By Dean Sprague
It was snowing and cold and I didn’t want to work in my garage. When this occurs we all must find something else to do. If you’re a type A personality like me find something constructive not distractive to do. I got on my computer first answering my Emails (constructive) then I got on the Internet just “looking” at LBC’s for sale (distractive). Somehow I wandered onto E Bay Motors looking for cars that I didn’t know I always wanted. Actually, I have wanted to get another MGB GT. They are great club drivers. I always liked my MGB roadsters but my waist is just too long and I can’t see out the windscreen without removing the sun visors. The GT however has a taller windscreen and the cars just seem to fit me. Plus my dermatologist suggested that I might have ridden in enough convertibles so the GT is a great option. I stumbled onto a 1968 MGB GT on E Bay. The auction had 1day and 4 hours to go and the price was at $3,750 with only 3 bidders. The car looked good (in the picture) and it only needed some “light work to make it perfect”.
This is where I should pause and point out a few things. First of all, I don’t need nor do I have additional space for another car. Secondly, you should never, never buy a classic car sight unseen. I have done this twice before on E Bay and gotten burned twice. Thirdly, you should always buy the best car (condition wise) you can afford because the cost to restore is about twice the finished value. Of course being compulsive, disregarding all of this I immediately put in a proxy bid of $4,551 in hopes of “stealing” this one. It’s good to remember that when stealing is involved someone must get robbed (it might be you).
The next morning another bidder surfaced and drove the auction price and my proxy bid along with it up to $4,100. Then it just sat there until about 10 minutes before closing. I began to develop a thing called “buyer’s remorse”. I started thinking about my points 1,2 and 3 mentioned above. I began praying someone (anyone) would out bid me.
My friend David was on the phone with me and we were both watching the closing of the auction. Minute by minute then bump, my proxy bid went up to $4,250, then $4,350 up to $4,550. I was still high bidder by 1 dollar with 18 seconds left, my luck was running out. David commented, “looks like you bought a car” Then a miracle happened, at two seconds left the bid went to $4,601. I was out bid!!!!! Saved by the bell.
The winning bidder had one previous purchase to his credit so he had in all probability gotten caught up in the auction frenzy. This is very common to the E Bay neophyte and apparently impulsive idiots like me. He was now probably another bidder with buyer’s remorse. If he reneges on his purchase and wipes out his good E Bay standing I will receive a “2nd chance offer”. I estimated that would take about 2 days. I was wrong, the next morning I got the offer to buy the car at my high bid of $4,551.
Still the GT looked good in the pictures and besides it was only about an hour and a half away so I contacted the owner and arranged for a viewing. David and Bobby (another car buddy) both thought I should enjoy my good fortune and stay home, the car didn’t look that good to them. What do they know and besides I might get it cheaper? Fortunately since they are always up for a road trip we all went to see it the next morning. Well, Bobby was right the bumps he saw in the beautiful color pictures were not reflections (like I hoped) but rust bubbles, lots of them. The beautiful paint in the pictures was in reality an amateur, poorly prepped finish applied on the outside only. They used a non-matching bluish shade of green so it conflicted with the original BRG that was under the hood, door jams, trunk, interior etc. Also, the car had a Massachusetts inspection sticker from 2010 on the windscreen (a northern salt car?). Generally, if they are driven in the winter run don’t walk from these.
The owner was a very nice guy who had spent over 2 thousand dollars so far just to get it running and driving (although it wouldn’t start for us). He bought the car (on E Bay) about a year ago so I think he realized he was looking at the tip of an ugly iceberg and decided to liquidate this treasure. Needless to say I could have bought it much cheaper maybe $3,500 or less but you just can’t get there from here without getting buried in this kind of car (remember “thirdly” above). We all had wonderful conversations swapping war stories. We gave him some advice on what to clean up or fix before he tries to sell it again and we left.
We had a great Mexican lunch (on me, and well worth it) then took the snow lined scenic back roads home. All in all it was a fun day. My friends saved me from what might have become another impulsive move on my part. Without them I am sure I would have bought the car anyway since I left home wearing my “rose colored glasses”. “I think I can fix that” has gotten me in more restoration troubles than I care to admit. The moral of my story is “A man has to know his limitations” if not, bring good friends to protect you.
