Olds W30

[juliosz]

A friend of mine sent me some pictures of a 71 w30 ragtop that was just pulled from the barn of the original owner. Needs complete resto but everything is there, numbers match and resonably solid. I'm being told there were only 32 W30 ragtops made that year, any ideas as to the value of this car when it's done? Here's a pic of the shipper:

[mockingbird812]

Check with Colin. He has one currently (M22 too) and shld be able to give you a market sense. What is the color?

Nice car!


BTW, if you talk to Colin, tell him I'll give him $42K for his white one - $43K if he throws in the cute mutt I always see cruisin around town in it!

[Canuck]

I have two of these cars and have a database on 75 of the 110 W30 convertibles built for 1971. There were 32 4 speed and 78 automatics. There is some info on your shipping order that does not look right.

Paul

[StealthBird]

Color is printed at the bottom of the shipping order (Viking Blue/White). Be careful of resto costs, and think it through in this economy. Resto costs today can top $100K for a top notch resto, done properly, and the prices on fully restored cars keep coming down.

A perfect (ex-Thornton) 70 W-30 ragtop 4-speed just went through BJ at around $170K, and it was considered one of the best in the country, it was resale red with white stripes, and the 70 W-30 4-speed ragtop is the Holy Grail of Oldsmobiles. I would have expected $250K for this car back in 2007.

A clone 71 4-speed W-30 ragtop (Black/White stripes, and very nice) also went through Barrett-Jackson (Florida). The owner had turned down $150K in 2006, then it was listed on E-Bay a few months ago, stalled at $105K, and it just sold at BJ for $84K, so the prices have tumbled.

Paul, just curious, what doesn't appear correct on the shipping order?

[csx289]

Sam, wait until Cana sees your post. She's been called a lot of things, but mutt? Dude, that's harsh

Seriously, however, Stealth- this is secondhand info but I was interested in the Thornton W30 stick car at B-J and was told the paperwork was "iffy" I didn't get much detail, nor did I personally inspect it, but as we know docs are crucial with these cars. If the car was legit, it was a steal. I have inspected a few Thornton restored cars, they are very nice but imho the ones I have seen at auction have been not 100% OE level. Very few people get these things dead on with all original parts, etc. They are time consuming and costly to do right. $100k is low for a proper resto. Trust me, I know

Re the clone car- IMHO, absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the prices of real cars. Clones and tributes have been falling like a lead balloon while real cars are certainly down but hardly crashing like the clones.

Regardless of price/value/cost, any 70/71 W 30 ragtop is a damn cool car! I've owned one of my two since 1988. Paid a world record $2500 for it

Just my random thoughts. Sam, grow eyes in the back of your head and be on the lookout for a 5'8" blonde coming at you

Colin

[StealthBird]

Colin, definately ain't gonna argue with you on this topic, I'm a bystander, you da man. Just a few points though...

Recently sold at RM (I know you know this car, he was trying to sell it for a few years) was a 70 W-30 ragtop 4-speed, Twilight Blue, needed chassis detailing, and it didn't have the all-important "W-30" on the broadcast sheet, yet it still pulled $175K.

So that being said, I would think that the ex-Thorton car at B-J, being a true W-30 4-speed ragtop, shown in stunning race-me red with white stripes, with solid documentation, original window sticker, original photos from 1970, and a top notch, no expense spared restoration, would have fetched more than $175K?

[juliosz]

Stealth, I asked Paul the same question regarding the shipper through PM and have heard nothing at this point. I even followed up and sent him a picture of the build sheet. Thanks for all of the help guys. We're just trying to get a handle on initial cost vs finished cost and where we'll be when the dust settles.

[Canuck]

Juliosz-- I sent you a PM

I agree with what Colin has said about Thorton cars. he does great work but there are details that are missing, could be stuff that is left to the customer. As far as the cars just sold at BJ, I think the red one came from www.mission442.com. Check the before photos. The black one is a fake and I have correspondence from the fellow who cloned it 8 years ago. Its a real 442 4 peed car, thats all.

Stealthbird, the ragtop you refer to was sold at Russo in January not RM

Paul

[rubbinisracing]

Am I missing something...the vin# on the shipper is either missing or is in 4 pt. type and printed accross the line below the space allowed. What's the deal with that?

[StealthBird]

Paul, sorry, I thought it was RM that the Twilight car was sold at. My fault.

I'm familiar with the black car. There's actually more to that story that's occurred in the past few years.

So is there any suspicion about the red/white W-30 being legit? With the original window sticker, build sheet, original 1970 photos? I know these cars are nearly impossible to document, but it seems strange to me (or W-30 prices have tumbled dramatically in the past 6 months) that a fake W-30 (Twilight Blue) would sell for the same as a real W-30 (Red/White). Even if the Red/White one has the slightest shadow of doubt as to its pedigree, it appeared to be a higher quality restoration than the blue car, and the blue car was an obvious fraud.

I find it amazing that these Olds guys can pay $175K for a car, and there's still a shadow of doubt as to the cars authenticity! You know, for $175K, I think I'd buy a 69/70 RAIV Judge ragtop or Trans Am, with rock solid PHS documentation.

BTW, this Thorton restored W-30 hardtop just appeared on E-Bay. The W-30's sure are beautiful cars!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Oldsmobil...sspagenameZWDVW