I take an exception to your comment. Have you really considered how much you will save on the body and paint for this car based on the fact it is rust free? Sure there might be a $30K version our there, but it needs floors or quarters or trunk pans or all the above. With body shop prices rising steadily that $20K difference can be eaten up real quick. And once all those repairs are done you have a “non-original” body. I saw the restoration pictures of the blue 428 Eliminator that sold at Barrett in 2013. The investment in sheet metal repairs must have been substantial.
As to not having the original engine, I don’t feel it affects big block cars as much as everyone thinks. How many times do big block cars go through auctions with the auctioneer stating “period correct engine”? I hear it more and more each year. Even if you discount them 10-15%, high end restorations still bring top dollar.
Lastly, a big item you failed to consider. This is the only known Red Eliminator ever made. There are no others. Even the black Eliminator that sold north of $200K had at least one other. Additionally, almost every option was checked on this Eliminator. Air conditioning, Power Windows, Tilt Wheel, AM/FM, Decor Group, Tinted Glass, Styled steel wheels, Console, Collapsible Spare and Traction-Lok Differential. All increase value.
So I would appreciate you considering all the facts before you make a statement labeling the car an “upside down project”.
I have to strongly agree w/ John. Comments like that clearly show the lack of investigation & education. The rising costs have impacted everything BIG TIME! I would love to have that Cat!! I am currently doing 2 Cats. One sunroof Eliminator that looks to need a lot of rust repairs- like 25K! the other is a very clean original 69 vert w/ minimal rust. It is a great pleasure taking the vert apart as most everything has never been touched by “monkeys”.
Seems like the “Faceplant” mentality of bashing anything and anyone has started to creep over to this site, sad.
We have access to the best Cougar people in the world, and their advice is free!
Reminds me a saying my mom told us kids- “If you don;t have anything nice to say, be still” (keep it to yourself)
Hey guys, it is okay to disagree. The whole idea of a discussion forum is to hear differing opinions where the subject matter is opinion based. What is not okay is to attack other members for having a different opinion. So let’s stick to talking about the car and avoid impugning the other posters.
My opinion is that for some cars, and this may well be one, you are really paying for a VIN number and a set of options. Everything above that is gravy. We have seen it happen when a Bugatti gets restored from little more than a title and a radiator cap. As the cars get older and less commonly available I think we are going to see more of that. Is there really such a thing as a GTE XR7-G or Eliminator parts car any more?
I’ve seen more than one person make this statement through the years and I disagree with it now as much as I did 15 years ago when I first heard it. Not having an original drive train is a very big deal. Especially with a big block. It’s one of the things that makes a car rare.
That said, the red eliminator is a cool car for sure. Whether it’s worth $50k isn’t for me to say. But I wouldn’t mind owning it.
Eliminator enthusiasm is at an all time high as of late and unfortunately so is bringing a project car over the finish line… When this Loaded 69 popped up the other day at an estate sale for under $40k I was ecstatic. The package deal also included 2 64 Cyclone piles and a 64 Comet wagon parts car. And then I got the pics of this 2 owner 30k original mile garage kept car… No thanks. Too bad, I was planning to do a video with Jerry Heasly, it would have been a fun one to unearth and hear the back story of why Grampa poked the cars away in 1974.
It also proves that the '69 Eliminators are selling and CAN bring money if they reach the right audience.
This is 9F91M563323. It was listed on FB Marketplace for $8500 in March. They put it on eBay in April and pulled $6700 for it.
In April 2021 it was purchased off of eBay for $3750.
Not a bad return for what boils down to a roller that comes with an engine and some parts, and torched shock towers >.<
*BTW ~ I’m told this one may also have a questionable history. A prospective buyer found a significant amount of green metallic paint in areas of the rear half of the unibody.
IMO, it’s really hard to say how much the paint color adds to the value. Realistically, that alone makes it 1 of an unknown - but certainly very small! - number built.
If it were a regular production color, how much would it be worth as a non-matching numbers Eliminator in the same condition?
Heck, we all know the drivetrain alone is worth $10k, depending on what all it comes with.
What’s a rust free CJ Eliminator roller that includes everything except the drivetrain worth? Hell, right now, you could probably sell '70 Eliminator CJ rollers all day long for $20k! So $25k is probably a more realistic value.
So that puts us at about $35k or so for a CJ Eliminator project. Is an additional $15k for the only known RED one too much of a premium?
Let’s look at it from the other end. What would a concours restored, fully loaded, RED '70 CJ Eliminator be worth? $150k seems low, considering some other regular-production-color CJ Eliminators have been auctioned for between $100k and 150k in the last decade or so. So let’s say… $175k at auction.
Tip to tail concours restorations are running $125k, plus or minus, depending on the details.
So a buy in of $50k + $125k restoration puts you right at my $175k hypothetical auction value.
As '70 Eliminator values and desirability continue to climb, the price on this one will seem more and more reasonable. IMO.
While I’m rambling, something else we should start thinking about / talking about is the potential value of Resto-Mod Eliminators being built out of real, factory Eliminators.
I know ~ BLASPHEMY! But hear me out.
IMO, the current increase in Eliminator demand is being driven by Millenials coming into their own. In the case of Eliminators, they have been appearing in various video games since the early 2000’s. Those “kids” are now in their 30’s. They are of an age where they are earning good money and have disposable income. And they want to buy their “dream car”…
But they are going to want it to drive like a beast, start on the first crank every time all the time, never break down, and handle like the ones in their video games.
Because of that, I think we are going to see a move away from “all original” restorations of Eliminators and more “resto-mod” Eliminators in the future.
I simultaneously loathe and yet look forward to seeing the first factory Eliminator resto-mod that goes to auction.
Truthfully, I’m surprised we haven’t yet seen a serious Pro-Tour Eliminator Clone go to auction yet!
Moms can be pretty darn smart. My mother had just about the same saying. Hers was “If you do not have anything good to say, then do not say anything at all”. That is pretty good advice and I still find myself using it often. Here is to mothers everywhere.
I must apologize to John B with my comment about the Red Eliminator. I did not mean to disparage the car- it is very cool and very rust free. My experience with taking a car like this to perfect is limited to my 70 SCJ that I took to BJ in 2013. With prices climbing, it may indeed be doable.
I too feel that I might have been a bit strong in my response to you. Do not beat yourself up, we get it. For the few of us on the “front lines” it sometimes hits too close. We sadly have to give owners the bad news of 50+ years.
I love these Cat & the passion level is very high. I was really aiming at "Faceplant’ mentality of late.
Just so sad about the vultures waiting for a mis-statement instead of helping… we were all "rookies’ once.
'70 w/ 351, 4-speed. Competition Blue, Blue Standard Interior. Project. Docs. In NE for $16k
Power Brakes, Power Steering, Console, AM Radio.
0F91M518201
Parked in 1981 due to smoking engine. Car is partially disassembled but complete. Rust in the floor and quarters.
Documentation includes: factory build sheet and original owner’s manual.
Located in North Bend, Nebraska
Good point, had not thought of that… Original Eliminators being desecrated will only drive up the price further by geezers rescuing them by taking them off the market and hoarding them away. When I had my dealers license we made a good business of buying Shelby’s and reversing the rear disc brake conversions, chrome engine parts and Din stereos. I still have boxes of Malory distributors and traction bars around here.
Hard to tell how big of a project this would be without seeing in person and getting it washed off and looking closely at it, but it’s an awesome color. I’d like to believe you could push it out, hit it with a pressure washer and it looks like it’s 1970 again.
Interesting discussion on FB regarding a fair price for the car.
