1958 panel delivery

[spanglishkings]

Hello all. I recently inherited the afore mentioned car w/ about 3,000 miles on it since a major restoration. Any suggestion as to what it's worth in U.S. dollars?
Thanks, Brian
Napa, CA

[bmcecosse]

Welcome to the forum - let's see lots of pictures! Condition is everything.......

[robedney]

Yes, pictures are everything. I'm in California as well. Your best bet would likely be to put it on EBay. Include as much information as you can, including lots of photos -- including the interior, under the hood, etc. The MM panel truck is relatively rare over here, and if the restoration is a good one you should be able to fetch a decent price. There is no "blue-book" for a car like this, but you might get anywhere from $1000 to something over $5000 -- very much depending on the quality of the restoration. You might try an EBay listing with a reserve of $3000 or so and see what happens. Here's a tip: Go to EBay, click on EBay Motors, select "cars & trucks", then search for Morris Minor -- that will show you what's currently offered. Now click on "advanced search", put Morris Minor in "Key Words" (because it's not listed in the make & model drop down boxes) and click the box for showing sold items (completed auctions) only. That will tell you what things actually sold for. You'll have to create yourself an EBay username and password to do that.

Who did the restoration? A big plus would be if this was a California car from day one -- that almost insures a minimum of rust, which is the costliest part of any full restoration. See what you can find out about the history of the car (there are websites that can help).

The other pertinent question has to do with any modifications. Does it have the original engine? If not, has it been upgraded, and to what? Find as much info as you can and put that in your listing. Highlight all the good stuff, but don't fail to disclose anything negative. Now sit back and let the market determine the price. You might be pleasantly surprised. Read all the pertinent information about how to safely sell a car on EBay. Don't shun people from out of state, however, because there are nuts out there (like most of us on this forum) that would pay the delivery bill for a car like this. I once sold a Jensen Healey to a fellow from Colorado. It was a very smooth transaction.

[spanglishkings]

Thanks for all the advice. I know it has an upgraded motor (1295), but other than that I believe it to be stock. I'll post pictures when I get back in front of my home computer tomorrow evening. More to come - thanks again!

[spanglishkings]

OK back at home and here is the info I have:
1275 cc fresh engine
dual carbs
disc front brakes
fresh paint and upholstery
3.90:1 rear axle

Here are some pictures of it. Again, I am trying to arrive at a value for the vehicle. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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[spanglishkings]

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[spanglishkings]

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[SGTBILKO]

Looks a lovely vehicle, nice colour too!

[GPO_Van]

Very nice, shame the steering wheel is on the wrong side
Happy new year to you all
Reg

[robedney]

Speaking technically, the value of the car is the highest price that a ready, willing and able buyer will pay. It's a special car, and configured as it is (with the engine upgrade and disk brakes) it is a perfectly able daily driver. Some of these vans can be seen parked in front of upscale bed and breakfast inns with the logo tastefully on the side. Others serve as company vehicles for advertising purposes. Are you trying to establish value to sell it, or for some other purpose? If you're trying to sell it, an EBay auction is probably your best bet. If you're not in a hurry, I'd wait for people to recover from the holidays before listing it. If you want to establish value for some other reason (such as estate valuation) you need a reasonable estimate of value from an expert. Google "classic car appraisal" and you'll find plenty of folks. Generally, such estimates are based on comparable sales. If you want a value for insurance purposes, you're really interest in replacement value, which is what it would cost to replace the car if it were totally wrecked or stolen. A quick perusal of closed auctions on EBay would suggest a value of between $3,500 and $5,000 -- but I'm not an expert. In order to get $5000 you have to find just the right buyer willing to pay that. You will see asking prices as high as $10,000, but asking prices are totally irrelevant. And, appraised values are also irrelevant when it comes to actually selling a car. So, the real answer to your question is that the value is the best price you can get for it -- which is another way of saying the highest price the market will bare.

[les]

Those rear door panels have given me ideas! 2013 is an anniversary of these vans so maybe getting close to a good time to sell!

[spanglishkings]

I'm going to sell it but wanted to get an idea where to start first. I agree about ebay - and I have been selling a lot of items there lately. You're right in that the beauty of ebay is that the market sets the price. But in this case I have a friend who might be interested and I wanted to get an idea what to tell him regards price.
Thanks for all your help. I'm surprised that these things sell so cheap. They really are a fun car to drive around..... though not as much for a 6'2" guy like me. I did have to drive it on the freeway to get it to my home and that was an experience. It does all right till about 56-58 mph. Starts to shimmy, etc.