New classic car website

tevake · 01:38 PM

I'd like to run this by every one here to get input and suggestions.

A friend has just built and put up this news site, some what similar to Bring a Trailer

I think he explains his intentsion pretty clearly.

What do you think of this site? Ideas for improvements?

Thanks for looking.
Richard

Classic Car Purist | Classic Car Classifieds... With a Difference

I should add that this is nothing against modified or hot rodded cars ( he loves my tweaked S C)

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Looks like just a bunch of links to ebay auctions or other for-sale sites, along with a bunch of banner ads for auction sites; they charge $20/month for the service of linking your ad on their page. No real original content that I could find.

BeyGon · 11-16-2011, 06:30 AM

Here is a local site, I see Dave at a lot of car gatherings, this might give your friend some ideas.

SoCal Car Culture - Car Shows - Cruise Nights - Photos

intakexhaust · intakexhaust's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by widebody911

Looks like just a bunch of links to ebay auctions or other for-sale sites, along with a bunch of banner ads for auction sites; they charge $20/month for the service of linking your ad on their page. No real original content that I could find.

When I see sites like that, I'm off in a second.

tevake · 11-16-2011, 08:45 AM

Good morning Guys, thanks for the comments.

Widebody, you are right this aims to consolidate listings from all over the web and other sources. and become a go to place for this type of collector who wants to cut to the chase and not have to wade thru pages and pages of listings to find the few really nice original or restored to factory spec. type of car.

Meant to be purely a shopping / selling resource, for that niche of the hobby.

It is early days for this site and he hopes to expand the sources to include marque clubs,etc.

I really like your V W Bus site, there are more old busses showing up here on Kauai all the time recently. quite an resurgence of interest. And a new business renting classic westys
is now operating here with some clean older busses.

Bey Gon That is a cool site and a good idea there in So Cal. There being soo many events going on. I'll be checking it out for upcoming visits.
The scope of this site is limited to the listings only.
May be that this is too focused?

Thanks for your inputs
Richard

enzo1 · 11-16-2011, 09:15 AM

I like it....

cairns · 11-16-2011, 10:25 AM

I like the site- don't care if it's a link to other's sales (though I don't know what the purveyor of the site gets out of it); the layout is very nice; it's fast and the pictures are excellent.

BTW I think the MGA is seriously overpriced. For those $ you can get a flawless 1962 twincam.

tevake · 11-16-2011, 10:48 AM

Cairns, At this point while the site is building a following the adds are going up for free. If it takes off there well may be enough traffic in new postings @ $20. per month and possible product and service listings to keep it going.

The creator of the site is a pro photographer, so is looking for listings that have lots of good pics. and well written text. It is amazing to me to see the feeble postings that folks put up and hope to get top $s for their cars. Those listings won't be coming up on this site.

Agreed the M G is a bit overpriced, cool side by side resto pics tho. I think this end of the market does seem to be plagued with very speculative pricing. Most must have been watching the auto auctions on T V to get these crazy numbers. The hope here is that this kind of site will create a more competitive market place which should force sellers to be more realistic.

thanks again for all the comments
Richard

daepp · 11-16-2011, 11:15 AM

I love the look, but when I read it I can't help but think he copied BAT.

tevake · 11-16-2011, 02:59 PM

DAEpperson, That was my first impression also, when I ran that by the Tom, He explained that this site is meant to be more narrow in scope. No projects, no customs,
Etc. And aiming to include / even focus on the mid to high end cars. And only those with good pictures and through descriptions. Also he is planning on having no comments from users. If you read the comments in bring a trailer they can range into the derisive- snarky kind of remarks that benifit no one,
especially the seller.

So those are some of the differences. I don't know if they are significant enough to give it a life of its own or not?

Your input is helpful as this is in the formative stages, and I am forwarding the comments to Tom.

So thanks and keep the thoughts coming.

Cheers Richard

onewhippedpuppy · 11-16-2011, 07:39 PM

It's a nicely executed site with excellent photography but I agree with previous posters, it's a copy of BAT even down to the font. He should do something to intentionally differentiate his site from BAT to create his own unique look.

Otherwise I frankly don't see the business case. If a seller has already paid to post his vehicle for sale on a high traffic sale site like Ebay, why pay additional money to advertise it on this page? Unless this site yields a substantial number of views that wouldn't otherwise see the Ebay page, it really doesn't help with the sale.

EarlyPorsche · 11-17-2011, 05:15 AM

The site is most likely unneeded and will not make it without huge advertising bucks spent on...the major sites he's linking to.

Dottore · 11-17-2011, 05:30 AM

I think this is a brilliant idea.

I spend a fair bit of time looking for classic cars, and the sources are all over the place.

If this is developed into a reliable aggregator site, it will be successful. There are lots of people out there always looking for nice classics who don't want to wade through endless customs, hot rods and just old junk.

So yes, there is definitely a market niche for this. And I like the look and feel of the site. Nicely done.

daepp · 11-17-2011, 09:29 AM

I think the site looks awesome. But when I read "...you can find it here on ebay" it just sounds so familiar.

tevake · 04:29 PM

All right lots of you have taken the time to look this new site over and share your thoughts and suggestions, very much appreciated. even the less positive views are useful.

Again I agree that this idea is not completely original or unique, to my thinking its success depends on the quality and number of the listing.

There are many clubs and enthusiast sites out there that could be possible sources of good listings. If any of you frequent some of these types of sites and care to share a link it would be helpful. Damn, I should have added this to the OP.

There are many collectors out there that shy away from E bay for various reasons and would only be interested in passing their baby on to other serious enthusiasts. Ones who will appreciate their special cars for what they are and aim to maintain and preserve them. These are the type of folks that Tom hopes to attract and serve.

Pelican is what it is because of the expert and knowledgeable members that contribute and are there to help any that need that help. the supportive community spirit.

At this early point in the development of the site the sources are mostly the usual high profile sites. How ever the more networking that can help to contact the best small restoration shops, Club groups etc. the sooner and better it can grow into the useful resource that it hopefully will become.

I think Tom is off to a good start, and know that all of your input will help to make it much better. Thanks!!

Cheers Richard

tevake · 11-18-2011, 10:33 AM

I was talking with Tom last night, to discuss this thread and and the comments that you all have made.

I had mentioned to him previously that some here thought his is too much of a knock off of BAT.

So he had done a comparison and had found that not a single listing on his site was to be found on BAT. So where the concept is similar, the focus and content are not at all the same. Nor is the font.

Also in my previous post I was bumbling on about the qualities that the users or community bring to a site like Pelican.
What I was trying to say is that the more collectors / enthusiast that find their way to this site, and the more they frequent it the better it can become.

There are buyers out there looking for just the right car as well as sellers looking for the right buyer. So the more popular this type of site becomes the better it can serve the niche its aiming for. In providing a meeting place for them to find each other.

Tom is placing adds in Hemmings, Classic Motor sports Mag. and others. And looking to contact clubs and marque groups in the hope of starting the networking that can help this site to reach and serve as many as possible. So any links to such groups are helpful.

A lot of pelicans live in the areas with a lot of car culture happenings are going on all the time. But others of us have to use the INTERNET and other resources to have access to what is going on in the hobby and what is available .

I enjoy perusing the classic car listings for entertainment and fun, even tho I am not looking to buy any thing right now. Plus its a good learning tool for when I might be able to start searching for a new toy.

Thanks again for your comments

Cheers Richard