ebay 403 sans engine

[Des]

There's a 403 on ebay at the moment, been relisted already, perhaps the price £3750 is a little steep, it was advertised some time ago, if I remember correctly with an engine / box ready to fit at 10K ish, so it appears the engine went separately. Described as bodywork ready for paint, all chassis welding done, needing interior. I'm nearly tempted to make an offer although it is very far away from me. My 403 is complete but has been waiting many years for me to fit the nosecone, using this other car to 'reshell' mine could greatly speed things up, I would then finish up with a car that has been welded, to what extent or standard I don't know, against persisting with my own, which needed negligible welding. I don't suppose anyone here is familiar with this car, maybe knows whether it's had a few small patches skilfully let in, or huge plates tacked on to hide the rot from the MOT man. I hope I'm not being too critical, but I did make extensive arrangements last year to purchase a car glowingly described, only to return empty handed after being introduced to a complete and utter shed.
This ebay car, I suppose, could be a reasonable candidate for a 'different' engine / box, although, purchase £3750, Paint, could be give or take a couple of grand £5000, Interior retrim easily swallow another £5000, getting an alternative engine in would likely account for another £5000.
So, conservatively, getting on for £20K for a nice but very unoriginal car, what does a good 403 fetch these days?

[dave dale]

Des wrote
>>So, conservatively, getting on for £20K for a nice but very unoriginal car, what does a good 403 fetch these days?>>

Des, there are 3 pricey aerodynes for sale at the moment. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Bristol 401 (328 BMW/Bristol engine) For Sale (1949) on Car And Classic UK at £42500 ( GBP )
Bristol 401 for sale, classic cars for sale uk (Car: 81230)
at £ 41000
BRISTOL 403 SALOON on eBay (end time 08-Apr-10 10:18:41 BST) £40000

Dave Dale.

[RGSchmitt]

Hi all -

I am interested in this 403 (http://tinyurl.com/yl3y38m) as a project
to send to New Zealand (by Barry Leitch, who restored my Frazer
Nash). It's very likely we would install a 6 cyl Triumph engine for
practical use, with no alterations that would prevent a later Bristol
engine replacement.

If anyone is familiar with this car, I would welcome your
thoughts/opinions, either on the forum or to me directly
(bsbrbank@pacbell.net). Or if anyone can inspect the car, I'd be
glad to provide eventual use of the finished Bristol in NZ for
any/all helpers! Or use of my Imperial in Los Angeles (starting with
a full tank of gas). I can call you also to discuss findings.

Thanks!

Bob Schmitt (Burbank)

[Des]

Ah Dave, I'm a little out of touch with Aerodyne values, I was thinking 20K ish would buy a good one, are these 40K cars selling at that price? They certainly look very good.
Bob, that's the very car I referred to earlier, It's 300 miles from me, otherwise I would have been all over it already, (maybe one of my clients in the North will summon me soon, I could make a detour). It's impossible to determine condition from pictures, the subjects can appear to be far better, or even far worse.
I have been told of another engineless 403 nearer home, but is said to need welding, on hearing the terms 'engineless' and 'need welding' I can't help but picture something that has sat derelict for who knows how long, I imagine it to be some time since good sound cars were robbed of their engines.
I'm going to give myself a day off tomorrow, pull the covers off my car and contemplate the exposed frontal steelwork, and then the nosecone sitting alongside, and, as always consider my options, agonise as to whether I should just murder the thing together to get it back on the road asap, put it off until later in the hope I will have time to do it properly, (been doing that for 5+ years), or sell the whole bloody lot. Option 1 is most likely, Option 3 is not going to happen.

[RGSchmitt]

Hi Des,

"...put it off until later in the hope I will have time to do it
properly, (been doing that for 5+ years)..."

There's much truth in the saying: "The best is the enemy of good." or
as in its many translations and paraphrases, We all need to complete
our projects and enjoy them!

Bob

[Des]

"The best is the enemy of good."
Very appropriate thanks, I shall print that out and put it up on the workshop wall.

[Andy Bernard]

With my PFW hat on, the original quote in French by Voltaire ("La Bégueule"
(1772)) is, "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien." It is commonly translated as,
"The perfect is the enemy of the good," although it actually means "The
better is the enemy of the good."

It's a concept than can cause a great deal of animated discussion - should
you settle for something that is not as good as it could be in order to move
on, or strive for a really excellent job? I think I'd worry if I saw this
quote where anyone was working on my car....

Apologies for going off topic....

Cheers

Andy Bernard