The Jensen Owners' Club

Peter Rothery wrote:Sounded like the bidder was in the room so saved himself the internet premium at nearly £5k....£97,280.

Yep . Bidder was in the room.

I know of the new owner. Not based in SW

John P

I think approx £100K is where the value of this car stood.

It will probably need another £20K spending on new tyres, brakes, possible heater core and general recommissioning before its ready to be used along with items like new carpets and bumpers rechroming. And this is just looking at the photos, anyone throwing £100K at this will probably want it bringing up to a very good standard.

DPP wrote:I think approx £100K is where the value of this car stood.

It will probably need another £20K spending on new tyres, brakes, possible heater core and general recommissioning before its ready to be used along with items like new carpets and bumpers rechroming. And this is just looking at the photos, anyone throwing £100K at this will probably want it bringing up to a very good standard.

I haven't seen the car so shouldn't really comment, my piggy bank is in minus, I am not in the market, but I will anyway . Assuming I had seen the car and that the body, tubes, floors were all solid, I think the buyer could have dropped on another £20k at the auction if they had to, without over paying. FF 275, £90K didn't buy that, the owner didn't want to part with it that badly. On that thread, we were discussing £10K to supply and fit Maxaret, plus a service for 275. The previous Mk2 auctioned off also topped £90K inc premiums. That car had previously sold for just under £70k 2 years prior and then had over 20K spent on it. Good solid body, hasn't been apart that many times. Plus it is a Mk3. What could go wrong? If you had to drop another 20K on tubes, you are more or less still on budget.

As you suggest Dave I would do the minimum, only replacing the bad carpet sections, just clean that bit near where the leak was, rechrome what are probably the original bumpers, etc. A new Dunlop master cylinder direct from that manufacturer that recently remade them, either to put on the car, or hopefully part of a spares pack. I really enjoy doing timing chains on FFs, so much space under the bonnet. I would find that and a light regrind to valves in the iron heads hard to resist doing, check there is a windage tray, touch up the sump. I wouldn't pay anyone to do that job though, probably not needed anyway, just pure self indulgent pleasure after a smart purchase.

I was the underbidder on this, and I would be surprised if the purchaser spends less than £60k on it. The photographs flatter it, all chrome needs doing, badges and door handles are shot.
Metalwork - drivers side front wing had been replaced but n/s had not and had rust spots on the roll of the arch.
Micro blistering on the paint, Floors seemed sound but I budgeted on tubes needing doing, other metalwork crusty in front of rear wheels and under front arches as were quite a few bits of other metalwork.
Dash was nice, small split below onel guage and bubble on n/s edge but overall ok.
Glass was OK.
Great felt on underside of bonnet which looked good.
Doors need rebuilding.
I would have stripped it, done metalwork, rebuilt engine and gearbox, plus all other running gear bar back axle if oil and backlash were ok. Tank needs replacing,
Trim might go again but I would have replaced.

Thus hats off to the purchaser, it is going to be at least a £160k car when finished but should be very nice, just hope it not going to be restomoded.

Very interesting perspective jvcarrier. That approach needs to be done by someone with a deep commitment to the project. You were in a unique position and have an excellent reference car on hand. I am sure many know through experience it is invaluable to have a complete car for reference.

Alternatively I was thinking it would be a great car, as is, for an investor/collector. I do see original FFs hitting the £1m mark in the lifetime of a younger owner. At that point, you might comfortably get £750K for something like this preserved as is today.

I think you are right, a restomod on that car would be the nightmare scenario.
Step back 30 years for an example of where the FF might be in future. An RR Phantom 3, 727 examples made so not quite so rare like an FF but not common, $700K record auction price, an up and running restomod, sells for less than the price of a bare engine and chassis alone, at the same auction venue, a couple of years apart. The integrity of the original chassis and driveline components which are so important on the P3, are surely even more critical on an FF.

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/af20 ... ebb/871731" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/af19 ... ine/803371" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The rolling chassis was put together from parts. Many critical hard to find parts are NOT THERE on the rolling chassis. Just a few more than on the restomod. Makes you wonder if some came from the restomod? The original induction system has been replaced with injection to get the chassis up and running, engine on the chassis is from a different car, so no matching numbers etc.
I was expecting the restomod to sell for quite a bit less actually! I was thinking more 18 to 20K for the restomod.

jvcarrier wrote:I was the underbidder on this, and I would be surprised if the purchaser spends less than £60k on it. The photographs flatter it, all chrome needs doing, badges and door handles are shot.
Metalwork - drivers side front wing had been replaced but n/s had not and had rust spots on the roll of the arch.
Micro blistering on the paint, Floors seemed sound but I budgeted on tubes needing doing, other metalwork crusty in front of rear wheels and under front arches as were quite a few bits of other metalwork.
Dash was nice, small split below onel guage and bubble on n/s edge but overall ok.
Glass was OK.
Great felt on underside of bonnet which looked good.
Doors need rebuilding.
I would have stripped it, done metalwork, rebuilt engine and gearbox, plus all other running gear bar back axle if oil and backlash were ok. Tank needs replacing,
Trim might go again but I would have replaced.

Thus hats off to the purchaser, it is going to be at least a £160k car when finished but should be very nice, just hope it not going to be restomoded.

johnw wrote:

Alternatively I was thinking it would be a great car, as is, for an investor/collector. I do see original FFs hitting the £1m mark in the lifetime of a younger owner. At that point, you might comfortably get £750K for something like this preserved as is today.

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WOW, GBP 1m! If I live long enough for an excellent FF to get to even half that figure, let me know, mine will be available!

ascotts1 wrote: WOW, GBP 1m! If I live long enough for an excellent FF to get to even half that figure, let me know, mine will be available!

I was being cautious. Note I didn't say 1m CHF for example

Nice to see the fire extinguisher is still there. Mine mysteriously disappeared after taking it to a well known restorer.

I like your comparison to the P3 John. I see on that auction advert the RR had been "Upgraded with a GM V-8" - UPgraded from a RR V12 - I don't think so!

Mike