Why did this 1973 tii sell for $93K?

[Ensign]

Interesting (sort of) article on BaT:

 

https://bringatrailer.com/2017/10/18/why-did-this-bmw-2002tii-sell-for-93k/

Edited October 18, 2017 by Ensign

[abe2002tii]

Because someone  had the money and loved the car and did not care what it was worth. 

Abe

[motormike5]

Cream of the crop, accelerating scarcity, great economy= $93k.

 

 

[OriginalOwner]

+1 abe.

 

I like this statement in the article,  "..... consistent VIN documentation indicating that the body panels, steering column, and engine were all factory original."

 

Steering column ??  How in the heck can something like that be VIN-verified/consistent ??

 

Anyway, my '74tii is all of that and then some ..... I'm convinced I've got factory dirt on my original-from-the-factory rims.  And what could be more charming, saleable, high dollar, and VIN-consistent than that ??!!??

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

Edited October 19, 2017 by OriginalOwner

[HBChris]

They mean steering column cover.

[adawil2002]

Simple bidding war 3, guys wanted it.

 

When I first saw the car in Pacific Grove before Legends, my first impression was "Wow, that's amazing!." Then it won Best 2002 in the 2002 Class. Also helped that the seller was very active and answering questions.

[02Les]

I was the two sets of licence plate lights & the '74 orange parts decal that did it. Concours judge indeed.

[TobyB]

Because that's probably about how much it would cost to build one that nice?

 

t

 

[COOP]

3 hours ago, abe2002tii said:

Because someone  had the money and loved the car and did not care what it was worth. 

Abe

 

Because at any given moment, what something rare and beautiful (market supply) is “worth” (market value) is determined precisely by how much one financially qualified buyer loves it and wants to possess it (market demand).

[Brandon]

A fool is born every minute....for that money it should at least be one of the 1672 factory turbos.

[fastricky]

I'm with Brandon, beautiful car, but that is crazy f'ing money.

[72pdx02]

That is a very nice car. The only car I can think of nicer would be the inka mobile tradition Tii build. According to Motor Trend that car cost 150,000 in parts and labor to build. I regret and would like to apologize for making the comment when the BaT car sold that it was “crazy money” and other things. Congratulations to the seller and the new owner. I hope it brings years of enjoyment.

[Preyupy]

If you bought a good sound 72-73 Tii, wanted a PERFECT one and decided to have it restored to this level you would be in it more than $93k and have to wait 2 years to get it done. The new owner got exactly what they wanted with no cost over-runs and/or delays. This was also about 2/3 of what a TURBO in this condition is worth.  There were at least 2 people that thought it was worth over $90k and that is all it takes. People that own Tii’s are happy, People that WANT to own a Tii, not so much.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Preyupy

[dbmw2002]

Originality brought lotto dollars on this one. Save your money on high dollar mods go OEM. Did the seller get asked about the license plate lights. Maybe that goosed the rarity factor. ?

[COOP]

I sold my Baikal (originally Sahara)/Saddle ‘72 tii (sunroof car with 54K documented miles and reams of records going back to 1972) at Concours on the Avenue in Carmel this past August (an hour after it had won Best in Class) for a price that makes this result look positively tame. I had no plans of selling it and had never even mentioned to a single soul that I’d entertain a sale...but the price was an opportunity that I would have been stupid to pass on. Yes, I still miss her.

 

I never saw this BaT car in person but it looked like a gorgeous car. My friend and OCD body-man, Roger Elle, who knew my tii intimately, saw this car at Legends and texted me “it’s a pretty straight car but not even in the same class as yours.” When I pressed him for further details, he said “the paint looks dead compared to your car, the interior isn’t nearly as nice, there’s no sunroof and it doesn’t have even close the provenance of your car.” That’s Roger, it sure looked sweet to me!

 

Respectfully, I think that there are a few things that the “A-Fool-Is-Born-Every-Minute” contingent is missing. 

 

First, I think that some people are not grasping the enormous scale of wealth that we’re talking about with buyers who pay the top dollar prices. For the most part, they are not you and I, dear fellow FAQers. They are people to whom another $100K or so means NOTHING if they really want something badly enough. The European gentleman who bought my car recently spent a million dollars on the restoration of a 1953 Italian exotic, including nearly $100K to recreate a missing transmission (case, gears, synchros, everything). His attitude was that he might never encounter a tii as nice as mine and he wasn’t getting on a plane home without having secured it. By the way, he was/is no fool. He is a self-made success story worth hundreds of millions who builds global companies, not to mention an MBA who speaks 5 languages. He was 100% aware of the past precedents and “market value” (whatever that means) for tiis...and couldn’t care less, as long as my car was relocated ASAP from my garage in Oakland to his in Belgium.

 

Another crucial consideration here is simple demographics. In general, the people paying the really big prices for these cars (and other cars of the late 60’s/early 70’s) were in college or grad school and broke when they were new. They lusted after these cars in their youth but couldn’t afford to buy them, not even close. Now, 40-50 years later, they’re hugely wealthy and can purchase whatever they want, in this case not only a car but an object that brings them instantly back to a nostalgic, romantic, magical reference point in their lives. That feeling is really what they’re paying for: They can’t be 20 again, but a showroom-time-warp tii can make them feel 20...and how do you put a price on that?!

 

By the way, an interesting point about the factory, 2002 Turbo. Yes, they’re rare and cool...but some people don’t covet them nearly as much as they do a nice tii. First, they’re nowhere near as sweet of a pure, “driver’s car” and few people disagree about that. Second, their style is quite polarizing, with some finding them “period-awesome” while others view their riveted flares and loud graphics to be too flashy.

 

COOP

 

PS: A couple shots of my car below, the day that it sold. Sigh...