BARRETT-JACKSON DAY ONE LOT 15.1 1971 VOLVO P1800
Our buyer came to Barrett-Jackson with an attitude that he wouldn’t overlook something sporty, so on day one he also focused on this 1971 Volvo P1800.
They’re not exactly Corvette caliber in terms of resale value, but we get by this by engaging the “our buyer is drunk” clause.
And he’s not a run of the mill car guy.
He focused on this car because it was just like the white P1800 the Saint drove back in 60s TV netherworld. Because of this, he’s willing to skip the resale factor-including the fact that this car looks suspiciously like a car that sold at a B-Jackson auction last year.
Based on that selling price from last year, our guy bids this way:
SOBER BID-$8000.00
DRUNK BID– $25,000
ACTUAL SALE PRICE-$7700
The sober bid makes sense-the car went for under 10 K at the last sale and clearly the current owner wasn’t a huge Saint fan. Our sober buyer knows that and more-these cars had some fairly quirky electrical issues and this one has the 2 speed electric overdrive. A breeding ground for electrical puzzles.
The “drunk” bid opens up some major debate at home for this guy.
Caught up in a hazy wave of nostalgia, fueled by 10 tequila shots and a sudden wave of regret for trading his Corgi Toy version of the Saint’s white P1800, our boy drives the bidding up to 25K.
Now he’s going to have to sell his bride on the fact that this car was just that good, so blowing by the upper high-end value was good business for this specific Volvo P1800.
That’s great if the car never acts up but the first time this P1800 ends up dead on the side of the road is also going to mark the eve of our buyer’s first couple’s therapy class.
He has a few things going for him including the fact that his car is retro sporty looking in a non-aggressive way that typically works for women. The white color will work against our guy but he can use that to his advantage by referring back to the “Saint” car.
Even though 70-80% of today’s society couldn’t ID the Saint’s car if it blew up in front of them, our guy can still cash in on the remaining 20% of people that can.Yes it’s a big reach-a Hail Mary TD pass– but sometimes they connect.
Just ask Doug Flutie.
But he will have a pretty big hill to climb with this Swedish sportster because an astute wife is going to want to see some information on the real value of this car and the facts won’t back him up.
This Barrett-Jackson drunk bid will allow the marriage to survive but it’s a safe bet to say that our guy will be watching it at home next year.
