TO ALL - Read & ADVISE MICHAEL

[Sandy]

I recieved this overnight. I am sure Mike would appreciate some input. It's a sad story, so get the tissues, first but I am sure there is help!

In my e-mail this AM:



Hi Sandy,

After some searching on the Internet, it seems that you are Mr. McLaren. My brother-in-law recently dropped his 1986 hatchback off at my shop and told me to get rid of it. It's a very long story, but I'll try to make it short. He bought the car from the original woman owner (his insurance agent) back in 1996. I took him to pick the car up. The car had around 50,000 miles on it then and was absolutely flawless. All original and stored inside winters. He drove the car for a while only on nice days. Then he got married and bought a house. With no where to go with the car, he parked it in his back yard until he could figure out what to do with it. It has sat there for the past 10 years or so until he drove it up on a trailer (yes he drove it) and brought it over to my shop.

He put a new battery in the car, and it fired right up. Almost hard to believe. Unfortunately, he got cocky and drove it up on the trailer. He hit the brakes once on the trailer and the pedal went to the floor. I would guess a brake line gave way. He tried to put the car in park, but that didn't work. While the damage was only cosmetic, he took out the front lower bumper cover and fog lights.

Here is some info on the car:
VIN # 1mebp79m0gf618895
Silver hatchback w/ grey interior and orange pinstripes and wheels
Automatic trans
Alpine stereo and rear speakers
Spectrum Whistler radar detector mounted under dash on right side
77,102 miles
All the normal options (pw, pl, tilt, a/c, rear defrost, fog lamps, etc...)
Headlight and tail-lite covers
Limited slip rear with 2 shocks per side
OE true dual exhaust with two cats and cross-pipe
While not an expert on these cars, I believe it to be all original, complete, and unmolested.

The good:
Interior is in beautiful condition. Dash is nice, carpet nice, seats mint, headliner, door panels, it's all there and in great shape. The only flaw I could find inside is the top of the steering wheel is coming apart. Everything seems to work as designed (p/windows, locks, gauges, etc...)
Glass
Minor body rust (mainly rear quarter lips and inside lower door skins. Rust near lic. plate lamps under rear hatch. No holes)
Starts and runs great. When John started it up, the belt broke. The air-pump is frozen. A/C - ? No belt, but the compressor and pulley both spin freely so who knows.
Complete car w/ 2 extra wheels, pair of extra headlamp covers, I think a radio delete faceplate (?), and a factory wheel lock kit (unused)
The bad:
While the underside isn't too bad, there are some soft spots in the floor. I put my finger through while checking one of the spots.
Brake lines are very weak. Pedal goes to the floor and master is empty.
Both side skirts are cracked, but they are all there and could be fixed fairly easily
front bumper cover is in pieces (aka loading on trailer)
paint is gone on all top surfaces and is now rust. The roof is covered w/ rust from sitting outside all these years.
I can not find a dash plaque or anything on the car showing its production number. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

I would like your advise on how to sell the car. Should I sell it complete or part it out? What is the best venue to sell it? John, (my brother-in-law) isn't looking to get rich off of this car, he's just looking for a fair deal. We would also both like the car to go to someone who can use the car for what it is.

Thanks for any help you could give me.

[mtesch]

Thanks for the post Sandy.

I will take some pictures and post them later today.

[03Mach1]

Well you might be able to make more money parting it out, but if it is complete and original and just want to see it go to a good home to become pretty again sell it complete. It's hard to say with out Pics, but if it were mine it would be hard to see it get pulled apart in MHO. Also the hassle of getting rid of the left over stuff that nobody wants, taking it to the junk yard, recycling etc.... having something complete and original could be a good father/son project car?

[svt1996cobra]

Sandy,


I would be interested in saving this one, is there a way to contact the owner?

Thanks,

David

[negusm]

First off, no cars will be parted here unless I see pictures of serious damage.

Secondly, what is a "fair deal"? IMHO, the car probably isn't worth a whole lot from your description. I mean we're talking $1500-$2000 or so. Neglect takes a major toll on value.

-Mike

[fredzilla]

That's a high vin#...I bet it's a eurocoupe

Where is this car located ?

[Sandy]

HE is mtesch above. Send him a PM

[Sandy]

It **IS** a EuroCoupe. However...it is a fully loaded unit.
Power Door Locks, Radar unit is correct, Automatic Trans.
Pretty odd. Most Euros did not have the Radar and certainly
no Pwr. Door Locks, and ALMOST never the Alpine 7272 Stereo,
in a EuroCoupe !!!

[mtesch]

First off, no cars will be parted here unless I see pictures of serious damage.

Secondly, what is a "fair deal"? IMHO, the car probably isn't worth a whole lot from your description. I mean we're talking $1500-$2000 or so. Neglect takes a major toll on value.

-Mike

Geeze... relax a bit. I think the price you are talking about is a fair price. Like I said in my letter to Sandy, we both want the car to go to someone who can appreciate it. John won't give it away, but will let it go for a good price.

I took some pictures today. I also looked all over for the dash plaque with no luck. The car is and always has been kept very clean inside, so I didn't think it would be under the seats or anything like that. See the pictures here http://public.fotki.com/mtesch/1986-asc-mclaren/

Also, a few corrections from my letter to Sandy. While searching for the dash plaque, I noticed a radio amp under the passenger seat. I called John and he informed me that the original owner had told him that she replaced the original radio with this high end Alpine CD player and amp. Therefore, I would say it's safe to say the stereo is not original.

Secondly, while the dash pad is straight and not cracked, it is a bit discolored.

That's about all I can remember. There was more I wanted to comment on but today was a very hectic day and my brain is slowly shutting down. Thanks again for all the help.

[mtesch]

By the way... God's country is southern Wisconsin.

And... just so everyone knows, the last time I saw this car was the day he picked it up. I didn't even know he still owned it. If I knew what was happenning with it, I would have gone and taken it.

I think this car is a great candidate for a restoration. I would actually love to do it, but with a big family and business commitments, it wouldn't get finished until probably never.

[Sandy]

Pity that you did not know.

I'd like to own the radio faceplate plug. Why? I don't know why! It intregues me. Never saw one, even though I knew that they were employed in the build, by FoMoCo.
The Full Packaged model (Non Euro Coupe used them) The cars were shipped to ascMcLaren from Ford with no radio, but with a radio prep. Pkg. - In other words, all needed items, sans the actual radio. ASC installed the Alpine 7272 model Am-Fm Stereo & Cassette.
The Euro-Coupes USUALLY made do with the Ford
Am Fm Stereo/Cassette.

[eric5oh]

Wisconsin huh? I could probably go check it out. The rust underneath is a little deceiving. You put you finger through it? PM me your info and I'll see what I can do. It looks like a eurocoupe to me. There would be no dash plaque.

[Sandy]

Okay....NOW with pictures, I can figure out WHAT happened herein.

FoMoCo made the car to be a Full Packaged car.

When it got to ascMcLaren, they had finished the full packaged cars and were doing the lower priced Euro-Coupe versions. This car was apparently left over (as were a few others) and they finished it to Euro-Coupe specifics. I'll bet she has a B-303 cam in her sweet-self!

Mike, the single thin orange pin stripe set into the side plastic moulding I.D.s it as a Euro-Coupe. If you look at pics of my Charcoal Grey 86 ascMcLaren Coupe, you can see how the F.P. (Full Packaged) car were done.

Furthermore, your car's seat piping is GREY !! Euro-Coupes made do with the normal red piping on the grey seats. F.P. units has Ford-Made special identical seat covers, but made with grey piping as the RED (factory) covers would clash with the orange decals, logos & striping!!

I'll try to post some photos.
Another giveaway...... F.P. cars had the radio faceplate plug (as you found) because ascMcLaren installed the Alpine 7272.
The Euro-Coupes had the Ford Am Fm Stereo/Cassette installed on the Dearborn Assembly Line, & did not NEED the radio facplate plug.
Full Packaged unit got at Ford the Stereo Radio PREPORATION kit.

I'd say your car arrived at ascMcLaren at the end or after the end of this edition, and we know that they finished off with the less content Euro-Coupes. Fo Mo Co (I believe) finished this car to full feature levels, but ascMcLaren made it as a Euro-Coupe.

Here is a link to a FULL PACKAGED tape stripe pattern:-

http://www.ascmclaren.org/phpBB/album_p ... ic_id=1836

and a Euro-Coupe tape design is here:

http://www.ascmclaren.org/phpBB/album_p ... ic_id=1447

LASTLY - here is a seat from a EuroCoupe, as made by FORD, with the red piping:-

http://www.ascmclaren.org/phpBB/album_p ... pic_id=400

[mtesch]

Yet another correction... the car does NOT have power door locks. Sorry.

[tfs2121]

look like a good project car. at the very most i would say 2500. good luck!