After a LOOOONG day of wrenching on the LeMon for Kershaw in ~1 month, we headed inside for some good German grub and a few hours of perusing this w/e's leMons activity. When we stumbled across this E36, teammate Rob (who drives a 525 wagon) exclaimed "That thing's in better shape than my wagon was when I bought it!" Newer, too.
I did find it refreshing, however, to find that the race was otherwise bereft of modern Sporters of the Roundel. The only other Bimmer to be seen (at least in M. Martin's pictures) was a decrepit-looking 1600/2002, which i thoroughly *heart*.
Well, I guess the whole is more than the sum of its parts because abandoned that way, the bumper looks like it could have fallen off an early Firebird.
Someone should try to cobble together a LeMons car from pieces they pick up on-site when celebrities inevitably crash their cars. I'd call it the "McLamborrera Enzonda."
My roommate just came up to me and asked, "What can we put on our front porch to get another notice of violation?" (There's an old letter from the city taped to our wall telling the previous tenants to remove an arcade videogame from the porch. We keep it up for laughs.)
@discontinuuity: If you want another notice ASAP, a flaming couch is a sure fire way to get the job done. ;D
@TurboRefrigerator: Yes that one works in my neighborhood as well, they seem to like it even less when you fill it with potting soil and plant a sunflower in the bowl (the resulting fine indicated as much to me anyway).
@discontinuuity: I'm pretty sure there must be an ordinance where you live against leaving your organ exposed on the porch. Unless you reside at The Mustang Ranch of course. Where it's required...
@TurboRefrigerator: He said he wants something "classy." I'm not sure what's classy about an arcade game or an organ, but I suppose any of those things are more classy than a dead hooker or a toilet.
@Foozy Ploosh Room: The Auction listing makes no mention of a salvage title, instead it says that it left active duty due to an inability to pass emissions... which is a far more likely scenario to get it down into LeMons territory in "running" condition.
@Foozy Ploosh Room: Not necessarily to the person selling it. For us, yeah, there's an easy grand to be made there, probably more... for a lot of people it's "in the way" and they want it gone so they sell 'em cheap... that's why there are so many <$500 race cars in the bay area, where I live (where there are no emissions) those cars would be going for $1,200+ easy. Where I live you're lucky to find anything running for <$800, and a lot of the legit LeMons are in better shape than what I share the road with.
@something_unique_and_descriptive: Yeah, that's true - smog testing effectively drives up the price of decent used cars, which is bad for the lower class, but good for LeMons...
By the way, who started the modern retractable hardtop trend? I seem to remember it was Mercedes, but this Mitsu has to be among the "first" in the contemporary era (no, not counting the 50's Ford Skyliner, etc., but the current fascination with this feature)
Was the convertible made at the factory, or is it an aftermarket piece? I'd be worried about the car's structural integrity. Regardless, it probably has so much chassis flex that it's only suitable for touring, when the point of the 3000 was that it had rather hight performance limits and was a nicely sorted driver's car.
But the car does look very good, and the convertible is quite unusual. Thought this does make the rear look a bit long. Condition seems to be excellent. It's too early for a smoke this morning...
@Van Sarockin: The convertible was from the factory, but I'm pretty sure that the conversion was done off-line by ASC, same with the Nissan 300ZX convertibles. I might be wrong on this though. It was cataloged in the factory brochure and sold with full warranty etc.
Just think, you could buy this, swap out the front and rear bits for a Dodge Stealth, but a "Yep, it's got a Hemi" bumper sticker on the back, and double your money at the next Barret Jackson auction. I mean, in crack pipe land, ANYTHING is possible.
Actually, though, I think the price is closer to reality than a lot of the Nice Price / Crack Pipe contestants we've seen. I'd say a reasonable offer of $25k would bring this thing home, and it just might be worth it.
@WilliamG.: Tell me where these people are willing to pay that much,i'll send a load of them over. I'll take their money. $25k is £16,800 i can't stop laughing at that price.
@WilliamG.: Haha,i guess it's just one of those things,some cars in America that have a high value are worth a lot less in the U.K. & the same the other way around.
Gorgeous car, unique hardtop convertible (at that time), kind of a boulevard cruiser though. And no where near the asking price. Maybe 1/2 of the asking price....
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I did find it refreshing, however, to find that the race was otherwise bereft of modern Sporters of the Roundel. The only other Bimmer to be seen (at least in M. Martin's pictures) was a decrepit-looking 1600/2002, which i thoroughly *heart*.
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All I had to do was point to the Enzo wing.
PS: I think we've decided on an old organ, kinda like this one:[denver.craigslist.org]
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@TurboRefrigerator: Yes that one works in my neighborhood as well, they seem to like it even less when you fill it with potting soil and plant a sunflower in the bowl (the resulting fine indicated as much to me anyway).
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Glad to see it got a BS penalty, 'cause I've never seen a running E36 go for under a grand, regardless of title.
I take it the grille came from another car he restored?
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Even if it wouldn't pass emissions, it's worth an easy grand in parts.
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But yeah, the different stories... I smell carp.
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Still, though, something's up.
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I am relatively certain that the original concept goes back to the 30's, but the earliest example that comes to my mind is the 1957 Ford Skyliner.
12/22/08
I saw a very nice red VR-4 folding hardtop with about 80K miles for $13K or $14K this past summer. $30K is total crackpipe.
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I'd rock me one of those.
I knew it was in the 30's, but I could not for the life of me remember which company first came up with the idea.
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As it is? Booth two all the way.
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But the car does look very good, and the convertible is quite unusual. Thought this does make the rear look a bit long. Condition seems to be excellent. It's too early for a smoke this morning...
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Actually, though, I think the price is closer to reality than a lot of the Nice Price / Crack Pipe contestants we've seen. I'd say a reasonable offer of $25k would bring this thing home, and it just might be worth it.
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