monstrocity

The horsepower race of the late 60s ended with the fuel crisis. People dumped their high-horsepower, high-quality cars for more fuel efficient models. The vehicle offerings hit rock-bottom around the early 80s, with the likes of K-cars, GM diesels, and 4cyl turbos. The "new" horsepower race seemed to start around the early 90s, and today is borderline ridiculous with many manufacturers offering 400+ hp cars.

Anyone who would have stocked up on cheap late-60s sports and muscle cars back in the 70s and early 80s did very well. These dinosaur gas-guzzlers became very valuable.

Should we be buying up all the 400+hp performance cars? By this I mean sports cars and modern muscle cars like Chrysler SRT and Cadillac CTS-V. If the fuel crisis makes people dump these cars cheap, to the point that automakers stop building them, many could be future collectibles like the late 60s cars are now.

I suspect the SUVs will be less collectible, perhaps going the way of the station wagon. Neat to see pristine one at your local car show but not worth anything.

What do you folks think? What should we be buying?

use2bl8

We buy cars becuase we have a passion for them. They are not a good investment financally. Even the very rare ones that have increased 10x in value, look at the expense of maintaining and storing them. Comapre that to any investent in a financial insterment for over 40 years.

GettReal

True, but you cant drive the crap out of an index fund, and my portfolio doesnt make me smile like this

monstrocity

For me part of the fun is enjoying cars that at least keep their value, and could possibly appreciate.

I certainly wouldn't rely on it for my retirement fund though. Just looking for buying opportunities.

fire_n_ice

I think the big SUVs (Suburbans, Escalades, etc.) are the first to go. I agree they won't be worth anything as collectibles and will just become extinct for a while.

I like big displacement V8s and of course 12-cyls (prolly b/c I own them!) but I think we are going to see a LOT of turbo sixes and fours in the next few years. The consumer is not ready yet for the hybrid and is certainly not ready to give up horsepower (judging by the way people drive these days).

smook

Do you guys ever worry that we won't be able to drive our vettes due to high gasoline prices or shortages of gasoline?

Worries ME! (btw I worry alot...)

gdh

I actually hope that prices stay high so we can move away from our oil dependance thus get out of the middle east and all that entails altogether.

1%r

FYI if you've been following the news all the big auto makers are saying the days of the V-8 are numbered. Their also saying they can do the same with V-6's to get the performance and better MPG. Guess we'll all be going to NOPI events in the future.

sami85L98

I guess if u love vettes and its a weekend warrior or occassional driver than i hope high gas prices wont hurt much. Now DD vette owners should worry.

B-Vette

By the time OPEC realizes that they should be increasing output instead of holding it back, I think the momentum will already have turned to alternative fuels. Oil will tumble back to $8.00 per barrel but it won't matter much. After spending millions (billions) on research and development most companies will be unwilling or unable to go back to gasoline. Running cars like ours will become a hobby instead of a necessity.

CTD

In my case 52 years, should I purchase 400+ hp cars & trucks. When should expect to cash out?

X-SPAN

What's collectable,desirable or appreciates in value is, I think, largely dependent on which generation is doing the buying.
My dad's generation saw value in Packards, Hupmobiles, Durants,
Stutz's and a host of other makes that have long since disappeared. Why? Because that's what they saw but couldn't afford when they were young.
My generation (Baby Boomers) rejected anything old that didn't have hot-rod potential and craved muscle-cars (most of which were owned by pre-boomers) which they couldn't afford when they were young.
Now they can, and the price of '60's muscle today reflects their desire to have now what they wanted in their youth.
Today's teenagers like Corvettes, Mustangs, and exotics of any stripe, and may still want to own one 30 or 40 years from now but that's not a certainty. Car culture in Canada and the US has changed dramatically from the '60's (ie:cruisin' ), and is still continuing to change(read:deteriorate! ). Traffic congestion,speed traps,and "throw the book at him" legislation, combined with restrictive driving rules for teens, and rising expenses for fuel and insurance(for everyone) have taken away most of the "fun" from driving. In future years todays teens may not be anxious to recapture that part of their youth that wasn't so pleasurable to begin with!

4GTABODT

Dennis, I think you hit the the nail on the head. I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the OP. The factors/dynamics that lead to sharp rise in muslce car prices were products of the 60's and many of those "factors" have long disappeared. So to answer the original question, No, I don't think buying up 21st century muscle cars will pay huge dividends down the road. But then again, what do I know...there was I time I thought Nortel was a good buy

auctiondepot

If a person was buying the oil companies for the last 20 years, like SU, HSE, IMO, they'd be driving the crap out of a 60's Vet and not worrying about the price of gas and doing this.... every time they hear someone complain about the price of gas.

smook

Another reflection on this is today's youth. My son's are 17 and 19.

They are NOT interested in the fast cars any longer. They do talk about nice drive cars like BMW's.. but the Mustangs, Vettes... they talk about these cars with less interest than we did when we were 19! And they also talk about cars in general differently, as causing pollution and harm to the environment.

Things are a changin', again!
-zB.

fire_n_ice

Hehe, they're probably into whatever the chicks think is hot!

I agree with some of the posts above. This topic is discussed extensively on fchat, but I never get tired of it. When I was 11 years old, I fell in love with the Testarossa and vowed to buy one as soon as I was able. I don't know if kids today have that same passion. I'm *guessing* that my TR will go up in value one day, probably about 10 years from now, when more guys of my generation have spare cash to indulge. But then again, maybe not. Will we still have 12-cyl exotics at that time? I certainly hope so!!

I do sometimes wonder if we are the last of a breed that will remember the sounds of V8s and 12s and the smells of a hobby car burning a little too rich What a shame it would be to wake up in a world of anti-septic electric motors and silent diesels.

I don't drive that much, really, so I'm comfortable with the impact I'm having on the situation. But, if I was commuting, I'd be thinking pretty hard right now about fuel economy. On the other hand, now is a great time to pick up a cheap Suburban or Hummer for that occasional drive up to the cottage.

dankhts

WHAT?? you mean Nortel isn't a good buy? I'm in at 68, it'll be comming back soon, right Mo? Right?

gdh

I agree more with Smook here in that the majority of highschool kids that I know aren't overly interested in vettes, stangs but BMW M3's, Infinity (forgot which model but they all want it) really get them going. I ask about the new Camaro's, Daytona's etc. and they just sort of turn their collective noses up and this is small town Ontario where in the 60's & 70's muscle car mentality ruled as did mullets into the late 90's. For those of us growing up in the 50's, 60's and 70's the american muscle was where it was all at. The only sports car I wanted was either a 66 vette or a 72 vette both had to be vert. though. Seeing a vette on the road growing up (in Hamilton) was very rare so to me that created more desire, but these days it seems like they are a dime a dozen and although a much superior car today I just feel they lost there uniqness particularily on the styling front. We used to be able to tell what model of car was coming down the road by the sound of its horn, a SS (super sport) designation actually meant something. I fully understand the why's etc. of the styling cues which increase performance and being more generic will appeal to a larger audience which saved the vette from extinction in the 80's. If I needed a vette as a DD it would definately be a C5 or C6 no question at all our C1's - C3's were not all that well made but I wouldn't want one as a DD so I can live with the old gal for all her creeks, rattles and flaws. I hope that GM continues to make the vette but it has lost its cache with the younger generation. Hmmm getting back to the orginal question maybe picking up the 1st yr. of a Smart would make more cents.

B-Vette

When I was 14 I couldn't wait to get my drivers license so that I could go cruising at night. Now it seems like kids couldn't care less if they got their drivers licenses until they turned 21. The kids seem to be more interested in riding their skateboards (until they're 25, or longer). If the price of fuel keeps rising I might have join them and ride a skateboard too.