I went to the Lincoln Ne. swap meet yesterday and saw several old friends again. Two different ones told me the same story. They were worried that the sources for old cars was going to dry up and so they had been buying cars and parts and storing them so they would be available years from now when their kids would be old enough to want them. Is this one of the reasons for the high prices? How many are doing the same thing ? Sounds kind of goofy to me to spend all your money on the chance you may need something 10 or 20 years down the road. The prices are high enough now I hope this doesn't catch on.
Bless the saviors of the Hot Rodding world!!! Are they ****in kiddin me or what!!! There will be plenty of sheet metal out there. It just may not be the most popular body styles.
This is exactly what I am doing. They don't make that stuff anymore.....well, some of it they don't.....yet.
supply and demand. as the demand increases for these body styles companies will start to supply them. they already are. you can buy most of the popular styles of henry sheetmetal already. it's only a matter of time before the price of model a coupes and 32 5 windows goes up enough that some company will make them too.
Wasn't so long ago we thought all the cars that were sitting in all those old salvage yards was going to be around forever too. We now know better, don't we? If there is going to be any hope of any original body's still being around in 15-20 years, (even 5 more years at the rate they are crushing them these days) they will have to be in the hands of someone that took the time, had the space and money to save them. The "collecter guys" are going to be the salvage yards of the furture for the younger guys. Gene
Dont worry bout me im done buying for quite a few years got enough irons in the fire,ive been p***ing up alot of good deals lately kinda makes me sick but im not into the hoarding thing,did that for a while with the guide headlights when they weren't real popular and now im attached to them and dont want to sell them cause i got into them so cheap ill never replace them for what i got them for,so ive been trading them off for other stuff i need.
i've been hearing the same old story for 20+ years and i STILL stumble on to stuff.... really guys, it's all about getting off your *** and looking....btw, be good to your neighbors,they can turn ya on to stuff...
i've got an early 60's "little book" magazine that has a whole article on early tin drying up. they are in an absolute panic about it....and we're still finding it.
This can be a local problem depending on where you're located. Where I am most people sitting on old cars won't get off them. All of our local yards crush everything over 15 years old. There are a few barn finds around, but they are few and far between. Most people in my area know what they're sitting on and prices are 2x higher than they are on the net. We get 2" of salt for every 1" of snow here so most of the old "barn finds" are in pretty bad shape. You don't even see too many cars on the road older than 15-20 years in our area. Since the introduction of fibergl*** bodies and turn-key replicas the number of old cars in our area has increased dramatically.
In my little community here I can actually count at least 50 cars that are gone forever with in the last 6 years. One of them I personally cut up. (don't worry, I sold the fenders and stuff) It was a '41 Ford 4 door. It was pretty rusty. The other 49 were crushed and are completely gone. They included several late 40's Chevy trucks (at least 5 or so) A couple early 50's Ford F1's. One '58 Ford 2 door sedan. Some GMC trucks. A lincoln. etc etc. This is common practice all over America. You can't tell me that stuff isn't becoming more rare.
No different than collecting rare coins or stamps... except you need more room. It's called foresight... I bet these guys wish they'd have had some... Not just in trashin' 'em on the race track, but s****ping them when they were done.... Stuffin' it behind the barn would have been well worth the space... If I have $$ and room... I'll take what I think will be worth having down the road... JOE
Maybe it is crazy but I can relate. I buy stuff that I will not use right now but may down the road. Original parts are not going to get easier to find in the future. I can think of many things that I have seen for sale years back that I should have bought because now they are harder to find and more expensive. If I don't use what I have, I should be able to sell it and not loose much on it. One example, a barn stored '30 coupe I bought back three years ago and now I am storing it in a barn. It is not deteriating any and down the road I have one to build or can trade to someone for something else. Not really costing me much. Maybe this is the reason I get a kick out of the posts about people being pissed off about the old guy with a car in the shed that he will not sell because he may someday fix it up. I guess I am the same guy. Neal
I've talked to 2 people recently that straight up said they were buying up 32-34 bodies & rare parts as a big part of their retirement plan. .
Just like the musclecar collectors... they are annoying, but they ain't stupid. If I had the money (and I don't) I would probably buy something (at a reasonable price) if I thought down the road I could sell it (for a reasonable profit)... but don't we all?
Another reason to invest into anything (for me anyway) is because it's hard to get a '34 Ford door out of an ATM on the way to a ***ty bar. Having cash means spending it. Having goods which require you to go to lengths to turn them back into cash makes it difficult to spend foolishly... and a forseen profit is just as good, if not better in some cases, than the interest on a savings account. JOE
10-15 years ago a very old yard by me had the owner die. They crushed all the cars because the county said it was an eyesore, environmentally unfriendly, family was not interested you know the drill. Anyway I'm sure they could have made more money by selling to locals. I didn't know about it till I went there and everything was gone. Kicking myself for not going in there when the old man was alive with a trailer and a fistful of cash. Funny how you take stuff for granted till it's gone. Found out that the same thing is happening where my wife's from, in Washington state. I asked the yard owner in WA. and he said he could no longer afford to keep hundreds of cars around waiting for someone to pull a part off an "old rusty car". he needed the money from the s****. You guys may want to go out and "hoard" a few cars for yourself while you still can. My daughter is only 2 but already showing an interest, so I'm already looking for a project for us to do later.
I actually HOPE that people are doing this. I also hope that the ones doing it have a genuine appreciation for the cars, but as long as they aren't rotting in a feild with their frames sunk in the mud, I'm happy. As soon as I have more room to store stuff I plan on filling it with old cars! They will be drivers and finished cars, but probably a few project cars as they come along too. It's not really about making money, but it's nice to know there's value there if I ever need it too. Hell of a lot more fun than a peice of paper that shows what your stock is worth...
I am hoarding cars, not just for me though, for us.. I figure I've "saved" a car from the crusher, towed off to a salvage yard, left to rot and return to the earth from whenst it came..I've got the property and an understanding wife (shes as bad as I am) problems arise like: I've sold the property where they are stashed and have seven months to move 80 miles about 25 cars and a mountain of parts with my trusty Chevy truck and one car trailer..or having to hide them with Army surplus camo netting so the neighborhood ***oc. doesn't get thier ******* in a knot..the cars drying up is a regional thing..here in the sunbelt we're luckier than the guys in the rustbelt..our cars get sunburnt from the top down rather than rusted from the bottom up....
Yup, that's why there is a 29 roadster in a corner of my garage right now. Don't know if another opportunity like that will come along again, so I bought it when it did. Some say I overpaid. I say, got another one?
hoarding/ saving? put up new25x50 (12 grand)steel arch building w/ floor to go with the 30 x 60 (existing)pole barn no floor so shop 25 x 60(10 g) is not used as storage 9 cars in new blding .. nice and dry 2 in pole blding waiting with lotsa tires and wheels one in shop 2 in house garage money spent at casino gone beer money spent gone money spent on cars and bldings .. spent but increasing in value total spent over last ... say 10 years....50-60 grand or so.. 5-6 grand a year now really who cannot afford that for a dozen hot rods and dry storage my house is paid for and trying to finish a lake place (more car storage)too heck what do youse guys with good jobs do with all your money? paperdog
My neighbor has some cool stuff hoarded, but he's doing stuff with it. I chose to quote you Joe, because my old 235 is going into a 50's dirt track survivor, pretty much just like those above (roadster version) that my neighbor has hoarded in his backyard.
I've bought parts for years and have sold alot. Some have been put away thinking I'll use it someday. Wife says it time to down size. Soon be 67 and figure I have at least 30 more good years. So guess I had better get rid of some of the 50 year supply.
I Think You Asked A Good Question. If You Have Extra Money And Room To Store You Should Start Saving Parts Now. There Is Still A Lot Of Stuff For All Of Us To Buy Up. Evertime I Think I Have Bought A Bunch Of Old Early Ford Stuff A Nother Deal Pops Up And I Go There And Buy Is Much As I Can. One Day I Will Use It All Or P*** It Along To A Friend.
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