My father was a frequent visitor to this site through the years and passed away in September 2016. I have been charged with selling his beloved 1912 Model T, which he purchased in 1951 and was the 2nd owner. He lovingly restored the car, being careful to be true to the year, yet driving it always. In fact, for the first two years he owned it, it was the only vehicle he and his new bride owned. He was in law school at OSU and would drive downtown 2x a day to drop off and pick up Mom. It was the first car I learned to drive. I digress.
I found a 2003 post by David Grant Stewart suggesting that it should be priced as follows: "Show room condition, correct, needs nothing functionally or cosmetically (except seat cushions): $10,000"+"Town cars with original bodies: Add 100%."+"Pre-1917: Add $1000 for each year down to 1909." = $20-25K. I would say that except for the original leather/horsehair seats, the car looks amazing (especially if you polish the brass). It truly is well maintained and museum quality.
My question to the club membership is this, how much has that Price List inflated in the past 13 years, and how would you recommend I attempt to sell this? Ebay, this website, auction :-(, some other option. The car is in Dublin, Ohio. I am in eastern North Carolina. Arrangements can be made for serious buyers to see the car. That said, she was in the Upper Arlington 4th July parade 64 times, and at the Arthritis Foundation many times. I suspect many are familiar with the car.
I also have a lot of parts. What should I do with those?
I look forward to your input.

That's a beautiful T. If I had the time for another car I'd be calling you.

Laurie..call me and leave a msg. 419-271-5405
PM'ng u also

You will probably get different view points on what to ask and how to sell your car. I would imagine if you used an auction service you would have to pay a fee to use their service. That's something to think about if your trying to get the best price for your T.
Ebay is good for some people and since your T is a highly desirable car that might work for you in getting a lot of potential buyers.

As far as the asking price that depends on who wants it the most. That may seem like a simple answer but going by the forum answers about a price for an early brass T there should be a brass T hobbyist who could give you a ballpark price. You could list it in the MTFCA club magazine to start with and see what happens.

Laurie,

I am very interested in purchasing your car.
Call me at 317-201-6524.

Thanks, Rod

What I find interesting, is it still has the correct doors on it!

Get in line Rod!

Tim, I thought you were downsizing. Jim

Sorry for your loss, Laurie. You mention your father often read this forum. Did he post here too?

Short term Jim! LOL Who knows..maybe I'll sell the 20!

I'm still looking at the reflections in the paint--WOW!
Laurie, I'd have a hard time letting a family item like that go, but as for the parts, it would probably be easiest (and least painful) to let them go with the car. If you sell them individually, you have to deal with each part, and some of the parts will not be "highly desirable" as others. Given your distance from them, letting them go as one lot will save you time and headaches.
Best of Luck to you.

Sharp car. It looks nearly identical to mine.

I sent you a pm thanks Ron

Nice car. Tim

The last few cars I have sold I have included the extra parts. It's a pain selling parts. You also really don't want to let them go until the car is gone. I've been burned a couple of times in the past. You think the car is gone and sell the parts. Then the deal falls apart and you end up having to buy something you had. It really is amazing how much your T looks like my 1912 Maxwell. It answers my question about how my car would look with natural spoke wheels. This is what yours would look like with them painted.

Oh My!! I Want it..

In response to your question of value, I would suggest a Google search. I think you'll find your car to have a value closer to 30-35,000. I'm not surprised by the interest at 20-25000 range. A professional appraisal would be beneficial to your interests.

Andy

Thanks for all the interest, the kind words and the suggestions and information. If you are interested in the car, please send your best offer soon. I have a very good offer and will be scheduling appointments to see the car soon.

Troy Todd, I did a double take when I first looked at your car. it's beautiful! Dad always preferred the varnished wood spokes even if it wasn't "authentic."

Laurie, Don't let anyone make you believe they are anything but beautiful--yes, not authentic, but very appropriate "bling" for the era. Nope, I painted my '16s wheels, but I can still appreciate the "wrong color" wheels.
Best of Luck to you

"Original Seats"...a plus or a minus? One person says, "It's only original once." Another says they have to be replaced immediately. How do you negotiate a price with such opposing opinions? In the interest of full disclosure, I post this photo so that any potential buyer knows what the front seat really looks like.

It is "Patina" all the way through". Delightful and heartbreaking at the same time.
By the way, thanks for the picture.

Rich

As you mentioned, the original seat is a plus for some and a minus for others.

Personally I think original but worn seats look great on survivor cars or cars with similar patina throughout, but a little out of place on a restored car like yours.

Joe

Beautiful car!!
Original upholstery is an issue. A very good longtime friend had a car some years ago with some of the most perfect looking leather upholstery (not a Ford). He had the car for several years, took very good care of it, but drove it quite a bit. One year, he saw a little spot on the leather. A few months later, it all started to disintegrate. Within another year, he had to have it completely redone. That is one of the realities of many decades-old leather. I have had lesser leather items do basically the same thing.
Your car's upholstery is what it is. Some people would try to keep it that way as long as they can. Many others would change it RIGHT NOW! Neither way is really wrong. For whatever it is worth, I would try to keep it at least awhile longer.
All that said. It is a lot like remodeling the kitchen just before you sell the house. Rarely can you increase the value enough to pay the costs. The potential buyer will want a different stove, the sink island over "there" and a COMPLETELY different floor, not to mention the color on the walls.
The model T's interior should be a professionally done in leather, like original (for 1912). That can be very expensive. And, the truth is, most such cars around today do not have interiors done as nice as they really should have. A nice kit, well installed, can look just fine, serve well, and last a long time. But many potential buyers would not be happy with it. With so many options, no matter what you would do, is most likely to be the wrong choice for someone that otherwise might have been the right buyer.
Generally, clean and shiny is important. Make a nice car gleam as pretty as it can. Yeah, new upholstery would get a buyer for more money, but not likely near as much as that new upholstery would cost you.
Price accordingly. Let the new caretaker decide how he wants to handle the leather.

That, is my opinion.
Beautiful car! I wish I was in the market.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2

For me to keep I would say redo the interior. If you are looking to sell I don't know how well you could recoup the money. My car was pretty pricey to have done.

The original upholstery is a plus because it will serve as an authentic pattern when making and installing new upholstery.

Too many "restored" Model T Fords have very bad upholstery jobs - overstuffed, poorly installed, lack of attention to details, etc.

I would agree that if you're selling, leave it as is. It's unlikely that you could successfully raise the price to cover the cost of new upholstery. If you're keeping the car, go ahead but save the original upholstery in case a future owner wants it.

Be aware that any potential buyer will most likely try to get you to lower your asking price significantly to cover the cost of a new leather interior. With that in mind, I'd be sure to cover that by starting out with a slightly higher selling price.

Maybe having a quote for the work in hand for a potential buyer would be helpful.

Cost would be quite variable depending on who you got a quote from. "Custom" shop work will exceed $5K in a heartbeat for leather, per an estimate last year for my '13 in Amish country, and as a '12, that's what it'll have to have. Leather kit for touring from Classtique is $2195, you install. He charges $125 per seat bottom to install those. I've had him do that for my '13 and highly recommend it. I got lucky as Elizabeth was able to "stop by" on her way to Southern states to do the seat back install.I did vinyl. Another $600. I don't know if handling leather install costs more or not. Don't know why it would.

In my opinion the interior looks out of place and doesn't match the rest of the car from the pictures posted. Pictures online can be deceiving and not show true to life. The car's exterior looks like a beautifully done job but with the condition of the interior appears then to be a car that's a "work in progress" This is not bad but would be somewhat reflected in the value of the car.
I might be wrong since we don't have much details to go on but if the exterior of the car was unrestored original I be tempted to keep the car unrestored. As it is The leather would have to be replaced and it would be an amazing car to have!

Gene, I agree with you. I'm always for trying to keep a car as original as possible, especially the interior. However, the leather looks pretty beat up and actually showing large areas of horse-hair stuffing. A couple of tours later and you may not have any stuffing in place anymore! And since the outside looks absolutely stunning the torn up interior just doesn't match.