1954 Kaiser Manhattan 4 door FOR SALE

[Carpenter]

Thanks, Barbara.

[Carpenter]

I'm finding out one thing, in advertising my car for sale: people want a nice complete car for a nickel and dime price.  In country terminology they are called "cheapskates"...a miserly person who does not want to pay a fair price.  No wonder the price of Kaisers isn't up to what it should be.  A true Kaiser lover would pay what a car is worth.

[boatingbill]

Carpenter: I agree with you. It may be due to the fact that less and less of us can do the
work ourselves and therefore the cost of restoration is going up dramatically. People are
looking to buy a unrestored car cheaply to offset the restoration cost. For myself the fun
is in the restoration, but many things I can no longer do.

[Roadmaster49]

It is my understanding from a couple of KFOCI members - that the KF guys are on the cheap side.  There are a LOT of significant KF's out there languishing away because no one will pay a little more to restore them.   The Black Onyx Dragon and the 999/888 Dragon come to mind.   The "last Kaiser built" has been available for years and no one in the club will pay the ransom. 

On the other hand, you may have over paid for the car.  I just lost about $3000 on selling my 1995 Mercedes SL500. 

[Carpenter]

Gotta disagree about overpaying for this car. 

[r1lark]

I'm finding out one thing, in advertising my car for sale: people want a nice complete car for a nickel and dime price.  In country terminology they are called "cheapskates"...a miserly person who does not want to pay a fair price.  No wonder the price of Kaisers isn't up to what it should be.  A true Kaiser lover would pay what a car is worth.

Carpenter, you purchased a car then determined that the cost to restore was beyond your budget and/or the cost to do the car would be substantially more than its finished value. You offer it for sale to K-F enthusiasts, but then call them cheapskates for not getting in line to bail you out for what you have invested. Perhaps others recognize already what it took you a while to realize - that the economics of restoration just don't work out for this car; if so, that is not a reason to make derogatory remarks towards them.

Maybe as Roadmaster49 suggests you overpaid for the car, or maybe you got a good deal, who knows? Put the car on eBay and let the market determine its value.

[Carpenter]

Hate to disappoint you in your assessment, but it is highly probable that I will soon have the funds to do exactly what I had in mind when I bought this car.  The lack of adequate funds is only temporary.  You may want to try some other subject.

[Carpenter]

The value of this car, when finished, will far exceed any and all investments that I will have made.

[Roadmaster49]

The value of this car, when finished, will far exceed any and all investments that I will have made.

What do you believe your car will be worth when finished?  Is it your intention to sell the car or enjoy it?

[Roadmaster49]

The high end value - real world not over inflated price guides - of a nice original or restored 54 Manhattan is $10,000 to $15,000. Even then, the buyers pool is quite small requiring a high marketing effort.  That is, a well sorted, many high resolution photo ebay auction that would likely run for 6 months to find that "needle in a haystack" buyer. 

Good luck with your restoration, it will be nice to see another one added to the thousands of 54 Kaisers left. 

[mbflemingkf]

The high end value - real world not over inflated price guides - of a nice original or restored 54 Manhattan is $10,000 to $15,000. Even then, the buyers pool is quite small requiring a high marketing effort.  That is, a well sorted, many high resolution photo ebay auction that would likely run for 6 months to find that "needle in a haystack" buyer. 

Good luck with your restoration, it will be nice to see another one added to the thousands of 54 Kaisers left.

Thankful today for the extremely knowledgeable and gifted forum commenters to value our cars and the market in general.

"thousands of 54 Kaisers left?"   Really?  What planet do you live on?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

[Carpenter]

The value of this car, when finished, will far exceed any and all investments that I will have made.

What do you believe your car will be worth when finished?  Is it your intention to sell the car or enjoy it?

I have a price in mind but not revealing it.  I plan to enjoy it for a while, then sell.  Will be the owner of others.

[Roadmaster49]

The high end value - real world not over inflated price guides - of a nice original or restored 54 Manhattan is $10,000 to $15,000. Even then, the buyers pool is quite small requiring a high marketing effort.  That is, a well sorted, many high resolution photo ebay auction that would likely run for 6 months to find that "needle in a haystack" buyer. 

Good luck with your restoration, it will be nice to see another one added to the thousands of 54 Kaisers left.

Thankful today for the extremely knowledgeable and gifted forum commenters to value our cars and the market in general.

"thousands of 54 Kaisers left?"   Really?  What planet do you live on?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

Earth.  Every week there are 5-10 1954 Kaiser products for sale.   A search on this Buy/Sell would find well over 250 in the past 5 years - 1954-55.   Just scroll down this page of the Buy/Sell there are 4.

[Aeroman]

At this point in time with any KF product, one would restore it for the love of the car, not for any profit to be made because there will probably be none. The only way to make money on a Kaiser would be to modify it into a fire breathing street machine or a low-rider or a rat-rod of some sort. Stock restorations are worth, as Roadmaster49 said, $10,000 to $15,000. A well executed street rod might bring $30,000 to $40,000, so there is room for profit there.

And there is no need to call anyone names or belittle their ideas for a project. We are all friends here, let's remember that.

[MarkH]

At this point in time with any KF product, one would restore it for the love of the car, not for any profit to be made because there will probably be none. The only way to make money on a Kaiser would be to modify it into a fire breathing street machine or a low-rider or a rat-rod of some sort. Stock restorations are worth, as Roadmaster49 said, $10,000 to $15,000. A well executed street rod might bring $30,000 to $40,000, so there is room for profit there.

And there is no need to call anyone names or belittle their ideas for a project. We are all friends here, let's remember that.

As someone only part way through restoring an Aero, I can confirm that you are absolutely 100 percent correct, my car will NEVER be worth what it's taking to restore it. Sometimes I think it's the dumbest financial move I've ever made in my life and from a pragmatic view, it really is. On the other hand, it is a satisfying venture to see the rusty hulk I've drug around so many years being brought back to life, albeit rather slowly.

It's not just the resto guys either, more often than not, even the street rodders take a beating when selling their creations. There's a lot of truth in the saying that you're better off to buy than to build.