just spotted on the flea

[johnnyfixit]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Midas-Gold-Convertible-Kit-Car-With-Removable-Hard-Top-/191587065860?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c9b7aa004]

[Hans Efde]

Looks like a solid car with very little tlc. I hope it fetches a proper sum with desirable items as the wheels, hardtop and rover 200 dash.

[billybob]

Hi,

being new to all things midas, what do these cars typically fetch?

[Hans Efde]

That's difficult to answer because every car is different and there is a huge spread in condition, spec and build quality. Basically for a Gold I would say a complete and overhaulable non runner around 800 pounds, a nice one around 1500. I wish they would fetch more due to their rareness, heritage and wonderful construction but alas. They are unkown and probably considered to be an average kitcar, but under the skin they are really special. I am treasuring mine because with all the regulations and increasing construction costs we may never see such a car appear again. The modern kitcar is a MX5 or SLK with new panels resembling a Ferrari or lookalike British roadster from days gone by.

[ACourtney]

Hi,

being new to all things midas, what do these cars typically fetch?

As Hans said, that is a difficult one to answer. I think the bottom line is that any Midas that is properly registered - i.e. it has a V5C with Midas as the make - is worth a minimum £450 as that is what an IVA test will cost
and that is true for any kit car. I have heard of a Dutton V5C and chassis plate changing hands for that!
If the car has a V5C, but is incorrectly registered, say as an Austin Metro special, or Austin Midas (yes, I've seen that) as sometimes happened pre-1998, then it is possible to get the V5C corrected, but you will be taking a gamble that they won't turn around and tell you that you need to take the IVA.

If you then start to add together what you would pay for component parts then a running, MOT'd, car should be worth a minimum of £1500. On that basis the car featured on ebay should be worth somewhere in the region of £1500-£2000, but ebay doesn't appear to reach these figures. I say "appear" because a number of cars have been withdrawn and sold offline recently, just when the bidding was in the £1200 to £1400 area.

All Midas models are still seriously undervalued, when you compare them with similar kit cars, or low volume sportscars. After all a Midas is not a kit car that simply uses a Mini or a Metro as a donor to try to appear to be something it isn't. A Midas is a sportscar that uses Mini, or Metro, running gear. This is starting to be recognized, particularly by those coming from the Mini community who are fed up of spending lots of money on old cars and then facing a continual battle with rust. At Stoneleigh I was talking to one Mini fan who was thinking of buying a Midas after years of running Minis. As it happened I had brought along the Midas Gold coupe belonging to Chris Nicholls, that I had been recommissioning (story to follow when I get the chance), and Chris showed up whilst I was talking to the Mini fan. Chris kindly offered to give this guy a ride in his Gold around the showground - the car had been off the road for 18 years so Chris was also keen to see how it ran. During this ride he offered Chris £6000 for the car and that was without having investigated what similar cars have sold for. Chris turned the offer down as he is keen to get some use out of the car after all these years. Furthermore, during subsequent discussions with Chris we worked out that it would not make sense to sell the car at £6k and buy a cheaper one. It would cost more than £6k to reproduce the specification and condition of Chris's car from a less cared for car.

[Hans Efde]

6K pounds comes into the order of the insurance values. According to the Dutch oldtimer bible many insurance companies use, an A-quality Gold is valued between 10K and 13K euros.