Selling the Commodore - What Do You Reckon?

By: Glenn Torrens

Date: 01.12.2023

After bracing for chaos, GLENN TORRENS finds a halo of happiness with the recent sale of ‘Coomadore’

"As I wrote my for sale ad, I was preparing myself for a torrent of online abuse"

IT MAY surprise some, but I’ve only ever sold a handful of cars… I could hardly call myself experienced with selling them.

So it was with a little trepidation that I offered ‘Coomadore’ – the 1981 Holden Commodore sedan, I found in a wrecking yard and resurrected in 2022 – for sale recently.

As I was writing my For Sale spiel on a cold and rainy night, I was hoping I’d find a ‘perfect’ new owner for Coomadore, without having to endure too many evenings and weekends dealing with low-ballers and losers.

I hoped for someone who knew what the car was, had enjoyed its online story and would appreciate the car, in its lichen-encrusted, sun-scorched glory.

Similarly, I was also mentally preparing myself for a torrent of abuse from online ‘experts’ about my car’s condition, appearance and price.

But you know what? Things went okay! 

Of the hundreds of comments on the ‘for sale’ pics of my patina’ed Commodore, there was no more than a half-dozen that were ‘negative’; almost every comment was complimentary and positive.

It’s become obvious to me that plenty of car nuts now recognise, appreciate and enjoy (or if they don’t enjoy it, at least respect) today’s wave of ‘patina’ cars being pulled from paddocks and sheds.

A pleasing majority of people seemed aware of the effort – and dollars – that had gone into Coomadore’s resurrection, which helped keep the ‘tell him he’s dreaming’ comments to a minimum.

For me, pushing the patina/resurrection scene as a cheap, fun alternative – maybe even an antidote – to the expense and drama of the traditional, performance/musclecar scene in Australia, has been a terrific experience.

Thousands of people have followed and enjoyed the story of Coomadore; its discovery in a rural wrecking yard; getting it running; the work involved in putting it back on the road and enjoying driving it.

I was – and am – proud and humbled by the all the good feedback, especially to the online stuff. Thanks!

Which brings me to the new owner: this bloke is that perfect person I dreamed of finding. Coomadore’s new custodian is Jarrod, who owns three other Commodores and is looking forward to cruising the doors off this one.

In fact, within hours of my giving him the keys, he was cruising with one of his good mates and a spotless 1979 XD Ford Falcon. Plenty of tings on my phone over the next few days showed pics of Jarrod cruising with his kids.

That made me proud … and a little sad that I won’t be driving to the shops or the pub or the beach anymore in Coomadore. But Jarrod isn’t too far away and I’ve already put some Cars 'n' Coffee dates in my diary to catch up with him.

The perfect finishing touch is Jarrod’s stunning new PATINA number plates. Really, when selling Coomadore, things couldn’t have worked out better!

From Unique Cars #484, Oct 2023

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