Kreal Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Hello all! Let's try something fun. I'd like to know what everyone's thoughts would be if they stumbled upon a car like this. Ever since I was a child I've always had an interest in antiques and things of the past. I don't believe I am normal in the way I view them so I'm asking for your input here so I can better understand myself. http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1492/26806584431d02af9010.jpg When I look at a car like this I look past it's rust, or whether or not the engine is there let alone if it runs. I look past the fact it may have extremely high mileage. I look past it's failure to be road worthy or a reliable driver. I look past it's 'cost to restore' factor, and the eye-sore that probably everyone else thinks it is. I look at it's life. I try to imagine how a car of such uniqueness and glory could end up in it's current state of condition or let alone still be around at all! Taking it from the beginning this is a 1955 Jaguar drophead coupe. This car began it's life journey in England and traveled to our country on a boat. This is a car that cost new then the equivelent of a new $100,000 car today. A car that a certain type of buyer had to chose, he/she chose this car over all of the hundreds of other makes and models there were to offer at the time. This car survived five decades of economical advancements and recessions, natural disasters, vandals and theives, and those who would only see the metal or parts value in this car and destroy it. How many owners has it had? What were the professions of the owners and why did they chose this car? If the car had a mind and mouth, what could it tell us of it's past? Was it a former race car, or was it owned by a Prince? Or was it the most prized posession of a wealthy business man that fell ill and the car was pushed into the brush only to be forgotten about for 50 years? You can't go to your dealer and buy a car like this. This car is history in it's self. Anyone can look at a car like this and call it a rust bucket or a project car - but not too many can look at it and be satisfied with it the way it is or see hope for a future restoration. Perhaps my thinking really is too odd. What is your take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Komeuppance Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 My first thought is, that's probably a car Kreal would buy and love, and call it "my precious" and then hide in his cave... I mean... garage. -Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 scrap metal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrazilBoy Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 I see potential and how it would look when done......I also see history and art.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyWadd Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 well the mice need a home so i see its value there and other than than it coudl be made into a prius or maybe jail doors or track lighting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOOSTED88tsi Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 rinse it off, make it run, strip the interior, and bag it. The end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistapickles Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 I love it, how much do you want to sell it for? Looks like a good six months of straight body work, but worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 my sensibility takes over and I run like a roach with the light on. If I was a master body person or restorer I may think about it , but the want of rarity does not negate the reality that if you are not prepared for a project like that financially and skill wise it would not do the car any justice just to collect it because its rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 fact of life is..................................... you can't save them all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killtodie Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 looks like it might be fun to work on. besides that i hate jaguars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tehzack Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 rinse it off, make it run, strip the interior, and bag it. The end. We think a lot alike sir. Cept its gotta be bagged on some gangster wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tman Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 well i see lots of money (to restore it) but nice when done and just for the record dont bag it i would leave it sit and rust away before doing that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDodson Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 (edited) fact of life is..................................... you can't save them all I agree with Shelby Edited October 28, 2009 by PDodson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redzone Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 i see a movie called "cruel intentions" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigitalWW Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Whatever happened to it during its life, it didn't deserve to end up like that http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1955-Jaguar-XK140-Drop-head-coupe-excellent-condition_W0QQitemZ220495007690QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item335686cfca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 (edited) ^ "Typical douche bag ricer comment!" I think alot of what you say fits that. "Do you think in 15 years anyone will be trying to restore any starquests or give a crap they even existed.They are nothying and were nothing even back when they were new.I know plenty of people that had these new and they all said the same thing they were junk by 45,000mi.a quest could only hope to be in as good a shape " Um yeah taking 1st place almost every year it was run must be nothing. And if a car is junk in 45K other then throw away cars it's the owners fault. And were only making this worse. People now adays don't fix anything, they don't even know you have to change coolent since you can run it for 100K. It's sad really. Edited October 28, 2009 by jszucs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Questo Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Typical douche bag ricer comment! Too bad that thing is worth more in that condition than any starquest will ever be worth no matter how many mods,how low the miles are,how clean and garage kept it is, or how famous it is.People on this site need to learn no matter how much we love our little starquests they ain't worth s@#t compared to a lot of other cars we feel are inferior.There are more people who are passionate about those cars than there will ever be about quests.Do you think in 15 years anyone will be trying to restore any starquests or give a crap they even existed.They are nothying and were nothing even back when they were new.I know plenty of people that had these new and they all said the same thing they were junk by 45,000mi.a quest could only hope to be in as good a shape when it's that old.I like starquests too but that doesn't make everything else junk.if quests were so great don't you think that there would be a big following for them and there would be many performance and restoration parts for them.We all want companies to make us some parts but we are to cheap and douche bag to buy the parts and show up to some car shows and show that people like these cars but everyone is too cheap and lazy to show up.And i have heard people on this site say they have their quests for when they want to go stupid fast but so far i just see the STUPID part and have yet to see the fast part.And dont get me started on reliability we all know that you don't mean a Quest when you talk about reliable.Sorry for the long post but this has been bothering me for a long time.This does not refer to all here just most.I know this will get me banned but i had to finally say it.Geez I guess someones drinking a little early today. Drunk before lunch and running off at the keyboard again. At least you didn't call anybody gay yet. By the way who put their sausage in your dumplings so early this fine day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 scrap metal You can take it in and get your $250 for scrap, but I'd rather sell it as is for thousands. Kreal, you and I think different than the majority of car guys. We're of the collection/restoration mindset, and unless someone's of the same mindset, then thy just won't get it. Most of it has to do with money. Some people can't afford to play the collection game, and even fewer can afford to play the restoration game. the only reason I'm into collecting, is because I have the ability to do full restorations. A quality restoration can be up to $100k, and labor can be as high as 2/3 of that price. Since I can do the labor myself, it would be much more feasible for me to get an old car, drop $20-30k into parts, and sell it for $60-70k, than it would be for me to buy a done car for $60k then sell it in a few years for $75k. The stuff I would collect is kinda all across the board. Of course, if I found a very collectible car by he standards of the collecting hobby, I'd be all over it. Cars like that Jag, Healeys, Dusies, etc... are highly sought after and one would be a fool to let something like that slip by-m especially when they have the means to restore it. Of course, I also would be into collecting cars that I like and am passionate about, even if they won't be much of an investment down the road- like SQ's. Oddly, the history, or provenance of a particualr car really don't mean much to me, unless it's a car I'm passionate about. granted, if I found an old, highly sought after collectable car that was owned by someone famous I would be interested in the story, and it would be cool, but the only importance to me about that history would be the fact it made the car more valuable. Cars I truly "care" about or are passionate about, I do like knowing the history and would be more excited about a cool story in it's past. I do know what you mean about looking at an old car and wondering where it's been and what it's seen. When I worked at the restoration shop I saw some pretty cool stuff that really made you just look the car over and wonder where it's been. We got a 1927 Essex Super Six in not long before I left there. It was still 100% stock- right down to the original seat upholstery, wood spoke wheels, and pull down window shades in the back. Granted, all the upholstery was ripped and trashed, all the paint peeling and it didn't run, but it was 100% original 82 years later. It was a true barn find- stashed away under some tarps in a barn since the late 50's. I spent probably 2 hours going thru that thing wondering where it had been. I saw a lot of other cool cars when I was there, but none more rare and more original. My uncle's Model A (and hopefully mine within the next couple years) is another cool one I was glad to be involved in. He found it in a barn, completely disassembled. It still came with all it's parts, but they all came in boxes. Once we got the shell stripped we realized it was SUPER clean. It's hard to find A's that haven't been hacked up or patched from rust. This one has zero patches, and the metal isn't even thin ANYWHERE from surface rust. The only alteration made to it was an aftermarket firewall that was popular with the hot rodders in the 40's and 50's (the part was only available then too). Even my old boss, whi is probably the most knowledgeable model A guy in south TX said it was BY FAR the cleanest A body he's ever seen. When we got it, it looked worse than that Jag does, now it looks like this.... http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10087/4-30-08_004~0.jpg Then there's the whole argument about restoring to stock or modding. My uncle's A would have been worth more if restored to stock, but he wanted to go more the route of resto-mod. One thing's for sure- with the body of his as nice as it is, I could never chop and channel that car- even though I like that look better. That Jag, because of the rarity should be restored to stock I'd say. Bagging and slamming it wouldn't be the best investment. I always feel that if it's rare, keep it as close to stock as possible, if it's not, then it's resto-mod heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyers151 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 To each his own man. When I look at that old Jag I don't see much, but that's just me and my preferred style of vehicles. Without having to read what you wrote, I can imagine it's probably something oddball and rare based solely on its styling. However, when I look at a mid 60's to early 70's American anything in a similar condition, our minds are one in the same. I can take one look at the biggest heap of American iron trash and see through all of it to where it should be in all its glory. From a cream colored 4 door Satellite to the rarest '70 HemiCuda 'vert, I find everything from that era to be a work of art, just as you do those crazy Euro creations from the 50's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Questo Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 ^ "Typical douche bag ricer comment!" I think alot of what you say fits that. "Do you think in 15 years anyone will be trying to restore any starquests or give a crap they even existed.They are nothying and were nothing even back when they were new.I know plenty of people that had these new and they all said the same thing they were junk by 45,000mi.a quest could only hope to be in as good a shape " Um yeah taking 1st place almost every year it was run must be nothing. And if a car is junk in 45K other then throw away cars it's the owners fault. And were only making this worse. People now adays don't fix anything, they don't even know you have to change coolent since you can run it for 100K. It's sad really. Sorry if this sounds dumb but I don't know much about the history of the starquest. What were these cars run in back in the day and were they really the top cars in their class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyers151 Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Testify brother!looks like you and Burton get it.I personally prefer American Muscle but i would make sure that car got to the right person.What records did starquests set must not have been anything anyone cared about if no one has heard about these races.Did they set records in drag racing ,nascar,or trans am ,NO didn't think so.were they so tough they were used by police agencies,fleet service or even government,again NO.the people i know that had them drove them in a some times spirited manner but did not misuse them and had all regular maintenance done by the trained starquest mechanics at the dealer.the dealer mechanics told them that those were all typical problems for those cars and that they really weren't good enough for daily driving without having some problems.this info came from mechanics at both Chrysler and mitsu dealers.and i'm not that drunk. They won races/championships in Group A road racing and rally racing in the 80's. Google search "group a starion" and you'll come up with a bunch of websites outlining their history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burton Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Well, SQ's did have great success in SCCA, IMSA, and rally car. I think they could even become collectibles one day, although I bet they'll never be anything that becomes a high dollar investment. I suspect Z cars and euro cars of that time will hold better value and more interest. Anyway, I'm interested in collecting cars from about every era and about all countries. My mindset is pretty much the same across the board- restore as close to factory as I can if it's rare, and mod the hell out of it if it's not. I plan to slowly build my collection by doing body/paint, and restorations for others, then later in life get into selling some of my cars and buying others. Eventually, I hope to be able to just restore cars for myself to sell for financial gain. Hopefully by the time I am too old to do the restoration work, I have a nice enough collection to retire on. I like a lot of pre war cars, but I think my favorites start in the 50's with some european cars, then I really get into all 60's and 70's cars, but mostly American from that era. There's not too much from the late 70's and early 80's that I like, but there's a number of late 80's early 90's cars that I see being very collectible down the road that I'll be picking up too before they start to get expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrokenquestTSI Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 I see the Titanic when I look at that car man. and yes, cruel intensions. thats funny. That car reminds me of the words 'run down'. Makes me sad. At least its still here though. And to each his own is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzNutz Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 I see a wet dream. I would spend the 20 years it would take to restore it to near original condition, plus modern conveniences. I would be in heaven cruising that around. Some thing like that would be worth the time and money. Puts cadilacs to shame in its current condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jszucs Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 the people i know that had them drove them in a some times spirited manner but did not misuse them and had all regular maintenance done by the trained starquest mechanics at the dealer.the dealer mechanics told them that those were all typical problems for those cars and that they really weren't good enough for daily driving without having some problems.this info came from mechanics at both Chrysler and mitsu dealers.and i'm not that drunk. Um OK did they live in Japan? Cuz if not they would always send you to mitsu or crysler and noone would ever give you a stright answere. Most dealers didn't even know what the car was let alone have a "trained starquest mechanics" Also all daily driven cars will give you a problem. Granted the maintance timeframe has become longer and longer but I remember when you daily checked oil, water, tires, bat, etc. Heck I have service forms from my grandfathers shop for there fleet vehicals with daily checks on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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