<VV> Re: Ahhh, Stingers on Ebay

[Bill Elliott]

This really isn't that different in the "other" marques. As an example, 
we all know what kind of insane money Shelby Mustangs bring. Well, 
Shelbys were rebodied as often as our (much rarer) Stingers. A few years 
ago, there was a dispute about a Shelby number. Two guys claimed it.

Guy #1 had the original Shelby body (complete with a pile of 
documentation). The car had been wrecked, the Shelby plate cut out, and 
junked. He had reclaimed the body and repaired it. I think he even had a 
clear title with the original VIN (that matched Shelby production records).

Guy #2 had no documentation, but had the welded on Shelby data plate on 
an obviously incorrect body.

The "powers that be" got together and essentially declared the rebodied 
car to be the "real thing" and the actual body with the documentation to 
be essentially worthless. A stunning (but not really surprising) decision.

Even in the ultra-high dollar cars (like the historic Ferrari racers) 
it's common to find out that every piece of the car is new... as is 
common with a "Pebble Beach" resto. The identity of the car transcends 
its actual composition, much like Seth's grandfather's hammer...

Since there is really no way to trace a Corvair engine as original to 
any car, I don't really see that as being very important to the 
originality of a Stinger. I do think that documented original cars will 
always be worth a huge premium over rebodies (but then even that is 
questionable... if a rebody is done correctly, even the current owner 
might not know his car isn't original. I think the number of actual 
non-rebodied cars is tiny... ) The YS plate (and the position on the 
Registry) alone is worth significant money... the YS plate with a 
matching VIN and/or build plate even more... with the actual Stinger 
equipment adding only fractional value (since there are so many cars out 
there running "Stinger" equipment.)

I'm in the market for a Stinger (or Stinger "kit") myself (please 
forward any leads!) but I'm not interested in paying anywhere close the 
sort of money the seller is asking for this particular car (the $18k 
Ebay bid isn't even close).

Bill

Jim Burkhard wrote:

> Unfortunately, the main thing that really defines a Yenko car is a 
> little stamped "YS plate" that the average high school shop student 
> could knock out by the hundreds.  That's the problem with many 
> Stingers, unless there is REALLY good documentation that the whole (or 
> majority) of the car is legit.
>
> Since for many years you needed a Stinger to SCCA race a Corvair, a 
> lot of Stingers were (ahem) "rebodied" after they were wrecked on the 
> track.  Oh yeah, the engine was changed at some point too. As long as 
> it has the magic number plate though, it's a "Stinger".  :-)  Now, if 
> you have paperwork to prove that the VIN matches the original invoice 
> and the hidden VIN matches and the engine # matches and the varied 
> bits are all there, that is a different story.
>
> Just remember, a lot of these cars had spirited racing lives in which 
> people didn't take too much care preserving the original "body" (i.e. 
> car, since Corvairs are unibodies), nor in keeping all the original 
> Stinger bits original. These cars were bought and sold to be raced and 
> not as collectable bits of automotive history. Paying a big premium 
> for such a "nothing left but the numberplate" car is kinda silly I 
> think, but I guess if they some guy after you will as well (or you 
> just really want the car!) then what does it matter...  I'm not sure 
> all newish Corvair folks speculating a Stinger purchase realize this, 
> though.
>
> best regards
>
> Jim Burkhard
> (would be very happy with a real Stinger, "rebodied" Stinger, or just 
> blame fake Stinger, as long as it runs & handles nicely!)
>
>
>
> bmooers at farniente.com wrote:
>
>> I am curious why / what the interest level would be in a Yenko 
>> Corvair that is missing the Yenko engine? Wouldn't a "real"  (to use 
>> the words of the person listing the car) Yenko - still have the Yenko 
>> engine still in it? Am I missing something here? It is at 
>> $18k.......facinating.
>>
>> BTW, there is a nice 1968 Red Corvair V8 listed that actually has 
>> only 4 cylinders for those of you who may be interested.
>> Ahhh...ebay.
>> ___________________________
>> Bruce C. Mooers
>
>


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