Aren't A610s fantastic

[BIG_MVS]

That is'nt a huge market! and thats why the price of the car wont go up, its always going to be classed as a budget supercar no matter how rare.
Still love them though

I disagree, A110's were available for around 8-10k 10-15 years ago now look at them.

Mk2 Ford Escorts for god's sake!!!

Anyway so who has bought the cut and shut

[stephendell]

The market is pretty poor at the moment.

As you may know the last 5 A610's that have sold in the last month or two have been at £4750 (private sale scarlet) , £4500 (private sale scarlet recorded), £5495 (dealer scarlet) , £8500 (ebay private blue) & £6300 (ebay private scarlet recorded). None of these are re-sales, they are all unique cars.

That is'nt a huge market! and thats why the price of the car wont go up, its always going to be classed as a budget supercar no matter how rare.
Still love them though

I disagree, A110's were available for around 8-10k 10-15 years ago now look at them.

Mk2 Ford Escorts for god's sake!!!

Anyway so who has bought the cut and shut

Better start looking if i've only got 10yrs to find one
I would like nothing more than to be wrong, i think they should be worth way more than they are

The market is pretty poor at the moment.

As you may know the last 5 A610's that have sold in the last month or two have been at £4750 (private sale scarlet) , £4500 (private sale scarlet recorded), £5495 (dealer scarlet) , £8500 (ebay private blue) & £6300 (ebay private scarlet recorded). None of these are re-sales, they are all unique cars.

How was the first one so cheap?

[stephendell]

Paint needed TLC

For comparison a really clean GTA Atmo recently sold for £6K+ and Le Mans values seem to be holding the best at £12K+

It's the Le Mans which makes no sense to me. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this just a GTA V6 Turbo with wide arches, tyres that are technically too large (designed by a marketing not engineering) with less power than a standard GTA V6 Turbo.

I'm not being critical of them and clearly their rarity value is what justifies the price but I just don't get it.

The simple fact is that buyers want to pay as little as possible and sellers want the money more than the cars they are selling. As long as that goes on the inevitable market force is that prices stay low.

Threads like this probably don't help when we talk about cars going for less than £5K as than then becomes the perceived value of an average car.

So what do other people find the general perception of their cars is. My car is new to me and I am always being asked "what's it worth" my reaction being "how much do you think". Now people don't want to insult you but the values given have been no lower than £10K and one guy who should know better guessed £20K.

Of course when anyone is considering buying one of these, they research how much others have sold for or are asking and base their valuation on that. It doesn't help when Clarkson says he's been taken for a donkey paying £8500 for one of the best examples in the country.

Overseas values of these cars are more in line with what I would expect for such an exotic piece of motoring history - why is that?

[stephendell]

Yes the Clarkson effect certainly hasn't helped!

That really was a very nice car, concours winner at Donington 2005. Used to belong to Gary Mains and he paid about the same as Clarkson did when he bought it originally. Shame they didn't use one of the recorded cars if they had to...

The Le Mans is a strange one. The price guides suggest a 20% premium over the GTA but in reality it's more like 300-400%

As you say the values hold strong because the owners are not prepared to sell them for any less than they bought them for. Although the 610 is nearly as rare as the Le Mans, the Le Mans owners are normally real enthusiastics who have wanted one for years and these cars just don't end up as cheap p/exs or being bought by someone who just liked the look of the car but didn't know what it was, as can happened with the A610.

The A610 is a better car but the Le Mans does have something and I'd swap my A610 for one.

In France the values of the two cars are much closer, but the Le Mans isn't such a rare car in LHD.

Also Clarkson hasn't ridiculed one and driven it into a wall yet...

[BIG_MVS]

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/559969.htm

Sold, not sure what for? £14k maybe?

I agree a Le Mans is a GTA with a bodykit, but they are the best looking of all Alpines in my opinion.

The GTA is the bargain at the moment, ebay cars are selling for £1500-£3000 although these probably all need work of some description.

I agree a Le Mans is a GTA with a bodykit, but they are the best looking of all Alpines in my opinion.

What he said... the LeMans is by far and away the prettiest of all the GTA variants, with the cleanest lines and beefiest "look". The A610's too "busy" IMO and while being a much better car, it's very true that most people start off liking a car cos of the way it looks and go from there.

GTAs for £1500 make me weep. I can't imagine that they can be any good at that price. When I was running my GTAs, I took the view that the car had to be running perfectly - otherwise there was no point it it.

Personally, I really don't like the look of the Le Mans but the prices they command just goes to show what I know.

In any case, even the Le Mans is a great car but my main objection to them is that the larger tyres are not an engineered selection - just a whim of a marketing department.

GTAs for £1500 make me weep. I can't imagine that they can be any good at that price. When I was running my GTAs, I took the view that the car had to be running perfectly - otherwise there was no point it it.

Personally, I really don't like the look of the Le Mans but the prices they command just goes to show what I know.

In any case, even the Le Mans is a great car but my main objection to them is that the larger tyres are not an engineered selection - just a whim of a marketing department.

larger tyres????

[stephendell]

What Richard is pointing out is that both cars (GTA & Le Mans) should have 255 section rears so the tyre width at the rear is the same.

The fronts are 205 section instead of 195.

The wheels are slightly wider front and rear but the offset and deep dish makes them appear much more so.

Problem is most GTA owners can't find (or afford) the 255 rears for the standard wheels, whereas the ones for the Le Mans are relatively cheap.

The Fast Lane road test for the Le Mans was very complimentary regarding the track width changes

'The slightly wider front wheels and tyres have given the steering some extra feel, which I like, and there is a little extra bite on turn in which is also good. The straight GTA would occasionally tend to plough on a little before the boost came in to neutralise it all, even when you weren't looking to go particularly quickly, but now there is a crispness which is most rewarding. There is more feel of the road too. The weight at the wheel varies as the car rides the tarmac, and when you really get the power on there's a delightful writhing at the finger tips. This, if anything, makes the car feel alive, and although it still needs to be treated with respect, there's probably enough stiction now to shift the edge of the envelope beyond most people's recognised bravery threshold'.

£7K was quite a lot for a kit & wheels but as some people on here will be able to testify it's not really possible to do it properly for any less yourself.

Considering the monies invested and condition H17 GTA was a relative bargain and I understand the first viewer snapped it up.

Hopefully we will see it soon at a show...

Paint needed TLC

For comparison a really clean GTA Atmo recently sold for £6K+ and Le Mans values seem to be holding the best at £12K+

.............I know it wont be an original from the factory but something went right for a change LOL

si21 Its about time something went in my favour

Paint needed TLC

For comparison a really clean GTA Atmo recently sold for £6K+ and Le Mans values seem to be holding the best at £12K+

.............I know it wont be an original from the factory but something went right for a change LOL

si21 Its about time something went in my favour

Well sort of

[quote="simonsays74
larger tyres???? [/quote]

I'll hold my hands up to getting my facts wrong however the only Le Mans I have driven certainly had wider tyres than that. The car was OK in the dry other than the steering was over heavy and lost sensation but you could take up surfing as a hobby in the wet as the aquaplaning was so bad. The cat probably only made it look less powerful on paper.

The one that has just sold for £14K is a bargain considering the amount of time and money that has probably been spent on it.

I always felt that the GTA/A610 was a long distance grand tourer which should have understated elegance rather than the fat boy custom car image the Le Mans gave. Down to personal taste I guess.

Talking about GT capability, my most memorable journey in a GTA V6 Turbo was driving Le Mans to Budapest leaving Le Mans at 8pm stopping only twice for fuel and ariving in Budapest for breakfast for 6am the following morning. Over 1000 miles in 10 hours, not all of it motorway. It's the only journey I ever managed to get the car up to its top speed