A long time in storage, how was the seals, the brake cylinders, the tires, etc…? Did you store it on jacks to off-load the springs? Life is too short, that would be like storing a sexy girlfriend to enjoy her later instead of every day.
I agree, this was a too long time to have it stored... it was just parked and covered indoors. It leaked a little oil at first, but with new oil this stopped in a day. I replaced the wheels and tires, the fuel and battery, then it went through the inspection flawless. I also took out the Corvair that's been stored for eight years and it needed nothing, both cars drives like new! Perhaps it helps that they are both air-cooled...
Another rare bird and not the favorite of Ralph Nader and his book Unsafe At Any Speed. Hagerty tested a Corvair: https://www.hagerty.com/media/videos/will-the-corvair-kill-you/
OMG speaking of the exotic and overall car market, we just attended Mecum to see out late friends the Bachman's collection sell. It was historic, world record prices on this and many other cars. The only surprise was John Shirley's GTO selling for 38.5mm as the record for these is probably the MacNeil rumored 70mm purchase about 5 years ago. I recall sitting with him and his son at Road America around 2012 when he said one day he would own one, and he did at a record price. Mecum surly has the title now for the Greatest Show on Earth, at least for car folk. It was a circus lol...
I've been watching auctions in the background while at work for over two weeks now... first Mecum, and now a few days into Barrett-Jackson. The collector-car market bubble has finally popped. It got a little out of hand over the past couple of years, but almost everything from "drivable" to the highest rarified airs of "collection piece" have seemed to calm down a bit and come back closer to reality. I really need to visit one or the other some day. It would be like walking around heaven!
I've never been to a Mecum auction but I've been to Barrett-Jackson in Palm Beach numerous times. While BJ has always been known for high-end cars, the past few times I attended it was more like shopping at a used car lot. A good number of cars going across the block at BJ all look pristine on television, but in person they are not that nice. I think it's safe to say many of the really nice examples were bought-up years ago and stashed away. I don't really care to look at astronomically priced exotics at BJ. Mecum is a bit more realistic and the selection of cars is more inline with my inner 16 year-old.
Mecum was NUTS this year. They set a single-day world record on Saturday when they cleared out the Ferrari collection, plus the white 250 GTO.