Topic: Please help critique my car - 70 428CJ-4spd Mach 1

[Cobrajet428]

Fellow members, I need your help and this is honestly in no way intended as an advertisement.

Late last Fall and again this Spring, I put my '70 428CJ-4spd Mach 1 up for sale on Hemmings, CarsOnline.com, and more recently ClassicCars.com. Before putting the car up for sale, I had it professionally appraised and also spent plenty of time online looking over prices/condition of very similar cars in order to arrive at an asking price. I even created a custom website that shows a ton of good photos, history, and every detail I could think of.

Still, last year I only got a couple of calls from prospective buyers, and with no follow-through. This year, there's not been a single email or phone call aside from Marketing companies trying to make a buck at my expense. To this date, no prospective buyer has even seen the car in person!

There are a number of '70 CJ Mach1s up for sale now, and looking them over online I have no reason to think my price is out of line. So what is it?

I would really appreciate it if anyone here would take a close look at the car online and provide any constructive criticism. Are there things I need to fix up? Are the photos not that good? What's wrong here?

Website: https://70cjmach1.smugmug.com/
Hemmings: http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/carsforsale///1768317.html
ClassicCars.com: http://classiccars.com/listings/view/834553/1970-ford-mustang-mach-1-for-sale-in-bloomington-minnesota-55420

[krelboyne]

Couple of comments:
Heavy on photos (excellent), but I like technical details. Had a hard time finding engine information on your web page. Nearly gave up, it is jumbled up all over. Still not sure if the engine block is original or date coded for the car. Found carburetor and distributor information, but only because I scrolled through the pictures. Text not visible otherwise. Dated water pump was noted in the "since restoration" section. Brag up the sheet metal if it is all original and date matching. Same with glass.
I think I would remove the various receipts from the 1980-90's. They only show that you farmed out the work, and don't really add facts worth mentioning. When I saw them I thought, "Oh, this is an older restoration". and "He didn't pay very much". Take them off, they don't convey what quality body work and paint cost today.

Nice looking restoration, I would be proud to own it.

People notice when a car goes unsold after months of advertising. They begin to wonder, why? Especially when it looks so good in the pictures.

[Cobrajet428]

Couple of comments:
Heavy on photos (excellent), but I like technical details. Had a hard time finding engine information on your web page. Nearly gave up, it is jumbled up all over. Still not sure if the engine block is original or date coded for the car. Found carburetor and distributor information, but only because I scrolled through the pictures. Text not visible otherwise. Dated water pump was noted in the "since restoration" section. Brag up the sheet metal if it is all original and date matching. Same with glass.
I think I would remove the various receipts from the 1980-90's. They only show that you farmed out the work, and don't really add facts worth mentioning. When I saw them I thought, "Oh, this is an older restoration". and "He didn't pay very much". Take them off, they don't convey what quality body work and paint cost today.

Nice looking restoration, I would be proud to own it.

People notice when a car goes unsold after months of advertising. They begin to wonder, why? Especially when it looks so good in the pictures.

Thank you for taking time to look over the car's website. Your comments are also much appreciated, and bring in a different perspective from the one I had while creating the website. I'm sorry you had trouble finding the information you were looking for, as for instance I'd put information about the engine in the https://70cjmach1.smugmug.com/History section. As you say though, there isn't a single place that talks specifically just about specific parts and their date codes.

Frankly, I've not represented it as a numbers-matching, date code-perfect car, as the engine was replaced very early in the car's history, and there are a few parts that while year-correct aren't perfect matches for the build date of the car, although I don't believe they're located anywhere that stand out. Perhaps this fact reduces the car's value below asking price. I'd be interested to learn to what degree.

As you point out, people do notice when a car goes unsold. That is my fear, and that is why I'm keen to figure out what is making it so!

Thanks again for your comments!

[jatkinson]

You have a beautiful car. One thing that I noticed right off the bat was " US sale only" Not really sure why you would want to limit your buyers? We have the world wide web to advertise on, I would take advantage of it.  I wouldn't think it would mater where your car is sold as long as you get what you want for it? That's just me though....

[Bob Gaines]

You have a beautiful car. One thing that I noticed right off the bat was " US sale only" Not really sure why you would want to limit your buyers? We have the world wide web to advertise on, I would take advantage of it.  I wouldn't think it would mater where your car is sold as long as you get what you want for it? That's just me though....

It can be a hassle to sell outside the US especially if the buyer expects the seller to do all the leg work required to ship outside the US. Last two times I sold outside the US it was a lot of extra work hassle and responsibility/liability. I believe for the paperwork it is required of the seller to have a federal Tax ID number. I had one because of the business I had at the time . If you don't own your own business you are expected to apply for one. If you need it only once for the shipping good luck trying to convince the government of why you didn't report taxes for that number the next year. That is in addition to the other things like shipping schedules and insurance issues . If the buyer picks up the car himself from you I think you can get around that. Just a couple reasons why one might not want to ship outside the US . There are others that ship outside the US all of the time and don't think it is a issue . To each their own.

[Cobrajet428]

jatkinson has a valid point that yes, I am limiting my market by not being open to an international sale. This was a deliberate choice for many of the same reasons Bob Gaines pointed out, but what jatkinson says is true.

I know a lot of members have seen this thread so far, but I haven't received much feedback about the car itself. Is the car that perfect that it's just a matter of proper marketing that's keeping it from selling at this price? I was honestly prepared for a lot worse, and really figured there was more to it than that. Hey, I'm not seeking an ego-boost here, folks. Give it to me straight! 

[WT8095]

In some of the photos, the hood latch support and the shock tower braces appear to be a bluish-grey color, not semi-goss black. Do they look that way in person, or is that just the photos?

[Bob Gaines]

In some of the photos, the hood latch support and the shock tower braces appear to be a bluish-grey color, not semi-goss black. Do they look that way in person, or is that just the photos?

FYI since it is a Dearborn car the braces better be batch paint along with a number of other items .

[Cobrajet428]

FYI since it is a Dearborn car the braces better be batch paint along with a number of other items .

They are indeed