Caretta for sale

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Dominic Salvato
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Vintage Karting items owned: Caretta's, Darts, Lancers, Bug, Cates, Customs, Margay
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Re: Caretta for sale

Post by Dominic Salvato » Thu Dec 13, 2007 2:42 am

It isn't bragging if you have done it! I brought the first Ferrari up the Alcan hwy! Caretta's are my passion. What you want is out there! And people are tripping over it. Relax Enjoy your cravings. Think about what you want next!
Last edited by Dominic Salvato on Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Dan Flanders
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Location: South of the Sweet Tea Line

Re: Caretta for sale

Post by Dan Flanders » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:35 am

Hi Matt-
As Dean mentioned, keep your eyes peeled on Craigslist, karts are out there, if you look. I would venture a guess there are still barn-loads of stuff just waiting to be discovered, just ask anyone at Fremont this last year or at Vegas a couple years back. The stuff is out there in quantities we can't comprehend.
You will be amazed at the quantity (sometimes quality) and variety of karts that come up. Yes, it sucks when you think you've found a sleeper on Ebay only to have it snatched away (in your mind). The reality of it is more along the lines of what Dominic said, the sharks were circling. List something under Ingels-Borelli or Caretta on Ebay and I guarantee someone was on it in seconds. As I've found out, there any number of super savvy buyers with the time to search for karts and the finances to pay ANY price. I would agree that broadcasting a find like that (because you never know who else is watching and could potentially ruin a good deal for a friend) would tick me off, but the intentions were good and that is the nature of Ebay like it or not. We've all had it happen to us, but again that is the game, occasionally you manage to score a great deal and it makes the find all that much sweeter...but you have to spend the time to look carefully and be diligent

Dan

PS Bad Dean in the corner for a time out :D I bet there will be a great one in Oklahoma someday.....(I am kidding don't flame me)

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steveohara
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Vintage Karting items owned: 1969 Bug Sprint Mc 91B1
1965 Dart Gran Prix twin Mc100s
1963 Bug Scorpion ESll Mc45

Re: Caretta for sale

Post by steveohara » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:24 pm

It's back on ebay with a starting price of over $2000..... as it should be. I'm sorry but I just can't feel sympathy for someone who thought he was going to steal a true piece of karting history. I would have felt sorry for the seller if someone would have suckered him into selling the kart for less than it is worth.
The thing that really makes this whining offensive is that folks like Matt know exactly what that kart is worth and if he would have managed to get it for the opening price he would have been strutting around with his tail feathers straight up crowing about how he scooped the sucker who didn't know what he had.
Let's try to be fair to both sides of these transactions... there is no honor in taking advantage of people who don't happen to be experts in the market for historical vintage karting equipment. Condeming those who can afford to pay what the market demands for vintage karts or any thing else need to grow up... if they owned it they wouldn't sell the kart for $750 so why do they think they should be able to buy it for $750?
Steve O'Hara

Mark Brubaker
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Vintage Karting items owned: none that would do REAR proud. Sorry,,just bein' honest.
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Re: Caretta for sale

Post by Mark Brubaker » Thu Dec 13, 2007 11:32 pm

Well said.....

Mark

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Ronald Cubel
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Re: Caretta for sale

Post by Ronald Cubel » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:19 am

If it was as you say we would not have half the karts that we have today. The guys that spend alot of time and effert finding the 500 dollar barn karts are the reason we have found some very rare ones. I buy from these guys all the time and do not feal bad that they may make a few bucks for there effert. Ebay is just a small part of the formula. The way I see it you ether got time or money. Ron

Ed DalPoggetto
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Vintage Karting items owned: 63 Dart Grand Prix,62Caretta,60 Bug,64 Red Bug, 61 Ala Kart. 60 Go Kart 800.

Re: Caretta for sale

Post by Ed DalPoggetto » Fri Dec 14, 2007 1:59 am

The best places i have found to find vintage karts and engines, is at automotive swapmeets, not ebay. The Caretta i have came from an Early Ford swapmeet in Petaluma Calif, about six years ago. I bought it from the son of the original owner. I payed $500.00 for this kart, and after getting it home, i recived a phone call from the guy who bought it new. That Monday after work i got to meet this Man, and he thought it was pretty cool that people were restoring these kart, and running them. After spending an hour talking with him, he opened up a cabnet in his shop, and there sat the original Mc-30 engine, a Palmini floor tank, and a bunch of misc small parts. The time i spent talking with him, and showing an interest in his stories, got me the engine and the rest of the parts to put this kart back together, for nothing. I never thought i would ever own a Caretta, but i was just at the right place, at the right time, good luck hunting, there out there......Ed

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steveohara
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Vintage Karting items owned: 1969 Bug Sprint Mc 91B1
1965 Dart Gran Prix twin Mc100s
1963 Bug Scorpion ESll Mc45

Re: Caretta for sale

Post by steveohara » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:37 am

Ron.... Apples and Oranges..... this seller put the kart on ebay so the market could determine the price.... just like you have done with a whole collection of stuff recently. Nobody on this board went and dug this item up from some obscure barn in the back woods.

I have no problem with stories like Ed's where a true enthsiast makes a great find. What I object to is the notion that a guy finds a listing on ebay and thinks he is entitled to obtain it at a price less than the market will pay and whines when others bid or share the information about the listing. Seems to me he wants the benefit of the kind of time you and Ed spend digging these rare items up without having to spend the time or trouble that goes into finding them.
Ed found a great kart and didn't have to spend a lot of money to get it but that doesn't mean he should feel compelled to sell it for anything less than the market will pay if he is ever inclined to sell it. Same applies to some of your sweet finds.
That being said... and this is just a personal position that I don't expect others to imitate... if I walked into an old garage and saw that kart I would not try to buy it for peanuts. I would advise the owner that it is a valuable collector item and suggest he list it on ebay so everyone would have a fair shot to buy it for market value. Only if the owner insisted he didn't want to deal with it and was bent on selling it on the spot would I avail myself of the opportunity. I had a situation just like that come up a few years ago with an old Buick Riviera boat tail. The owner was an estate and the heirs were trying to get everything sold off. I showed them that the car was worth at least 5K and they said they didn't care and they were going to donate it to some entity that takes cars in those situations so I said I would give them 1K and have it towed away. I rebuilt the carb and installed a new battery and put it on ebay and sold it for 6K. I provided a service and got paid well for it... no problem.
Regards,
Steve O'Hara

ted johnson
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Re: Caretta for sale

Post by ted johnson » Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:16 am

Guys, where in the world is the arguement? We all love old karts, and we will ALWAYS try to buy them for the least money! If the ebay seller has a $2K minimum, the kart certainly looks to be worth that from the photos! If that's too high, don't bid, and don't bitch if someone tries to get him to take it off eBay for a lower cash amount. EBay isn't there just for our benifit.... Ted

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VirgLove
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Re: Caretta for sale

Post by VirgLove » Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:18 am

Very Bad Dean....

Rob Voska
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Re: Caretta for sale

Post by Rob Voska » Fri Dec 14, 2007 9:21 am

A few years back I won an auction for a set of "Go Cart Wheels". It was, from the crappy picture, a set of Dart wheels. I think it was around $40 I got them for on Ebay. I pay paled the money including shipping. The wheels didn't show up for a few weeks so I started emailing. They were sick. It was Christmas. My big toe hurts.......I get every excuse I could think of. By this time 2 months had gone past. Then I got a package of mismatched greasy junk lawnmower wheels that wern't worth the cost of shipping. I called them on it and they said they made a mistake and returned 1/2 of my money...........I think even after I won the auction someone found what I had bought and told them they would pay more. The seller was a snake and so was whoever ended up with the wheels.

Early Nov 2007 I tried to sell a twin engine Lancer on ebay for a friend. I had private biddders. First bidder bid $3750 max. Second bidder bid $3800.......second bidder retracted his bid then the first bidder after the auction ended decided he just wasn't going to pay.
F'N Deadbeats.

I spent a lot of time and money attending swap meets and have come up with stuff. I've also run down leads from my brother's, neighbors, barbers, friend who knows a guy that lived next to a guy that used to race years ago.........and had a lot of luck. Get off your butt and work and you can find a lot of stuff.

Dean:.......gottaloveit!

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