Merlin522

Hi Joe! Thank you for saying that! Someone just popped a nice bid on there. I still don't think it will make it the distance, but it is getting might close. I have a few people trying to work deals with me offline as well. We'll see what happens. The counter blew out this weekend at just under 30,000. We would be up around 40,000 hits by now if it hadn't died. Ebay says it is a problem with all of Andale's counters. Anyway, I would expect the bidding to slow way down. Now is the time when we separate the men from the boys, so to speak. We'll know the car's destiny shortly! Good luck with your L82 & 6 speed plans!

Xracer

Glad I could be of assistance. :lol:

Rockn-Roll

Just heard. I think if you really wanted the car you could modify the cockpit to fit you...I mean you had it entirely apart, so why not just dust the interior to make room for your body? It doesn't look like you will be getting anything near what you paid for the beast.

I think you should stick with your plan to tour with it...hire a driver to get those time slips, get some trophies for it, proove that it's worth more than a farrari then you might get better bids. Right now it's a car that was just built by a shop and the big question in a buyers mind is why the heck does he want to get rid of it right away? Another problem with buying it would be registering it...you may have been able to register it, but when it changes hands the new owner will be hard pressed to get it passed for street use...unless there is a dealer option for a dual whipple Merlin II power plant for a corvette that I didn't know about.

Also, the new owner probably won't drive around and visit all of us forum nuts that have been watching it get built, so hey...hang on to it and have some fun!

WashingtonRacer

OHHHHHHH.. The time is counting down.. this is where the bidding stops... then in the final hours.. BAM... you get hit with some big bids. Sorry merlin, but I hope that they are not enough to make it worthy of selling. You know you can get 2 times as much once it is world famous.. don't you want to be the reap the benifits of that, not the next guy.

MitchellDavidson

God, I hate my wife right now! :cuss

'79ProwlerOrange

She wont let you spend that 100K? :lol:

Captain Morgan

Steve, I hope for your sake the auction doesn't hit the reserve. Personally, I feel that price is too low considering all that went into the vette. Price has stayed the same for the past couple days, but you may want to revise the first post in your topic to say that you are really wanting the keep the vette right now. I'd hate to see your "friends" jump in and "help" the auction meet the reserve price because they didn't read all the way to the last posts in this thread. A lot of us helped bump up the price on the 850, and I've seen a couple posts where people have bumped the price on this one too. I personally would never bid more than I could afford to pay if I won, but some people may bid a high amount knowing that it is just under the reserve causing them to not really win the auction. Hope that doesn't happen since you're considering keeping the vette.

Avery

Rolling Thunder

Wow... slip away for a few days (okay, months) and look what I miss! What ever you decide to do Steve, I salute you for your accomplishment and your contribution to the forum during your magnificant project. From a selfish standpoint, I hope you keep it and make it fit you. You can do it no doubt.

My health has certainly slowed my project to a crawl, but I still hope to finish it and to see you and YOUR beast in Bowling Green. Just wouldn't seem right for someone else to bring it.

Dave

Merlin522

WashingtonRacer – Well Aaron, I’m not sure how much more “world famous” the car can get. I’ve logged over 300 emails since the car was posted. The Andale counter recorded 30,000 hits before dying on Sunday. My scripts that track hits to the site have recorded posts to every car forum & newsgroup imaginable. I had to put in a second fibre channel & kill the video page just to support the traffic. We are up over 100 terabytes of transfer since the auction was posted. It’s crazy the way people have reacted to this thing. I almost feel ashamed for even trying to sell it after all this hype. It’s close to $70K now with one day to go. I expect it to get around $80, but not much further. Still, $70K on Ebay tells me that I could get at least $125 at Barrett Jackson or maybe Park Place. It’s just a matter of if I want to sell it. I have a guy who is very serious, but I only think he will go to around $85 or $90. The question becomes, is it worth 10 or 15K to hassle with marketing it more. The even bigger question is, now that I fit in the thing – do I want to keep it. Having the cash would be great right now, but I don’t really have to have it. Still, I have some other goals on the burner right now. I’m also concerned because I know I will take it out there & start trying to drive it to the limits (if I can find some WIDE open spaces). If I toast the car (or myself), I’m going to feel pretty stupid. So many questions. You’ll understand more when you come out there Friday.

MitchellDavidson – Yeah, so do I. Tell her you can save $50K if you buy it. Maybe a second kitchen would do the trick :lol:

Captain Morgan – Avery, it’s all relative. I know how much the car cost me, but at least half of that was labor. Some of you very capable car builders out there in Forum land could probably have built this thing for around $150 or so. Price has definitely not stayed the same. Not sure when you last checked, but it has slowly risen & is now approaching $70K. I know that doesn’t seem like much compared to what went into it, but if you go up to eBay & sort all the vettes by price – it is now the second highest vette of all – only a few thousand behind an original 1965 big block with only 300 miles on it. I feel quite proud for all the owners of 1970’s Vettes to see that our cars which are often mocked for being under-powered & not collectible, can actually have some value. Granted this was a horrible investment, but I’m still proud of it. I think people look at the old sharks in a much different light now. I find that there is a renewed respect for the C-3 from the C-5 folks – something that wasn’t there before. That is a good thing. As for forum people bidding, I don’t really care – just as long as they realize that if that price goes over $100K & they have bid, that is a contract to buy & will be enforced via Ebay. At least 3 of the people bidding of late are for real because we have been talking offline. At this point, I would prefer that no one from here bid. You guys got the ball rolling, which is great. For the last day, I would like to get a real sense for what the perceived value is. I really wish you all could see & hear it in person. The pics & videos just don’t cut it. Aaron is coming out there Friday with me. Ask him…

Rolling Thunder – Dave! Long time no speak. I certainly hope you are feeling better. I know what you mean. I’ll probably end up haunting this car since I am so much a part of it, but as you have seen with your health, sometimes there are more important things than cars. I’ve got a lot of other things that I want to do before I go & honestly, this car has been holding me back. Now that it is done it would be nice to go enjoy it, but the word “enjoyable” is just not a word that goes with this car. If scaring the living daylights out of yourself or fearing for your life every time you crank it up is enjoyable, then those kinds of people would be in heaven! I don’t have the same death wish I used to have. I find myself enjoying life just as it is & just don’t feel like I have anything to prove any more. The two things that I really do want to do is 1) dyno the sucker to see what it’s all about & 2) be able to drive it out to the Cruise-In & meet everyone. If it doesn’t sell, #1 will definitely happen & #2 will more than likely happen as well. Then you guys can go for a ride in the car & experience #2 of a different variety! :lol:


[Modified by Merlin522, 11:29 PM 12/18/2002]

WashingtonRacer

I do understand your point with it. And it's a very strong point at that, I am no longer going to beg for you to just keep it. It's obvious to everyone that you never get what you put into it, Which is sad, but alot of the times the reason isn't for the money or sale value, it's for the enjoyment. Some people invest in horses, others in boats, and others love to travel. Others hold onto their money till they are old and gray, just to give it back to the government when they pass away. All of those create little or no cash value when comming out of them, but the real values come from the memories you gain from them. It's always a double edge sword, but isn't evey choice in life.

Merlin522

My engine builder made a really excellent point the other day. If I had put the money in stocks, I would have likely lost a good portion of it - which is true because I took some large hits the last few years (who didn't!) At least with this car there is a tangible asset left. I built the car because I had always dreamed about it. I truly enjoyed the building of the car & mostly the design work - because that was all mine. Granted I didn't get to do much of the physical labor, but this was my design 100%. As posted earlier, it was also to prove a point to myself that I could take it to the edge & really scare myself. That goal has been accomplished. Even if it doesn't sell & I keep it - which is now looking very likely, I will more than likely try to sell it again not too far in the future. I like building things. Once they are built, I want to build something else. Believe me, I could build a car right now that would put this one to shame. I've learned so much in the past few years. Anyway, looking forward to finally meeting you on Friday. You'll have to send me directions & I can give you a ride. You are also welcome to meet me there, but it doesn't make much sense to take 2 cars. I may have someone from Issaquah that wants to come with, so we'll have to play it all by ear.

69Myway

I have not visited this site in a while, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw this thread.

Steve, what can I say. You and I have come along this journey together over the last couple of years both striving to make our dreams turn into reality. It has been a real pleasure sharing and bouncing my ideas off you as my car aka Killer was slowly coming to life, and Merlin was turning into the legend that it already is. In fact, do you remember that we actually fired our engines within the same week from East Coast to West Coast it had to have caused a land slide somewhere!

These things are often more about the journey than the destination. Since Killer has been substantially finished, it just sits in the garage collecting some dust. I have not used it much in the last couple of months because I am already deep into other projects. In fact, I am co-building the sister project to Killer in a coupe version. You can see it at http://www.tropiczoneracing.com click on the race car to enter, then click on the "street vette" link. This son of a gun is a serious contender complete with a 540 cid Dart block!

I know how you feel though right now. There is a great deal of anxiety and stress involved in driving these kinds of creations for the first 1,500 miles or so. Something always goes wrong (over heating, leaks, rattles, things rubbing, grinding, etc etc). Bad stuff does happen to the best of them. This is part of the process of building a street machine. It will down right make you sick to your stomach driving it, over the worry since you know EVERY nut and bolt has been removed, replaced, and modified!!!!

We went about seeking our dreams in different ways. You had a vision. Due to your limited free time and space, you had to hand select the people, then convince them to have your same dream. In many ways this is far more stressful than doing the work yourself, because you are placing your hopes, dreams, and vision into the hands of others. Keeping them to stay on the same page as you, and to stay as excited as you about the project is extremly difficult. You have succeeded. In my case, I had a dream, and financial resources. Not being able to pay others, I had to scrape every penny together, then find creative ways to utilize my physical talents and surroundings to do the best I could with what I have. Knowing the amount of crazy money you have spent on Merlin has made it easier for me to spend what I have on Killer. All things being equal, no doubt that based upon my persona economy of scale, and yours, these projects have been a serious drain on our resources. Sometimes you get that back, sometimes you don't. I like to believe that the return on investment I have already had is the smiles Killer puts on other peoples faces, and the fact I too can now inspire others to achieve more, and put those dreams to reality. Getting emails from people all over the world with nice compliments on a job well done is a wonderful thing.

I drove my car on the longest continous stretch in October. It was a six hour round trip. Since I opted to leave the muncie in for now, I am running 3,000 RPM to go 70 mph. No worries, but that is a lot of stress for a fresh engine, especially a big block, that a shade tree mechanic like me built. I was on pins and needles most of the trip. However, 2/3 of the way home I finally relaxed and got a grin on my face that still has not gone away.

I feel like if you work through the seating arrangements, and get at least 1,500 miles on the car (even if Chris at the shop has to do that for you), that your overall confidence will go way up and turn those frustrating frowns into the biggest smile you have ever had.

A part of this car will always be with you no matter what you do. I know in my case Killer inspired me to write a fictional book that would never have happened had I not ventured out and given it a shot.

Good luck in whatever you do.

'79ProwlerOrange

Well steve, i sincerely hope this means -post cruise in- i know that if you see a car in pictures, or on the internet its like not seeing the car at all. you have to be there so really experience these cars. the only whay i can even imagine, is because i have a similar car. i remember how giddy i got when the new wheels came in, or when you finally solved the flare + GFX problem (which i'll admit, i thought it would come out crappy, but i was sooooooo wrong.) and each time i saw "Series XX Locked and Loaded" how it would bring a big smile to my face. im pretty sure that if i do see it at the crusie in, my eyes will be glued to it like crazy glue. this is the 1st dragster + AutoX car-in-one ive ever seen and it just happens to be in my favorite type of car?

anyway, if it dosent sell and you *ahem* haaaaave to keep it ( :lol: ) take it to the cruise in. :cheers:

Purplerainz

steve, taking it to another idea would be to keep the car for all prosperity . the majority of us would be pleased that you kept it and refined it. and not turn it loose in it's infancy to an unknown future ..

On the other hand define it's formula for it's success on the track(full power) or programmed within street used power. Create a corporate blueprint for it's domestic and international success then make it a hot sell. See no reason why this car cannot be recipricated the same way other countries have introduced their protos to the US. Run it at Daytona or Indianapolis as pace or have it shipped to germany, run it on the autoban - cruise drive, whoever is there I think most will shrink by 2 inches.

If I put that much and time into it then I would bring the idea to a higher authority and financing group that would mold it into it's finer racing character which it is destined. thats your castle there!. Your the knight in shining amour.

If your a Microsoft and Boeing guru that you are then you could have a very good effect or influence on the car development industry as well. I see no reason why you can not get the need funding and support going forward.

I feel that most would feel better if it were J. Lingenfelter, or the corvette racing team acquiring it and getting it for promos, exchanging ideas from you that contribute to it's refinement. That would be cool. The car needs to be in the public domain, as a pace car, show car, or a car of excellence.. I do give you much respect for taking a early c3 creation and turning it into..

"Americas Most Wanted C3 ".

I have never seen a more beautiful C3 in the current day design as yours.

if you need a designated driver - call me, I can handle it.. :D

:cheers:




[Modified by Purplerainz, 2:31 PM 12/19/2002]

bowtie racing

Hi Merlin ,it hit allmosti 68k! That´s a lot of money. Will you let it go for that?

Maurice

68K...100K... whats 32K when you are losing 150K anyway on the deal.

'79ProwlerOrange

well i for one am happy of the turnout. im sure if you relisted it it would go higher, but i doubt it would go past 80K. i for one would never spend 5K on ebay let alone 100. so whats in store steve? we are all awating your post in anticipation. hint: :steering: :D :eek:

Captain Morgan

I'm also glad it didn't sell. I really think you would have regretted the decision. Keep us updated on things, Steve. Hope all is well up there.

Avery

lampedusa

^^^Me too!!! :yesnod: :cheers:

kaiserbud

Steve - I visited my buddy yesterday - he has a body shop here in town. He is well known for totally restoring Camaros and he is currently working on 1 where the owner is 6'-5". They are totally re-doing this car and while doing so, they relocated the seat 3" to the rear.

That being said, I know on the C3, the rear fiberglass area behind the seat would have to be cut and relocated backwards. I do not know of the associated issues. But for what you have invested and FOR WHAT YOU HAVE CREATED ALREADY, this would have to be a minor expense to make it all work for you. :thumbs:

I have not read the entire post, so I hope I have not repeated others thoughts.