1988 ASC Mclaren Blue Convertible for sale

[joea]

Hello everyone. I have a friend who is a car dealer as I am and he has a 1988 ASC Mclaren convertible for sale. I am trying to do some research for him as he is not a computer user. He bought the car from a friend of his and drove it for about a year as he is a car lover, now he would like to sell it as he has a storage issue as many of us do. Anyway, the car is number 1362 and has @ 85,000 miles on it. It is an automatic car with a blue top. The car is in good shape however a few changes have been made. The gears have been changed to 3.73's, the speedo was upgraded to the 140 MPH version, the spindles and hubs have been upgraded to 5 lug and the car now has Lincoln LSC wheels on it. Interior is very nice as is the exterior other than small stone chips on the front of the hood. The big question, What is the car worth ?? Any thoughts on the value of the car ??

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[Sandy]

The car is "AzurA Blue" with "Light & Medium Regatta Blue" Interior and an "Atlantic Blue" roof.
The car is actually # 883 (or the 883rd - 1988 converted by ascMcLaren, in Livonia, Michigan. This, because ascMcLaren did NOT start over numbering them, and 479 were made for 1987, so you take the number you gave and subtract the 479 (of 1987) to find that this car is the 883rd (out of 1,015 made for model year 1988).
A trained eye can tell that it's a late 1988, as it has 1989 & 1990 style exterior mirrors that are attached to the door, rather than to the "A" pillar. This also tells that the mirrors are POWER operated, rather than REMOTE. The car looks in very respectible condition, however, if it was mine, I'd remove the headlight covers. The addition of the 5-lugs & the Lincoln wheels MAY hurt the value, as most :: REPEAT, MOST ascMcLaren buyers are lOOOking for mint ORIGINAL examples, and the 5 luggers & Lincoln LSC rims could throw cold water on the deal. Otherwise, she also happens to be a carbon copy of my 1990. Best of luck. Nice Car !

[shelbyscarab]

Sandy, you state that the interior is blue, but its gray in the picture......? What about that steering wheel???? That looks more like a capri wheel? or no?

About the mirrors, its been said in the past that these mirrors were technically '89 & '90 style mirrors, and that a "few" late '88s had them installed. My ASC, #688 (or the 209th out of 1,015) has these mirrors also.

About this car. Looks pretty good. Yea, headlight covers - off......the wheels baffle me. I think those are 15x7 rims. I've never seen anyone who has put LSC rims on one. But, USUALLY, if anyone does the "4 lug to 5-lug" swap, its to be able to put on 16" or larger rims while opening up your choices of wheels dramatically......someone must've really liked LSC wheels.

This is 1 of 3 for '88 in this color scheme........nice....

[tfs2121]

it is my understanding that the numbering has no order as to what was built first. like they had a big box of numbers and just started pulling them out as they needed them your #209 could be the 600th car built but 209 was the number the worker pulled out of the box when he went to badge it.

[Sandy]

This is true for 1988, but not true for 1987, 1989 & 1990. ascMcLaren was comfortable at 500 units a model year. During 1987 (Summertime thereof) asc put a big huge push on dealers to take on the car. They did some things that I have discussed prior, that laid the groundwork to the demise of the car.
Basically, they showed the dealers as an aftermarket convertor, they (ascMcLaren) was really not required to affix a MSRLP sticker, so, in fact, that retail dealerships could ask whatever they wanted for the cars. ascMcLaren went as far as printing a dealer only booklet with a white car on the cover, top down and coming out of the open air top down car, were the words.... "THE SKY'S THE LIMIT ON PROFITS" (Words dealers and we salesmen adore), so dealers responded like hungry wolfs and instead of ordering 500 or so, orders poured in at twice that rate, totalling 1,015 !!

This severely overburdoned the workforce, who then demanded a pay increase. Increase denied >> some quit. Now, we have 2 x the quantity we can build comfortably and a 20% reduction in workers.
I was told, asc actually hired 18 year olds from the local high school to work after school !! !! (Don't know it that's true, it's what I was told!) ~
So, rather than removing one Dash Plaque at a time, as in 1987, 1989 & 1990, they guy who put them on, took the cardboard boxes that they arrived in from Geneva, New York and opened them, and dumped tem all out into a wheelbarrow, to make it easier to grab.
So, 'ya, the 1988s are somewhat out of order.
HOWEVER all is NOT lost, as Sandy has the Master Listing and can tell exactly what number SHOULD be on each VIN car.

Perhaps the interior IS Light & Medium Titanium Grey, I went by my eyes, and it looked blue to me. I did not check the VIN / VIN list.

[tfs2121]

so does your list say what number should be with what vin or what number it was actuly built with each vin?

also this car is very nice but i dont like the LSC wheels. i like the original asc wheels. im not to sure how much you should sell it for but i hope that somone will chime in for you.

[black pearl]

I would say its worth every bit of $8,500

[Sandy]

My list shows the # it SHOULD have worn. There is no list out there showing what # each actualy got.
Along the road of McLarenism, I have come across about
10 or so that actually had the correct #. A fluke, or not ?

[apecx]

The lsc wheels look better then the stock mclaren wheels I think. They are 16". I have the basket weaves on my 87 Mc They look great.
Take a look. Andy Car for sdale as well. $4000 takes it!

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2110879 ... 9260iIIlYj

[Sandy]

I like the look of your car, and the stock white mesh wheels. She's a great example of a McLaren. You in Jersey ??? Me 2.