'31 Roadster not sold

[rrhorton]

At the Lucky auction today at the LeMay auto museum, a very nice stock '31 Roadster did not sell at $18,000. Owner would not accept less than $20,000.

Photos attached.

[ford3]

lol two happy guys, one still has his car, the other still has his money

[Purdy Swoft]

A person can spend a lot of money restoring a roadster. This one appears to be heavily accessorized.

[Mike V. Florida]

You can't get a complete feeling for the condition of the car from the few pictures but i'm surprised it did not sell at 20k.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

One would expect sidemounts

[montanafordman]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

A person can spend a lot of money restoring a roadster. This one appears to be heavily accessorized.

Originally Posted by Dave Mellor NJ

One would expect sidemounts

True. I would have preferred the look of this car much more if it didn't have the light covers, and spare tire cover on - and better yet blackwalls. I was happy to see that it still had the spare on the rear. Everyone has their preference though which is a nice thing about the hobby - do with your car as you see fit. If the mechanicals are good, and the body and upholstery are as good as its looks in the photo its worth 20K imho.

It seems roadsters are particularly prone to being tarted up as deluxe cars when in reality the majority of Model A's were not. My car had cowl lights put on prior to my grandfather buying the car in the 60's but as hacked up as the holes are I'm certain it was a standard car as it also had no dome light. When I restore mine its going to be a standard coupe with black wheels and the original colors.

[Patrick L.]

Hmmm, musta been the whitewalls ! [ smiley face]. Nice looking car.

[Barry B./ Ma.]

I have a late 30 std. roadster that cost me more than 18,000 to rebuild and put together without labor so I can understand why you wouldn't let it go for 18K.

[ronn]

Well 18k was all it was worth that day-I agree with Dave, sidemounts would have pushed it over 20k.
the conception of dluxe vs standard is huge on price.
I am with Aaron on preferring a plain jane car, but don't think most people are.

[Mike]

In my opinion the rear mounted spare tire is what makes this car very desirable !

Mike

[Keith True]

I like the rear spare mount too.I don't think a lot of people realize that the rear mount was correct for a 31 DeLuxe,not side mounts.The only extra doodads that jump out at me on this car are the whitewalls,headlight covers,and the stoneguard.I think there is a detailed writeup on this car somewhere,he owned over 2000 cars about 20 years ago.

[Purdy Swoft]

The accessories would be easy enough to remove and sell. I prefer the standard models in all cases. My roadster is a standard model. I did all the work myself and still have porobably over eighteen thousand invested. I can easily see why the owner would refuse an eighteen thousand dollar offer .

[dumb person]

In my country 30,000 will get you an ok roadster, some people want even more for really nice cars, but we have less of them.

[Purdy Swoft]

Ten years ago it was fairly common to see a 30-31 roadster sell for thirty thousand here. A lot depends on condition and who owns it .

[Don]

Don't blam him for not selling,$20 k is not much for a nice car,try and build one for less...

[BlueSunoco]

I wonder, even if he had been offered 20K,,,, I bet he still would have wanted more. From the pictures it looks to be a nice little Roadster with not a lot to have to be done to it...........

[C26Pinelake]

It has been said many times that you never get your money out of a restoration. Restore for the fun and not a profit or you will be disappointed ! I think the buyer was the smart one. Keep looking, the market is flooded !
Wayne

[BlueSunoco]

Originally Posted by C26Pinelake

It has been said many times that you never get your money out of a restoration. Restore for the fun and not a profit or you will be disappointed ! I think the buyer was the smart one. Keep looking, the market is flooded !
Wayne

Quite true Wayne.............

At Sharon, Wisc. Sunday in the swap meet area was a fairly nice '31 Roadster, Washington Blue. Had a For Sale sign in the window. Came by a little later and had 'SOLD' and 'THANK YOU" written across the sign. Don't know the selling price, and this is the Midwest so 'Don't ask-don't tell' just plain rude to talk about that to the seller or buyer. was asking $22K, sold quickly, you be the judge! Also a nice pair of '30-'31 Coupes for sale one had a roll down window. Both very nice cars. Asking $12,500 for either one. Cheaper to buy, then and there, I'm sure than what you can restore for.

Model A Fords are still selling, still a desire for the cars, Mustangs have flooded the market too but good ones don't last long they get sold pretty fast!!

[mshmodela]

As they say price is subject to supply and demand. I suspect most folks here are not in the business of "Model A's" for profit, e.g. Wayne on the TV Show "Chasing Classic Cars" and no one likes to lose money on something either. It seems to me that the market is such that few folks get what they put into their cars, and I suspect the market will not like improve in the next 10 years as likely more and more cars will come up for sale as we all get older, supply going up.... Hopefully, some younger folks will want to take these cars over... I got my car purely for fun, will likely lose on it in time...