Dolomite Sprint Found!

[Bish]

Hello all.

It’s been a couple of years now since I sold my Sprint. I have come to realise that I shouldn’t have sold it! That was a bad idea on my part, but never mind we all make mistakes!

So, I’m looking for another one. I don’t have a massive budget so won’t be buying a concourse car but if you have a Sprint or know of one for sale then please get in touch via email bishop.ade@sky.com

I’m happy to take a project on, anything will be considered, but would prefer not to do too much welding and paint if possible.

Yes I know it’s a long shot but if you don’t ask you don’t get and all that….

All the best, Bish.

[RSi]

Hi

I added a yellow one I saw on ebay to the Facebook page.

I'm not sure how much work it requires.

Murdo

[Bish]

Hi Murdo.

Thanks for the heads up. I have seen that car and made contact with the owner. It looks like it needs a fair bit of welding but is worth considering.

It's a shame the car is near to 4 hours away from me. I really need to see it in the flesh but don’t have the time to get there for a couple of weeks. I’m sure it will be gone by then!

I haven’t paid much attention to the market for a few years but guess that nothings changed in that Sprints aren’t exactly easy to find, and that I will need to be patient in my search!?

All the best, Bish.

[xvivalve]

Would you consider an automatic Sprint?

[Bish]

Would you consider an automatic Sprint?

Hi Alun, thanks for the reply.

I would like manual with overdrive really. Probably should have stated that in the first place! I hadn’t thought about an auto, but how much work is it to swap in a manual box? Can’t be that hard if parts are available? If that’s a possibility then I guess it will all depend on how good the car is to start with and how much work is involved all round.

All the best, Bish.

[Bish]

Whilst i have you I’d be interested in your opinion on the 74 sprint on eBay at the moment. I know it’s difficult without seeing the car in person but price wise - is that about right for a full resto project these days? The car is complete and has rebuilt engine in its favour, but it will need some surgery!

Cheers, Bish.

[xvivalve]

Whilst i have you I’d be interested in your opinion on the 74 sprint on eBay at the moment. I know it’s difficult without seeing the car in person but price wise - is that about right for a full resto project these days? The car is complete and has rebuilt engine in its favour, but it will need some surgery!

Cheers, Bish.

It is a strange time regarding values of the cars; 'projects' seem to sell easily and at fairly robust prices, but quality cars are seemingly slower to move.

Now, I've always been an advocate of not talking values down, so I'll couch my response thus: The yellow Sprint with the flaky front end, and without 'seeing it in the flesh', represents a risk in my opinion in that you will have a voyage of discoveries to make, many of which will not be serendipitous. Rot is always worse than you first perceive, so it'll be a matter of how far back it goes. Certainly a doable project and they aren't getting any more numerous, but you need to assess both the car and your aspirational budget, particularly if you need to engage others to weld, paint etc. (the auto spell checker needs constant scrutiny as it changed 'to engage' into 'teen-age'!!)

On the other hand, the car with its bodywork in primer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286024626558 ... R56m1M2wZA

is some 25% less, looks far more solid and may present less surprises...

[xvivalve]

..oh, and I'd not knowingly sell an auto Sprint to someone who was intending to convert it to manual.

[Bish]

..oh, and I'd not knowingly sell an auto Sprint to someone who was intending to convert it to manual.

Yes I thought that would be the case, and that’s perfectly understandable.

Patience is required here, the right car will turn up for me.

[Bish]

Whilst i have you I’d be interested in your opinion on the 74 sprint on eBay at the moment. I know it’s difficult without seeing the car in person but price wise - is that about right for a full resto project these days? The car is complete and has rebuilt engine in its favour, but it will need some surgery!

Cheers, Bish.

It is a strange time regarding values of the cars; 'projects' seem to sell easily and at fairly robust prices, but quality cars are seemingly slower to move.

Now, I've always been an advocate of not talking values down, so I'll couch my response thus: The yellow Sprint with the flaky front end, and without 'seeing it in the flesh', represents a risk in my opinion in that you will have a voyage of discoveries to make, many of which will not be serendipitous. Rot is always worse than you first perceive, so it'll be a matter of how far back it goes. Certainly a doable project and they aren't getting any more numerous, but you need to assess both the car and your aspirational budget, particularly if you need to engage others to weld, paint etc. (the auto spell checker needs constant scrutiny as it changed 'to engage' into 'teen-age'!!)

On the other hand, the car with its bodywork in primer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286024626558 ... R56m1M2wZA

is some 25% less, looks far more solid and may present less surprises...

Thanks for the reply Alun.

Yes, agreed. I had come to the same conclusion that the car in primer represents a better buy than the 6k car in that one can see what one’s getting into from the start. My fear with the 6k car is that it will turn to filler dust right before my eyes. I think neither of those cars are for me to be honest.

I'm sure I can find a car that better suits what I’m looking for, and at my budget. If I can just stay patient for long enough that is.

[xvivalve]

The Inca sprint sold at Iconic Auctions at Silverstone today for just over £16k plus premiums having had a guide price of £10k. It was in good condition with some provenance but in no way perfect in my opinion; gives a good benchmark of current values, perhaps?

[Bish]

Yes I saw that. An Ant Anstead car from his soon to be aired tv show apparently. Maybe his name added a bit to the value, who knows? Looked like a nice car but needed nothing doing so no fun to be had.

There’s also a nice sapphire blue Sprint on car & classic at 15k. Recently painted etc. Again, nice car but not what I’m looking for and too rich for me anyway.

I’m going to need to find a doer upper but the right doer upper.

[Bish]

Found one!

Well that happened a bit quicker than I thought it would!

I now have a 1975 Mimosa Sprint, with a Webasto. The car seems to be very original and solid in all the right places. Zeibarted from new which seems to have done exactly what it was claimed it would do. The zeibart certificate is in the large history file along with the original bill of sale etc etc.

There’s a bit of grot in the nose as usual, and the roof / webasto needs work - but I don’t think it’s anything I can’t handle.

The car runs really well and I had a blast driving it home 100 + miles today. I’m chuffed to bits.

I’ll look to steadily improve the car, it will be a smart daily driver resto, much as I did with VYK, rather than a concourse effort. VYK was bought as a non runner with nice paint, LLU has great mechanicals but needs painting, so it will be a bit of a different journey this time. I’m really looking forward to all that the journey brings though.





There is some correspondence from the TDC in the history folder so maybe someone knows the car?

All the best, Bish.

[xvivalve]

Excellent news; not a car known to me personally. How early is it? Some very early VIN can appear as late as P plated

[Bish]

VA16524 DLO.