Dax De dion

[V8 BJC]

There seems to be a trend witht he new De Dion cars developing in that no owners seem to want to keep them longer than a few months. Is this something to do with the cars, coinsidence or is their value when complete just too good to turn down when somebody comes running with a bag of cash.

[LRdriver]

do people actually get that in the end what they advertize them for?
Or is it like the GT40 market at the moment..hyped up with the new Ford GT and illusions of grandeur from the owners.

[dave]

Originally Posted by V8 BJC

There seems to be a trend witht he new De Dion cars developing in that no owners seem to want to keep them longer than a few months. Is this something to do with the cars, coinsidence or is their value when complete just too good to turn down when somebody comes running with a bag of cash.

Hi Brian.
It would seem that of the 7 that are on the road.

One owner has discovered that he enjoys building cars so much he wants to build another and needs to sell his De Dion to finance the next project....Is that right Mike?

One owner has fallen in love with the shape of the Daytona Coupe and wants one of those....Is that right PLOD?

One has gone as far as he can go with Cobras and is now considering other options.....Is that right Rob?

One has considered selling and having another one with slightly different spec....Is that right Paul?

Two are running them .......As you do!

One hasn't picked it up yet....Tomorrow for that one.

The Dax demonstrator isn't quite registered yet so doesn't count.:thumb:

[roll control]

Originally Posted by dave

One has gone as far as he can go with Cobras and is now considering other options.....Is that right Rob?

Here's how it is. I have now owned two Cobra's, both Dax's. I owned my first one for some time, really enjoyed it, showed it, won shed loads of awards with it and so on. It was a very nice car indeed. However, there were certain things I didn't like about it and if I had of had the choice, would have changed them. Problem was, the things I wanted to change were inherrant build things taht were either too expensive to do or just impossible. So, I made a decision to have a new one built by Dave.

Those that have seen my Cobra will agree (I hope) that it is well built and looks wonderful. The paint job is not to everyones taste but that's ok. Individual its called. The De Dion went on the road early June. Since then I have used it every weekend and plenty in the week too, evening runs out etc...etc... The performance is so much better than the previous car due to it being a 383 stroker in comparison to a standard 350 in the previous car. The major improvement is in the road handling due to the De Dion chassis, camber comp & De Dion rear etc.. It is sooooooo much better than the standard chassis. I have used the Cobra loads indeed.

The one thing I regret is only having a tonneau cover and no soft top. No big deal I suppose as I got used to getting wet this year. The weather never really put me off too much. However, I have now owned what I consider to be one of the best Cobra's around (IMHO), with excellent performance and all the trimmings but I feel the need to be able to go faster, much faster. I think I have 'got used' to the cars performance and in all honesty doesn't 'do it' for me now. I don't know why.

Now, should I have advertised the car, I may have been fortunate enough to have sold it for a reasonable amount, maybe, if lucky, above £25k. I may not have been so lucky either, and may have had a car on my hands that I couldn't have sold for a long time or would have had to have sold it at a price way below its value. I was presented with the opportunity to sell the car for £37k to a gentleman with pots of cash lokking for a 'nice' Cobra. Interestingly enough, he doesn't particularly like the colour or the way it 'sparkles' (heavy metal flake) but thinks the car is very well built and finished off and is 'different' to the norm. If the paint had of been 'toned down', he would have given me £40k for it.

So there you go. I now have the opportunity to buy or build something much faster. I consider myself lucky to be in the position i'm in. Whatever I buy/build, I will remain on this forum and will be at the shows.

Rob

[Purple AK]

Golden opportunities don't come along everyday, and I'm sure most of use given the chance would have ripped his arm off :thumb: Good Luck with the next project, Which Is?

[V8 BJC]

Good luck to you Rob :thumb: - I would have done the same as you. I think most would.
I would probably be visiting Dave the following week and banking the difference
You wanna go faster - Maybe you should join NASA



Dave - Good to know the reasons are all positive. One correction to your post though. I do not run mine - I just spend my life taking the dash on and off and replacing those voltage regulator thingys. Just kidding!!

I love my car and would need a big bag of money to part with it - and then it would only be to have another car spec'd by myself - and to get a car with only 1 row of weather gear studs

On the regulator problem - At Donnigton - Wilf mentioned using some insulating material to cover all of the wiring to stop it touching the heater. What is the best stuff to use?

[mclark]

Brian,

Dave's answer for me is spot on, I loved building the de dion and was lost for things to do once it was on the road. Yes, i know it needs painting but that was (is) the easy bit, I was going to pay someone to do that .

I've been lucky enough to find someone (Grant) who wanted a car unpainted so he now has a project to do.

And yes, I needed to sell the de dion to buy the Ultima :thumb: but I know I'll be building another de dion very soon.

Hat off to Dave too for all the help and advice he gave me all the way, I'm sure the car would not be as good as it is without his Sunday morning call.

[V8 BJC]

Hi Michael

Are you building the Ultima to sell on before building another Cobra?

Can I get my name down for a ride when it is finished

[wilf]

Brian - if you only have reasonably heavy gauge polythene sheet, - two layers, that will do. I was talking about insulating sheets I used many years ago in induction motor windings (and I mean BIG induction motors - the kind you could stand up inside).

Rob - it is nice to see Cobras selling for better (proper) money - there are aspects to the "kit car" market that annoy me, such as their ludicrously low valuations at resale time - you could indeed be a "market maker". Well done.

Any sale for less than the sum of the cost of the parts plus a reasonable allowance for build labour is devaluing the market. Too many folks sell their creations short.

You saw it here first.

[roll control]

Originally Posted by Purple AK

Golden opportunities don't come along everyday, and I'm sure most of use given the chance would have ripped his arm off :thumb: Good Luck with the next project, Which Is?

Not sure yet Chris but I can assure you that whatever it is, it will be blisteringly quick :thumb: . I will, of course, keep you all posted.