Top Dollar but looking good

[Alastair Gregg]

Gents,

The Garage is near me and has a reputation of holding out for their money. But pre 1923 cars are few and far between.

https://www.classiccarshop.co.uk/home/c ... jowett-7hp

[k. rogers]

Lovely car, and why shouldn't it be that sort of money - Jowetts are so undervalued!

[Chris Spencer]

Personally I think it's a typical dealer holding out on a speculative price - I would value it at £24 -£26K, there is another dealer that has this for sale http://www.vintagerollsroycecars.com/sa ... light-car/ and it has been sat there at £28K for nearly 2 years without any takers - comes down desirability vs price vs value for money and once you creep above the £25K bracket in the pre war market there is a significant choice available

[Bronteboxer]

The classic car world is no different to art or antiques. The subjective view of desirability and fashion, coupled with rarity, accessibility and speculative probability generally determine value. The ability to scan the world on the internet helps 'discerning' buyers determine all of the above. Hence a Mini Cooper S, knocked out in thousands by BL in the 60's, which if it was wasn't built on a Friday afternoon or in the grip of Union unrest, might have been built to a standard decent enough for it to stay out of the dealership Worksop for more than 3 months at a stretch, is worth £45K and a rare hand built Jowett is worth half that.

A Jupiter, one of the rarest and most historic sports cars in the world, struggles to get a price over a good Frogeye. I have had both and there is no comparison. There needs to be a sizemic shift in all of the above for Jowett values to shift. But I don't believe customers currently don't buy Jowetts to speculate thank goodness. And that's what the flash dealers looking to make a killing just don't grasp. This to the real discerning buyer keep rare Jowetts in the current climate, reasonably affordable, and still the choice of true enthusiasts.

[Srenner]

Over here, in what used to be the good ol' USA, just about any discussion of "value" is driven by the estimated cost to achieve the level of presentation of the car being discussed. VW or Rolls Royce, an hour of labor is an hour of cost. Could one build the same vehicle for the asking price?

This avenue of thought results in lesser known marques being valued as less desirable (valuable) than "name brand" items such as Porsche. Is the driving experience of a 1952 Porsche really worth 8 to 10 times the cost of Jupiter? IMHO the answer is no, but the Porsche has a cache' that Jowett failed to develop in the eyes of the market.

Recently, a deep pocket speculator picked up some remnants of Jupiter and has been trying to sell the bits at what he thinks the rarity of a Jupiter should dictate. He offered an incomplete early motor and rusty gearbox for US$1000. No takers.

A good example of rare not equating to valuable.

[Bronteboxer]

Quite true Scott. I recently sold a motorbike built in Birmingham UK by a manufacturer not in the mainstream. After a couple of years research, including efforts here by Mike Worthington-Williams, the well known motoring historian and writer, it transpired it was probably the only one left in the world of that model. It was complete and did not need a great deal of work to make it useable, had documentation including its original owners logbook. It raised £375 cash sale!

[ian Howell]

This car was owned by Stuart Baxter, Huddersfield 2008, and was featured in the Jowetteer in the Sept '15 issue, p16.