Dino 246 GT...Is it worth it?

NOPE.

$125K will get you a show quality GTS. I know of a couple out there right now at or below that number. GTs sell for less, 15% maybe.

Is there any way to confirm that the paint is original?

Are there service records?

Does the car have books and tools?

IS it otherwise unmolested?

There are about 100 questions you should be asking before you spring that kind of money for a Dino.

Find a mechanic with good hands on experience with Dinos. NOT THE ONE WHO CURRENTLY SERVICES THE CAR. Get him to thoroughly check the car.

If it's very nice, no rust, original everything with 33K on the clock, then I'd guess it's a $100K car. But that assumes it needs nothing, has everything, and that the original paint is in great condition.

I don't think patina adds value to these cars. Original paint is not necessarily a selling point.

$125K is over the top. I don't know what adjustments you have to make for the market where you are, but it can't be 25% premium over the market on the mainland.

Shawn? What do you think?

DM

 

Post pictures if possible, but seems high to me.

 

original paint would mean alot to me. i don't like over restored cars, and you can't replace originality. once it is redone, you can't go back.

the value of this car is unknown at this point, until we can see photos. if the car looks like it has been sitting outside for the last 30 years, even without rust, it would look completely different than if it was inside. i think the $125k number is ridiculous, however, you are talking an original owner who rode the market up and then back down. his car is unlike almost any around, why shouldn't it's rarity bring a premium? some guy just listed his dino in hemmings for $200k, he is crazy. the seller of the original car isn't that far gone. however, it all depends on what he has. there was a original owner car sold last year for a good market correct price, however, the original owner had long since discarded all the books, tools, and other items. if he hopes to get north of the $100k price, he better have something other than just originality to offer. if it has all of it's original goodies, i would be interested in the car, even if it was north of $100k.

 

Haven't you answered your own question?

 

The difference between a $100k Dino GTS and one for $125K lies in all of the "extras". Service records, warranty book, original manual and pouch with dusting cloth, all the original tools, spare wheel and tire, verifiable owner history, correct badging (no Ferrari anything on the car). GT's are discounted between $10K to $15k off a GTS.
Factory chairs and flares are also woth a couple of thou.
A $100k car should be cosmetically and mechanically perfect. Original paint and "patina" may be significant in a 1949 166M but not in a mass produced Dino.
It gets all the extra money up to $125k because it has the things needed for it to compete in a real concours.

 

Agree w/ the general comments of the others so far. Two caveats:
1) Prepurchase inspection is mandatory for your peace of mind, ESPECIALLY compression and leakdown tests; if it passes these, I would then drive the car and satify yourself that the performance seems to match the (hopefully) "no mech. problems found" report.
2) Be extemely skeptical if the PPI reports no rust. Since H2O + Italian car = iron oxide, it's more a matter of how much rust, how severe, where it is etc, than is there any or not. Has the car been in Hawaii for many years? We all know how much it rains there- does the seller imply that it was NEVER taken out in the rain? With 100% tropical humidity it's even more reason for skepticism.

 

Rain and humidity would not scare me as much as the salt laden tradewinds you get in Hawaii.

California is a great place for rust free cars. The only rusty cars you see here have lived within a 1/4 mile of the beach. But the rust on those cars is scary.