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Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:04 pm
by Brescia2Rome
Hi all.

Interested in a 2.0L or 2.4L project.

Hoping to have my Coupe sold reasonably soon, and on to the next...

Not interested in insane asking prices, the market is soft and flat, I'm not your meal ticket.

Reasonably priced and the more parts included, the easier. Price range determined by the needs of the car.

Can go worldwide, but prefer the USA if possible.

Thanks!!!

PS. Also, a good friend of mine in Las Vegas is hell bent on a Ferrari 246/206 project if anyone knows of one available. Thanks

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2019 12:52 pm
by HugoHarris
This might be an option for you. I have no connection with the seller and the ad may be out of date, they often are on Autoscout

https://www.autoscout24.com/offers/fiat ... aign=share

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2019 11:05 pm
by Philbrun
Hello , Hugo :)

I think it's useless , because , Miste Brescia is looking for something around 20.000 Euros maximum.

He is not very well aware of the market... :D

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 10:50 am
by Argonaut
Hi @all:

still, my experience is, that the price for a number 1 example minus 50-100 K for restoration costs makes the final price. But of course, depending, on how much energy/work you want to put in yourself. A good paint job costs already about 15-20 K (of course you can get a lousy paint job already for 3-5 K, but then... this car is for sure not a 1). This is btw one of the reasons why the market suffers so much... too many offered cars which are poorly restored. -> ask Hugo... and I can also tell you my own stories.

Best Regards

Argonaut

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2019 2:52 pm
by Brescia2Rome
@HugeHarris

Thank you for the link. Not my cup of tea here, honestly from a logistics stand point, but I appreciate the heads up.

@Philbrun

What I am looking for is a realistic person, with a realistic project, and a realistic price. I am very well aware of the market. I am not going to overspend in this current market though. As Argonaut correctly points out, doing a restoration on a Dino is one thing, while doing it well, and correct, is another. Your project at your price would be me upside down just in body prep and paint alone. So, respectfully, no thanks... A good bones car, with correct engine and gearbox, from scratch, is easily a $100K+ restoration, if I'm in a car $175K+, well, things went really bad.



@Argonaut

Precisely. I think you both nail it here, and "get" it. Just the body prep and paint for my Coupe was just shy of $20K, and it's a #2 car. Concours work would've gone north of $30K easily.

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 12:21 am
by dinoverde
average driver cars seem to be selling between 120k and 170k. I have not seen a properly restored nut and bolt car for sale in the past 10 years, so it would be difficult to speculate what such car would bring. At 80k euro that spider is not such a bad deal. However the logistic of moving this car in this present state will not be simple neither cheap. One certainly would have to fly to spain, inventory the parts and crate everything right. Many parts are impossible to find for these cars, so the buyer will have to spend many hours and know what he is looking at before committing to such purchase. 100k will not cover the cost of a nut and bolt restoration.. add an other 50k and that is if you do most of the work. Considering this car is already painted(and assuming the body work was done right..that will not be easy to access if there are no pictures of the car stripped..) you are buying a 50k project needing metal work and paint..I think it will not be easy finding such car in todays market..You have to drive a well restored car to know why they are such fun to drive.In my opinion better than any alfa Giulietta , jaguar xke, alfa gtv's or 2600 and early porsches..(i owned them all) ..and way more comfortable than the ferrari Dino's.. went for a ride recently with an other friend who was driving a 2 liter spider(i was driving my 2.4 liter spider) both number one restored cars..still smiling thinking of it..
H

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:13 am
by Argonaut
What a great summary, dinoverde. It includes all my experiences.

A great address is still 24hundred in the UK; if you are looking at the resoration pictures, you do get a glimpse what it takes to bring the car back to 100%. And then, you can easily spend 5-600 hours only on body work.
The bitter truth is (and not only for Dinos, but for all cars from the 60s and 70s), that almost all of them were welded together to just keep them running. This has a deep impact e.g. for the A-post of a Dino Spider. You can just weld the outer sills and will greatly miss the half a dozen inner metal sheets which are most likely all affected by rust as well.
Then, if you align 10-20 Dino spiders showing all their noses at once you will discover that they all are slightly different. The main reason is, that most did have an accident (smaller or bigger) during their life-time and were repared quite badly. But the second truth is that all spiders were patch-worked and this way, kind of different (but only slightly).
Around the driving experience, I can only agree. They are simply exceptional.

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2019 6:02 pm
by HugoHarris
Hi,

As someone who bought a poorly “restored” 2400 Spider and has since commissioned a nut and bolt restoration at 24 Hundred I can attest to the truth of what Argonaut and Dinoverde have said. My car is 85% finished - it has had a full bare metal resto with much work to sills, floors, doors, A pillars, addressing corrosion and correcting some horrific repairs from the past. Mark Devaney is an uncompromising perfectionist and all his work is as close to factory correct as possible. Speaking of paint jobs, the body received 200 hours of preparation prior to paint. We are now into a full engine rebuild. None of this comes cheap, and there is no correlation between market values and proper restoration costs. My car won’t be for sale, and I fully intend to drive it as Mr Agnelli intended. I will post photos when the car is back on the road and will be happy to share any information about the restoration if others are interested. Hugo

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:02 am
by dinoverde
Hi Hugo
I have eared before that Mark is one of the best in thebusines in England.. You are so lucky to have such an expert locally.. Unfortunately in the us i don't know of any fiat Dino expert.. restoring my car took 5 years.. I managed all of it except for paint body work and machining.. These car are really not that simple to restore and the learning curve was steep..Luckily i started with a very complete car..finding a good 2400 spider in the us is not that easy either..
many hours went into the body work to correct many years of neglect and use..Tim Morgan did the machine work.. He is a real gourou when it comes to Ferrari motors.. Finished in Silver with black leather the car has now 500 miles on the clock and i am proud to say it cost much$ but it si worth it to me..I will be showing it next year and i expect it will do very well..
I will try to post some pictures on this BB..
Hervé

Re: Wanted: Fiat Dino Spider Project

Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:05 pm
by Brescia2Rome
So, to summarize, and again, my intent is to not be rude here, but from the above statements, they just further justify the need to find an "inexpensive" start to a project, OR, an inspected and highly correct partially finished one. Neither of those scenarios make spending 80EU on a "start" sensible, at all.

Frankly, starting at ZERO with that project, getting it to the US, then commissioning a restoration, even with SOME parts done by myself, would push that total restoration well above $175-225K. So mathematically, it makes little sense. If it's a DIY shop who does FANTASTIC, documented work, then MAYBE, and a big maybe, they could not be upside down by the end, but highly unlikely.

The search continues, and thank you to the owners who chimed in with restored cars and realistic backgrounds on what exactly it took to get there. It is not a light undertaking...