I am not sure how the corvette market is where you are from.Here in the greater Cleveland,Ohio are there has not been one single c1 or c2 for sale in the local papers for well over a year.So as far as supply and demand at least around here there is no supply.Now there are other places to buy.Such as Ebay and the like.But nothing around here.Recently there was a '72 advertised in the paper.Nothing special above average asking price but hey it was an older vette so I called.It was sold before I called at 8am.The seller said that I was the 15th caller at 8am on Saturday the first and only day that it was in the paper.

 

I'm going to spend my kids inheritance. And to avoid the 4 of them squabbling over who gets the car I'm planning to be buried in it...

 

One thing I do predict though is that future generations won't be as interested in car collecting. Their childhood memories of driving and their first cars will be much different from ours.

They never experienced the freedom of putting the top down, cramming 7 cheerleaders into the old Chevelle and pulling off the road at your favorite beach for a clam bake.

Or Friday and Saturday cruise nights on Main Street and hanging out at the all-night Donut shop.

No A&W or Drive-in Movies either.

These poor kids are growing up with urban sprawl, ever stricter laws, fenced out parks and beaches with limited access and $25 parking fees. The just won't have that warm fond feeling for the old jalopy.

I'm sure the youngsters will be collecing old Play Station systems for $12,000 a pop (as long as the numbers match!)

 

Theyare used to airbags, shoulder harnesses and computer diagnostics, when it breaks, it has to go to a dealer or repair center, and with smog laws, you often can't do anything even if you wanted to.

I remember seeing people on nearly any street working on their cars back in the '60's /'70's, either repair or hotrodding on weekends.

I can recall only a few sightings of anything like that on a Saturday afternoon in almost 20 years.

A car today, for most kids, it just an appliance, like a TV or fridge.

Doug

 

I think the movie "Cars" has helped a new gereration of kids appreciate the classic automobile. Ask the real young ones today what kind of car they'd like to own and many will shout out Lightning McQueen!!! The seed may already have been planted in many a young one's mind.
I think there is some hope

As for the trend in values, we'll just have to see. Till then, let's enjoy the ride!

 

All this concern over the values of our cars is indicitive of one of the problems with our hobby. There are people who are buying these cars as investments and not as cars! There is no doubt that as other investments offer good returns, that the price may dip a little due to these "investors" selling off their assets. If anyone is expecting the price of the cars to drop to half of their current value, then my guess is that you will grow old waiting for your dream Corvette to get to the value that you think it should cost. Life is too short worrying about whether the value of you car is going down or not, Just enjoy it!

Some of the same people that worry about the value of their classic car, would not think twice about dropping $50K on a new car that will be worth less than half that in a few years. This is a passion, a hobby,a way to recapture your lost youth, but it is not a great investment. If you happen to make a few bucks years down the road, then that is just icing on the cake, but in the meantime, just get the most enjoyment you can out of your Covette, that what they are all about!

Regards, John McGraw

 

 

Well said John
Roy

 

Over here in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, I've seen exactly ONE midyear on the road in the last year. I've actually seen more C1s on the road locally (five or six in the last year).

There are still a couple of gearheads in my neighborhood, but your observations are accurate - hard to find anyone wrenching on their cars in the driveway anymore. I remember 'making the rounds' back in the '80s on a Saturday - cruising the neighborhood, stopping to BS wherever a garage door was open.

Cruising? I used to live for Friday and Saturday nights on the El Camino Real in San Mateo. Now all the local townships have passed anti-cruising ordinances, so that's a thing of the past.

I'm hoping that automotive enthusiasm as I knew it still exists and that I am just not fully aware of it (due to age, demographics, etc.) but I fear that the automobile culture as I knew it has passed on into oblivion.

 

As prices go down, the cost of restoratoin becomes unjustfied. The result is that some cars will be lost. When the cycle starts on the upward travel, fewer cars will be available. A 67 BB that had a hard
front end crash would have been totaled in 1969 and crushed or parted out. In todays numbers $20,000 in body work would resonable.

 

Don't forget the IRS. They get 50%.

It is called inheritance tax.

P.S. Interest rates will go down next quarter.

 

As prices go down the cost of restoration will also go down. The costs went up along with the sales prices so it means the costs are artificially inflated to "market value".

How many rare parts have you seen go for (what many of us consider) "insane" prices recently?

These are old worn parts that were originally obtained very cheaply if not free. So their prices are not correlative to the cost of production.

$10,000 to $20,000 for a paint job is abusive and only justified when the car can be sold for a high enough price.

When the market for $20,000 paint jobs evaporates they will adjust back down to earth.

 

I respectfully disagree! If you think that the price of parts is going down because the price of the cars is going down, then you are in for a suprise. Yes, some of the original parts will go down, but look at a restoration, and calculate how much of the value of that restoration is in original or NOS parts. The lion's share of the cost of restoration of any car is in the brand-new repro parts and the labor. Al Knoch is not going to go down on the prices of his interiors just because the price of cars goes down, PPG is not going to cut the price of their paint, and LICS sure is not going to cut the cost of their parts. Most guys build their cars out of catalogs with the majority of parts being brand-new parts. The original and NOS parts have long since been strictly the domain of the NCRS type of guys!

The paint shop will still charge the same labor to paint cars, and the restoration shops will still charge the same labor rate. If it gets bad enought that the labor rate plummets, then we got way more concerns than the price of classic cars.

There may well be a drop in some of the predatory price gouging that takes place today, but I do not think that it is a signifigant portion of the overall cost of car restoration. Only the people who do not know any better, or have money to burn, pay these kinds of prices, and they will never get back their invesment, even in this market!

Regards, John McGraw

 

this post is depressing...quit watching the news and enjoy what you have. i wish the prices would plummet i would pick up several mid years ASAP.

the mid-year is not a muscle car or a ferrari...it is a mid year CORVETTE and not that many produced. most of the younger generation doesnt seem to care about the mid-years because they cant afford them. most of their rice burners are also their daily transportation. the mid-year corvette will always be desired by many. I take my car around and all the young generation flips out when they see it. the economy is going to be fine. the stock market is so screwed up...if someone says everything looks good the stocks will soar...as soon as someone says its not so sure it goes down. all we need to do is have Bernake say everything is going to be fine and things will keep rolling...self fulfilling prophecy...right

 

I didn't buy my 63 Coupe as an investment - but it has turned into a gold mine. I bought it 5 years ago for $28K, have had about $100K worth of fun with it, and could sell it at a profit now. But, I plan to get another $100K of fun out of it first.

Dave

 

With my '66 coupe, the fun factor is worth way more than the money factor.

 

I am just so glad the 64 is considered the red headed step child. I am very proud to own it and wouldn't be able to be in one without the lower cost. With the initial cost being much lower than everyone else's, I look for a great return on my investment (nevermind the sheer joy of driving it every chance I get.)

 

When I was looking for mine, I spoke to Contes in NJ. He told me he has been in the Vette selling business for 30+ years and it really follows the housing market. When house prices fall, so do Vettes. When houses go up, so do the Vettes.

I did finance mine with a home equity line of credit. Had enough stock to sell and buy the Vette but did not want to take the tax hit in one year. So the equity loan gave some tax benefit in interest deductions and I could spread the stock sale over time to reduce the income gain. It's all a gamble but a home equity loan can make sense some times.

I figure I am 50 now so if I can drive the car for 10-15 years and sell it for what I have in it, I made a bunch in the joy of driving it. Likely I'll make a few buck as well.

 

The value of any car or anything for that matter is whatever someone is willing to pay at the time you want to sell it. The value is therefore established by the buyer and not the seller. You may think you have a $100k car but if the most anyone will pay for it is $60k then thats what you have - a $60k car. Obviously the value of things changes over time. There is no such thing, IMHO, as overvalued or undervalued items. There is simply a given value at any particular time.

Two years ago I decided I wanted a particular car. In 2001 and 2002 Bentley made 25 Continental R420's. Its a twin turbo widebody with 420 hp. I spent a year trying to find one and when I did I bought it (#19). I paid the owner 60% of the "book value". Does that mean I bought a car worth more than I paid for it? Absolutely not. I was willing to pay the seller the highest price of anyone interested in the car. The car was worth exactly what I paid for it since I established the value.

At the end of the day if there is a car you like and you can afford it, buy it and enjoy it. Worry about it's future value if and when you ever decide to sell it. Just my personal perspective on value.

 

this thread /section is NOT for sales, there is a section for buying & selling cars; this section is for discussions about Corvettes, and THIS is a DISCUSSION.....
Bill