maschinenbau said:Wow. I just don't get it. They're cool and all, but barely $10k cool. And certainly not $40k cool. It's not even pristine. I'm starting to believe the money laundering theory.
If I had $40k to burn and there was a completely stock, unmolested AE86 available, I'd have bought it. This is like one of one in 2021.
JamesMcD said:If it still had the original paint job, without rust spots, and had been detailed, I guess it would have hit $100k, right?
Maybe whoever paid $40K thinks they'll detail the engine compartment and perform paint correction then sell it for $80K.
The Japanese "classic" car market is absolutely bonkers right now. I don't like basically any of the 80s or 90s JDM cars, but I can admit that most of them are far superior to their American contemporaries. However, I will never understand the appeal of the AE86, especially with how garbage all their engine options are. A cult cartoon hardly justifies this sale price.
In reply to 350z247 :
The AE86 was a Japanese MkII Escort. (There's even a compelling argument that the 4AGE is a copy/simplification of the Cosworth BDA)
If you think the AE86 market is bonkers, see what people are spending on Escorts. There are some in the 200-250k Euro range.
Some people go for the big bucks engine/drivetrain options available after 50 years of development, but some spend even more money for genuine BDA/BDG engines, ZF transmissions, Atlas axles, etc., to be period correct.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:I cut one up to build a Locost.
As did I.
As the AE86 climbs in value, I wonder if it wouldn't have been smarter to invest in it, instead of build the 7.
But.... to get the 86 I cut up, into the condition that it would need to be to be worth what my Locost is worth now, would cost as much as I spent to build the Locost, so it's a wash.
Until next year and the years after, as the AE86 begins to go stratospheric in value, and I eventually regret cutting one up.
Having driven both, the 7 is infinitely more fun.
In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
But if everyone else didn't cut up their AE86 they wouldn't be so valuable.
Similarly, 1991 240SX sold for $19k last week. It's very clean but also has 108k miles.
A good buddy of mine had a mint AE86 and he was kind enough to loan to me for a few days while my car was in service. While it looked super cool driving experience left much to be desired: 80's era flexy chassis, very modest power, old school live axle suspension etc. I agree with others that these are 10k cars...
Now about Escorts, this MK1 is a special one: https://retropower.co.uk/2019/02/05/gordon-murrays-mk1-escort/
Watch the YouTube series on it, they recently posted a driving video and it's simply sublime!
Also, BITD, Super Street's former AE86 project car lived with us for a bit.
j_tso said:In reply to SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) :
But if everyone else didn't cut up their AE86 they wouldn't be so valuable.
So, in essence, we're helping the industry out, by culling the herd.
You can thank me later (grin).
That's WAY too much money for a car that's really not that nice. There is some weirdness happening on BaT. A dealer bought a 93 Corrado on BaT for a bunch of money, tried to sell it for $29k for 18 months, ended up selling it to another dealer for $10, who sold it to a private individual. He ended up selling it on BaT a year later and the *original* dealer bought it back for $18,500.
#drift-tax. I remember when these were $5k in the 2000s and I couldn't afford one then, so I bought a TE72. Now the TE72s are going for $5-10k. If anyone's interested in an 82' TE72 wagon with 5spd, and 300k+ miles, ran when rescued from the scrap yard, and has been rotting in my mom's front yard for the last 15 years, I'd entertain bids starting at $25k. Which is really my loss as it'll obviously continue to increase in value.
Invest in C5s and other Corvettes as the drift culture realizes they are RWD and already "LS' swapped".
In reply to thashane :
Tsuchiya drove a C5 and said it was E36 M3, so that will probably never happen...
SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:Woody (Forum Supportum) said:I cut one up to build a Locost.
As did I.
As the AE86 climbs in value, I wonder if it wouldn't have been smarter to invest in it, instead of build the 7.
But.... to get the 86 I cut up, into the condition that it would need to be to be worth what my Locost is worth now, would cost as much as I spent to build the Locost, so it's a wash.
Until next year and the years after, as the AE86 begins to go stratospheric in value, and I eventually regret cutting one up.
Having driven both, the 7 is infinitely more fun.
At some point old cars are just old cars. In the moment few people consider that they're going to be collectible.
If I had all the 55/57 Chevs that me and my Dad cut up, scrapped or built race cars from I'd be a wealthy man right now
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Well the HOONIGAN bois bought a C5, and Falken has a drift vette, so I think they'll climb too.
In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :
Any auction. I was at a farm auction recently where two guys bid up a half-used 55-gallon drum of oil to more than it would cost to have a new one delivered.
Most 'car booms' are about recapturing the dreams of youth. In the early 2000s it was the Baby Boomers buying their dream cars from the 50-60s, and muscle car/classic prices soared. Now we're seeing the same with imports from the late 70s to the 90s as the Xers with $$ to spend hit that mid-life, and try to regain their youth by spending money.
Add inflation, and here we are...
Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to thashane :
Tsuchiya drove a C5 and said it was E36 M3, so that will probably never happen...
If it had the stock tire stagger drifters are going to hate that. Just going square is going to make them a lot happier.
In reply to docwyte :
I agree about the AE86 price. If that was a perfect, mint copy, okay, I can see it. What's a perfect Type R bringing these days? But it wasn't even a very good example....
Here's another AE86 that brought in (an also impressive) $24,500 in 2019.
Mr. Peabody said:SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:Woody (Forum Supportum) said:I cut one up to build a Locost.
As did I.
As the AE86 climbs in value, I wonder if it wouldn't have been smarter to invest in it, instead of build the 7.
But.... to get the 86 I cut up, into the condition that it would need to be to be worth what my Locost is worth now, would cost as much as I spent to build the Locost, so it's a wash.
Until next year and the years after, as the AE86 begins to go stratospheric in value, and I eventually regret cutting one up.
Having driven both, the 7 is infinitely more fun.
At some point old cars are just old cars. In the moment few people consider that they're going to be collectible.
If I had all the 55/57 Chevs that me and my Dad cut up, scrapped or built race cars from I'd be a wealthy man right now
I remember going to local stock car races back in the late 60s to early 70s where there were entire fields of '55 to '57 Chevys. Those poor things got beat to death. They were light for the time and had Chevy V8s. Perfect for racing. Who thought they would ever be valuable.
GCrites80s said:Pete. (l33t FS) said:In reply to thashane :
Tsuchiya drove a C5 and said it was E36 M3, so that will probably never happen...
If it had the stock tire stagger drifters are going to hate that. Just going square is going to make them a lot happier.
He also refused to turn stability control off 
My understanding of "US style" drift is that the cars are set up for heavy UNDERsteer, and they control drift angle not with weight transfer but horsepower and handbrake.
Every classic mania/myth is usually propped up by a large force of grift. I would bet good money that no real money changed hands in this "sale."
On another note, I worked on these things once in a while, way back when I worked on cars for money, right alongside the MKIII Supra (also known as Celica), while people were still driving them in the 1990s. Nobody wanted them, ever. They were completely undesirable, aside from being cheap. What changed?
When the market membership decides that features like a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive are exotic, amazing, and unique, regardless of 100-plus years of automotive manufacturing reality, there is no adding to the logic pool.
In reply to rustomatic :
I bought my first in the mid-90's, and came to love it enough I always owned at least one and as many as three at a time until I sold my last one last year, so I wouldn't say nobody wanted them in the 90's.
In the 90's the AE86 was beloved by both Puerto Rican and Irish car enthusiasts and many of them were built and cherished as rally cars, drag cars, and show cars/cruisers.
At the time, if you were an American on a tight budget looking for an affordable lightweight RWD car for amateur motor sports fun, the AE86 provided a very reasonable alternative to an Alfa Romeo, Datsun 510, Porsche 924, RX-7, English Ford Escort/Cortina, Miata, or Fiat twincam. It was cheaper and more readily available, with a similar driving experience and good aftermarket support. In college and shortly thereafter, I used mine for daily driving, autocross, track days, rally cross, TSD rally, and backroads hooning with only a change of tires.
What happened? Well, drifting and Japanese-influenced car culture became popular, and Initial D became popular, and the cars got older while being beaten-on, raced, drifted, and crashed. Lots of people these days love to try and shove all AE86 enthusiasts into a drift/tofu-delivery inspired box, which might be true for the majority, but there was a time when it was enjoyed by a small group of cheapskate car enthusiasts...ah...those were the days!
Value of that car only matters to the new owner
Pete. (l33t FS) said:My understanding of "US style" drift is that the cars are set up for heavy UNDERsteer, and they control drift angle not with weight transfer but horsepower and handbrake.
Back when drifting was still SR20 swaps in the majority I watched a US vs Japan Hot Version video where Tsuchiya and co. came to California. The American tuners said they set up their cars with toe out, that freaked the Japanese out. They were all "that's dangerous, don't do that!"
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