What is my Cobra worth? (modded)

[93PONY]

If your offers for 30k are serious, I would seriously consider them.

The last guy that offered $30K was 18 years old. He'd just gotten a very large insurance settlement & wanted the car badly.
I was seriously debating the offer.....till I worked on his Mystic 04 Cobra. I'd worked on the same car when the original owner had it. This kid destroyed the car. I am glad I didn't take his offer. He would have either destroyed the car, or killed himself & destroyed the car. Either way, it's not worth the $$$ to sell the car & hear something like that happening.

There's a few guys around that have low milage VERY good condition 8/9/10 second foxes in their garage. Like me, these guys only take out their cars on rare occuassions, either to a car show, short cruise around town, or to the dragstrip. This is what this car is for. This is the type of owner the car needs. It's not for daily driving, or street racing, or trailor queen drag car. Although the car can do any of the above, it's not what she was built for. It's hard to find the *right* buyer. Those that have the $$$ & have offered it to me, would abuse the car.
So I haven't taken the offers.

Because of this I've been debating on returning her to stock & selling her to a collector.

Condition wise I've not run across any 93 Cobra's that are in better condition. I know they are out there, but I've not run across any.

The original owner put 10K miles on the car in 7 years & kept it totally stock. The 2nd owner had the car for 1.5 years & modded the crap out of the car. (KB setup, then TT, & tons of other mods). The 2nd owner abused the car & used it as a 'clean' street racer Fox. This did the vast majority of the damage to the value of the car. He put 14.5K miles on her in 1.5 years. I bought the car modded & decided since she was already modded I'd turn her into my vision of what I always wanted. (a stock looking/driving fast as hell, show quality 93 Cobra)

So here she sits.... I'm too afraid to go any further modding the car (for fear or losing more value). She's too damn fast, and yet not fast enough! LOL

[SPEEDFREEK]

Here is a similar car.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=991924

doesn't look to be as clean as yours but you get the point. I'd say realistically look to get 18-20k from a real buyer and not some kid with money to blow. In my opinion if it were me . I would buy a coupe and swap over all my parts to it and then put the Cobra back stock and sell it to get some of my money back.

[dragrazor]

Here is a similar car.

http://forums.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?t=991924

In my opinion if it were me . I would buy a coupe and swap over all my parts to it and then put the Cobra back stock and sell it to get some of my money back.

I agree 100% with brandon.

[Mike S.]

There are a lot of forces at work here, and lots of good points made. '93 Cobras are the most marketable in stock form, or with very mild mods that can easily be reversed.

When you build your version of an ultimate dream car, it's a very personal project with lots of custom fabricated items that appeal mainly to you. It's easy to get tunnel vision during the build and after the car is done, pouring heart and soul into it and convincing yourself that your's is the best dream, so how can others not see and appreciate it as you do?

The guy with the Corvette yellow fiberglass '32 three window hiboy with the billet-festooned SBC and the eggplant purple tweed interior with the digital gauges and billet power door lock bezels feel the exact same way, but it's his perfect car and no one elses.

Finding the perfect buyer for that Cobra will be tough, it would have to be a '93 Cobra nut, with lots of disposable income, that wants a really, really fast version of one, with an automatic, and the other mods you have done. Now is not the time to try to sell it in current form, because of the condition of the economy and the dropping dollar. People are pulling back and not spending as much money on toys because they are uncertain about the future. Everything is cyclical, so it won't stay this way forever, but it won't recover in the next year either.

The solution appears fairly obvious, you say you want to build a coupe to go stupid fast and not worry about cutting up a rare car with collector value. I say you should do just that, return this car to as stock as you can possibly make it, don't let the VIN out on the internet until you do, or those ebay trolls will contact you spewing that they "saw pics of that car with a turbo Dart motor and slicks hoisting the left frontrunner six inches, and you must be crazy to ask full price for it now" so keep it under wraps until it's back to stock. A factory '93 opal gray hatch carpet shouldn't be too hard to source from a boneyard GT or LX hatch, and the other stuff is just as easy to find.

Save the drivetrain, find yourself a clean 4cyl LX notch for a grand, and put it all together when you are good and ready to. Tell yourself that there is no pressure, it's all about fun and quality hobby time, the only motivation there should be.

-MJS

[93PONY]

Thank you all for your opinions.

2 things are now clear to me.

1. I am not a rare car collector. I'm just a HP junky that has a *thing* for extremely clean, nice foxbodies.

2. It is most definately not worth selling the car. Even when returned to stock the car will not be worth as much as a car that was never modified. There seems to be a very fine line between *stock* & modified & once that line is crossed, it's hard to not degrade the value of the vehicle.

Therefore..... There's no reason to return the car to stock, since the degredation in the *value* to a collector has occurred long before I bought the car. Moreover, my consience is now clear. I've always worried that the modifications I was doing to the car was worsening the *value* of the vehicle. Well, it's clear that's simply not the case. She's worth relatively the same regaurdless of what mods I do.....simply because she's "modded".

I will continue to enjoy the crap out of the car the way she sits. I'm confident with due time, these type of 93 Cobra's will come into their own....Kinda like how 'resto mods' are going for high $$$'s now vs a few years ago. The car may never be as valuable as a true stock 93 Cobra (one that's NEVER been modified), but......it's a car that can & will be enjoyed by Mustang enthusiests.

[SPEEDFREEK]

You are correct. The car will come into it's own even with the extensive mods. Any way you look at it in years to come it will still be an original cobra wearing original paint and not a restored car modded to period correct mods if you understand what I am trying to say. It will always be a car that was built during that period. And not some car that 30 years from now some one has pulled out of the weeds and restored it and modded it to be period correct. Hold on to it if you can. It will not get any cheaper for sure.

[drkhrse]

damn, i need to read thru this at home, Nice Car!

[BADBOY]

Sweet mother of GOD!!!!

You're practically created my dream car. It looks nearly stock, and clearly runs like a raped ape. I think I'm gonna have to go swing by the gas station for some lottery tickets. If my numbers come up, you're getting a call!

If you win the lottery, would you GIVE me my car back ?

[QkCobra]

Sorry for being off topic, but could you possibly shed some light on the black Cobra in the first picture?

What springs is it lowered on?

I'm loving the chrome/polished wheels and am thinking about getting a set for mine.

Post more pictures if possible.