A back-door entry point to usable Mk2 ownership?

Iknow I’ve tipped Mk2s several times before but here’s an interesting lesson in how prices have fared. At Brightwell’s May sale an Indigo Blue with red leather Mk2 3.8 manual overdrive was sold for £22,400. Restored in the Eighties – as so many were – with a VSE engine rebuild, four-piston calipers, chrome wires, 27 years of Mots, original book pack and bills for several thousand in maintenance work, it also came with the transferable number 5276 D (not that you would split the car from the number). This was a resounding bargain. Over the years many tens of thousands will have been spent on this Mk2 in restoration and maintenance. The fact that it was the best spec with a great colour combo made this a solid buy. But back in 2016 Brightwells sold 5276 D for £19,500. So, in six years its value has flatlined. In 2021 Historics sold a very nice 66,000-mile, Carmen Red 3.8 o/d for £27,225, Silverstone a fine OEW ’63 example for £24,188, Barons an older restoration Opalescent Maroon ’61 for £18,750 and Brightwells a ’64 silver auto with long history for £22,264. I’m seeing a price pattern here that suggests while the best examples can still make strong money, with a bit of patience and luck £25k could now buy a very proper, shiny, restored 3.8 Mk2 that could be immediately used. If you consider that a full-on professional rebuild would now set you back the thick end of £100,000, these, Eighties-restored MK2S now represent some of the best buys in the old car market. Find a mint, matching-numbers, restored 3.8 with overdrive in a strong colour and you’ll be buying yourself a large lump of good old-fashioned value.