I think it also depends on how many people happen to be looking for one at the time, as well as of course the condition of the car. It could well fetch that amount, but it might well take a good few months unless the seller is lucky and there are 2 or three people out there looking. To take a lesser car and make it as good as this one would cost even more than he's asking. If I costed up the hours I spent getting my 340 back on the road and added the money I did spend, this car would have made more sense! (and it would have been a better spec car!).
We don't want to see the cars priced out of people's reach, but on the other hand they've been valued very, very low in the past and you had problems just giving them away (not a bad thing for us!).
Personally I don't mind the drifting scene saving cars which otherwise would be crushed long since (even if they do get abused, at least they had some extra life). On the other hand I don't like to see A1 condition, higher spec, rarer or older cars get trashed. In some cases people do buy these examples and go on to put a huge amount of time and money into modifying them using an A1 condition shell. This I also find acceptable as this raises the profile of the cars looks like great fun!
It may well be that a few people are sensing that good condition cars are now getting rare, they have a certain amount of a following and are reluctant to part with them for peanuts.
I was talking to a bloke the other day who has been buying bangers of ebay for less than scrap value, selling a few parts and then scraping them, he said people are getting wise to scrap value and not letting cars go for so little. He mentioned that he'd seen a few 340's go recently for more money than he'd be prepared to pay......a good argument for slightly higher prices being a good thing! After all we never find out what happens to some of the cars we see go on ebay, although and encouraging number do turn up on here!
I'd say that if a car is worth £100 to £200 in scrap and has a long M.O.T. and some tax- add £100 to £200. If in unusually good condition and a less common one (for example, 3 doors, GLT, GLS, Mk1,Mk2 etc) add £200. £600 ish for the above sounds fair to me, any more above that is how much do I want it/how much more I can afford to make sure I get it money. I think anything over £1000 has to be justified by either exceptional 'once in a lifetime' condition/rarity/low mileage or high quality modifications.
The other thing to consider is that it is January/February, when prices are traditionally depressed as a lot of people are still paying for the excesses of Christmas and have no money. £600 is a lot of money to many folk, but come April/May (before they've had time to realise that they've still got to pay for the summer holiday!) prices should rise again as demand increases. Also, most people aren't thinking about summer toys/second cars this early in the year, especially with salt on the road, so the 'I want a classic car from my youth' brigade aren't yet thinking about buying.
Classics and convertibles are best bought in winter, 4x4's are best bought in summer.
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Good points, hadn't really allowed for the time of year effect, January is a slow time for lots of things!
But I think that red 360 would be a bargain for £600 when compared to this:
This Cortina below looks like a cracking condition car, but substantially more than I paid for a much lower mileage, 5 speed 2 litre 360. Thank god my sentimental attachment to old cars is not based around Fords (It could have been, as I fondly remember my dads old 1962 Ford Consul Classic, a real 60's British but American styled car!) http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3234082.htm
I must admit I do scan the adverts for the old Ford Consul Classics, and in particular the Ford Consul Capris (no not the Capri your thinking of!)
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(It could have been, as I fondly remember my dads old 1962 Ford Consul Classic, a real 60's British but American styled car!) 