Wow! That was quick. Too little time for the buyer to not come up with the money. They had 2 business days to pay the deposit and there has been only 1 since it was posted as sold on Ebay.

As the letter to Raymond stated in 2006…the motor seized! I can assure you the motor did not un-seize by itself…

While it is possible that the motor ran out of oil, or coolant and thus seized, that is unlikely.

Much more likely is a broken Livia exhaust valve(s), a failure of one of the cam drive pins (and the resulting failure of the entire cam chain drive system), or a rod bolt failure.

Recognize that you are looking at a minimum of $ 10,000. Just in parts…no labor … to put all this back together.

So while this is a very early Jalpa and perhaps interesting from that standpoint…you will be heavily invested even if you count your own time at $ 0/per hour !

Paul

I want those cam covers

The listing now says it's "sold" again, for $18,000 this time.

I was actually the original buyer. It was represented to me as just needing "tuning". When I researched the car and found this thread, I forwarded a link to the dealer and asked him to try and turn the crank for me. He was quite rude and belligerent saying that the car is being sold as is. I told him that was fine, but I (and potential future buyers) would like to know if the motor was locked as it had a drastic impact on the value of the car. He seemed to think that even though he was made aware that the motor was seized, as long as he didn't actually confirm it was seized he didn't have to disclose this information.

Needless to say, I backed out of the deal and he relisted it again (and again not disclosing the true condition of the motor). Very shady guy; I wouldn't buy a Chia pet from him.

I am still in the market for a good, project Jalpa.

Colby

All Jalpa's are project cars...

I thought Ebay's rules were that the seller disclosed known faults and if they didn't, the buyer could cancel the deal and get a refund. Am I being naive (again)?

Sledge LOL you own me a new keyboard, I had a drink in my mouth.. Now the display screen is clean go figure.

Trevor,

in general IMO, yes and no :-)

Often cars as listed as for sale "as is," subject to inspection by the buyer prior to the sale. Cars are often listed by sellers who state they are "making no representation of the condition of the car and offering no warranty express or implied ... I'm not a mechanic and even if I was and drove the car, inspected thoroughly including using a bore scope, did a compression and leak down test, had the oil analyzed, etc. this is an exotic - something could still be wrong that could cost you big bucks ... Don't buy unless you can afford that ..." Great business model eh? Unfortunately, there is some real truth to such an assertion though ... A reputable seller will do some of these things, state them clearly in the advert and stand behind them if you find otherwise, but ... If the ad just says "as is" subject to inspection, IMO you'll need proof of foreknowledge by a less than reputable seller, like this email chain, to get much of anywhere. eBay's VPP only covers mechanical problems for cars 10 yrs old or newer ... Of course if the car is covered by eBay's Buyer Protection Plan its a different story, but older cars sold "as is" typically are not covered ...

As far as this particular car, this seller sounds shady as all get out. Turning it over gently by hand seems a very reasonable request and something I would expect done after the seller receives Raymond's chain of emails.

However, the car was listed as a project car in storage for 20 years with obvious non-standard engine work started to boot. And the seller states "IT DOES NOT RUN AND WE HAVE NO IDEA OF THE CONDITION OF THE ENGINE INTERNALS." W/o the chain of emails showing commmunication w/ the seller and the fact that you the buyer did NOT know about this beforehand, I'd think you'd have real trouble getting anything from eBay. Even w/ such a chain, w/ the disclaimers in the listing I think you'd have real trouble although eBay is better than it once was ...

Btw, I agree firmly w/ Sledge4.2 - all Lambos are project cars :-)


Didn't mean to be soooo long winded, but I thought I'd lay out what I thought and see what others think AND HAVE EXPERIENCED. I am very interested as, obviously are you :-)

Best regards and Happy New Year!!!

Bryan
'74 P250S S/N 15622
Indianapolis Indiana USA
blissinindy@yahoo.com