Hot Rods What is " list of cars" that sell quickly in today's market

I see many nice cars advertised that are priced nice and don't sell quickly -- What are your thoughts on what is moving in today's market?

* I think the list below are cars and prices that seem to sell - What are your thoughts?

Under 10K Rods
32 Ford Roadsters that are over 40K ( The high dollar ones) seem to sell , OR
32 Ford Roadsters that the ones the seller wants 28-35K for and has to sell them for low 20's

53-54 Chevy's --- priced under 12K

49-51 Shoebox Fords - priced under 12K

40 Fords -- either under 20K or over 40k


* I might be wrong but the 25K-40K market that I used to see has sellers looking at 20K -30K to move the car quickly.
* The high dollar rods seem to be moving

 

Just my 2 cents,it's a buyers market and they make the decision on what sells.

If they want it and the seller is willing to negotiate there will be a sell,be it a 32 roadster or a 63 Chevy II.

Just my opinion but I think the economy plays a big part in sluggish sales. HRP

 

The price is the key factor..price it low, it will sell (but can you handle the loss of pride/dollars).

 

Ha! What about the guy with the 'gl*** '32 that was priced at 11K and didn't get any buyers?
At his friend's advice, he reposted it at 21K and sold it in 2 days, for 20K!
Nice roadster...but I would have enjoyed buying it for 10 or 11...

 

Look on the bay at the hundreds of "specialty" cars listed by the big name flippers at twice what they're worth. They must be selling because the prices aren't going down.

 

If you want to see what sells on ebay, look at the completed listings, you will be surprised at how few sell.

 

anything I dont own usually sells well

 

SOMETHING has to set a car apart from the others for sale. Its up to the sellers to figure out what that is.

A lot of cars out there now for a limited market....

 

I get a big kick out of those who list their cars needing complete restorations for $40,000 or more.

 

A lot of people seem to resist the idea that the pool of buyers interested in the cars on your list is shrinking. There's a message in all the grey heads of hair (however much or little is left) we should have noticed at most of the events that attract these kinds of cars over the past decade or two. An oft repeated stat is that somewhere around 10,000 (on average) baby boomers die each day in this country. Most of those grey heads at events are boomers. Now, not all 10k are old car enthusiasts, but some percentage are. And whatever that number is, the replacement by those wonderful younger guys (you know who you are) that do embrace these cars is smaller still. Cars aren't selling, prices of those that do are dropping (mostly, with those few exception the op is looking to list) because the line of potential buyers is ever shrinking. Again, that's not to say the market is dead...............only dying, somewhat slowly, but also steadily. It's human nature to avoid facing some of these realities which leads to all sorts of rationalization that this type of thread exhibits.

A real buyer in the market today is in a wonderful place compared to a few years ago. He has LOTS of choice, and many will realize that in short order and will look for a car that is most like whatever the ideal is in their head. This makes it tough to say something like "yeah, '32 Ford 5 windows sell right away for BIG bucks." It depends, just like they've always been, not each old car is equal to the other. The seller of a pastel colored '90s style Deuce with the foam styled, swoopy cloth interior is going to have a much more difficult time than the guy with a rolled and pleated, flathead powered car (descriptions are intentionally loose) in todays market. The swoopy seller of course only sees what he wants to see. From his point of view, a '32 5 window is a '32 5 window and he should be able to sell his for just as much as the more desirable styled car (see Ryan's latest article for what's in if you're fuzzy on that). It's really hard for humans to value their own stuff, unless there is proper stimulus/motivation.

Just one example of what's happened. About 20 years ago I wanted to fulfill my desire to have a steel '36 Ford roadster. The internet was a babe in the woods compared to today so we had to search the old fashion ways. Hemmings, Auto Trader, dozens of other similar pubs, and that thing we used to call networking. Since I started down this path 55 or so years ago and had gone to a lot of Western US events, as well as a few "back East", I had a fairly good network of contacts. Damn it was tough to find a car to start with. Eventually I got onto a decent one in Pasadena, made a deal with the guy, and before I could get the money going his way (the next morning), he backed out. I ended up finding one in a lot lower quality condition than I preferred, but at least had one to start with. Fast forward to today and it's way different. On just one of the national sites aimed at these kinds of cars that tends to be somewhat selective about what they post (in other words not the free for all of C/L, which has it's uses) there were a total of 12 '36 Fords for sale: 5 roadsters, 3 cabriolets, 3 Phaetons, and a coupe. 11 out of 12 drop tops. Remember the old adage "when the top goes down the price goes up"? Might have to change that one (see hints about deuce roadsters above). Now, all of those cars were not selling, they were at the strong end of current market pricing for examples that have sold. Most were on dealer or broker accounts..........some desperate sellers who want to believe that the buyers are the problem turn to the consignment dealers in the belief that they have some magic that gets people to part with more money. No, they don't .........though the financing tool does give them a slight advantage, but again, not as much as in times past when people were using their home equity like a cash machine. No Dorothy, it's not 10 years ago anymore.

This thread will likely garner a full spectrum of speculation from people who don't have much to lose by making incorrect ****ysis..............hey, it's a discussion, let the ideas flow. Just be careful what you believe if you actually have to depend on information to benefit you.

 

Although I agree pretty much with Uncle Bob, I gotta say, I wish I could buy my '34 back for what I sold it for 8 or 10 years ago.

 

"Just my opinion but I think the economy plays a big part in sluggish sales." I'd add to that demographics. From what I see, other than professionally finished, highly desirable cars like '32-34 roadsters, 3 windows, etc.,i.e. investor grade, the market has slowed down a lot. I have a '49 Ford coupe kustom. There's no way I'd get 1/2 of what I have in it. Restored stock shoeboxes are even worse.

Our hobby is under attack from a number of fronts that I can see.
a) lack of disposable income for a hobby or collector car. Since graduating 23 years ago, the price of college/university tuition has gone up 700%. Property values, taxes and utilities 400%, etc. My income is in those years has not doubled, while income taxes have gone up. Many public schools now **** so parents to pay for private tutors or private school to supplement. I'm 46. Very few of my friends, who work a lot more hours than their fathers did or have much longer commutes, have extra money for toys, let alone more than one.

b) lack of space. The price of real estate is nuts is most major cites in Canada. Houses in the working cl*** neighborhood I grew up in Toronto start at $1M. Where are you going to work on restoring a car if you live in an apartment or have a small single car garage in your town house when you need both the garage and the driveway to park your daily drivers?

c) interest. I have an hour commute on the train. The over 50 crowd reads the paper, a magazine or engages their fellow p***engers in conversation if they are not on their laptop working. The under 30 crowd spends the entire trip staring at their phone. Most of them that I work with live in an apartment, don't cook and have a robot to vacuum their place. How many would wrench on a 40-60 year old car that needs work? They look at me funny when I talk about hand washing my cars. To them, if the check engine light is not on, it must be fully serviced.

d) cost of restoration. There used to be lots of body & paint shops, chrome platers, etc. in the city. The three that are left are 40-50 miles out of town because of the environmental concerns. Those left charge what the market will bear. You'll easily spend $750-1000 plus 13% tax to plate a shoebox bumper. In my city, we lost 3 body shops this year alone because the city is putting pressure on them to upgrade their ventilation systems.

To me, build cars you can afford and enjoy driving with no expectation to sell it at a profit. I can afford one car for now. I"m hoping to get another when my kids are out of school 10 years from now. By then, I think prices will be the same or less than what they are now. The baby boomers created the cl***ic car market and they will crash it in many cases.

 

For the last 5 years I've sold a car at each of the NSRA Streetrod Nationals in Louisville, KY. All were Chevrolets from 1956-1964. All were nice cars that sold in the low 20K to high 30K range. My latest car for sale is the 63 Impala (avatar) thats a recent nut and bolt frame off restoration with less then 500 miles on it. Its an original 300 HP 327 thats now around 375 HP, M21 four speed, new Cars Inc. interior, Vintage Air, and with show quality flawless paint, over 7K in chrome plating and much more. It's almost too nice to drive. It's also the highest priced car I've tried to sell recently. I like to get 45K-50K for it. Theres lots more into it. For the last 9 months I've diddled around and not trying too hard to sell it. As of yet nobody has come to see it. The trick is to get someone to look at it. As with almost all the cars I've sold the first person to look at them usually buys them. Its just over a month until the 2017 NSRA Nats in Louisville, KY. Lots of buyers and cars for sale and a chance for someone to see and buy a real quality car. As always the higher the price the fewer the buyers.

Gary

 

I Agree 100%. Great post. In a similar boat. I am a middle aged, average Joe, supporting our family in Boston (expensive place), on $50k (my wife's business is in the red, and I'm not good at making money, or working for or with other people). That includes private school for my two little kids so they don't get beaten up every day or indoctrinated into gang culture here in the inner city.

I spend a lot of time wrenching my undesirable low dollar junk. I haven't paid anyone else a penny to work on my stuff, and I've mostly bought junk parts and junk tools. The hobby/industry will definitely not survive on the backs of shlubs like me.

But I am a Craigslist junky, and the cars I see having an uptick in sales locally are fifties cars, any 2 door model that aren't rusted into the dirt. Model A's aren't moving like they used to. Finished hot rods seem to linger for a long time as well. I have no interest in high dollar cars, or televised auctions so I can only comment on what's happening at the bottom of the barrel.




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On the flip side, I am curious to hear from the OP why you want to know this list? Are you planning on buying and selling cars as a dealer? Or, are you planning on buying a personal car with the idea of future resale? That's not a great way to build a car in my opinion.

I think Hemming's would be a better source for pricing of vehicles rather than Ebay or CL.

 

My Hamb-friendly list of what sells quickly:
'30s Fords (primarily roadsters and coupes)
Tri-5 Chevs
Vintage pickup trucks

And they either gotta be turn-key or darn cheap.

 

My kids (girls and boys) would build car after car if they could afford it as would most of their friends. The desire has not dwindled after the baby boomers. The money has gone to the those that control it. Yes the kids are on their cell phones . That's about All the entertainment they can afford. I am on mine right now. It is part of the times we live in. I wouldn't have the car's I do if I had to get them today.

 

Bad current economy? No way, todays economy couldn't be better. The Stock Market is at an all time high. Don't know about y'all but I've made a bunch since the election. My portfolio is at the highest level ever. The unemployment rate is down to nothing. There is hiring everywhere. Interest rates are down to nothing. Home prices are rising all over the country. What could possibly be better?
As always, there's lots of buyers out there with plenty of disposable income. Desirable quality cars are still selling. Just saw a 2005 Ford GT go for 300K at the KC Me*** Auction. Doubt that buyer thinks the current US economy is in the tank.
As we speak, todays DJIA is up 150 and the NASDAQ is up 78. Lots of folks making money today. Enjoy this economy while it lasts.
Gary

 

Agree with Gary above.

 

Location location location. I have some weird stories that I will not bore anyone with but just one. I had my 66 vette for sale here in Oregon mainly Portland area. One tire kicker that wanted a zillion pictures then sent a guy to look at it
& he admits he doesn't know what he is looking at or for. The Canada guy sez it is too high so he will p***. I took it to Az & advertised it & guess what a guy from Portland buys it. Similar deal with the 57 bird. So I think it depends on LOCATION for most but not me. I have made plane trips & long car trips & come home empty handed. The one in the pic is headed for the block in AZ shortly.

 

If you're in this to make a profit, you're in it for the wrong reasons. If it isn't a Deuce or '49 Merc, you're kinda ****ed.

 

You can almost always make a profit if your smart and build a car thats desirable and in demand. Build a 40's something four door sedan and you'll keep it the rest of your life.

Gary

 

We as car guys tend to think that everyone else thinks about cars as much as we do - But face the facts that many Gen-Xers can't even change a tire on a late model much less build a frame for a '32. We are getting older and the pool of guys that know how to do something is actually shrinking as well. Not to offend any Gen-Xers reading this, as most certainly you understand what I am talking about.

I recently bought a 40 Ford coupe for $8500 that was complete but needed floor work - not a big deal I thought. When it came time to sell it I found I was $2000 upside down in the market. The market had a bunch of 40's and they were going CHEAP. At least in my opinion. They there is the case of the "47 mercury convertible that sat on the HAMB for almost a year with no buyers. Very complete car with enough parts to build TWO cars, and no takers at $4500! Am I crazy? A convertible for $45oo bucks!! I am 59 years old and I can remember when you couldn't buy a rust piece of **** ford convertible for less than $10k.

Muscle car stuff if going through the roof but our market is depressed, so if you want to buy a pre '48 car NOW is the time to do it. Like Gman says, stay away from off brands and four doors - Ford coupe / converts are blue chip stock.

End result of all this is I traded the 40 straight across for a '72 Monte Carlo (running driving fresh paint car) and bought the Mercury to build.

 

I worked for a car sales yard as my first job outer school.
Learned that people buy with their eyes.
In other words, what attracts their eyes.
Red excites the eye, and that's why we refer to the color red, as resale red.
So, do red cars sell easier, or more of?
Is the color more, or less of a factor than brand, probably not, paint can be changed.
I'm not sure if any brand outsells the rest, but some brands are certainly more popular than others.

 

Cars don't sell right now, at least not for what their worth. But trucks they move fast. Especially 47-53 chevys

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I definitely believe paint color is extremely important. It takes a lot of time. money and effort to change it. I made a mistake once and painted a 32 Ford a beige tan color. Probably would of sold faster if it were black.

Gary

 

"cars don't bring what they're worth" is a fallacy as a generalization. A specific car at a specific time and place may not for various reasons. But if cars that previously sold commonly in the range of 'X' amount are now only bringing 'X' minus, they ARE selling for what they are worth. That is the current market. Just not what some people hoped for.

Ray

 

Paint will always be the wrong color, if your building one to sell best to sell in cheap paint, primer, or patina.

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The visible market place doesn't always seem to hold to the same beliefs as some on here. To that point I offer these two broadly similar vehicles that were offered in roughly the same time period on the same large scale marketing venue:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1932-Ford-O...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1932-Ford-M...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Ebay haters save your breath, or would that be finger tips. I'm not saying it's the definitive source for info, but it does show what probable real buyers are willing to bid and pay, not only just what the possible unrealistic seller wishes he could get like posted asking prices on C/L or Hemmings as only two examples. If you only look at these two examples (not the narrow perspective I would advocate), you'd likely argue that red must be a negative, that a running car isn't as valuable as a "barn fresh" relic, and that the nicer looking the car, the less likely it is to draw the best offer. Simplistic, shop worn beliefs don't accurately address the actual market today.............times are a changin'.

 

Henry built good quality 32,33,34 Fords seem to always sell well.