Valuation of my brother's 69 charger after his passing

[68charger440]

Hello all,
My brother passed a couple of weeks ago and I am helping divide his estate between his two sons.  I am trying to get a realistic estimate of the value of his 69 charger.  It runs strong with only some smoke when you get on it.  It is reliable enough to drive cross country without any worries.  Is is an original 383 HP 4 speed car with no changes to the motor or tranny except a 30 over rebuild at 9.0 compression done in 1985.  I know no other details about the rebuild of the motor, but it is bone stock otherwise on the outside of the motor from the air cleaner on down.  The color was originally light blue with white vinyl interior and white vinyl top.  The front suspension parts have all been replaced about 5 years ago with stock parts except a willwoood disk brake setup up front.  The car is now a dark blue with blue carpet, seats covers and door panels. Those are not stock at all.  It has aftermarket wheels with new rubber.  The paint job is 20 years old and shows it, but is has no rust at all that I can see and I remember when he had it done they sanded it down to bear metal, but not a frame off good resto.  3:23 sure grip.
Any knoweledgable guesses as to the value?  His younger son wants to keep it, but I need to know how much to value it at to do a fair split of assets.
Here is a pic of him in the car... more below.
Thanks
Jim

[birdsandbees]

Sorry for your loss. 

Hard to divvy things up and hard to make if fair. No matter what you do someone will feel that they got the shaft. I have no idea what you're brothers assets are worth, but the only way to come to a conclusion (after you get some numbers from the guys) is to sit the two brothers down together and hash out the entire affair. Everyone shake hands and be happy leaving the room over what they are going to get.

Unfortunately I speak from experience, as executor on both losing my unmarried sister in 2009 (with 3 siblings and 9 nieces / nephews) and my own daughter passing last summer with 2 siblings.

[68charger440]

Well only one son wants the car, so I can split all of the other assets;  houses etc. easy and fair, but since the one son wants to keep it I just need to know how much to deduct from his half of the assets for the Charger as part of the split.

[birdsandbees]

Definitely, just have both at the same kitchen table when all is said and done. You'll sleep better.. than I..

[68charger440]

Definitely, just have both at the same kitchen table when all is said and done. You'll sleep better.. than I..

Thanks, but I still have to figure out the value of the charger and neither of them has a clue what it is worth.  I am guessing around 25k, but I don't know if that is way off or somewhat close.  Any guesses?

[cdr]

sorry for your loss,  need lots of pictures, but probably 18k to 25k if it runs & drives.

[68charger440]

Here is a pic

[charge69]

If the rest of the Charger is as nice as the front, probably 25 to 30K is likely right but, I noticed the "R/T" emblem on the headlight door. Is it a "R/T Clone" Chargerand, if so, how good of a job did the cloning of a R/T go?

[holanae]

First and foremost, sorry for your loss.  To get a honest, unbiased opinion, you will need to have it appraised by a classic car appraiser.  Only then would you be able to tie it to a monetary amount.  Things like this might have more centimental value vs. monetary value.  For example, ive put 30k more into my car than what I could sell it for.  People told me I was crazy, including from this board, and I would do it again and then some.  Why, because I belonged to my dad, and its the only thing I have from him.

Me personally,  I would say 40-45 if it is in good condition.  Your only going to get opinions from a bunch of charger guys on hrre that think the world of this body style.  Its not our fault, most of us were bitten by the Mopar bug during early adolescence.

[68charger440]

One more pic.  The badge is the only RT stuff.  If I can get within 5000 dollars that would be close enough in the grand scheme of things.

[garner7555]

Sorry about losing your brother.
Car looks really nice.  I would say 25k-35k.  If the body is as sound as you made out then a simple repaint ($5000) would bring it up to being a Really nice driver quality car.  To me that would land it 30k-40k (after the repaint and maybe some other minor work)   

[68charger440]

Thanks for all of the support everyone.  I'm leaning toward 25,000, but I will still welcome any more educated guesses.

[igozumn]

I think that'd be a fair price for it. 

[70 sublime]

$25 k sounds good to be fair
You might be able to sell it to someone for more if the right person came around
Car appraisers always seem to be on the high side of value just for the car insurance replacement reasons so I do not think I would call one for this situation

The other assets of the estate will need to be valued the same way at a fair number just to keep everything even in the end

[ht4spd307]

sorry for your loss very sad .i suggest maybe put it on ebay with a really high reserve so it doesn't sell  but you'll  get a good gauge of what its worth.all you will lose is a few dollars for listing fees

[68charger440]

That might be worth a try.  Any idea what the listing fees are?

[70 sublime]

Not sure about the ebay listing idea

So you list a nice looking 69 Charger that still has it's original big block motor and is an original 4 spd car
That will for sure get bids over the $25K mark

So you put a $100K reserve on it so it does not sell and some yahoo bids $50K just trying to see what the reserve is
You will never know if the bidder would have ever payed that price

The brother that wants his dad's old car is more than likely to never sell it so who is going to come out better in the end ?
It is all hard things to figure out in this situation and we will all have to go through this sooner or later unless we sell off our toys first

Just take your time and maybe mention the $25 K number to them both to see if they are both happy with it

[Beep Beep Dave]

$25k was the number that jumped into my head as well. Sorry to hear about the circumstances though.

Take care,
Dave 

[Dino]

Sorry for your loss.

I get offers of $25K on mine on a regular basis and my car's not as nice as that one. I'd aim a bit higher.

Also look at completed eBay listings to get an idea what one in similar condition goes for.

Due to the conversion rates you may get more dollars from an overseas buyer so I'd consider listing it on eBay once you have a price in mind. You might get lucky.

[68charger440]

Sorry for your loss.

I get offers of $25K on mine on a regular basis and my car's not as nice as that one. I'd aim a bit higher.

Also look at completed eBay listings to get an idea what one in similar condition goes for.

Due to the conversion rates you may get more dollars from an overseas buyer so I'd consider listing it on eBay once you have a price in mind. You might get lucky.

The pics make it look cleaner than it really is..  there are some door dings, scratches and waves in the paint job that you can't see in the pics.

[Dino]

Sorry for your loss.

I get offers of $25K on mine on a regular basis and my car's not as nice as that one. I'd aim a bit higher.

Also look at completed eBay listings to get an idea what one in similar condition goes for.

Due to the conversion rates you may get more dollars from an overseas buyer so I'd consider listing it on eBay once you have a price in mind. You might get lucky.

The pics make it look cleaner than it really is..  there are some door dings, scratches and waves in the paint job that you can't see in the pics.

Same with mine and my original interior is seriously worn. But it's complete, unmolested, and running (or was anyway), and that's what a lot of buyers are looking for.

[Eldovert]

Sorry for your loss.
25 g is probably a fair price for all involved.
If there is any question to the value between the brothers you could move to a "shotgun clause"...what I mean by that is if one brother believes the car to be worth much more than the value you have come up with...that brother has to be prepared to pay that higher price.
The brother that comes up with a higher valuation has to pay that price..on the spot.
I hope things work out.
Cheers.Pat

[crj1968]

Sorry for your loss- lost my bro too- it's tough enough and then going through their stuff...truly sorry.

Glad to hear the kid wants to keep the car in the family. If the kids are older and mature enough maybe they can work it out themselves. Otherwise- I'm right there at $25k also.

[Tom68]

With all that's involved here, it might be best to just get it appraised.  I just did a 68 I was looking at and it cost $75.  (deduct the $75 from the estate)

It would be good to have for insurance purposes as well.

[1970Moparmann]

$25k was the number that jumped into my head as well. Sorry to hear about the circumstances though.

Take care,
Dave 

I agree.  Sorry for your loss!   Hope his son will enjoy the car as much as his dad...