| Author | Message | ||
     John Beech Frequent User Username: jbeech Post Number: 68 Registered: 10-2016 |
1938 20/25, body unknown. Contemplating purchase. Any clue of fair value?  - Quarter, right front  - Quarter, right rear  - Interior, front  - Interior, rear . . . note rear dividing glass  - Engine compartment | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2325 Registered: 4-2003 |
John, I suggest you look up the US Rolls-Royce Owners Club and see if they have a Model Registrar for the 20/25 series, the Registrar should have an idea of the current price range for recent sales/purchases. Hemmings might also be a price guide for the 20/25 - a quick check shows 10 20/25 models listed for sale and your car above is listed at USD28750 which may be a reasonable price given the apparent condition of the car. Cars in better condition start at USD50000 and skywards depending on condition and body builder. As always, restoration can be a money pit and you never get back what you spend other than the satisfaction that you did it. The choice depends on your personal circumstances and availability of time and resources for restoration. My personal choice would to be to buy a restored car from a deceased estate where the beneficiaries have no interest in the car and just want to get rid of it at a reasonable price. | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 429 Registered: 4-2015 |
John... Unless it has been removed, the coachbuilder's plate can be found if you open the front doors and then look at the vertical sill just below the floor level and just above the running boards. It is definately a 25/30, not the earlier 20/25, that has been reupholstered not particularily authentically, probably naugahyde? Value depends on condition of a lot of things which cannot be determined from photos. It appears to be average at best and possibly not very well cared for, otherwise the engine bay would have at least been cleaned. Maybe $20KUS, but if it needs work, which it probably does, that may be generous. The pre-war cars are fun to work on as they are simple and straight forward. The mechanical build quality was originally impressive to the point where even the nuts and bolts were individually machined, often of bronze. Nothing stamped out and imported from Asia. | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 434 Registered: 4-2015 |
John... If you are lusting to get a hot Pre-War ride, check this one out that just popped up on EBay US this evening. I also have an unrestored '34 Sedanca Coupe Derby Bentley and I can assure you that they were the sportscar of its day. The restoration on this one looks top notch and while pricey, it will hold its value and Pre-War Bentley's are a hot market. Take the $30K asking price for that questionable 25/30 and then beg, borrow, or steal another $60K and get this one, but first offer $70K. You will thank me in the end. If I had the garage space, this one would be mine. Don't say I've never done anything for you! This is it! Fortune favors the bold!! http://www.ebay.com/itm/322343268794?ul_noapp=true#ht_58415wt_848  . | ||
| Christopher Williams Unregistered guest Posted From: 50.84.174.74 |
I recently purchased a 1929 20/25 that appears to have very similar coachwork, and it was re-coached in 1939 by Southern Coachworks. Is this the car that is for sale at Gullwing motors in New York? (Message approved by david_gore) | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2335 Registered: 4-2003 |
Christopher, Yes - it is in Hemmings in an ad placed by Gullwing Motors, Astoria NY: https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/rolls-royce/20-25/1863452.html | ||
| Jonas TRACHSEL Prolific User Username: jonas_trachsel Post Number: 103 Registered: 2-2005 |
Southern Coachworks used to "modernise" older R-R's with (then) up-to-date coachwork to help sell otherwise outdated but mechanically good cars. Therefor I do not think that the 25/30 HP car in question is by Southern Coachworks, it rather was a style copied by SC. | ||
| Patrick Lockyer. Grand Master Username: pat_lockyer Post Number: 1084 Registered: 9-2004 |
Bentley car went up to US $29,200.00 did not make the reserve on ebay. | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 486 Registered: 4-2015 |
It would have been a bargain at twice that price but quality cars, especially the high end ones seldom sell on EBay. It is a marketing tool but most buyers (myself included) just want a deal...the $20 item for 99cents. We are cheapskates! Anyone seriously interested in the car now knows about it thanks to the EBay listing and will make their best deal with the dealer directly. That is not to say that occasionally two buyers who both desperately want the same item do not between themsleves bid an item up to or above the actual value. Such is the nature of auctions where it is necessary to have two serious bidders in order to get a top sales price. If only one bidder is interested, they will not bid against themself and thus there is no mechanism to get the price bid up and the item fails to sell. That is why, in my opinion, secret "reserve pricing" is a waste of everyone's time. Either that, or cut to the chase and have the opening bid equal the reserve price. The Bentley really is a looker, the market for Derby Bentleys is popular, and someone will eventually buy it, if not for the $90K asked, somewhere close to that...no more than a new high end Mercedes...cheap in the grand scheme of things. In 10 years the Bentley will still be worth the $90K. The Mercedes? Not. . | ||
| Elliott Anderson Unregistered guest Posted From: 149.241.168.242 |
Hello everyone. I have never posted on this forum before but I must inform you that the car pictured in the original post is neither a 20/25 as stated by the seller nor a 25/30 as hinted at in postings thereafter but is most definitely a 25/30 h.p. Wraith. This is because of a few reasons, namely the horizontal positioning of the headlamps as well as the positioning of the air vents down the side of the bonnet, being more proportional to that of either of the two Goshawk cars immediately prior when not fitted with louvre-style vents. I am a little bit of a Wraith expert, having over 5,000 photographs and many hundreds, maybe even thousands of snippets of whenever a Wraith appears ever in popular culture, magazines, newspapers, online or anywhere! Elliott (Message approved by david_gore) |
