I have to give a tip of the hat to my fellow Barn Finds writer Jamie for cluing me into this rare BMW 1602 Baur that popped up here on eBay. The seller’s asking price isn’t giving anyone a deal – he’s said he is firm at $34,500 – and despite its rarity, I’m not certain this old 1602 is quite there. While its rarity is a given and stellar examples have gone for good money (the seller has been kind enough to show a fully restored auction car hammering home for $60K+), there’s definitely some nasty rust hiding throughout the body. It is rather amazing that it retains a crack-free dashboard, especially on a car where the roof goes down, but even that bonus isn’t enough to push me any closer to the asking price. The biggest strike against it is you can buy a clean Tii for less than the asking here, which is precisely what I’d do if I had $30K burning a hole in my pocket. Does anyone think the seller will find a buyer at this price?
The structural integrity on these must be poor, rust or no rust. I bet they flop around like a fish outta water.
That is a crazy price for a not so nice driver. It looks un molested , but everything needs resorted.
States he is no hurry to sell it — and since he is asking a very high price for a car that certainly needs attention he may be owning it for quite a while – they are fairly rare but have a dedicated following:
http://baurspotting.blogspot.com/p/new-gallery-of-16002002-baur-cabrios.html
Who knows what lurks under that re-spray. Unless my eyes deceive me I see a lot of filler there.
Crack pipe
What’s the “real” fair price for a car like this? Since there were just 1500 or so built, that should bring a bit of a premium, but as a restoration candidate, I’m thinking that this car should cost about 10K. Surely a resto on this would cost 30-40k, assuming lots of metal fabrication and mechanical refurbishing. So there you’d be, at around 50K with a nicely restored car. But certainly not 34K for the starting point. Yet, some German guy might just go crazy for a car like this….
The voice of reason (wife) asked me why i have been getting so upset about the prices and state of the hobby. She has a good point. If you want it bad enough ,you’ll pay!
Guess I just don’t want them bad enough. Hope someone does.
bcavileer makes an interesting observation…what IS the state of the hobby?
We assume the 30 and 40 somethings aren’t interested in the old car hobby (after all, it’s easier to just stare at your phone 6 inches in front of your face all day), so exactly who IS driving this mahem? I’m guessing it’s us 55+ dudes who have the money to buy back the stuff we used to have, and, even with the inflated prices, we’re still dumb enough to take on a rusty 40+ year old car without realizing how much work and money it’s gonna take to restore or even refurbish it.
So, then , how many disassembled half-restored 911s will hit the market in 10 years after these guys run out of money and energy to see these projects through? The bigger question: how interested will those same 30-40-somethings be in acquiring these projects, now that they can afford them in 10 years? I bet they’ll still be staring at their telephones checking their facebook status at age 55. By then nobody will remember how to gap points or change brake shoes. God help us.
You might be right Rex, but luckily sites like Barn FInds are helping to get a few of those guys away from their screens and into the hobby. Heck, I am one of those 30 somethings and when my face isn’t six inches from my phone, I’m out in the garage wrenching way!
Gap feeler gauge missing? Matchbook cover anyone? Oh forgot–what’s a matchbook? !! Yeah–I was a 50 something a long time ago, but remember putting my hot rod Ford back together without a nickel in my jeans. My generation found ways to compensate for lack of cash, even if it all came down to the barter process. The memories are grand. Really enjoy this site, and all of your comments. From the front end profile, I’d say the old Chrysler product is a DeSoto.
I started this car thing when I was about 16 years old. First car a 67 VW Squaeback. Second car a 66 Mustang 289. A few VW in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Then it was BMWs and has been ever since Many 2002s.. A lot of that time didn’t have much money for cars, young and fair jobs, later the cost of kids and their needs. The last two projects a 88 635csi, and a 330i. Did a lot of barter even when I had the money. With the 02s, bought two cars and made one. Parted out cars and did work on others for trade or money, The 02 where pretty simple and easy to work on. Also their had many years of parts exchangeability. Living in Arizona only had one rusty one, and never again.