Guessing this is the Wheeler Dealers X

Meh. Paint defects that are obvious. Seat covers? Totally wrong size tires? Totally wrong rims? Not impressed with the “show car”

Nice car but all in all not much of a clean up.
 
Meh. Paint defects that are obvious. Seat covers? Totally wrong size tires? Totally wrong rims? Not impressed with the “show car”

Nice car but all in all not much of a clean up.
The seats looks great. The seat cover were to protect them. But they should have removed them for ALL the pics. I tought the same but one of the last picture show them without and they are nice.
 
I don't know enough about the small bumpers to tell if the ones on this car are simply original '74-only American bumpers or if these are European bumpers. Maybe because they are small, and/or maybe because they are chromed a la Lido editions), the ad writer (presumably Mike Brewer) assumed they were Euro bumpers.

The use of "T-Top" vs the correct term "targa top" again could be due to the ad writer not knowing that in the USA, these are not interchangeable terms.

At this date, this episode has yet to be aired, it will likely be in the second batch of eight.
 
Pretty sure the bumpers were never 'euro' factory fitment - I thought they were a federal mod and looked quite good compared to the later effort :eek:

What's with the timing belt cover - looks like someone has stolen a camshaft?
 
Not worth the $9k ask.

I think it probably is, in CA. 74's are desirable because they are not subject to as stringent of inspections, with regards to emissions. CA prices are not TX prices.

I thought it was a pretty good looking car. At first I was horrified by the seat covers, but that's all they are, there are nice seats underneath. The rest of the car, with the exception of that funky bar between the rear bumper overriders, presents fairly well. The chrome bumpers need to be blacked out, that's an easy fix.
 
Pretty sure the bumpers were never 'euro' factory fitment - I thought they were a federal mod and looked quite good compared to the later effort :eek:

What's with the timing belt cover - looks like someone has stolen a camshaft?
Certain years of US-spec cars had an AIR pump driven by the timing belt. My understanding of carby cars from '75-on is that those all had an AIR pump placed to the rear of the cam cog and thus had a sort of "twin-cam-esque" yellow timing belt cover.

This one is a '74 and while it does have an extension to the yellow timing cover, it does not look big enough to house an AIR pump, so maybe there is something else in that extension that applies only to '74 USA cars or maybe even more narrowly to '74 California cars.

Hopefully someone who knows for sure will chime in with an accurate explanation.
 
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Meh. Paint defects that are obvious. Seat covers? Totally wrong size tires? Totally wrong rims? Not impressed with the “show car”

Nice car but all in all not much of a clean up.
I think the Wheeler Dealers approach to this car is going to be as they approached the '67/'68 124 Sport Spider they did last season---largely original, unmolested cars addressed with an emphasis on maintaining the mechanicals while preserving sheet metal and paint.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the car was acquired by WD with the wheels it is wearing in the pix, even though they are not correct. IIRC weren't plain steelies w/o a beauty ring stock? No excuse for the tires though, if memory serves the '74s would have come with 145/80R-13, and the internet says these are are available.
 
So I said not worth the $9K , TVMASTER asked what I thought the cost should be, and Pete W. said it probably is worth $9K since it's in CA. For whatever they are worth to the conversation, here are my thoughts.

I made the mistake of not seeing the good seats underneath the covers. That is something I missed. Of course, I'm no expert, and this is arm chair "Wayne Carini-ing."

If the seats were bad, I would have thought the car was worth about $7500. Good seats add $800 to $1000. So $8500 vs $9000, I would not argue that on value. I base that on my routine surveys on SearchTempest. If you have not tried SearchTempest before, you should give it a try. It looks at all the CLs across the country, plus ebay and cars.com. Not that many '74s but over the past year, I saw 2 in about the same shape as the WD car with bad seats and they were $7500. One was a green car in Las Vegas, the other a yellow car in PA that had the 15 inch Vick's wheels. Both were on CL for many weeks.

Pete's point is good. The '74 would be smog exempt and that has real value in CA.

Maybe the better way to think of the price is asking "would I be upside down value wise in the car for $9K?" I think the answer to that is no. If you spent the $9K and did the carpet, paint and other items, could you get you money out of it.

So if anyone is considering buying the WD car, I would say go ahead. It's more money than I would want to pay, but in no way would you be getting ripped off.

BTW, there is a really pretty blue '81 dressed as a '74 for $8900 in Goochland VA.
in case someone is looking.
 
No visors or inside rearview mirror? The outside mirrors don't look right, either.
 
What makes everyone think WD is selling this car just because it's in front of their shop? I'd like to think they would not just put their cars on craigslist.
 
So I said not worth the $9K , TVMASTER asked what I thought the cost should be, and Pete W. said it probably is worth $9K since it's in CA. For whatever they are worth to the conversation, here are my thoughts.

I made the mistake of not seeing the good seats underneath the covers. That is something I missed. Of course, I'm no expert, and this is arm chair "Wayne Carini-ing."

If the seats were bad, I would have thought the car was worth about $7500. Good seats add $800 to $1000. So $8500 vs $9000, I would not argue that on value. I base that on my routine surveys on SearchTempest. If you have not tried SearchTempest before, you should give it a try. It looks at all the CLs across the country, plus ebay and cars.com. Not that many '74s but over the past year, I saw 2 in about the same shape as the WD car with bad seats and they were $7500. One was a green car in Las Vegas, the other a yellow car in PA that had the 15 inch Vick's wheels. Both were on CL for many weeks.

Pete's point is good. The '74 would be smog exempt and that has real value in CA.

Maybe the better way to think of the price is asking "would I be upside down value wise in the car for $9K?" I think the answer to that is no. If you spent the $9K and did the carpet, paint and other items, could you get you money out of it.

So if anyone is considering buying the WD car, I would say go ahead. It's more money than I would want to pay, but in no way would you be getting ripped off.

BTW, there is a really pretty blue '81 dressed as a '74 for $8900 in Goochland VA.
in case someone is looking.
This is what I don't understand about older, classic cars: if you do the carpets, paint, etc., doesn't that ruin the resale value? I know it seems odd to think that way, because a nice looking car would theoretically be more appealing. But....
 
The way the ad reads certainly sounds like some sort of dealer wrote it, complete with errors and disclaimer clauses. 😋
 
No visors or inside rearview mirror? The outside mirrors don't look right, either.

The more I think about this the more I think that the car is being marketed by an inexperienced member of the WD production staff vs Mr. Brewer himself.

1. The pics themselves are of sub-par composition and some are out of focus.
2. There are only 12 pix when Craigs gives you 24.
3. Ad copy writer does not know that T-Top is not targa top.
4. Never take a pic of an interior with seat covers on VERY nice looking original seats.
5. Confused one-year-only American small bumpers with Euro bumpers.
6. Took pics of car with the visors and rear view mirror missing--they were removed to aid in the video production process and never put back.
7. Car has received a cursory cleaning and not a full detail, case in point all the dust in the seat stitching and corners of the dash.

Or possibly the car was already sold by the WD production company some time ago and is now being flipped by that buyer and they are using pix taken at the WD filming side without permission.
 
So I said not worth the $9K , TVMASTER asked what I thought the cost should be, and Pete W. said it probably is worth $9K since it's in CA. For whatever they are worth to the conversation, here are my thoughts.

I made the mistake of not seeing the good seats underneath the covers. That is something I missed. Of course, I'm no expert, and this is arm chair "Wayne Carini-ing."

If the seats were bad, I would have thought the car was worth about $7500. Good seats add $800 to $1000. So $8500 vs $9000, I would not argue that on value. I base that on my routine surveys on SearchTempest. If you have not tried SearchTempest before, you should give it a try. It looks at all the CLs across the country, plus ebay and cars.com. Not that many '74s but over the past year, I saw 2 in about the same shape as the WD car with bad seats and they were $7500. One was a green car in Las Vegas, the other a yellow car in PA that had the 15 inch Vick's wheels. Both were on CL for many weeks.

Pete's point is good. The '74 would be smog exempt and that has real value in CA.

Maybe the better way to think of the price is asking "would I be upside down value wise in the car for $9K?" I think the answer to that is no. If you spent the $9K and did the carpet, paint and other items, could you get you money out of it.

So if anyone is considering buying the WD car, I would say go ahead. It's more money than I would want to pay, but in no way would you be getting ripped off.

BTW, there is a really pretty blue '81 dressed as a '74 for $8900 in Goochland VA.
in case someone is looking.
Wow THAT is fantastic. Absolutely love it.
 
Might not be such a bad deal. I think the seller gave good advice - inspect the car first! Overall it appears (in the pictures) to be in pretty good shape. Rust free? Mostly original paint? If so the car looks like it was well cared for. The dash has a couple of issues, and the carpet is faded orange, both pretty typical of a '74. I wonder what the windshield frame looks like now? It has a couple of "day two" mods such as the muffler - ANSA header too? And Baby Turbo mirrors. It's also missing the ashtray. I can't imagine why they wouldn't have put better wheels on it. Yuk. The price is an asking price, just a starting point for negotiations.
If it was a Wheeler Dealer car, they didn't do it up right. Most of the time they upgrade the wheels. Maybe they acquired the car but didn't do a show on it? Wonder how (or IF) they market the cars from the show. It is a TV show after all, who says the "buyers" are real buyers?
 
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