How are Coop prices going to develop now?

The car is 25 years old (with even the newest models being 19 years old), there was never any replacement, it seems to be an even rarer sight on the roads, classic motoring magazines seem to write largely positive articles about it and it seems to have reached the absolute peak of it's reputation.

Will they start going down again (unlikely), stay at this level from now on, or is it safe to say the only way is up?

I know there was the £20k yellow 16v which used to come up now and again but that was more like a novelty Coop. The norm nowadays seems to be around £10k for LEs and Pluses with something like £17k for the exceptional red LE on Ebay.

And what is the most you reckon someone would ever be willing to pay for a Coop? Some cars, like the Supra can command really high prices due to their legendary reputations in wider pop culture. The Coop of course has none of that and surely there must be a point at which even the most eccentric and wealthy buyer will say, "Hang on, it's just an old Fiat!"

I have seen two vis Coupes for £3,500 and £3,700. One of them has sold already.

I was wondering about this today. How many people are there out there who have hankered for one but haven't already got round to buying one yet? I worry that there just isn't / wont be the demand from new owners.

Hope I'm wrong though and it goes through the roof!

The sheer rarity of them will eventually push the price up.

Edit --Look at the price of a bog standard Ford Escort, or Cortina they go for thousands!!!

I think the real battle is trying to save those that are in less then good shape from going to the scrapper. Your talking at times Porsche prices for parts - and consumbales. And that will debt a lot of would be rescuers.

Long live the Coupe!

The practical problem will probably be whether we can find parts to keep them running in another 10 years time. I'm having ours restored and would like to refresh the suspension and wheel bearings at around the same time. Most of the big parts are still available, probably because they were shared by a lot of other FIATs. However, a good few rubber and plastic parts are disappearing. We will soon be in a state where we have to customise the nearest viable parts and that is going to put a lot of people off from taking these cars on. I doubt that FIAT will ever be like Porsche, Mercedes, Jaguar etc. where they have a classic department helping to keep older cars running well and collectable.

Would something like this help the Coop in the future?

https://uk.motor1.com/news/229896/fca-classic-restoration/

The best thing about prices rising is that more people will be inclined to invest in the coupé.

There will always be the die hard Coupé fans who would quite happily spend thousands beyond what a car is worth to keep it on the road. But most people need to rationalise their spend and won't throw thousands into a car that would have no real value when completed. This is why so many good coupés have been broken for parts rather than being saved!

A few high profile restoration projects and the higher prices have begun to show that times are changing though, and that's got to be a good thing for the Coupé, well the good ones at least

Not for the majority. It may restore and find homes for a very small handful of Coupes to a few people willing to spend a fortune on one.

Most of us need the "ability" to keep them running = a supply of parts.

People today look at old cars as a way to make money. However, if you look at a reasonable restauration (not show standard) as a way to run a nice, different car for say the next 10 years, it actually costs about the same as the depreciation on a newer car with the same initial cost as the restauration.

I would agree with you neil-r.
Personally, I have spent a huge amount on my coupe over the last 5-6 years and know I could never get it back.
That said, if I chose a modern equivalent, (if there is one?) then I would expect to lose somewhere between £3-5k pa in depreciation?

Hopefully once the main restoration works are completed, the spending will slow down for a few years and you have a car which is deemed increasingly unusual, but can hold its place in modern traffic!

I have to admit that from my experience trying to sell my 1999 Coupe is that people seem to have fallen out of love with them as I have had very little interest in the car from forum menbers; who presumably all have one and therefore don't need another one.

Although not really an equivalent my A5 Coupé has depreciated in line with your assessment!

I bought it second hand and the fellow before me lost £27k off list, so about £22k if he got a good deal! I were to trade the car now I would have lost close to a further £4k a year and probably closer to £3k private sale. If only I had bought a new Focus RS instead Too many people forget about the depreciation factor when they enter their PCP plans on new cars but it's there! However Coupé owners have, in the most part, left it far behind as the values have stabilised and even begun to show signs of recovery.

A Coupé is never going to make anyone rich but it should be possible to own, run and restore one for less than what many people in more modern sports Coupés are loosing in depreciation alone!

Some truth there AFPU...
Having "invested" shed loads in our own cars, buying another is harder, as invariably you would have to do it all over again and you don't really know what you are buying afresh?!?

Thus I suspect a good few of us have "keepers" and therefore not in the market for another?


Still space for "new" converts though!
I might be tempted by a mint Plus though or a Vinci Grey!

The Coupe offers 'good value' distinctive (Marmite) performance motoring but given the age of them now the tin worm and paint issues (boot seam, front arches, peeling roof etc), the outlay for the car is the smaller amount of ££'s. To get a decent keeper requires a fairly hefty outlay of ££'s to treat/rectify any corrosion/paint issues coupled with possible cam belt/clutch/turbo costs, it starts to appear a little unattractive to many for just a 'Fiat', unless there is an enthusiast and a mint example with documented rectification it would put me off starting ownership of a 'new one' from scratch again; ok for a Chrono I would . There is just not the mass love and appreciation for the Coupe and a fair few possible pitfalls with the usual scaremongering thrown in. Ultimately many buy classic cars as an 'investment' or for a return on the purchase through appreciation; the current market for the Coupe does not clearly provide that for the many.

I think Fiat has always been a 'marmite' brand and the coop even more so thus there will always fans and detractors, the former will be inclined to pay for them and therefore a market of sorts. Better indicator may the coupes produced before the 175, older good condition ones command good prices particularly the Dino, the rarity value will no doubt put prices up, eventually! Whether any of us live long enough to see it is another matter.
What worries me is the effect of legislation which will put the price of ownership up incrementally and may ban us altogether eventually.

If FIAT made a 'modern' version, like they have with the 500, it would cause interest..

It would..... but I wonder if Alfa Romeo would let them make a sports coupe; especially now Alfa have their Guilia and an incoming GTV in the pipeline.

I think you also have to remember who designed the car, Chris Bangle. The prices of low mileage bmw e60 and e91 are already rising and I’m sure that’s related to how they designed and don’t appear to have dated. Both by Chris. We bought a 335d 18months ago. Around that time a low miles 40k was around £12k now your looking at £15k. Similar to the 540i and 550i models. They have risen by a similar amount and are all booking higher than the new models. Hopefully the Fiat will as well

The coupe is unique. The fastest car Fiat have ever made. It shares a pininfarina badge with many prancing horses. The 16V has the legendary Lampredi engine, probably 2nd only to the DFV in terms of motorsport success. The 20V makes a wonderful noise and performs with a character unique to Italian engines.

It was built by Pininfarina and what else do they build? Built with passion that is plain to see, hear and feel.

Those in the know understand the specialness of Italian engineering and it's history of innovation e.g. variable valve timing, common rail diesel. They always sound great, largely due to head design. I'm not talking about exhaust noise. F1 engineers buy Fiats. When you know you know, when you don't you buy German!

Look at the prices of Integrales now.

And listen to this. Only Italian engines sound this good...

https://youtu.be/qK_wsFHY3J8

Funny thing is... when you take your Italian Fiat engine to bits, right in the middle you'll find the the crankshaft. It's quite an important bit. It's also marked 'Made in Germany'...

I was rather annoyed when I discovered this

and the German electrics

The FXX does sound good...

Which of the Coop engine types are you referring to?

In this case, it was the 16. I think it's the same for the 20, though.

This is even better. Manual box helps...

https://youtu.be/d7NkxsvhdwQ

Germans are brilliant at precision engineering. If you're German there is a "correct" way to do everything. Whereas an Italian (or Brit) thinks there is a "different" way to do everything.

If I designed the perfect crankshaft I'd want a German manufacturing plant to mass produce it for me.

Obviously I am wildly stereotyping for which I apologise. I should say some Germans, Italians or Brits.

Funny how many VAG group cars suffer from central locking issues, and how many BMWs & Mercs have steering issues.

If you ask me, I think Italian cars are some of the best, and provided they are looked after properly, are just as good if not better than other marques.

My mates are always ribbing me about Fix It Again Tony, and I ask them how their central locking is...they soon shut up.

I then tell them at least mine is able to be fixed again easily (usually without having to delve too far into my pocket)

Clintos has put his up for sale at quite an asking price!

Testing the water for myself and every other Coupe owner out there. If the price ain't right, I'll just keep it as it owes me too much to let it go for peanuts. It truly is a rare Coupe and needs a buyer who can and will keep/maintain it to a high standard. Let's see how it goes!

Cheers,
Clint

Where have you advertised it Clint out of interest?

Facebook and eBay

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192903183365

With the amount of £££'s you put into getting her mint I thought she would have to be a guaranteed 'keeper'? GLWTS.

Yes, pretty good!

I think it's safe to say that while some old cars could achieve classic status and then even possibly become worth as much as what they were when new, the Fiat Coupe will most likely never achieve that.

Simply because of the fact that when you step back and look at the matter not as a Fiat Coupe enthusiast but just objectively look at it as a whole, it isn't really that much of a 'significant' car in the annals of motoring history.

The old cars that would have any chance of achieving the above will be supercars, cars with motorsport pedigree or cars with legendary reputations for one reason or another.


[eBay ad appears tomorrow of a £50k Plus that's had one owner from new, with only 2000 miles on the clock and it sells within a day. ]

From strictly an investor’s perspective, the Coupes likely to hold or increase their market values are those with undoubted provenances and kept 100% stock in exemplary condition as a neo-classic. Low mileage and low turnover of owners simply compound the investment appreciation.

The Coupe’s only missing link is the pedigree but the above investment criteria, applicable to most investable asset classes, override it.

Unlike Malaysia, virtually a Coupe junkyard, the UK does have rare specimens fitting above specs, gauging from emerging Coupe adverts with asking prices of circa £15k. Buyers at those prices are more likely to be investors rather than car enthusiasts, meaning that the market for exemplary Coupes is far wider and deeper than just Coupe enthusiasts.

As an illustration, I know of sworn teetotallers with the finest collection of vintage wines and rare whiskeys kept purely as investments. Enthusiast appeal always falls far short of investor appeal in respect of asset appreciation.

So will the Coupe’s value take off in coming years? It most certainly will but confined to very well kept specimens that are unmolested with sound provenance, staying true to its Turin factory’s origin.

For what's it worth from where I'm sitting, & I do agree with much that has been said already, the Coupe does not have a massive amount of admirers or would be the first choice for a classic car collector, or even just looking for a toy for the weekend for several reasons. Not a well known beastie, even when it came out, I certainly didn't come across any until years later. They are a bit of a marmite car. Even today most do not know what they are. It pains me to say these things, but that is what I've come across.

Even true enthusiasts who know all about the Coupe would not be tempted by a really high price tag, but may be tempted to pay a bit extra for something that is in good condition/rust free etc.

Coupes are the nuts and this settles it. Here's my little bog standard VIS on 7 year old Pirellis leaving a 2019 M2 Competition in the dust at Bedford Autodrome...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTs9OL6MPz4&feature=youtu.be

Advertised my le twice now on eBay with no interest but I seem to have picked a bad time with 5 other le’s On there too, I thought £8.5-9.0k was a good price but maybe they are comming down? I wouldn’t let it go for less than £8k so may end up sorned and back in the garage for another year

How different do you reckon Coop prices would be if it had an Alfa badge instead?

I presume you all,or most of you are talking about the less popular RHD models which has a small market. Where the LHD market is much larger and seem to demand bigger money at the moment.

It's all in the eye of the beholder but I'm afraid Fiats carry a stigma (in the uk)with many car buyers rightly or wrong.

In my opinion they are well built car and kind of funky.

Aye Joe is right about Fiat. When I was growing up the flavour of the day was Ford or British Leland, very few fiats about.

I think the issue of rust all those years ago has stuck in peoples minds, combined with a perception of reliability problems. We have run a 24 year old Fiat Panda for the last 12 years and the only thing it needs is routine servicing, conversely I ran a late 98 E Class I bought off a mate at 10 years old - nothing but problems. I fixed them all but the irony for me was that rust ultimately took it off the road in 2015.

Having bought a RHD Coupe and exported it to a LHD country price appreciation is obviously less of a concern for me. I bought it because I like it. Company cars meant I never had need of one when they were around, I understand the technology and like most cars of the epoch they can be diy with a bit of research. First and foremost however they are old school and they will never come again.

Be patient. There's not a huge market out there of people looking for these cars. But if your car compares well to the others on the market in terms of price, mileage, owners and condition then when a serious buyer comes along it'll sell.

Hilarious isn't it. All those people missing out on great engines, decent gear ratios, fantastic handling and brakes and peddles set up perfectly for heel-toe.

Makes them cheaper for those that know. I won't tell if you don't!

Everyone has a story, what ever way you read into things. I'm certainly not being negative in my observations. If you could ask my family, they would all say how Dad/Granddad loves his precious Coop.

You wouldn't be on this forum if you were one of those in the dark. My post wasn't made in response to any perceived negativity.

Glad you're enjoying the coop, Grandad!

Aye I know... I just didn't want to come across all negative towards Fiat in general, it's just my findings.

May the Coop be with you.......

The market looks ok for those priced at £4-6K being standard cars above that looking at eBay etc the bigger money/SE's and or highly modified cars do not appear to be selling for the sums being asked, there is simply not the demand. The Coupe does not have the cachet, desirability or perceived kudos (badge snobbery) of ownership, unfortunately it's days at sub £10K will be many I reckon for all variants.

I would do a deal on mine for a left hand drive and take it to my house in Spain but if they are fetching a higher price then that’s that idea out the window