Seeking some advice for selling a 1964 Fairlane drag car.

[cleandan]

This is a somewhat standard story....even if it is sad.
Fellow car guy dies and now some of us are trying to help the wife sell the toys.

I've bought and sold various collector cars over the years, but I have never tried to evaluate and sell a pure drag car....making my intimate knowledge of what is really important to advertise a bit weak....I have a pretty good idea...but I don't know exactly.

Without going into specific details...that will come later.
This is basically a 1964 Thunderbolt style drag car.
460 Lima motor based engine (all custom and aftermarket items $$$$$ making a 600+ci, 1,000+HP engine)
Custom drag only powerglide based transmission.
7.50 second spec roll cage.
4 link rear end with custom items...it is a very nice car that was never made for any specific class, just a fast, fun car engineered and built well with quality parts.
The car has run in the mid 8 second range.

I know a lot about evaluating vintage cars, but what should I really pay attention too when making up the sales pitch for this dedicated drag car?

Thanks for any and all help so far....there will be more to follow.

[jayb]

Any actual performance or race data will help.  ET slips, dyno data, vehicle weight, youtube videos of the car launching and going down the track, etc.  If it is a turn key race car all these things will help convince skeptical buyers that it is the real deal.

[thatdarncat]

For a cage like that any potential buyer will want to know if it has a current NHRA certification, and how long it’s still good for. There would be a chassis certification sticker on the cage. If the certification has expired, how long ago? Cage certification rules can change, if it’s been out of date for a while it may need additional work for someone to bring into current spec for example. Who did the cage? Who did the chassis work? If it was a well known shop that is good information to help sell, and they may have records to help document the work done.

For a race car with that ET potential there will be a lot of components that have/and/or require SFI specs, some of which will have to be within date. Some components might be out of date or need recertification every 2-5 years, so things can be out of date in a short time if it’s been a while since built or last used. The more of that you can document the better. It can be tough for someone not familiar with the various NHRA rules to know what to look for, maybe you can get local racers to give it a look over? Not every potential buyer will care about SFI requirements, but many will, and that can be the difference between a higher selling price, or a garage sale.

Just like any sale of a specialty vehicle like this, it will just depend on how much work someone wants to put into getting it ready to sell, and a person has to decide if it’s worth investing any additional $ into preparing for that, possibly paying an expert to go over it, or just sell as-is, and know you might be leaving something on the table.

[cleandan]

Thank you for the info so far, it helps me focus on what needs to be done.
The car was built as a fun toy instead of any kind of class racer or career in drag racing....but it was built properly and with sufficient funding to do things right.

The passed owner succumbed to mental illness and prior to his passing he saw the writing on the wall so he had a good friend pull the engine and pickle it for long term storage.

I am contemplating (sugestion to the wife) installing the engine and re-certification of all aspects of the car.
It was put away in certified, running order with no issues, and it was put away as good as one could hope and stored in a garage mahal where it currently resides.
With the way it sits, and was stored, I can see new harnesses and tires, otherwise the rest should pass tech without issue.

There is also a 35' enclosed trailer, but I'm not sure that has not already been claimed.

Thanks again guys, it all helps me better inform the real decision makers.

It's a very nice car, and I would like to see them get a fair price for the package.

[shady]

fwiw... Randy Spohn's 8 second 65 Falcon was for sale for $82,500. Don't know if it ever sold, but last I saw it was at the FERR.

[hwoods]

Kurt Neighbor listed his SS/B Thunderbolt about one year ago for $60,000.00.  don't know what it sold at

[hwoods]

also a pretty nice tunnel port Thunderbolt sold on Bring a Trailer several months ago for $33,000.00  could not believe it sold that cheap

[e philpott]

if it was certified when it was put away then it will/should be good enough for a potential buyer, much better than a car that was never certified to begin with where this car it least had one certification and re certifying should be a cake walk after new seat belts and such

[hbstang]

i would consider selling engine/trans seperate from car,as a roller.it can be a lot of work to install the engine and get it running right for a buyer to be in on a turn key car.engine ,maybe 20k-25 depending on parts,trans mabe 4500,car maybe 20-35k as a roller.that all depends on how well the car was built and body/paint condition.
just my 20c without much info.