The hair is standing up on the back of my neck looking at this 1986 Honda FourTrax ATV. It wouldn’t normally be but this one is still in the crate! And, in case you think that I’m way overreacting, after all “it’s just an ATV…” I’m not, the seller has it listed here on eBay where the current bid price is a whopping (are you sitting down?) $19,200 and there are still almost three days left on the auction! It’s located in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania.
We have shown three-wheel ATVs here at Barn Finds and more often than not, comments come up about them being incredibly dangerous, which they were and are and always will be. Enter Honda which again invented a whole new genre of ATV with its four-wheel ATV. Farmers and ranchers loved them, as did almost everyone who ever owned or ridden one. They were much safer to ride and were more stable than a three-wheel ATV/ATC was.
Honda made four-wheel ATVs before the 1986 FourTrax but not a four-wheel-drive ATV, maybe that’s why the bids are so high. Or, maybe it’s just a symptom of people buying Amazon stock a decade ago and cashing out and are now buying six-figure cars and $20,000 ATVs, who knows. Not that I’m jealous or anything. You can see that this l’il rig has never been assembled. I would have to believe that it never will be assembled or used for its intended purpose.
The seller says that this FourTrax has been sitting in this crate in the same dealership since it was new – that’s pretty cool. My first thought was that the owner of the dealership kept it aside since it was from the era of the first of Honda’s 4WD ATVs and they thought that it might be worth something someday. They were right. And it is. Actually, the seller says that the original owner was saving it for their grandchildren but they had no interest in it (What?!) so it continued to sit. It’s been sitting in that dealership until a month ago.
The engine has never had gas or oil in it and I hope that the dealership was at least somewhat temperature-controlled. I don’t see any rust on the ATV itself but sitting for 34 years isn’t good for anything. Which reminds me, my 750 Yamaha has been sitting for 34 years now. Next year I’ll get to it… Have any of you owned an early Honda FourTrax?
Well, this tears it. Seems BF’s has become the home of the 5 figure sale, clearly, no matter what is featured. I think the angle iron crate is worth more. First off, as mentioned, this was Hondas 1st stab at a 4 wheeler, like the Yam Moto4, it addressed the rollover issue, but was a poor attempt, considering where ATV’s eventually ended up. 2wd ATV’s, people found out, were incredibly inferior. They got stuck easier than the 3 wheelers. Second, why would someone pay $20g’s for an outdated, motor stuck, rotted tires probably, ATV when you can get a modern one with A/C and P/S for cryin’ out loud. For someone to think something like this is worth twenty thousand dollars, and bidders foolishly bidding on it, we have truly hit the bottom. And that’s the way it is,,,
Current Honda ATVs start at 250 cc and 434 pounds. This toy probably weighed 200 pounds, having replaced the 163 pound ATC 70. If you want to ride ATVs with your young son, antiques like this are the only alternatives to Chinese stuff.
OK unless someone has a Delorean with a flux capacitor (AKA a time machine) No one can travel back in time. Finds like this and anything else in the crate unused will always bring a premium.
Doesn’t matter what it is and we could be talking about anything. Something throwaway that survives will always peak interest. I do not blame Barn Finds for bringing something like this or a watch to our attention. I think it’s great to chew on something else for a change other then the typical Corvette or Cosworth Vega.
I for one will never pass a Honda anything in a crate after seeing this. It is obvious others are interested too and KNOW they can get one running for less BUT NEVER NEW IN A CRATE. It’s their money. Who is to say that in 10 years or less it’s worth $35.000. Not for me to say and not that I care.
Many who scratch their head are the same ones that think the world as we know it is coming to an end because someone pays $60,000 for a throwaway 1990’s Civic. It’s not people. Your grandkids are moving in and have done well and spending their money (or inheritance) Will be seeing a lot more.
Thank you BF for giving me the option to learn about something new!
@AMCFAN
Well said. Even if I think it’s crazy, you’re right.
This is not a four-wheel-drive ATV. It is a 70cc children’s toy, successor to the ATC70 I lusted after as a child in the ’70s.
Thanks for the info, CJinSD. Honda did come out with 4WD for the FourTrax in 1986 and I wasn’t 100% positive which model this was. They list it as a TRX 70 but there is no VIN or tags or stickers or anything identifying it that I could see. Sometimes, we take a seller’s word for something and get blasted when it’s wrong, and sometimes when we don’t take their word for something we get blasted anyway.
EBay listing doesn’t say 4WD anywhere I saw.
But really, what a joke. Lots of people with more money than brains…
At that price, you’d think it would include free shipping, but what’s another few hundred $ more?. Free enterprise at work.
Call Honda corporate and offer to sell it back at this same insane price or better yet more with the pitch of using it as a museum display…..now that is free enterprise.
One could almost understand the price if this was a 250R or an ATC.
Right. Raw, unbridled screaming power or one of the first, maybe.
Um,
For the person who has a real desire for brand-new old stuff. For anyone else… When I looked at the eBay auction, suggestions at the bottom included Banshee and others, for a ton less money, and can be ridden, so a TON more FUN.
Nope.
Yamaha Banshee put all other quads of era to shame. It is indeed a true classic.
Sure, as long as you don’t mind rebuilding the top end every year..
This is an auction where common sense takes a break and stupid takes over. Not my circus not my monkeys.
Srt8
I agree. Seems this insanity just keeps coming but for some reason we find ourselves drawn to click “more”.
So, we mustn’t blame a clown for acting the clown…we must ask ourselves why we keep going to the circus. Lol
Peace.
I’ll refrain from a political reference, but it’s tempting.
I think most of the high bids come from the saler or an acquaintance. These asking buy for now and outrageous bids .To me are rediculios . I myself don,t have any use for it or wouldn,t want it. To many people get killed or cripple on them.Plus make people lazy and out of shape. Before I,d pay that price. I,d buy a 4 wheel drive truck.With a heater and a cab to keep you dry. Plus a bed to haul in. At $19,200 I could buy a really nice truck and have money to spare or donated to help kids.
If you ever take it out of the crate, it drops 95% in value. If you can’t take it out of the crate, what good is it?
“Find another like it” statement seems appropriate here. Who knows why it’s worth this much to some. Nostalgia? Investment? To use? To assemble and display? A movie/tv show? Museum? Whatever reason, it’s amazing that things like this are out there laying around unopened for 20-30 or more years. I like seeing things like this.
Why would this little toy bring anywhere near the money that a CBX has?
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1982-honda-cbx-supersport-6/
There are more examples…. This makes little sense.
Okay, I guess we’re all in agreement as to why someone feels this is worth 5 figures, they’re clearly nuts, but if we have any psychological majors here, what compels people to ask, what most consider ridiculous sums of money, for old school buses and outdated “in crate” objects, regardless of their true value? And THEN, people bidding on it? Is this all some kind of twisted internet joke, where bids and interest are all fabricated or is this stuff really in demand? Do some people actually have this much “disposable”( love that term, disposable,,,I’ll dispose of it, for rent and healthcare) income? If so, where does it end? Okay, this is probably the biggest extreme here for a vehicle “still in a crate” asking 5 figures,, but really, is this all a joke? Here’s what my hero, George Carlin thought of the world,,,,may he RIP,, finally.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_04x67rGh8
Yes Howard. There are more big money CEO’s out there these days than you can imagine. They keep the average Joe 6 pack out of the game.
And I though many Mopar individuals were the only to “check“ out with big wallets!
I owned a 1986 200sx 2 wheel drive,which I just gave to my son.I pushed snow with it since it was new(with chains).Always ran great.Can’t beat a Honda.
Well it,s unopened the ad said ,so i guess that ALONE puts value on it, or is it true UNOPENED merchandise is FULLY valuable? I would love to have it just to take it apart and put it back together again being i am disabled and cant EVEN ride a bike now. But i love ANYTHING from the early 80,s so i would take just for that reason. And the AD said ,it,s NEVER had OIL or GAS in it ?? WOW. I once was on a auction site , it MAY have been BF last year, where a BRAND new 85 IROC Camara was found inside a trailer rig . It was supposed to be delivered to some customer and never MADE it there. It had been inside the trailer ALL those years and was in IMMACULATE condition when they pulled it out ,i kid you not . Was that on BF?
Hilarious…. NADA lists the value for Excellent condition at $903.
Buy it, assemble it, sell it, lose $19,000.
Worked at a small Honda dealer in the early to mid 80s. Honda had thousands of machines in warehouses around the country, some dating back to the late 70s. Periodically they’d lis the inventory of what they called “non-current” stock available at blow out prices. Bikes, ATCs and 4 wheelers were all listed. Deals were great and some dealers would buy a few to use as loss leaders, the smart dealer would have bought most everything. The best deal I remember was the 82 CBX, White with fairing and bags. Those were available for $1700 if I recall correctly. Not surprised to see these still in the crate machines appear from time to time but no idea why someone would pay 20k for a 4 wheeler.
I found a football sized rock in a field the other day. Must be thousands of years old, but It didn’t look like it had been used at all. It did have a little mud and dirt stuck to it, but no chips or marks at all.
I’m thinking if I cleaned it up, and advertised it in the appropriate places, I should be able to sell it for a pretty penny to the right person.
This may be the perfect example of this saying I heard the other day “When your heart eats your brain.”
I currently have a Honda Recon Es 250cc which I use every few days and I drive it like I just stole it, they are fun and a workhorse. With 5+ acres to run around on it sure comes in handy. This listed Honda IMO is not worth much more than list price at the time it was new. I would gladly pay that, anything higher I would much rather give to local charity. This high dollar amount being paid for something like this is just stupid money.
Is this four wheel drive? I don’t see any axles or any type of driveline for the front wheels.
no it id not
Too bad it is not a Honda Odyssey. Those were cool machines.
Seems these early ATV were not safe where some died or were severely disable as they would flip backwards when on hills or driven wrecklessly tipping over. The newer ones have roll cages and improved shut off features than the early ones.
I seem to remember back in the 70’s and 80’s the dealers had a lot of last years and sometimes 2 year old stock that was unsold and sitting in crates unasembled because they had not moved existing stock on the showroom floor. Im sure there are plenty more crates sitting in sheds and garages awaiting to be found.
I have a 1986 Honda TRX350 4×4. I can tell you this much, this is not one. Too small, and the rear drive axel isn’t even close in comparison to mine. This is def a small fourtrax 2wd. So I would think 20,000 is too high for it. No doubt it’s worth money, but, $20,000 I don’t think so. I just bought a 2020 Artic Cat Wildcat XX for that amount, and I can use it on a regular basis. This would be an expensive Man Cave display and that’s about it.
i don’t know what that is, but i can guarantee you that it is not a four trax 4×4 86′ honda, i have one that i bought new in 86′ and have worked on it over the years, and it is nothing like what ever this is !
This person made a fortune! Ended:Sep 06, 2020 , 7:50PM
Winning bid:
US $20,100.00
[ 41 bids ]
That’s 27,000 in Canuck Bucks. Really puts us out of contention.
Not me. Now what will they do? Push it in a corner and try to sale it for double or start buying dried out seals and such? For that amount I,d bought something I could use and make a nice donation to St Jude,Smile Train,Operation Smile,St Labre Indian School. Something to help kids
Thank you,,,,like I always say, I hope these spoiled brats don’t need a kidney someday.
I bought this unit this morning from an equipment auction in Marietta Pa. I almost crapped my pants when my offer was accepted. im beyond exited to put it in my stable