Want to sell my 1976 Scorpion
- Thread starter Iceman
- Start date
kmead
Old enough to know better
Welcome to the forum. There is a great bunch of owners here many of whom are active in keeping or getting their cars going. Lancia may not be on the masthead but there are good folks here willing to assist.
The answer is yes, BAT would be an ideal place to sell it assuming the following:
If the car is in good overall shape; has documentation (which being the same owner for forty years I would assume);
- Able to provide a cogent story about your ownership for BAT with good specification info and do a good job of editing the copy by a BAT Editor who knows nothing about your car or Lancias in general.
- You are willing to take lots of pics (over a hundred is normal of all the parts of the car);
- Shoot a video of a cold start,
- A video of driving the car con brio,
- A video of a drive by;
- And a thick skin with willingness to answer lots of sometimes inane and sometimes asinine questions.
BAT has gone from look at this car you will need to bring home on a trailer to an auction site which can bring surprising money for cars some of which really should not be changing hands for the money they are. For those who have kept their cars up, can show them well and suffer the auction week, you will do well.
The Scorpion has done well there price wise, not as well overall as the X’s have, but fewer people know the Scorpion/Monte Carlo (and there are fewer of them) aside from the usual old saws about reliability, lack of power due to emissions and front brake locking.
If you, like many owners of Scorpions, have deleted the servo and or gone to FI, a 2.0l and or twin DCNFs and the car is well cared for and largely original, you will do very well indeed.
So yes, like all things which have a good payoff, it does require work. The pain will be over quickly, you will have a worldwide audience and the car will sell and sell for a good price on BAT.
The thing I have noticed, the more willing you are to interact during the auction and the better prep you have done of fixing minor picking points on the car the better you will do. If you or someone you know is a good photographer, all the better. If yours is a really good car it would likely be worth paying a photographer to shoot your car to show it in the best possible light. Shots of underneath, if the car is in good shape, will stop many questions aside from the most picayune commenters who may or may not know what they are talking about.
You can look at the prices and read the various auction play by play here: https://bringatrailer.com/lancia/scorpion/
This one sold this week at 26k: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1978-lancia-montecarlo-euro/
Good luck with the sale, you own the other car I really want in my garage, unfortunately the world being what it is right now (I bought my cars when they were cheap cast offs), its unlikely to happen for me.
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NigelProdrive
True Classic
Do BaT for maximum exposure.. Most if not all top Scorpions that have been sold were outside of BaT. Need the better ones sold there to get values up for the nicer examples. Include the California registration emissions clauses upfront so don't have to read all those posts asking.
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Kmead, thank you for your very helpful and extensive answer. My Scorpion is not close to being in the same category of those recently sold cars. I have done minor changes to the car over the years, 2liter, larger Weber carb, electronic ignition, quad exhaust, but it is fairly stock. I have some parts; old block, cams, gaskets, belts, shop manuals etc. but I just don't have the energy to keep working on it. I have not driven it much in the last 10 years, and after just recently replacing the shift bushings, (a real pain), I decided it was just time to sell it, as it still needs other work. I had three X1/9s including my very first new car, before I bought the Scorpion, but being an Italian car it just needs attention. I am currently on vacation, so I can't take any pictures, but when I get home, I will start getting it ready to sell. Thanks again for your help.
kmead
Old enough to know better
Don’t sell yourself short, some of those cars are not nearly as nice as one may think. Yes the ones going for 20+ are nice indeed.
RJ80
True Classic
I think a decent driver with a few needs and some desirable mods like yours should still bring into the teens on BaT, which is probably more than you'd get on Craigslist on even here on the forum.
I completely agree with this. The vast majority have been stock 81-hp cars, very rare to see built-up 1.8s or 2.0s.
NigelProdrive
True Classic
Except the insane K20 swap that BaT has not recorded the $65K as being a Scorpion. And instead recoded the $750 project Beta Coupe as a Scorpion/Montecarlo.
I'll probably end up selling my red 77 Scorpiocarlo restorod here in US prior to moving overseas rather than exporting it. So it may hit BaT eventually.
NigelProdrive
True Classic
Retirement. I'm not happy here. I already moved once (abandoned my home) however wasn't prepared at that time to leave entirely and wanted my kid to be able to finish high school here. Going to country with less issues where I can relax on scenic beaches.
lanciahf
True Classic
I was afraid of that answer, I'm hearing that more and more from people I know. Well at least bring the Lancia with you!
NigelProdrive
True Classic
I am scouting again next month. One of the locations have been to, am eligible for and am considering is Canary Islands. There is little direct shipping between there and N America. Its all comes there through Europe so would have to pay to ship it twice. On visits to Canary Islands have seen classic car events full of beautiful vehicles. Roads there are superb: smooth and so twisty. If I can't find a suitable replacement there would still be cheaper importing directly from Europe than keeping my Scorpion.
kmead
Old enough to know better
We are looking at Italy as my wife is working on claiming her citizenship there.
NigelProdrive
True Classic
My wife has citizenship in Spain, hence Canary Islands are option for us. As is Spain.
I am in Northern Massachusetts.
Hi,
I am on vacation and so I can't take any photos right now. I have included a couple of old photos of the exterior which are fairly representative of the current condition since I have not driven the car in many years. I just retired last year so I just began to start working on it again. As I had indicated in my earlier post, I had just replaced the shift linkage bushings and put the carburetor and linkages back together along with the electronic ignition. As I had said, it still needs work. I was able to start it and pull it out of my garage but it would not shift without shutting the engine off, and then moving it into another gear and then restarting it. So, it has a problem with the throwout bearing or clutch. Then after doing this a few times, when I shut it off, I could not restart it, so I pushed it back in the garage and have not touched it since. It needs a good cleaning in and out, due to its lack of use, along with addressing the mechanical issues. I logged into this Forum to get information about selling it on "Bring A Trailer" because I have no idea of what it is worth.
kmead
Old enough to know better
Looks good. A fine example. Clearly some things to be sorted.
Did the clutch do anything? As in when you started it you pushed in the clutch and then let it out after the car started to move it in reverse?
As we said previously, you will do well to get it fixed and then sell it on BAT, it will be more than worth your while.
Did the clutch do anything? As in when you started it you pushed in the clutch and then let it out after the car started to move it in reverse?
As we said previously, you will do well to get it fixed and then sell it on BAT, it will be more than worth your while.
the c
The clutch works, so I am pretty sure it is the throwout bearing. If you start it in neutral, everything is fine, but when you press in the clutch pedal and attempt to put it in gear, you can't. With the engine off, and when you press in the clutch pedal, the control rod on the transmission housing moves normally. However, when you have the transmission in gear, and the clutch pedal depressed, and then try to start the car, the car leaps forward because the clutch is still engaged, so I am fairly sure that the problem is with the throwout bearing.