Datsun 260Z, Ford Excursion, Ferrari 328: The Biggest Suckers On Bring A Trailer This Week

Modifying your car is fun. You get to take something that rolled off the factory floor, built to serve a broad purpose, and customize it for your specific needs. In doing so, you give it personality, flavor, and a sense that the car truly is yours.

Some people, however, think that every dollar they spend in mods should come back in the sale price. Unfortunately for them, that’s not how it usually works — though a few Bring A Trailer auctions from the past week show that there may actually be some value in some of these. You just need a very, very specific buyer. Welcome to the Suckers Slideshow.

Hagerty value: I tried entering this into their system and a hand reached out from the website and slapped me

To: The Hague

Subject: Can you do anything about this?

Hello Mr. The Hague,

I wanted to reach out about this modified Datsun 260Z that recently sold on popular car auction website Bring A Trailer. I understand this is a bit out of your normal purview, but I firmly believe the modifications at play here constitute a war crime. If you could just reach out to BaT user B.M.T. and have a talk with them, I’d really appreciate it.

Thank you,
Steve DaSilva

NADA value: $7,750

Back in college, I came very close to buying a number of Forester XTs. None were quite as modified as this 2008 model, but none cost nearly thirty thousand dollars, either. I think those cheaper, stock-er ones would have been a better buy.

This Forester comes with an aftermarket IAG engine, a big turbo, an STi transmission and differentials, and a replacement gauge cluster showing a mileage that may be wholly unrelated to the distance this chassis has actually driven. It makes a respectable 280 horsepower at the wheels, meaning all those engine and turbo mods brought this thing a whole ~20 horsepower above a stock STi. But at least if anything breaks, no shop will touch it.

NADA value: $16,450

This is, by all accounts, a very clean fifth generation Camaro. It’s also an objectively worse chassis than the current, sixth generation Camaro, which can be had in SS trim for $37,500 before destination fees. Are people really paying near-MSRP prices for twelve-year-old performance cars that are neither rare nor discontinued?

This price is the result of a bidding war between just two users, who were the only ones to place bids after the price hit $24,500. At that price, you can trip over these cars on AutoTrader. What’s the appeal here? Paying new-car prices for a like-new old car that’s worse than the new car?

Hagerty value: $46,700 in Concours condition

The Volvo P1800 is, without question, one of the best looking vehicles ever penned by human hands. This example, in coupe layout with a dark green exterior over brown leather, is probably the absolute perfect spec. Does that mean it’s worth fifteen thousand dollars more than it should be?

The seats in this P1800 show some wear, and the car has six-figure mileage on the dash. Good. This isn’t a display piece, it’s a car that’s been used but cared for — not locked up to never be seen again. But if you do drive it, will the experience live up to the price?

Hagerty value: This Camaro is far too far from stock to have a book value

This Camaro is named “The Scramjet.” If your modified car has a title like that, it generally means one of a few things. It could be built for racing, like James Dean’s Little Bastard or Porsche’s Pink Pig, or it could be a heavily modified SEMA showcase like B Is For Build’s Burntacan. Or it could just be the most boomer car you’ve ever seen. I’ll let you guess which one this is.

This Camaro does claim some interesting active aero features, although the auction photos don’t show any of the movable flaps actually moving. Is a car that might have novel active aero elements worth nearly $75,000? My FR-S could, theoretically, have a powered flap on it somewhere. I’ll give it to you for a mere fifty grand.

NADA value: $83,000

We’ve talked before in the Suckers Slides about the Mustang GT350R’s Heritage Edition package. For those that missed it last time, the Heritage Edition is paint. It’s white paint and blue stripes, a color combination otherwise impossible to get on any Mustang. That must be worth double the book value, right?

The GT350R is, by all accounts, a fantastic car. But does it offer a hundred and seventy thousand dollar driving experience? That much money opens up a lot of possibilities, from Porsches to Lamborghinis to a small army of Miatas. Which would you rather have?

Hagerty value: This is barely still a 1969 Bronco, let alone one that you can slap a book value on

This is a classic Bronco modified to have four doors and a modern Ford engine. Fun fact: Ford also makes this! It starts at $34,700, and you can get one immediately if you don’t mind some dealer markup. If your alternative is a quarter million dollar custom job, I can’t imagine you do.

Restomods are such an interesting market, because their appeal must be so limited. Something like a classic Mustang that’s had Vintage Air added is one thing, but a custom body stretch like this is a different level. It’s possible that this is the perfect use case for Bring A Trailer: Connecting very specific vehicles with very specific buyers.

MSRP: From $207,000

This is the current generation of Porsche 911. It was purchased new five thousand miles ago and sold nearly twenty grand more than its original MSRP. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is absurd, right?

This car is located in Connecticut, my home county of my home state. Its original selling dealer was in an expensive area full of rich people. Maybe they brag about this to each other, how much over MSRP they paid for a used car, just to show that they can. That’s the only explanation I can come up with.

Hagerty value: $191,000 in Concours condition

When Matt Farah is saying that your auction result means “The 328 Train has left the station,” you should know in your heart of hearts that you overpaid. This Ferrari 328 GTB had $39,000 in work done just to prepare it for this sale, which means it had been sitting idle long enough to accrue $39,000 in repair bills. How much will it rack up in the next owner’s climate-controlled garage?

This listing even delves into Corvette Ad Copy, breaking down how many of this option package were made in this color for this year. A Ferrari should be scarce enough on its own, without breaking down the minutiae of its paint codes and options. Come on, now.