Wheeler Dealers has missed out on £500,000 in profit

Figures released by Stratstone show that the 86 cars featured in the first 10 series of Wheeler Dealers would have generated £500,000 in profit today.

Lamborghini Urraco

“Hold out your hand, you’ve got yourself a deal.” But maybe Mike Brewer shouldn’t have been so quick to shake hands, as figures from Stratstone reveal that Wheeler Dealers may have missed out on half a million pounds in profit.

In the television series, Mike buys a tired classic then instructs an able mechanic – initially Edd China, but more recently Ant Anstead – to improve the car with the aim of selling it for a profit. On average, the show makes £1,491 per car, but Stratstone says the cars would be worth significantly more in today’s booming classic car market.

The team at Stratstone analysed every show up to the end of series ten and identified how much each car would be worth today. By holding on to all 86 cars, the show would have been £500,000 better off. Ouch.

Fezza is a nice little earner

Ferrari Dino 308 GT4

Mike might be crying into his corn flakes when he finds out the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 from series six would be worth 361 percent more than the £13,000 he sold it for. Back then, a good 308 GT4 was available for the price of a Ford Mondeo. Sadly, those days are long gone.

In 2009, when series six first aired, Mike bought the Ferrari for £3,750, before spending £11,880 on the restoration job. It sold for £13,000, earning the team a £1,120 profit. Today, that same car would be worth £60,000.

The 308 GT4 is not the only car to leave Mike with bruised shins following a spell of kicking himself. Stratstone has identified the top ten cars from Wheeler Dealers based on what they would be worth now.

Car Bought for Sold for Average value today
1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 £3,750 £13,000 £60,000
1972 Lamborghini Urraco P250S £21,380 £35,000 £55,995
1964 Corvette Sting Ray C2 £18,100 £45,500 £49,500
1970 Fiat Dino Coupe 2400 £12,500 £15,500 £48,500
1973 Jaguar E-Type V12 £13,250 £18,500 £42,000
1976 Porsche 911 2.7S Targa £5,000 £8,450 £35,500
1982 DeLorean DMC-12 £9,650 £20,500 £35,000
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air 210 £4,000 £16,000 £33,500
1973 Jensen Interceptor £5,000 £6,500 £30,500
1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v £2,300 £3,800 £23,750

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Gavin Braithwaite-Smith
Gavin Braithwaite-Smithhttp://www.petrolblog.com
Writer with a penchant for #FrenchTat. Owns 15 vehicles of varying degrees of terribleness. Also doing a passable impression of Cousin Eddie in an Italian-German beige motorhome. Doesn't get out much.

9 COMMENTS

  1. The move from Britain to the US for Wheeler Dealers will be it’s death knell and very likely something that Mike Brewer will live to regret. For one very simple reason – the show’s content.
    The British version featured everything from a 3 wheeler Messchermitt and Amphicar to a Polish Sorina and VW Corrado, plus a Jaguar XJ6 Coupe and E-Type, Aston Martin, Lambourghini, Triumph Stag, Mini Moke, Jensen and many other unique cars from Britain and Europe. All that will be gone and what we will no doubt be fed now is a succession of yank tanks.
    I was so looking forward to a continuation and perhaps seeing more Morris, Austin, Hillman, Daimler, Rover and Rootes Group vehicles among others. We already have Counting Cars, Kindig Customs, Full Custom Garage, Overhaulin’ and Garage Squad, etc., etc. – all featuring nothing but US vehicles! Oh yawn! They are watchable and enjoyable for what they are worth of course, but enough is enough. Wheeler Dealers served up a variety of cars that we rarely see but we won’t see them anymore.
    We have seriously lost something if WD is just going to join this throng of US car restorers. Others have said that Edd China made the show and I strongly agree. Ant Anstead is capable but he is NOT Edd China. Mike Brewer comes across as the typical car salesman which I put in the same category as real estate salesmen – brash, arrogant and generally dislikeable, and giving Edd sometimes huge amounts of work while brushing aside Edd’s very reasonable concerns and criticisms about some of the rubbish that he was expected to restore. And one huge irritation was that brutal slapping handshake from Brewer – he has obviously spent too much time in the US!
    Edd’s concerns about the shows direction were surely not unfounded – it seemed that he was already worked to death by Brewer and Edd probably spent 12 hour days in the workshop while Brewer did little more than run around to fetch parts, or sometimes making a pitiful token effort to the task – pushing a button here or cleaning a piece of upholstery there. We never saw him actually get his hands dirty and help Edd in the workshop with the hard jobs. And if WD is going to make a greater number of shows at the behest of the producers then Edd surely saw that he would not be able to keep up.
    Just like Top Gear went down the plughole with the departure of Clarkson, May and Hammond and subsequently had a succession of hosts, Wheeler Dealers is headed the same way. Top Gear is no longer worth the bother to watch it and it is a shadow of its former self. It’s very sad to see Wheeler Dealers follow the money – as is surely Brewer’s desire and intention even if he is already a millionaire. How much is not enough? But the US move is a serious loss to viewers given that British and European cars will no longer be featured which we can take as a certainty. WD was unique for that reason alone, but now that Brewer has effectively killed the show by making it yet another US car restoration program (which it surely will be) to compete with the many others then we can only lament the sad loss.

  2. I’ve purchased all seasons available of WD to this point. I just had the misfortune of watching the latest episode, about restoring a WD crew worker’s V6 Mustang. The show was exactly what one wants to avoid in classic cars: all filler. I’m afraid Edd has been proven correct.

  3. I agree with the comments. The cars fixed in early episodes of WD made the show worth watching even without an interest in car restoration. Now its a succession of yank crap, no class just big pistons to make up for a lack of engineering ability. The workshop made this show worth watching and Edd China made that workshop engrossing now there is less of it, still interesting but just not the same. I agree its the same decision that destroyed Top Gear.

  4. For me, the biggest flaw besides the “unlikeability” of Mike in WD is they lost money on every car. Say an average profit of 1500gbp minus av. 30 manhours @40/h = 300gbp profit
    300:2 = 150 each, minus taxes, insurances, power, tools, etc…

  5. As Gino DaCampo once said, ” if my granny had wheels she would be a bike.”

    As with the quote, the entire article makes absolutely no sense., “IF” they had kept all 86 cars, they would have been worth a fortune today, well, they didn;y buy them today and they didn’t sell them today. “IF” I had kept every car I ever owned I would probably be selling them all today for £500,000 too. but I didn’t, mainly because it doesn’t work that way. I also bought my present 15 year old Jaguar XJR for under £8000 4 years ago, it’s “possibly” worth £6000 today, and “MAY” be worth £20,000 in another 15 years, “IF” I keep it in an air conditioned bubble and never use it, but if I had bought it when it was new it would have cost me the best part of £80,000. It’s all about perspective and crystal balls .

  6. According to Brewer every car was an appreciating classic yet he didn’t take his own advice….get actors to “buy” them for the sake of the show then put them in a secure warehouse…..there is a Ford Bronco listed as a lottery prize at $227,000AUD…..they missed out on more than 500,000 pounds…..the worst wheeler dealer I’ve ever seen…..

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