micmak

Hi Guys, I went to see the Vitesse this morning. I now understand the seller’s desire to re-paint it. However, it is not bad as is. Not bad at all. There is an orange-peel effect in parts of the paint finish. The story is, the car was bought by the previous owner in the early 2000’s. It had been sitting since ’81. He started to strip it down to restore it. He moved from Ireland to Hungary, and had the car shipped there in pieces and boxes. He did some work there before moving to Spain a couple of years later, and he had the car shipped there, again in pieces. Then the poor guy got cancer, and decided to abandon his plans, having spent hours and hours of labour and effort, and about 15K in parts. He had the semi-restored car shipped back to Ireland where the current seller bought it. The seller is a car restorer. He wanted to finish it off and re-paint it because of the orange peel situation. He figured his asking price would be about €15K. The floors have been replaced, the door bottoms, sills, boot floor, all replaced. There is a new gearbox and a totally rebuilt engine, restored radiator. There are tons of receipts showing the parts purchased. The brakes and brake lines are all new. The car has not been driven since all the work was done aside from moving it from the storage unit to the garage and back again. The engine still needs to be run-in! The brakes are not yet bedded-in! The tracking has not been set at all yet. The tyres are brand new. New dashboard, door cards, carpets. He has the original seats in it right now, but will give me the other seats with the headrests if I want them. It is very close to being a new car. The seller was planning on spending big money on a new paint job, (hence his planned €15K asking price), and was thinking of making it a concours car. I asked what he would sell it for now as is. He said €9K!! I agreed to buy it. But I have to wait until I get my garage extended here at home. I hope to have a builder give me an estimate on the weekend. Meanwhile, he will keep the car in storage until I am ready. Given all I have read and all the information you kind fellows have given me, I think €9K for a car like this is amazing. That’s somewhere between £7½K and £8K. .....Mick.....

Hi Guys, Thank you Badwolf for sorting out the pics. Pete Lewis: Thanks for your comment. If the insurance valuation would put it around £14.5K, that’s almost €17K Euros. So his asking price of €15 or €16 is pretty much where it should be. Gary Flinn: Thanks to you too for your comments. The seller has the hubcaps, but to be honest, I’d like to put a set of alloys on later. A nice set can really add to the eye-appeal of almost any car. He originally talked about respraying it, but I think the current paint is ok. So that will hopefully knock the price down a little too. Obviously these pics are from different times in the car’s life. The first one has two spotlights while the last one has no spots. The first pic seems to have hubcaps, while the others do not. The car is for sale by a classic car restorer. He bought it partly restored, along with a pile of invoices and photos detailing the work that had already been done. He then worked on it bit by bit when he had time. I didn’t know he had this car until I mentioned, in passing, that I always wanted a Vitesse. Then he told me about it. He said that he wasn’t pleased with the paint finish, so he was hoping to respray it before selling. I have not seen the car in person at all yet – I hope to see it tomorrow, but I wanted to ask you guys if the asking price was reasonable. But from the pics, the paint finish looks pretty good to me. .....Mick.....

Oh!! OK, how about now? .....Mick..... Vitesse1 Vitesse2 Vitesse3 Vitesse4

I asked the seller if I could see the car and he agreed. He sent me a few pics too. He said that the hubcaps are back on since these pics were taken. Opinions, or comments please? Vitesse1 Vitesse2 Vitesse3 Vitesse4

Thanks Guys. Yes, the panel alignment is something that I always noticed about the Herald and Vitesse. With the whole front opening up as it does, I figured it kinda lends itself to easily be strained. And I looked at that alignment on every Herald or Vitesse I ever saw through the years. I have a DeLorean and a Corvette, so I am well aware of how panel alignment can make a car look almost as if it had been in a collision, and badly repaired. I’ll check out tcocirl as Colin suggested. I am actually located in Wexford not Dublin. I accidentally clicked Dublin when I was registering! .....Mick.....

Thanks Guys for all the comments. I think the asking price might be a bit too high. My problem is that I really don’t KNOW the Vitesse at all. I like them, but I don’t know them. I need to learn more about them. I will look around for a while and see what’s out there before making any decision. Thanks! .....Mick.....

Hi Folks, I am a newbie here! I have never owned a Triumph, but I always liked the Herald/Vitesse. I always hoped that someday, I’d get a Vitesse. Then unexpectedly last week I kinda stumbled upon one that will be for sale soon. It is a 1968 convertible Vitesse. It has been completely restored. I have seen pics of it in various states of restoration, and it looks like it had been completely stripped down, treated and rebuilt. The paintwork is not as good as the seller would like, so he is planning on a respray before he sells it. He will be asking somewhere in the region of €15K or €16K. My question to you guys is, how much would a good ’68 convertible Vitesse fetch? Is his asking price reasonable? I know nothing about these cars, but I hope to learn quickly. Any thoughts, suggestions or advice, please? Thanks. …..Mick…..