Watch the auction prices this fall. I predict we will see the first real signs of a downturn in the musclecar market.
Musclecar Craze III's bubble will burst, it's just a matter of time. Stock market needs to take off 1st, & most experts don't see that happening soon Watched Muscelecar Craze II pop in '91, & a lot of " investor/ wannabee car guys" lost their shirts. Was there to pick up the pieces, lot of killer parts & car deals up through the late 90's. If history repeats itself, & it usually does, the cars to take the hit the hardest in price devaluation will include both the supercars previously priced in the stratosphere, & the poorly put together puppy mill drivers that always get "built" when the market is HOT. The owner s of the "built for auction" cars & the nothing special cruiser/ driver cars will take HUGE hits. Just thinking of the nom '67 GTO hardtop, Cutlass, etc with mediocre body work, paint, & detailing that owner (fool) thinks is worth 35K... he/she may wish it was sold when recalling how had been previously offered big bucks by similarly minded fool/wannabee at local yokel car show! Agree with Andy's above comments... want to be amused, hang out at a local/yokel car show. Projects will also take a BIG hit, when the bubble bursts, esp the thrown together cars that weren't that rare to begin with. Lastly, agree with Tom Miller on the Chinese repop sheetmetal situation, pretty BAD when 90% of what is offered is absolute junk (if you're building a really nice car) & we as a country are cutting our own throats buying Chinese :af: :3gears: Roger
all the cars we sold at the place i worked at in 89,90,and 91 went to bahrain,oman,saudi arabia,kuwait, japan and finland. these buyers didnt give a hoot what theyd be worth,they drove these cars all over the place.(except the japanese guys) the smart ones were the japanese,they only wanted hemi cars,period.the european guys wanted the big cars from the 50's,they were hot back in the late 80's.. if youre ever in bahrain and see a lime green superbird cruising around,he bought it from the place i worked at back in '90. :laugh: like oph said,the plain jane one of 500,000 442's,SS chevelles, GTO's,Road Runners, etc. will drop like rocks. seeing a 383 road runner go for over $20k is crazy anyway. o No:
I don't know about you guys. But I don't care if my car is worth 1 cent next year. Or that gas is already $4.00 per gallon where I live. I'd rather drive around in some old North American history, when cars were cars, and could withstand getting hit by a bus, and still get you home. :laugh: It's kinda like life insurance. I always ask people... If you were driving your old Buick down the street at 50 mph, and a new honda was coming your direction at 50mph, BOOM! Head on collision. Who has the better chance of survival? :Brow: If you build a beast, you must feed it. That's all I have to say...
I agree--but think about this... 70% of the oil we use here is USED FOR TRANSPORTATION. I know we "gotta start somewhere" but the only thing that will put a major dent in prices is driving a LOT LESS or a wholesale replacment of the current fleet with cars that get a LOT BETTER mileage. Then...with all the oil we "save" the price will just get bid back up by the other now-developing countries. Look at the growth rates in India and China...and that's without most people even driving cars. If that ever happens then you'll see HIGH prices. As they develop guess what most of the oil THEY IMPORT will be for...TRANSPORTATION!! On one hand I think we are almost at a stage now where each country is saying "screw it....if we don't use it (oil) someone else will so there's no reason to conserve". I like the idea of using as much USA made stuff on one of these resto's as possible. Better yet, it's a lot more fun using the ORIGINAL STUFF if possible. At least it fitsou: For now, at least, we're in the salad days:TU: Spent most of the day climbing around inside the interior of a 4 spd Hemi Bird on a rotisserie (we found the original broadcast sheet under the front seat) . When I wasn't doing that I was messing with a '73 SD T/A 4 speed. And to think I was even doing a little bitchin' about it at the time. EDIT--Man this is an old thread---hope everyone didn't get scared and sell of all their cars from back then (2005, 2006)!
who says a $37,000 Buick GSX (tribute) cannot compete with a $875,000. mopar @ the local car shows, Back in Sept, 2006 @ a Michigan car show, the top 25 classics of over 1600 were given special awards. Well the last day of the show in the Winner"s circle , i was ordered to park next to this 1970 Cuda,426 hemi, 4 speed that was appraised @ $875,000. My 1972 Buick GSX (tribute )appraised @ $37,000 got as much spectator attention & in my opinion More thumbs up than the big $$ cuda!! So do not let the high priced classics keep you away from the shows!! I also believe one of the reasons why these classics will continue to be reasonably high in $$ value is because of the $$ cost to restore them now & in the future, mechanical & body shops are in the $60 to $100 // hr, Parts as well are still a high cost so adding it all up makes these cars very expensive to restore & build! No better way to enjoy your hard earned $$ !! There will be a day when the 50"s- 60"s & 70"s become Model T's but hopefully Not for a few decades!!
You can still get a quality restoration for an affordable price, but not from any of the shops. Hourly rates for labor are way too high. Many of the real serious (and good bodymen/painters/restorers) do jobs on the side in their own facilities at much less as long as you're not in a hurry. Some even at their homes. Guy who did my 66 and other 68 only charged about 1/2 what it would have cost at a shop. But the 66 took 2 years and the 68 took 5 years. Good part about it was the free storage. all that time. Hood still hasn't been done for the 68. :laugh: Friend that bought the 65 442 we moved yesterday has about 5 cars out being restored right now in deals like that. This 65 will be going to Kentucky for it, but others are all over the Southeast Michigan area. Unfortunately, you have to have connections and get in line. Guy that did mine is backed up with as much work as he can handle for 10 years even after doubling his prices recently. Glad I'm not doing anymore right now.
