Bidding blind banter
I must admit to having a soft spot for old French metal. So it was strange to have a request thrown at me a couple of months ago: could I bid on a French car on behalf of a third party?
This third party was a friend of a friend, so to speak, and he was interested in a Renault 16 TS on Copart’s auction website. I had actually viewed the car myself, thinking it was a rare find, being a Cat U (Used Unrecorded) sale, which meant that it wasn’t a Cat B, C or D write-off. It looked all complete, in red with yellow tinted headlights, although there was a lack of keys for the vehicle. These R16 models are pretty rare and a complete original example was a great find, so I was glad to help out.
Registered in November 1972, this TS model had the 1565cc engine and column change gearbox, and was showing 39,036 miles on the odometer. You may remember, the spare wheel locates on top of the engine.
With the car currently in Scotland, there was no chance to view it with our own eyes, so any appraisal was down to the online pictures. Auction sales at Copart start at midday each day at various branches – in a virtual auction hall, so no auctioneer is required. It was simply a matter of waiting at the computer for the lot to reach the ‘block’.
Well, we won the car for £1850. Brilliant.. except it hadn’t reached its reserve price. Later that afternoon, I was emailed the reserve and promptly nearly fell out of the office chair! The seller wanted £8100. This was far too steep, so I chucked in a counter bid of £2000, which brought the seller’s reserve down to £8000.
With my experience of dealing with this particular auction house, I knew that sellers were usually offered a three-week block. The vehicle would be presented in week one and, if unsold, would automatically be put into the sale for the following week, and then again for the final week if it still hadn’t sold.
Thus the TS went on sale the following week and we won the R16 all over again, this time for £1600. However, as you’ve probably already guessed, the reserve hadn’t been reached. Later that afternoon, an email arrived to say the reserve had dropped to £3000. Wow, a £5000 reduction in seven days! We offered £1900 and heard no more.
Onto week three and we won the R16 yet again at £1600. With an email arriving much quicker than the previous two weeks, it was now a matter of toingand-froing with the seller on a final sale price of £2600. This seemed a bit high to me, but the new owner was pleased – and grateful that I had stuck with it.
With Copart’s fees the final figure was £2865 plus transportion costs. I’ll hopefully give an update on any restoration work next year.