[DeTomaso] California driver Pantera for sale--full review

Dick Koch arkoch at earthlink.net
Mon Feb 11 10:26:30 EST 2008


Doug, don't be too hard on your self.  A selling transaction pretty much 
evens out in the end when you add the pluses and minuses of the 
perceived value of the item from the buyer and sellers standpoint.  I 
bet your guy from Sweden thinks he got a fantastic deal, while you 
obviously didn't get what you thought it was worth. 

Marketing 101 would tell you that all the factors in a selling 
transaction for a given item have to come together - timing, location, 
price, scarcity, quality, visibility, perception, uniqueness, and 
patience to name a few  - to "make" a sale at a given price.  In your 
case since you didn't get what you "wanted" for your car, one would 
assume that the price you got for your car was dictated by the negative 
impact of one or more of those factors.

As far as the value of the Pantera in the marketplace, recent 
transactions in this southern area of perceived poverty have been pretty 
robust.  A case in point about a seller that was patient and persistent, 
was a Pantera owner that sold his car for $51,000.  Nice car but nothing 
to brag about. The seller was patient. kept the car in front of people, 
and obviously did a good job of  convincing the buyer that he was 
getting a good buy at that price.

Maybe the buyer who saw it sitting beside Pentaleri's Pantera, my 
Pantera, and other pretty unique Panteras at the Italiian Car Day this 
past fall realized that at $51,000 he was getting a great deal.  And, 
this was a US buyer that didn't have the exchange rate going in his 
favor.  Go figure?!.

Doug, take care up there in the frozen north land.  While I know of 
quite a few folks that like the "frozen" environment of the North, I am 
not one of them.  After spending two years in Rochester, I can tell you 
I don't miss the salt, sand, short summers, minus 100 degree chill 
factor mornings in the winter, or having to pack a survival kit any time 
I ventured out in a cold, dark, wintry day hoping I would make it back 
alive if my car died,  One might call me a pansy for not wanting to 
endure that type of hardship, but they can't call me a masochist.

The one thing I do miss about living in Minnesota is the great 
friendships one makes by holing up in one of the local bars in the 
winter with the rest of the folks trying to figure out, "Why the hell am 
I still here?".  I also enjoyed watching the traveling salesman 
"plugging in" their cars to the convenient receptacles the hotels 
provided for them so they could keep there engine oil from turning to 
sludge.  I have got to admit, though, that seeing the cell caps of 
batteries pop off, like the milk bottle tops of my youth, was a the most 
laughable sight. Just goes to prove you can always find something to 
smile or laugh about in life no matter how bad it gets.

You know, now that I have said that all that, I can understand why 
someone living in that type of environment would be somewhat cynical 
about what life has to offer.

Dick Koch - Atlanta


 




Douglas Kelm wrote:
> Well, you're certainly right about MN being the middle of nowhere when it comes to peddling high end cars. AND I also was admittedly lacking in marketing skills! Still, I would hope that most people reading this forum, the PI bulletin board and Chuck's Provamo website would gladly spend the air fare to save $10,000. After all, the actual buyer flew over here from Sweden, spent three days with me and then had the car shipped to Sweden at considerable expense. Why was he willing to expend all those dollars (kroners) when others wouldn't? If California buyers are willing to shell out serious money for cars that can be had for much less in other parts of the country with a little leg work, then I guess it truly is the land of fruits and nuts :<D  As for PI Motorsports, I have always felt their cars were 25-33% overpriced. I guess I'm just a cheap bastard!
>
> Doug
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: MikeLDrew at aol.com 
>   To: dakelm at qwest.net ; detomaso at realbig.com 
>   Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 12:25 AM
>   Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] California driver Pantera for sale--full review
>
>
>
>   In a message dated 2/10/08 22 10 4, dakelm at qwest.net writes:
>
>
>
>     Excellent write up Mike, except for one, very important thing: I think your
>     price estimate is WILDLY optimistic. My car, with which you are intimately
>     familiar, recently sold for SIGNIFICANTLY less than the $45K I was asking
>
>
>   It shouldn't have.  If you sold it for a penny less than $45K, you gave it away.  That doesn't mean that's what it was worth, but rather, you weren't able to sell it properly.  Part of the problem is the fact that you live in Minnesota.  Out here in California people pay good money for these things.
>
>   Several Panteras that were no better than drivers, with paint needs, mechanical woes etc. have sold for over $40K in the Bay Area in the last year; cars as nice as yours easily fetch north of $50K.  
>
>   By way of comparison, a Pantera that was just a rolling shell, in primer, fully dismantled except for the suspension, with a noticeable dent on one front fender, and missing its original wheels, sold for $25K in Nevada a few months ago, and the buyer felt he was getting a bargain.
>
>   Now imagine that same car, fully assembled and functional, with a strong motor and brand new cooling system.  It's easily worth $10K more than that.
>
>   Had you shlepped your Pantera out to California, PI Motorsports would probably have put a $60K price tag on it and sold it for $55K.  Even as some people believe the economy is crumbling, Pantera values (particularly for quality cars) continue to rise.
>
>   Mike
>
>
>
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