Ain't Life Unfair

[REN TIN TIN]

Was surfing through E-Bay the other day. There was a 1963 R4 being advertised as a runner with no 'obvious' rust and needing work on the brakes currently bid at $100.00. (Would snap it up except it's in Albury).
Also being advertised was a Dinky Toys 1:43 scale model R16 currently bid up to US$61.00 (around 115 Aussie dollars).
How is it that a full size running (arguably collectible) car is worth less than kids toy car.

I know this is an auction site and the bids for the R4 could well exceed the model R16 but it's neck and neck at the moment.

Have we got it all wrong.
a_drink

cheers!

 

[Simon]

Yep, one of the best investments would be to have led a sheltered childhood and not run all those toy cars down driveways and drainpipes, attacking them with screwdrivers and staging mock safety exercises between cars and a housbrick dropped from a great height!

There are a million other equivalent age full scale R4's to choose from. Whereas the numbers of Dinky (especially French Dinky) cars is probably in the thousands maximum. Also the Dinky takes up much less space and requires no maintenance or registration costs!

As one who has never initially paid more than $50 for an R4, I know that costs can soon mount up. Just overhauling the brakes alone can double the cost of the car without doubling the value. Also the claim of no "obvious" rust I find amusing. Especially as I know R4's intimately, there isn't much too them, but the rust bug can hide well. However, as I've proved with my van, they can be made servicable and capable of long trips with a minimum expense. Making it look good takes a bit more expense though!

 

[BogMaster]

That R4 doesn't look too bad....what is the part situation like, Simon.

 

[Simon]

I've not had a look at the Ebay R4, but any R4 looks OK in a photo!

I've never had problems with parts, when I did my car up, wow, nearly seven years ago everything was available, even from the Renault dealer. As it hasn't needed many parts since, despite being used a fair amount it is hard to say now. But finding decent driveshafts has been a problem, the Spanish recond ones don't last long.

The problem with R4's particularly Aussie based ones, is rust They rust from the inside out,(on Euro imports they rust from outside in so you can see it) so what looks like a good floorpan underneath could be wafer thin in the box sections like the chassis rails. The AUS spec chassis is also reinforced at the front end so the double skin can hide rust too. Really you have to look at any R4 closely, even a rusted give-away can be expensive if you intend to refurbish it. If you have a sound chassis it makes things a whole lot easier!