woensdag 11 april 2012

The last and final blog post!

All good things come to an end ;-) After more than 10 weeks of blogging on the Oldtimerfactory blog this blog is ending. But why? This blog was a part of the course I am following this semester and I am going to finish it in the next few weeks. This blog was started to test several social media ideas and the reaction of visitors on it. For me this was the right time to share my interest for classic cars and the long term ideas I have with the Oldtimerfactory. This blog gave me the chance to explore the world of classic Mini’s and classic Fiat 500’s. I learned a lot about these cars, there prices and the people who sell and buy them. Especially things I have learned about the selling and buying part made it possible to start selling them myself. In the last weeks I have visited several Fiat 500’s and bought one for myself. Next Saturday I will buy the first Fiat 500 with the goal selling this one to my first real customer. It has some repairing to do but this price is good.
Besides the selling part of the Oldtimerfactory I still like to advise customers in buying their first classic car. The plan is to create a brand new website in the following months with lots of information about the classic cars I am selling and the advise possibilities. I will let you know when it is finished.

So this is it…thanks for following and hopefully you will visit the new website soon!

vrijdag 30 maart 2012

maandag 26 maart 2012

The future of oldtimerfactory

The end of the Oldtimerfactory blog is coming, only two more blog updates! 
But why? I started this blog as a part of a course I’m taking at university. The main goal was to see what the influence of social media is on a certain subject. Because of a long time wish to start an oldtimer company I used this subject for this blog. I wrote about buying a Fiat 500, a classic Mini and what the Oldtimerfactory can do in this classic car world. I compared a lot of cars and prices of classic cars. This is why I noticed it is difficult to earn enough money with only selling cars. There are simply to many car selling company’s. Advising customers, mentioned in one of my first blog updates, in buying a classic car is still a good idea. I will expand this idea in the upcoming weeks and hopefully the Oldtimerfactory will become a real company.
So, what did you learn from this blog? I learned a lot about the different classic Fiat 500 models. Also about the classic Mini, there are a lots of different models! But most important are the price differences and where to buy them. I will use this information if I start advising others and use it for buying these classic cars.
Hope you enjoyed reading this blog. Upcoming week the last update!

woensdag 21 maart 2012

Classic Remise Düsseldorf

Porsche 356
Last Saturday I finally had the time to visit Classic Remise in Dusseldorf, Germany. I had planned this visit for almost two years! But what is Classic Remise? Classic Remise offers oldtimer owners the possibility to store there oldtimer in a well isolated, completely glassed-in, boxes. Besides this owners can choose for maintenance and several company’s sell cars on a central platform in the centre of the Classic Remise building.  
The classic Remise building
The building itself, a fully renovated locomotive roundhouse, breathes a museum-like quality atmosphere where the classic cars can be viewed daily in a architecturally interesting environment. See the photo of the Porsche 356, the Fiat 500 Albarth and the Volkswagen T1 van to get an impression.
Fiat 500 Abarth
Next Thursday I will make a discussion about buying a Fiat 500. The choice is between a red, white and blue one. But I will make a discussion! More about this next week.





woensdag 14 maart 2012

What’s the best commercial object?


Commercial classic Mini
The Wheeler dealers movie in last week’s blog gave a nice idea of what’s positive and what’s negative about the classic Mini. The movie showed it is possible to buy a cheap Mini that can be driven daily. I spend a lot of time on the web searching for a good and cheap Mini. For me it is clear a reliable mini starts at a price of 2500 euro. I also found a classic Mini used as a commercial object on Marktplaats.nl. So I got an idea! Why shouldn’t I use a classic car as a commercial object to promote the Oldtimerfactory?! It kept me thinking…is the mini a good commercial object? Is it as good as a Fiat 500? 
Commercial classic Fiat 500
I don’t think so! A Fiat 500 has a more unusual design and looks cuter than a Mini. You don’t see a Fiat 500 as often as a Mini, which makes it more special as well. Unfortunately the Fiat 500 is more expensive than a Mini. A good Fiat 500 costs at least 3500 euro. And how expensive is transforming the car in a commercial object? It needs stickers, a repaint or a large sign on the roof. The best start for this is probably a white car. In my search on Gaspedaal.nl and Marktplaats.nl I found a lot of white Fiat 500’s. Unfortunately it seems there are not a lot of white Mini’s for sale. So again I will start looking for a white Fiat 500 next week and sort out how much stickers and a roof sign costs. Besides this I need a good logo and text for the stickers and sign. A link to Twitter and Facebook is a must! Lot’s to think about again…I’ll keep you posted!

maandag 5 maart 2012

Other possibilities…the classic Mini


Last blog I ended with choosing the color blue. Now it is time to end the Fiat 500 search.  I now know what prices they are sold for, how they drive and where to buy perfect restored Fiat 500’s. If I buy a Fiat 500 it will definitely be at the company I wrote about in blog tree.
Now it is time to investigate other possibilities. Oldtimerfactory will eventually advise about and sell diverse classic cars. The plan is selling classic cars in the same price range as the Fiat 500.  So, what other options do we have? Two years ago I owned a classic Mini for a few weeks. Bought it for a nice price and sold it for an even better price.
Let’ s have a look at the classic Mini!
Again I started the search for a Mini on Marktplaats.nl and Gaspedaal.nl to see what price’s they are sold for. The first thing I noticed, they are cheaper than a Fiat 500. Classic Mini’s, in good state, are offered for 2500-3500 euro. Special editions, like the fast Cooper S, are somewhere between 4500 and 6000 euro. Classic mini’s in bad state are even offered for 1000 euro.  Some Marktplaats examples:
Recently restored Mini: http://link.marktplaats.nl/537059575

To see what's positive and negative about Mini I’d like to start the search by watching Wheeler Dealers. Of course they have a Mini episode. Enjoy!





maandag 27 februari 2012

Choosing the color…again!

Last week I wrote about my first visits and this weekend I planned the first test drive. The company I visited last week offered me the opportunity to test drive a Fiat 500 with 500cc motor and a Fiat 500 with a 650cc motor. So last Saturday I drove to Veghel again. I got a warm welcome and started the day with a coffee and lots of good talk about classic cars. Nice to meet other classic car enthusiasts!
Eventually the test drives had to begin. First I drove the just restored red Fiat 500 (I talked about in the last blog update) with a 650cc motor. It felt quit quick, probably because it is such a small and light car. Right after the red Fiat 500 I tried a white 500cc one. This motor wasn’t bad either. But comparing the two I would choose the 650cc. Just a bit more power that makes it even possible to drive this car on the high way. So this is clear, a 650cc motor!
With, again, a coffee in my hand I ended the test drive discussing about the right color for the Fiat 500. I think blue…426, 483 or 453.

All Fiat 500 colors