Asking $2.5 for a Spit. A record ?

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Member for

20 years

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Platinum have MH415 on the market. Will this be a record-breaking price if it goes ahead ?

Compared to classic cars, you could make a case that vintage aeroplanes are undervalued, as prices for cars go to tens of millions.
I guess a MK IX, with combat history and a movie star is about as good as it gets.

http://www.platinumfighters.com/#!spitfire-mh415/c12uh

( NB Cannot amend title to say million ! )

Original post

Member for

21 years

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If it hasn't flown for 40 years it will need considerable work (and money) to bring it back to airworthy standard?
Connie Edwards has been quoted as saying the price asked is what he wants.
I wonder if a prospective customer with $3M burning a hole in his pocket would be prepared to wait (perhaps for a year?) when a flyer might be available now for around the same price?
mmitch.

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24 years 2 months

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No its not a record -I should imagine the various MK.1's fetch quite a bit more.

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As for cars (automobiles), originality is often a factor: I suspect Connie Edwards' aircraft would render a higher price if so.

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24 years 2 months

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I keep hearing this 'barn find' and 'original conditional' thing about the Connie Edwards aircraft. They are 'original 1970s', not 'original 1940s'.

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Weren't they asking 2.4 million POUNDS, not dollars, for one of the Spitfire 1 rebuilds?

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11 years 9 months

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I agree Mike J, how can they be a "barn find", presumably Connie Edwards knew exactly where they were all the time they were in his possession and as for original condition, I dont think so!!!!

Happy Christmas

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Compared to classic cars, you could make a case that vintage aeroplanes are undervalued, as prices for cars go to tens of millions.

Actually, they aren't undervalued compared to cars. Classic and vintage cars are valuable because they have verifiable provenance. If you put together a 1750 Alfa, say, from bitsas and fabricated parts, you'd have what the cars guys call a replica.

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24 years 2 months

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Its nothing to do with verifiable provenance, its all about the market. There are fewer people able and willing to buy a Spitfire than there are buying vintage cars, plus owning a Spitfire comes with hefty fixed costs and obligations. Thus the market value is what it is.

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dread to think what the back to flight costs would be

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As a keenly interested onlooker I bow to the expert opinion here but was also going to make the same observation WebPilot has. In a free market it is that, the market, which is the final arbiter of the price of an article from a classic aircraft to a pushbike.

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How many of these Spitfires have been on the market for quite a while and haven't sold.Something is only worth what someone can pay for it.

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24 years 2 months

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That said....provenance does add to the marketability and thus the value. The current range for Spitfire values is roughly £1m - £2m, with earlier machines with combat history at the top end of the range, while Griffon engined and later machines are further down the scale. As Trumper says, some have been up for sale for a while which reflects the small number of potential buyers and the costs involved.

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His last sentence says it all.

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There's a P51 up for sale for £650,000 on afors.

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There's a P51 up for sale for £650,000 on afors.

I saw that. Very cheap..... two million dollars would be more expected.

Afors have been troubled by a lot of scam adverts recently. Just saying.

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14 years

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Going back to the auto comparison, I suspect that the 'car vs aircraft' disparity is much akin to the 'race car vs road car' disparity in auto valuations. Thus, a GTO will always fetch more than a Porsche 917, because despite the latter being a far more successful race car, you can drive your GTO to the shops.

(and yes I know there has been at least one 917 road car, but the point is well made I think.)

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Actually, they aren't undervalued compared to cars. Classic and vintage cars are valuable because they have verifiable provenance. If you put together a 1750 Alfa, say, from bitsas and fabricated parts, you'd have what the cars guys call a replica.

I'd venture that there is much more demand - and hence higher prices - for vintage cars, because

- anyone can drive a vintage car and walk away from the experience alive without any further training
- you can keep it/them at home, and relatively little space is required
- hardly any red tape involved with operating a car

Cars are just so much more accessible and practical.

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And if you are so inclined you can take the other half shopping in a classic car. A slightly more difficult proposition in a classic aircraft unless you know a supermarket attached to an airfield.

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- anyone can drive a vintage car and walk away from the experience alive without any further training
- you can keep it/them at home, and relatively little space is required
- hardly any red tape involved with operating a car

Cars are just so much more accessible and practical.

]

These are not the reasons why people bay $35 to $50 million for vintage cars. Not even close.

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11 years 11 months

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]

These are not the reasons why people bay $35 to $50 million for vintage cars. Not even close.

I would suggest the reason being that they have all got far too much money and don't know what to do with it. Why else would you shell out millions for a metal box with a wheel in each corner?