Help me price my 76 Firebird..

[Speed_racer]

Really love this car, but just dont have a need for it anymore, so I'm considering selling my 1976 Firebird Espirit.

What I have.

1976 Pontiac Firebird Espirit
Power Brakes
A/c
Power Steering
4.1L Inline-6
66xxx miles
Hood level fixed (you can tell its slightly off in pics)
and front bumper ends tucked in (you can see in pic they stuck out a lil)
Car is all original, to the best of my knowledge.
Interior has small blemishes, if wanted to bring this car to showroom quality, all it would need is the engine bay cleaned, and possibly a new interior. Interior looks great, but you know what I mean.

Runs, starts, and drives as it would off of the showroom floor. Steering/pickup is extremely responsive, I would trust to drive this car cross-country as it sits.

Here's a pic:

I know they say 22-35k at auction, but I'd like to be fair... hoping at least $15k is reasonable...

What do you guys think?

 

[87manche]

1 dollar!
seriously though, have you checked on ebay for similar auctions?

 

[codyyy]

Beautiful car, don't see many Esprits anymore. $15k sounds reasonable on that car, although the 6-cyl might drive the price down a little. Don't take my word on it, it is a 76 which is a nice year to have. Even though there are tons more Trans Ams than Firebirds in those years, for some reason Esprits just don't bring as much money as they should. In 76 there were a little over 22k Esprits made, as opposed to over 110k Trans Ams made, from the info I got at Texas Trans Ams. Can't really help much but $15k does sound very reasonable for the condition the car is in. I like the chrome rocker panels and the rims, don't see those much at all, and your engine is rare too, although it won't help much at this point. I guess it depends on how much you really want for the car that you think is reasonable is what I'm trying to say.

 

[Speed_racer]

Done a LOT of ebay checking, although I havent seen a 6cyl go across the "block"...

Which is why I'm a bit concerned to put it on there, unless I set reserve.

Seems like a lot of guys want the v8, sure, but its rare to find a car thats 100% original like this one, down to the hub caps, yanno?

 

[Speed_racer]

Beautiful car, don't see many Esprits anymore. $15k sounds reasonable on that car, although the 6-cyl might drive the price down a little. Don't take my word on it, it is a 76 which is a nice year to have. Even though there are tons more Trans Ams than Firebirds in those years, for some reason Esprits just don't bring as much money as they should. In 76 there were a little over 22k Esprits made, as opposed to over 110k Trans Ams made, from the info I got at Texas Trans Ams. Can't really help much but $15k does sound very reasonable for the condition the car is in. I like the chrome rocker panels and the rims, don't see those much at all, and your engine is rare too, although it won't help much at this point. I guess it depends on how much you really want for the car that you think is reasonable is what I'm trying to say.

I'd really like 15k, or more.... But never sold a vehicle on eBay, and don't want to go thru all that, and have it not sell, yanno....

plus, how the hell do you do shipping?? lol

 

[codyyy]

Try looking for similar cars and base your price off a few different cars. Collectorcartraderonline.com is a good place to go for reasonable prices on these cars, or you can check some Firebird forums for more advice such as TransAmCountry or 78TA, maybe FirebirdNation too might be able to help.

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Man, I dunno brutha.

You rarely see the 1976 T/A's going for $15K. I think because it's a 6 cyl and non-performance, the demand is gonna be pretty limited. Seems to me that to the right person, $8K would be in the ballpark.

Your best bet is to get on the Pontiac/Firebird forums and toss it out there to the enthusiasts.

Good Luck! I hope to hear I'm wrong and you get big bucks!

 

[codyyy]

I kinda wouldn't suggest eBay on this, at least for that car. When I got my Esprit I was lucky enough to find it close enough to my house just to call the local towing company and have them tow it. Although the guy never mentioned half of what was wrong with the car, so instead of me selling the car I'm doing my own partial resto on it. But anyway, usually there are certain towing companies designated for classics that safely haul cars, although I'm sure it's expensive at the buyer's expense.

 

[codyyy]

What makes me think this car is worth the $15k is that it's an all-original survivor, probably a southern car all it's life that was built in the Van Nuys, CA plant (the "better" plant from what I've heard), and the fact that most times when it's older for a second gen, it's usually worth more.

 

[codyyy]

But I could be wrong, it's hard to price an Esprit IMO.

 

[Speed_racer]

truthfully, they could hop in it and drive it home if they wanted, lol.

posted it on the performanceyears forums.. asking 17900, ill see what kind of response I get from there.

i guess craigslist wouldnt hurt.

 

[codyyy]

I could go ask the people on the other forums I'm on for what they think too, they aren't very biased considering at least 85% of them own T/As.

 

[Speed_racer]

lets hear it

 

[codyyy]

http://www.transamcountry.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1199

 

[IXNAYXJ]

I can't blame you for aiming high on your price initially, but I think you are reaching pretty damn far. There have been a few '76-'78 Esprits go through the collector car auctions in the last couple of years, and they ALL sold for under $7,000.

Sports Car Market is where I'm getting the information from, a magazine/website published by Keith Martin. You might also want to check out Hemmings Motor News; there are several mid-70s Firebirds (400 ci cars) currently available for $4,000-$6,000. Not as clean as yours, perhaps, but V-8 and #s matching none the less.

Good luck to you, but as someone in the industry (I attend car auctions 3-4 days a week across the country, including the big ones like Barrett, Gooding, Christies, Silver, RM, etc.), I'd say your shooting about $10,000 too high. Ebay is probably your best shot; you might get lucky and find someone who falls in love because it's the same car his grandmother used to have or something.

Not trying to piss in your cheerios, just wanting to be realistic.

-----Matt-----

 

[motorcityxj]

i am not one of those numbers matching all original nerd guys, though i do like second gen camaros best which most think i am crazy. I would take a 70 1/2 rs with the split bumper over a 69 of equal value, i dig second gens the most of all camaros.

Nowe you have a firebird and a 4.1 I6, i think to get good money your gonna have to have it for sale FOR A LONG LONG time, and deal with lots of tire kickers who want to snatch it from you for a few grand, and talk trash. It looks great i just don't see the appeal execpt for the rare guy trying to vividly relive his past to the minor detail of the same engine, and NOT do the more common relive your past with the HIPO engine now that you are an old boomer with money and money to piss away.

Best of luck. You gotta find the nerdiest of nerdiest numbers matching guy, who would totally get off on having his exact car he had as a kid and would pay major premium for it.