Oh, the Places You'll Go!
A Risk Case Study
The hardest part of my job is finding good cars for my inventory. If I go through a dry spell I’ll usually hop on Craigslist and have a look around. You’d be surprised at what you can sometimes find on there. Last December I came across an ad for what looked to be an unusually nice Karmann Ghia. Located just up the road in Tacoma, I emailed the seller for more info and pictures.
Over the course of our correspondence, the seller mentioned that they also have another car for sale, one that they hadn’t advertised yet - a 1959 BMW Isetta. I was somewhat familiar with those tiny microcars but had never owned one. I was told that theirs was the subject of a recent frame-off restoration, down to every last nut and bolt. Phrases like that get my attention. We talked a bit about price and then set a time to meet: bright and early on December 31st, 2024. It seemed to me like the perfect way to end the year on a high note.
That Tuesday, I gassed up the truck and made the two-hour drive north. The cars were located in an old warehouse downtown that had been renovated. What I found was a very cool space that was owned by an equally cool husband and wife, both committed gearheads like myself. After some small talk we got to looking at the cars. The Isetta was just as they said, like looking at a new car. The Karmann Ghia? Not so much.
Now, keep in mind, I’m picky. This was not a bad car, it just wasn’t a great car. The paint application of the silver color was a bit uneven, resulting in faint tiger-stripe patterning to the metallic that no amount of buffing would cure. Looking underneath the car I saw some rust pinholes that had been filled, along with silver paint overspray on the suspension components. Just not my thing.
“We’ve got a few other vehicles for sale if you’d like to take a look,” the wife said.
“Sure, you bet.”
They rolled back a dividing wall that revealed a much larger space. In it were some late-model cars and a handful of motorcycles.
“Hold on, what the hell is that?”
The husband grinned. “That’s a one-off. Made by a talented young guy in Arizona who’s on his way to becoming one of the great builders. It’s got ten miles on it.”
I was immediately drawn in. I’ve had a few choice bikes over the years, have had my share of seat time, but I’m far from being any kind of expert on motorcycles. But like all of my inventory purchases over the last 20+ years, I’ve always bought vehicles that spoke to me. This one was shouting.
I told him that I was going to have to pass on the Karmann-Ghia, but that I’d be interested in buying this bike along with the Isetta. A few minutes later we shook hands, got my truck backed into their warehouse, and started loading up the bike.
He had a small ramp to get the bike rolled up into my truck bed, however this thing was so low that we both saw it was going to bottom out on the crest. But this guy was burly. As I stood in the bed pulling on the handlebars, he lifted the back of the bike up into the bed. Made me wonder how I was going to get it back out by myself later. And what about the Isetta? Could he keep it there for a while until I arranged for transport? “Tell you what,” he said. “I’ve got a utility trailer I don’t need anymore and I’ll make you a good deal on it. The Isetta will fit.”
And it did. On the way back I pretty much hung out in the right lane on I-5, as the left lane cars occasionally slowed to take a picture of this oddball sight on the last day of the year. A picture of eccentricity, and I guess I had to include myself into that category.
Back in Portland, I unloaded the Isetta and stowed the trailer in my back lot. Now on to the bike. My shop has a rolling gantry crane, and I suppose that I could have lifted it out with that, but visions of welded frame joints ripping apart under stress dissuaded me. I decided that I would use the crane to simply help keep the bike upright as I rolled it out. I spent a good hour getting it rigged up - second guessing my mounting points and triple checking that the straps had enough padding underneath them to protect the custom paint.
It was all a bit nerve-wracking. I knew that the angle of my ramp had to be shallow enough to keep the bike from scraping underneath, so I supported the end with boxes and a floor jack. Once the bike was fully on the ramp I would drop the kickstand, carefully remove the supporting boxes, and then slowly release tension on the jack as I simultaneously lowered the overhead crane. It actually worked.
Two weeks later I sold the Isetta without fuss on BaT, no surprise there.
And the motorcycle? Well… I had pretty much been flying blind on this one, with no price guides or previous sales that I could refer to. This bike was a one-of-one, and the overall production numbers from this builder (Aero Precision Metal Works) were in the single digits. The husband who had bought it new told me that he had paid 36K for it two years ago, and knew well enough that he wouldn’t be able to recoup that. He offered it to me at a very fair price. I decided that I’d go ahead and roll the dice on this one, and later I set a very modest reserve when it got listed on BaT. My profit margin was going to depend on whether or not I got a hot roll.
Fortunately, the high-quality design and execution of the bike seemed to resonate with the peanut gallery on BaT, and it found a new home on the first go. Truthfully, that “first go” on BaT was really my only pathway for something this unique. And on top of that, I was aware that Mecum was actually planning to debut five of Aero Precision’s new bikes at their upcoming Vegas sale, less than two weeks away. So in that respect, the one that I sold on BaT was first to market, avoiding a potential glut. But did it sell for fair market value? Should I have waited to see what the Mecum bikes did? Maybe the buyer here got a good deal, or maybe I was lucky just to sell it at the price I did. Who can really say?
You can bet that I’ll be watching the results from that Mecum sale very closely. This builder has a unique style and world-class skills, I hope his new batch of bikes bring all the money.
Great story and I learned something new. Fascinated by the vehicles and how you rigged them up and got the cycle off the truck. Fun to see the pics. Also fun to imagine you rolling down the freeway. You gave a HNY to all!
Sounds like a perfect holiday day/dream ending up in an ever extending warehouse chock full of beautiful vehicles for sale including that gorgeous custom bike! I’m a longtime rider and definitely appreciate its beauty yet id be petrified taking it out for fear of potholes ha! Beautiful!