Hey Guys : Anyone planning to Purchase a midyear might think about holding off for a year or too. I'm just a friend trying to save us non speculators some Serious dollars. This Sub primes & Alt-a loan trouble will rain in liquidity. IE Disposable income, Toy's/ ATM equity housing purchases ...and yes even classic autos. I hope no one takes it wrong. This is the era of the double bubble!

 

That would be unfortunate for a lot of people but as a prospective buyer I am thrilled to hear that maybe some of these cars will be back to reasonable prices and that the speculators will move on to something else. Like maybe cigarette boats.

 

Kind of like the stock market. Ya have to be in it for the long term if you are buying a midyear for value and appreciation. If not, who cares. You can put it off and hope for something to happen and maybe if you are lucky and the market goes down, you get a deal! Or, nobody will sell until the market goes back up and now you missed out on one and have to pay the same or more! It's a crap shoot as far as I am concerned and I may die waiting so why wait if you can afford to have fun today? Again, my 1 cent worth. I would not pass up a good or fair deal.

 

Hummm, seems that the misfortune of some is being labeled as the misfortune for all. I feel very sorry for the masses that took the 100% mortgage and no down route. There are people who were sucked into one hell of a scam by the greedy brokers and now they are left without even the bag to hold.

As for the price of cars, that seems to be a moving target no matter what the economy. On any given day the same car will bring +/- dollars based upon what has been beat to death here - the buyer and seller. Somebody wants something bad enough, they will find the $$$ to do it.

And as Ken said, that's my 1/2 cents worth today.

 

Before Mid-Year or Straight-Axle Corvette values crash, we will see a collapse in the prices of common Camaros, Chevelles, Mustangs and GTOs.

Where Corvette prices may have gone up only 5-10% over the past 3 years, "muscle" cars have doubled and tripled... sometimes even more. There's the insanity.

When you see Falcons and Novas going for $15-$20,000 then you know the world is whacked.

In the end, low production collectibles like Corvettes and 55-6-7 T-Birds will hold on.

 

 

I have been around this hobby for a long time now.Back in 1987-1990 the prices made a huge jump.With a picture of a red '67 big block car appearing on the cover of MotorTrend with a front license plate that showed $100,000 on it.The car looked exactly like the car I bought at Bloomington in 1986 for $27K.The article went on to say that that was where the price of those cars were headed.Well the frenzy was on.Junk was selling for too much money.People who knew nothing about these cars were getting into buying them and selling them and were making some nice money even when they made bad mistakes.Then came the early '90's.The prices started to fall.The speculators started to dump.But the real nice cars still brought top money.It was the fringe cars that took the hit.The people who had bought cars for big money that looked like the big money cars but in actuality were just a made up P.O.S got caught holding the bag.There was still a bunch of money to be made.The people who jumped in as investors and were not real car lovers wanted out.Well some of them had some really nice cars.They did not have the knowledge to realize that.They considered it just like any other investment and wanted out fast.The result were some great deals on some really nice cars by some smart car buyers/lovers.The other people who just loved their cars weather or not they were worth a ton of money kept them anyway.Then as with just everything else the cycle started again these cars took another up turn.So here we go again.I am ready to buy some nice cars on their way down A good rule is nice cars will always bring good money.And always buy what you like.That way the worst case scenario you end up with a nice car that you like

ps.
ask Solidaxle about his '62 that at the time he bought it some expert said that he paid too much.Now it is still worth twice what he paid in a down market.

 

Sub-prime is today’s dot-com – the pin that ****** a much larger bubble. The nation as a whole has out of control debt without the discipline to pay it off. Neg savings rate !!!! Oh the plan is "We will pay it back with the increasing equity in our house" The exit strategy is painfully simple: I am convinced that this liquidity-driven era of excesses and imbalances will ultimately go down in history as the outgrowth of a huge failure for modern-day central banking. In the meantime, prepare for the downside – spillover risks are bound to intensify as yet another post-bubble shakeout unfolds. Well be lucky with Just a recession. The Creditors in bankruptcy court will go after leftover assets (Motor homes, Corvette's, Cigar boats. Camaros Hemi Cuda's etc. That is if the wife let you keep them up to that point. Tough choice ...House to live in or my toy's in the garage ? Who's the boss?

 

As a former midyear owner and someone who'd like to own another one, I agree that the classic car "bubble" is likely to burst at some point. In fact, it has probably already started. Barrett-Jackson didn't see quite the astronomical numbers this year. Add in the lack of liquidity due to the housing downturn and it's likely we'll see classic car values begin to return to earth. All markets are cyclical... classic cars are just the latest thing following tech stocks and then real estate.

The boom has been fueled by demand from baby boomers who've had the money to buy that car they wanted when they were young. But when they get too old to enjoy them, who's going to keep paying these high prices? I agree that the really great cars will still be very valuable (for example, a fully documented 427/435 '67), but there are just too many nice drivers out there for values to hold up. Who's going to be paying $40,000+ for a NOM coupe? The younger generation likes these cars, but I just don't think they have the disposable income to spend that much on a toy. I know I don't, and so I'm waiting.

 

Unfortunately the worst case scenario for many is that they took out a high interest car loan to buy a car that's now worth a lot less. Or even worse, they bought the car with a home equity loan and their adjustable interest rates are now rising on homes they'd have a difficult time selling.

 

Generally speaking neither cars or houses are good investments......cars are things to drive and houses are places to live. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule and markets go in cycles.

Old Corvettes will always have more collector/hobbyist demand value than old Yugos. Certain rare and desirable models have often been good at retaining value (after inflation is factored in), and if bought correctly have done well.

A close family member has 40-50 cars. No Corvettes but lots of mid 30s American cars, some British sportscars, a few muscle cars. He's in retirement and the cars represent a fair pieceof his assets. He has noticed that some really nice old 30s original cars are not really worth that much. The younger crowd is not familiar with those cars and has no desire to own them. British sports cars have done well and some of those were sold back to Brits in England.


It's fun to watch the cycles but more fun to work on and drive these old pieces of history.

 

I could not have said it better myself, if prices do drop maybe I will be able to get that red 435 conv. that I have always wanted

 

I was in high school during this ,so I really know nothing of downturn. Can you give some examples of what some cars were selling for pre, during and post boom? Just curious as to what the prices did.Thanks

 

I don't know anyone that used their home equity for a car. I am sure there are some but not as pervaisive as this sounds. Lot's of us baby boomers just moved from one type of gamble to another.

It's been my experience that when paper starts to fail money moves from paper to tangibles. If subprime starts to hurt the stock market then people in front of the curve will find something else.

If gold goes then I think other tangebles will go with it + or -. I am not saying they won't drop, but in the early 90's gold was falling too. It's not falling right now. Regardless of equity you still have to have a place to live. After 35 years of this I think worst case for true collectibles (not clones) will be flat. Best case they catch the gold train and go for another ride.

The late 80's early 90's drop was precipitated by Black Monday. It was so sudden lots of investors had to liquidate. That would be equivelnt to 2000 point drop in the DOW today. I don't see that happening yet. If it does it will be gradual enough to move more into other things. People will forever invest. It is nature.

Just an opinion.

 

I really wish the mods would delete this thread, or at the very least move it to an appropriate forum. This section is for members that are trying to sell their car....not to speculate as to what the classic car market will do in the coming months. Your intent may have been to help.......but you're sure not doing these sellers any favors.


Danno

 

You can have it now. Just buy one of those NOM drivers for $25,000 and add $5,000 for a 427.

If you're gonna own it an drive it what would it matter if the numbers don't match?

It's simply a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter!

 

Points well taken, they all have merit.
QUESTION: Is this my imiagniation? Over the past two or so years while attended swap meets in Knoxville, Panama Beach, and Kissimmee, the vast majority of the people attending these meets were 50+ years of age. Where are the younger (future) corvette passionate humans. Who will buy these Old Corvettes when we die off?
ANSWER: Who cares, we will be DEAD So, don't concern youself with the economics of you hobby, buy one, drive it and enjoy it. Give it to you kids or grand kid and hope they will cary on the passion you once had.
As most of us agree. If the buyer and the seller are satisfied with the deal, it's a Win Win situtation. Once the deal has been made the cost is no longer a factor. Everyone is happy.

 

Are you guys kidding or do you really think these cars are expensive? I bought a C2 because at around $50K it is a cool cheap car. My biz partner just bought an S Benz and it was $120K, that is a relatively expensive car. I just picked up a new Suburban this week just to tow my cars around and it was close to $50K on the invoice. I guess the Corvette hobby is different from the Cobra hobby or the Porsche hobby. As a relative newcomer I am trying to learn the difference... When someone I know blows an engine in a Cobra they just get another one without whining about the 10-12K that it costs... When the exhaust on your track 911 breaks you just pay the $5K it takes to get another one. Who would take a loan on their house to have an old car? Surely you just pay cash ,right? No one would be silly enough to mortgage their home for a whim...

You guys are really kidding aren't you?

 

My point exactly. I'm 34, used to own a couple midyears back when they were affordable, love 'em, and would like to own another one. There are a fewer younger C1 and C2 owners here on the forum, but I believe most people my age wouldn't recognize a C1 or C2 Corvette if they saw one. And 20 somethings...

All things are relative I guess. Compared to flying airplanes, almost any car is a cheap hobby. All I can say is that if you consider a $50,000 car cheap then you're very fortunate in life. Hopefully I'll reach that point in life someday if I work hard. I make a reasonable living but right now, with thinking of buying a house, maybe starting a family, student loans, etc., $40,000+ for a toy just isn't in the cards.

And yes, many people finance classic cars with all sorts of loans. I agree with you and won't finance a toy. I think the low interest rates and easy availablity of credit is a major reason for the skyrocketing prices of classic cars the last couple years. Heck, a couple weeks ago at the Pavillions show was amazed when I overheard a guy telling his buddy how happy he was that he was almost done paying off his car so he could sell it and buy something else. And guess what it was... a Shelby Mustang clone, which is about a $20,000 car give or take. My point is that people are financing all levels of old cars, not just the really expensive ones, and many people who own these cars couldn't afford to buy them outright.

 

Someone who has built one tell when it will get cheaper. I finished mine last year. www.texastelecom.net/corvette