1965 Barracuda: What's It Worth?

Early A-body prices are really low, even for a restored car....most of the time they are sold way less than what's invested. Nice car, I would guess it would sell around 8k

people need to realize , the Mopar market ( collector car market), like the hog, corn, real estate etc, markets run a cycle. we are in a down cycle and have been since the "almost" depression of 2009 ( or when ever they decided it started!?). prices for our cars probably will go up sometime in future. maybe not? generally the up end cars,.... the hemi cudas, the m code runners, maxi's.. etc go up first and this eventually brings up the value of the rest. the less desirable models rise last. i.e. early A's!!????
problem arises when someone needs, or wants to sell off a car they have invested money and or work in. doesn't matter what they have invested obviously. it hurts! like they say, our hobby is a hobby and hobbies cost money. hard for anyone to make a business out of a hobby, no matter what your hobby is! ask people in the horse business? long list here of " hobby" businesses????
hopefully, we never get in a postion where we HAVE to sell off one of our cars, and especially at a loss!
the best way to protect ourselves is, NEVER pay more for a project than the sum of its parts are actually worth!! and don't tell yourself that rusted beatup fender lets say is worth $500!! when ya know most people wouldn't give you $100 or enev make an offer..... for it!??
if you do buy a "builder", then buy it for its worth as parts, figure YOU had better be able to do %95 of its work yourself!!! otherwise 95% of the time you WILL have more in it than it will ever bring?????
if you buy a done car, buy it for what the current market actually is, in your area. hard to establish, feebay is poor, auctions are poor ( too much BS goes on there). it takes more than a few "comparable" sales to indicate the market. and there is so much variance in condition of even "restored" cars. and people "wear the value of their cars" on their sleeve!!!! "barn blind" is another way to describe it.
I guess I get amazed at people trying to buy a car on feebay with pics!!???? or off pics PERIODS!!!???? and how can anyone give a good estimate of value on here UNLESS they are familiar with that particular car??? we like to try to help, but.......
for those that have "been there. done that" all this is not news, but maybe for the guys with not that much time invested in the hobby, maybe food for thought.

BrianT said:

Yep, let the market decide what it's worth.



It's a small group that's looking for a restored first generation Barracuda. Some people love them, some people think their ugly.



Those are dealers who are asking way too much and have probably been sitting on those cars for a year or more waiting for some drunken buyer to come in.

Whenever someone asks me how much my car is worth I always tell them "about half of what I've put into it" It's just a cold hard reality. Anyone who is into A bodies thinking they're gonna make money is just fooling themselves. This is a hobby and like any other hobby, it costs money.

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I fully agree about the dealer aspect...but they sure stick to their guns on the prices and so do a lot of the private owners/sellers. It took me two years to finally get the one I just bought...the owner had two issues...nostalgia and thought he had a gold mine.
Norm

I just saw a white 66 on mecum auto auction sell for 18500...

I can't seem to find pics of it though.

I hate to say it but I must agree with all the stated above. I am on my second early a body barracuda. The first a 66 done up for street class 1/4 mile racing and driving ran low 12's before being ran into one day coming home from the track in the rain. I had just built a 8 3/4 rear for it getting ready to make it go faster to move up a class. The insurance company for the fool that hit me and I battled over the worth of the car. Only thing that saved me was all the receipts for everything I put into the car. They finally paid me 10k for it. Still less than I felt it was worth. My current project a 65 formula s is work in motion as it is a street car and runs well. Has full mechanical restoration already done and invested almost 8k already. I just spent 210 on a aluminum radiator to install as soon as the weather cooperates, which may be next spring in Chicago! However I am still looking at 7-8 k at least in body and paint work to finish her! Is she worth that much money???? Who cares as she is my baby and I love her, two pumps of the gas pedal and varoom varoom !! I go to shows all the time, Midwest Mopar Club rarely see another early a Barracuda and people love my baby! The big rear window glass and its motor dressed like the original 273 makes others remember when they saw one or drove in one! TO me that's all that counts, I also have many who say leave it alone and keep it original looking. I laugh and know down the road it will get body and paint as it is just a hole I throw money into!!!

65Cudalover

I agree with 65cudalover, what counts is what has meaning, importance, value, whatever .... to US not anyone else.
the $$ issue arises when we have or decide to sell or dealing with an insurance co... stated value is the way to go on ins.

dynodonn said:

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If I were you Don, I wouldn't sell it.. Unless you wanna sell it to me! There's no other car like it. Especially a low mileage clean example of yours, and a formula S. It's one of the most unique cars ever made. I've never seen another one driving around. Mines a junky 5/10 and every single time I take it out, i get strangers asking me about it. I've never had any car that got this much attention... I had a couple come up to me last weekend and ask if they could take pics of my car as I was coming out the grocery store. They took photos for 5 minutes straight. I was ready to go, but I was patient enough to stand there with my hands full of groceries while they took probably 50 photos. Again, My car is no where near perfect, but people freak out when they see it.

If I were you, I'd just maybe get some new wheels.. The current wheels aren't bad, but it would totally refresh the look of your car and since you have the big bolt pattern, there's a lot of options for you to choose from.. just my $0.02.

I would not sell it... I've had mine since 1973 (I'm the 2nd owner)... People are always coming up to me asking questions and/or telling me that LONG ago... They had one themselves or knew someone who had one. These early Barracudas really stand out with that over sized rear glass... As Shane65 said... "I've never had any car that got this much attention..."
Hardly a week goes by without someone trying to buy it... I don't talk price... I just say "NOT FOR SALE"...

Don't sell it Dynodonn if you don't have to... (Your fender tag says it's a keeper) :cheers:
My 2 cents
Clif of Az