Value of a Sandman or The Never Ending Story

[cafiem]

I believe Adam perth is spot on...they still have a way to go till they max in price

I hope you're right, mine will possibly be for sale soon.

[seavan]

Its all to do with supply and demand!
If there is lots of demand and none in supply,they have to go up in value.
Like Real Estate agents always say "God stopped making land but he still makes people",so land has to go up!
A classic car will always slowly keep going up and up and up.

[HK1837]

Adam pretty much nailed it, except I would have put HJ in front of HZ and i'm not so certain about the more $ for van over ute - there are so many more van sales than utes it is hard to compare! I can't remember the last really good top spec Sandman ute I saw sold. Only time will tell.
I still don't get why people want to pay more for Brisbane XX7 stamped examples. It has never been the case for XW8 and XV4 HQ's.
I think you'll find LE's won't ever break the bank either, a really good Sandman will eclipse them now, there were just too many LE's made that they'll never be super valuable. HQ SS is sort of the same but do have their following. I reckon HQ 350 Holdens and HJ GTS coupes plus 308 Sandmans are the go from the HQ-HZ stables. The jury is still out on the HQ 350 Statesmans, but they could be a good one to keep as well but there were thousands of these made as well.

[hqgts]

Btw... I have never been able to feel the love for the LE monaro.... Ugliest p.o.s holden made.... But each to their own i guess

[adam perth]

Adam pretty much nailed it, except I would have put HJ in front of HZ and i'm not so certain about the more $ for van over ute - there are so many more van sales than utes it is hard to compare! I can't remember the last really good top spec Sandman ute I saw sold. Only time will tell.
I still don't get why people want to pay more for Brisbane XX7 stamped examples. It has never been the case for XW8 and XV4 HQ's.
I think you'll find LE's won't ever break the bank either, a really good Sandman will eclipse them now, there were just too many LE's made that they'll never be super valuable. HQ SS is sort of the same but do have their following. I reckon HQ 350 Holdens and HJ GTS coupes plus 308 Sandmans are the go from the HQ-HZ stables. The jury is still out on the HQ 350 Statesmans, but they could be a good one to keep as well but there were thousands of these made as well.

a restored LE seem to be asking 40 to 60+ grand, i haven't seen one suit resto for under 20.. I put the HZ value infront of HJ Because some HJ's are harder to ID where is HZ is more straight forward. Also the HZ GTS front seems to be more desirable than HJ GTS guards. I quite often get asked,
"i want HZ sandman, do you know where there is one?, never really seen that for HJ. e.g i want a HJ sandman, do you know where there is one"....
HQ on the other hand.....everyone wants HQ sandman! this is just anocdotal conclusions by me BTW...!

7K and still going on a Ute with a very straight body and okay drive-line - want to know where the value is, go and buy the parts. I have sourced as prudently as possible and it still has cost me plenty. I would hate to think what it would cost if I tried to source new old stock parts.

HQ sandman ute??

[hqgts]

Byron the most probable reason that a sandman van is worth more $ in resale is that the iconic nature of the brand sandman makes people think panelvan first..... A bit like when people think monaro they automatically thing 2 door...Making the van more desireable for the majority of punters... Just my opinion....

As for the XX7 on the tags, when i bought my van i had a minimum spec for what I would purchase..

had to be genuine sandman, had to be a van, had to be L31, had to be manual.... The only options for me were if it was a brisbane built XX7 it did not have to have the original engine..... If built anywhere other than brisbane it had to have its original engine... It was my only compromise.....

Al

[HK1837]

Byron the most probable reason that a sandman van is worth more $ in resale is that the iconic nature of the brand sandman makes people think panelvan first..... A bit like when people think monaro they automatically thing 2 door...Making the van more desireable for the majority of punters... Just my opinion....

As for the XX7 on the tags, when i bought my van i had a minimum spec for what I would purchase..

had to be genuine sandman, had to be a van, had to be L31, had to be manual.... The only options for me were if it was a brisbane built XX7 it did not have to have the original engine..... If built anywhere other than brisbane it had to have its original engine... It was my only compromise.....

Al

I must have been bought up in a different reality to some here! To me Sandman was always ute and van and I never immediately thought van when someone says Sandman. Not sure if it is where I grew up, Newcastle & Lake Macquarie area have always had a pretty big ute and bike culture so maybe that is why? Although these two cities have many of the best beaches in the world too!

Al, would you purchase a Brisbane built XW8 without its original engine over a Dandenong built one with its engine? This is the thing I don't get. What if the ute or van from Brisbane had XU3 on it? Is it worth less than one with XX7?

[hqgts]

Rightly or wrongly, to me anyway, barring finding a van with a documented history, having an XX7 tagged car is the undeniable proof of it being a Genuine sandman... So having the original motor was less important to me.... My HJ is 5/75 so I wanted the real deal.. Not a maybe... Have since sourced an early 75 date coded 308 and whilst not the original engine will still be a nice fit for the van

In my younger days a sandman was an icon of the surf culture and was totally seperate from the van scene.... Its why more than a few sandmans were heavily modified back in the day.... In a van you could store a board, catch some shut eye and play hide the sausage... Try doing that in a ute without getting arrested.... Blockers sells the "sandman - still your fathers worst nightmare" stickers.... Not sure not many dads quake in their boots when a ute turns up for the first date.... But if we were all the same it would be a boring world...

On your question of an XW8.... Of course it doesnt matter where it was built..... It is what it is.... With a sandman, as you know more than anyone, unless it has books or XX7 tags claiming sandman status is not as easy to prove authenticity.... And in the collector car world provenance is everything.... For me when someone says "is it a real sandman" its far easier to pop the bonnet and point to the XX7 tags than to pull out the centre console to show the original welds on a centre console bracket....

[hx-sandman]

Personally, I think we're in the midst of a Sandman bubble. They've suddenly become popular and to begin with were well priced but the nostalgia factor has kicked in and prices are at a pretty high level for what is basically a commercial vehicle with a sticker kit.

In my limited research it seems Australian classic car fads drive up prices slowly and steadily till they drop suddenly, quite often due to outside factors (economic etc).

The GTHO values have taken a hit, as have HDT's. Watch for Monaro's to dip as the nostalgia buyers get older or the stock exchange tanks.

I think the prices are unsustainable for a non-performance vehicle that was mass produced and production numbers can never be absolutely known

[Taily]

Rightly or wrongly, to me anyway, barring finding a van with a documented history, having an XX7 tagged car is the undeniable proof of it being a Genuine sandman... So having the original motor was less important to me.... My HJ is 5/75 so I wanted the real deal.. Not a maybe... Have since sourced an early 75 date coded 308 and whilst not the original engine will still be a nice fit for the van.

Cool. How close is it to QT...549? Be nice to stumble on the next engine to mine or even a few off...

In my younger days a sandman was an icon of the surf culture and was totally seperate from the van scene.... Its why more than a few sandmans were heavily modified back in the day.... In a van you could store a board, catch some shut eye and play hide the sausage... Try doing that in a ute without getting arrested.... Blockers sells the "sandman - still your fathers worst nightmare" stickers.... Not sure not many dads quake in their boots when a ute turns up for the first date.... But if we were all the same it would be a boring world...

Easy, you just need to keep the tonneau cover peeled back slightly at one corner to allow all that hot air to escape if you were parked too close to a light source at night. Failing that out there in the very dark, ute owners didn't have issues with stilleto heels puncturing hoodlinings or pervs at windows but they did have to explain away the odd dent in the roof or "mark" on the exterior of the rear window. There were certain freedoms ute ownership did have, such as no restriction of headroom affecting dexterity or performance... . Boards of course went in the front (hanging out of one window) and usually left waxx all over the vinyl seats while towels were either hung from the "coffin rails" (if fitted) or chucked under the wetties on the floor or seats to stop the carpet getting wet.

On your question of an XW8.... Of course it doesnt matter where it was built..... It is what it is.... With a sandman, as you know more than anyone, unless it has books or XX7 tags claiming sandman status is not as easy to prove authenticity.... And in the collector car world provenance is everything.... For me when someone says "is it a real sandman" its far easier to pop the bonnet and point to the XX7 tags than to pull out the centre console to show the original welds on a centre console bracket....

Fair points all, but to me it is about keeping hold of something that most who weren't alive then wont understand. You wont find that on a compliance plate. Where is the "like" button for your post?

Regards,

Dave.