[Johnson] Johnson Navigator

[Ed Tanton]

I have 2 Navigators acquired many years ago, and both are in better physical
shape than that one. I bought them at the time because I thought they were
truly unique-and had always admired them. The asking price for this one
absolutely boggles the mind. Sure, it is always appropriate to desire to
maximize the price of whatever you are selling. Yet... at some point, a
starting price reaches absurdity. THIS starting price surpasses that by so
much that words simply do not suffice. 

It is certainly his right to ask whatever he likes for his item-just as it
is our right to chuckle (guffaw?) and move along to more realistically
priced toys. I (strongly) suspect this one will go unsold at that price-and,
considering the condition, I believe the unit is unlikely to be sold at 1/3
of his asking price. Internally it looks OK, but that cabinet! Not so good.
NONE of those Phillips-head screws is original. The fact that many screws
are missing is something else to be concerned about: why would they be
missing? Why was someone obviously fooling around inside? It is my
understanding that the Navigator was produced from 1957 thru 1961, and that
the total production was only 840 units. So, there aren't a LOT of them
around... but in this economy, I can't see it selling for more than
$250-$300, and probably not the upper end of that. 

Truly I do not mean to demean the seller-but prices can be checked. Ebay
says that in the past 3 weeks, 2 Johnson Navigators have been sold at an
average price of $237.48; and the range was up to $465. That doesn't compute
well, but the $240 sounds closer to reality to me. The seller has a VERY
nice ebay rating, so he ought to know better. Running it up the flagpole to
see if it'll wave ought to be based on reasonable possibilities. $1000 is
hardly reasonable, and I do not believe remotely possible.

73  Ed Tanton N4XY <n4xy at earthlink.net> 
 
website: http://www.n4xy.com   
 
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