results, especially the competition cars selection, there were some real bargains to be had. I'm very familiar with that none Appendix-K Lotus Cortina. It's a really competitive car and to say (i'm guessing it didn't sell on the day) that it's now offered for £32,500 - it's an absolute steal!

All these sale prices show that the commercially offered collectors car prices you see advertised are often overly optimistic. I've not got a classic car mag to hand to check, but i bet none of the types of car that were sold can be found within the pages for the prices they actually went for. Maybe the bottom is starting to fall out of the British market now?
 
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Doesn’t have to be. The fact it’s a N1 can help it clear that hurdle.

Bonhams has update their est. btw: $400,000-$500,000. Likely gives an idea of what 1 of the genuine 3 Mine’s cars would go for.
Looks like it got withdrawn - interesting. Was quite curious about what it would go for.
 
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