Car show question.

[HULK10]

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/3100480573.html

[Ringo64]

Originally Posted by GTUPONIT

By all means ask. Telling them the story will give empathy towards your reasoning. Remember, people that have cars in shows have the cars for more than just transportation. The car in itself is an extension of the person. Soul stirring if you will. In order for the majority to "sell" the car and not leave it as inheritance, they must feel that the car would go to a good home. Everyone is right about asking at the very least. There is a lot of car clubs out there and tremendous networking within them. A lot of good people too that would be happy to help just to see another car taken care of.

This. I've heard of plenty of people getting asked if their car is for sale at shows and sometimes people go to shows to sell the car because sometimes you do know someone who comes out to a show might be a better buyer.

Just talk with the owner tell them the story and as said they might not be selling theirs but may know of one for sale.

[snaphappy]

I grew up five minutes away from WestWorld where the Barrett-Jackson car auction is held each year. So I've observed buyer/seller interactions quite a bit. You don't open by asking if the car is for sale. You open with a few technical questions that the owner will appreciate. He'll immediately recognize that you know more about the car than the average person. After you display enthusiasm for the car for a good 2-3 minutes you ask "would be willing to sell it to the right buyer?" Or "would you be willing to sell it if you found the right buyer?" Or if you don't want to use the words "sell/buyer" you can say "would you be willing to let it go to the right person?" This phrase lets the owner know you're interested, but you have a specialized interest. Combine that with the insider knowledge you displayed with your initial comments and the owner might warm up to you.

The only downside to this approach is you've set yourself up to pay top dollar. By confirming that you're the right buyer you're admitting you know what the car is worth and you're willing to pay for it.

[clg_98ta]

Not an insult unless you try to low ball them. Most of these guys would accept the 'right' offer... which would allow them to move on to the next project.

I would advise you to start by looking for a car on EBay first... the 77-78 black and gold special editions cars pop up frequently, and you'll start to get an idea of what they're worth.

In the meantime, get you dad a Smokey & the Bandid DVD to tide him over.

[Mr_Draco]

I agree. There is nothing wrong with telling them that your dad use to have one and that you want to purchase one for him and ask if they know anyone who has one for sale.

As for cost, I don't know about now as car values have dropped over the past couple years but a few years ago a restored "Bandit" Transam was going for low - mid $40k range. One that needed a lot of work but had a decent body was around $10k.

[880]

That's really cool of you. Your dad is lucky.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by AdamZ

My dad had a 78 Limited addition Firebird when he was younger. I heard he was the coolest guy in town back in the day bc of his car. At some point he decided to sell it because he was going to have his first kid (my sister).

I see the same car at car shows sometimes. It's a gorgeous car. He always ask me to talk to the owners to see how long they had it and ask them about it. I know he misses having his car.

I was curious...If I see one at a car show again would it be a complete insult to ask the owner if they were willing to sell it? I would love to buy my dad his car back before he passes. I would sell my Camaro if I could make this happen for him.

I believe it looked much like this.

[AdamZ]

Originally Posted by HULK10

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/3100480573.html

Has to be black and gold

Originally Posted by snaphappy

The only downside to this approach is you've set yourself up to pay top dollar. By confirming that you're the right buyer you're admitting you know what the car is worth and you're willing to pay for it.

Yeah exactly lol :/

Originally Posted by clg_98ta

Not an insult unless you try to low ball them. Most of these guys would accept the 'right' offer... which would allow them to move on to the next project.

I would advise you to start by looking for a car on EBay first... the 77-78 black and gold special editions cars pop up frequently, and you'll start to get an idea of what they're worth.

In the meantime, get you dad a Smokey & the Bandid DVD to tide him over.

That's one of his favorite movies hahahaha. So it's called a black and gold special edition? Easy enough.

Originally Posted by 880

That's really cool of you. Your dad is lucky.

Good luck.

Oh no. I am lucky. I have been told countless time by countless people how great and generous my dad is. He does absolutely everything for everyone and nothing for himself. I would sooooooooo badly want to get this car back for him. He deserves it and sooo much more. When he passes it wouldn't even surprise me if the world stopped turning for a moment.

[Cam2011]

Originally Posted by AdamZ

My dad had a 78 Limited addition Firebird when he was younger. I heard he was the coolest guy in town back in the day bc of his car. At some point he decided to sell it because he was going to have his first kid (my sister).

I see the same car at car shows sometimes. It's a gorgeous car. He always ask me to talk to the owners to see how long they had it and ask them about it. I know he misses having his car.

I was curious...If I see one at a car show again would it be a complete insult to ask the owner if they were willing to sell it? I would love to buy my dad his car back before he passes. I would sell my Camaro if I could make this happen for him.

I believe it looked much like this.

Pretty much everything has its price. I don't see someone wanting to buy a car I own as an insult, rather as a compliment.

[Mr_Draco]

Originally Posted by AdamZ

That's one of his favorite movies hahahaha. So it's called a black and gold special edition? Easy enough.

It's referred to as the "Bandit" edition because of the movies but the people who are big into these cars refer to them by their RPO codes, Y82 is the RPO code you will be looking for.

Please note that there is a difference between the Black and Gold edition and the "Bandit" edition.

The Black and Gold edition is actually a pretty rare car, more rare then the "Bandit" edition anyway. It came out late '78 and lasted through '79 and has the RPO code Y84. The "Bandit" edition came out in '76 and lasted till the end of '78 and was produced along side the Black and Gold edition.

[AdamZ]

Originally Posted by Mr_Draco

It's referred to as the "Bandit" edition because of the movies but the people who are big into these cars refer to them by their RPO codes, Y82 is the RPO code you will be looking for.

Please note that there is a difference between the Black and Gold edition and the "Bandit" edition.

The Black and Gold edition is actually a pretty rare car, more rare then the "Bandit" edition anyway. It came out late '78 and lasted through '79 and has the RPO code Y84. The "Bandit" edition came out in '76 and lasted till the end of '78 and was produced along side the Black and Gold edition.

I called my dad and he said it was a blackbird. He said the blackbird was a rarer limited addition. Does this ring any bells Draco?

[Mr_Draco]

The '78s only had three special editions, Y82 ("Bandit" edition), Y88 (which is the Gold edition), and Y84 (the Black and Gold edition).

After doing some research, Blackbird is a less common nickname for any black Firebird or black Trans Am but most commonly used to refer to the Y82 package. There is no Blackbird edition.