Featured Features The Collector Car Market continuing its steady fall...

Article from Hagerty-
www.hagerty.com/media/market-trends/hagerty-insider/is-the-collector-car-market-heading-into-winter-hibernation/

Some info from above article;
The Hagerty Market Index, a valuation of collector cars has dropped 34 of the past 36 months.
The average #3 (good) condition value of all vehicles (over 39,000) in the guide has dropped to the lowest value since 2013 when inflation is also taken into account.

This doesn't mean much to most of us who have no plans to sell our beloved cl***ics that we enjoy wrenching on & driving, but to those who have a project(s) they know they're not gonna get done...it may be smart to consider cashing it in. It is not gonna become more valuable over time as it sits. Demand dictates price and the demand for cl***ics is lower/decreasing a**** younger generations.

 

Yeah, you can see it in the cl***ified ad sections, cars starting at $35,000 dropping in increments to $25, 000 and still not sold. All ‘32, ‘33-‘40 Fords seem to be holding up better but some ‘39-‘40s are getting more affordable. ‘55-‘57 Chevys are holding but other makes seem to be dropping.
Just my observations, I don’t look at muscle cars, pickups and stuff that is all the rage.

 

A much needed market correction

 

I'm storing a beautiful 1961 Thunderbird for a friend.It underwent a frame off restoration 11 years ago and still is a strong number 2 car,used mainly for shows and cruises.Original drivetrain.Real nice colour.....Palm Springs Pink with black leather interior. He started out asking $40k a year ago.Dropped it to $35k few months ago and is now thinking he might have to drop it to around $27-28k! The times they are a changing.And I think it's more than a market correction. Boomers are started to p*** or a lot of them are getting out of the hobby and selling their cars while they still can.

 

And parts.
Bought 4 straight 6 dual carb intakes the last few months.
And reasonable enough I don’t think twice about buying em.

 

Seems like a good thing to me. But, that’s because I’m not trying to sell anything.

 

I never could afford a $80K to $100K car and now I'm happy that I couldn't.

 

There are lots of "old guys" that are starting to unload their collections, the current market is flush with many "new" cars being added to the market. When ever the markets become loaded with choices, the prices come down.
Then add in a reduction of disposable income to spend, and then add in an older population of people wanting the cars available, and here we are.
Supply and demand that over, large supply, lower demand, lower prices. I don't think values adjusted for inflation are going to increase as time moves forward.

 

I'm mostly a motorcycle guy. Vintage English bike parts is coming out all over, places like eBay. LOTS of guys turning **** loose.

 

Yep, recently bought a panhead that I thought I would never be able to afford.

 

Losing customers to the graveyard. Sad, but true.

 

I welcome news like this. I plan on losing all of the money I spend on cars, so the market dropping is allowing me access to cars that were previously unattainable. Cars are the literal definition of a financial liability.

 

Friend offered me a cool 40 ford coupe.
1, I don’t need anymore projects
2, seems these cars are settling down

not an investment guy but breaking even is usually the plan.

 

Once I retired, I needed something to do so I did a few cl***ic car/hot rod rehabs and spec builds to while away my time. Once I'm done the two I currently have underway, I think I’m going back to just playing golf. It’s getting cheaper to buy than to build(restore) certain cars.

 

Don't know about cars, don't have any for sale.

Demand for carburetors and carburetor kits is as high as ever. But demand for some of the performance factory stuff is waning; examples: dual quads for hemis, duel quads for 283's, tripower for Pontiacs. But demand for pre-WWII stuff is stronger than ever.

Jon

 

I heard a nasty little rumor a few weeks ago that our area was losing another machine shop. That rumor gained strength today as a friend heard it from the owner himself. He tried to sell the business and had no takers, so he is closing at year's end. That is a big loss. I currently have two of his engines in my cars. Hell of a machinist. Sign of the times.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, @Pist-n-Broke told me one of our favorite machinists is training his son to take over in his footsteps. So that's a positive going forward.

 

All the custom shops I visit are busy

but not building stuff you can post here

 

The Collector Car Market continuing its steady fall...

This wont effect the Fakespook Marketplace Genius, Idiot, Glue Sniffers from posting their worthless rusted junkers for $$$ hunert K. .... "No lowballers" , "they knowz what they gotz"

.

 

It appears to me that things like this run in cycles. Usually about 8-10 years. The prices of cars were leveling off about 2018. Then Covid hit. Car prices went crazy. A family of 4 got a big check that let them buy things that they could not buy before. That changed the cycle. Everyone that wanted a car bought a car in the last few years. Now they are finding out what it costs to keep up an old car and how seldom they use it. Not to mention inflation. Now they want to sell. There are a lot of cars for sale. Just like real estate, supply, demand and interest rate affect prices.

 

I’ve noticed that the price of woodies have been dropping considerably over the last couple of years. That and if you watch the Barrett Jackson/Me*** auctions, most of the original restored cars in the 50’s back go pretty cheap. Not the tri five Chevys but your basic pro touring restomods are the ones bringing the money.

Now since we are traditional guys the cars that we love and always wanted to own are more obtainable and that’s a good thing because I don’t plan on selling squat just buying!!!

 

not me...I buy high, and sell low, but I make up for it in volume.

 

That sounds about right. Sure is fun though. I could lose money on other things but this makes me happy.

 

Also, is it just me, or have we had this conversation before?

 

I wish no one financial harm but I've been saying for years that people buying high-dollar cars are going to be terribly upside down as time goes on compared to what they paid. I know it's off topic from the '32 or '40 Ford examples but I sure would hate to have a Z28 Camaro sitting in my garage that I bought for $80,000 or $100,000 just a few years ago.

The 30-something your old son of a friend of mine hit the nail on his head when he said of he and others in his age group that "We have our own thing"

Lynn

 

makes me feel better that it’s not just me that uses this strategy, except I don’t sell much.

 

I’ll have students list their dream car.
In 15 years I think only 1 student listed a 32 ford.
Only a couple have mentioned the stuff that could fit here.
Muscle cars are mentioned a lot, tuners, exotics, and 4x4s generally make up the highest percentage

 

Depends on the "cl***ic" as to if they're up or down, like always. Tastes and prices change through the years. They're off topic, but I watch '67-'79 Ford pickups go for $40k-$80k plus all day long on BaT and CL. Those cars which shall not be mentioned here in their '87-'93 year range regularly bring $50k-$80k, and I saw one with basically delivery miles go for $250k last year. The trucks and those cars I could buy for around $5k-$10k just 5 years ago. I just sold a '72 F100 I had $2500 into for $10,200....is all that nuts? Hell yes, it's nuts, but it's what's popular right now.

Check out these results and current listings of the trucks. I won't link the car's results, but you can look it up yourself. Just gotta stay ahead of the trends IF what you want to do is make money at the game. If not, don't worry about what your ride is worth, and enjoy the low prices if what you now want is in the "down market".

https://bringatrailer.com/ford/f-series-1967-1972/

https://bringatrailer.com/ford/f-series-1973-1979/

 

I told my wife occurrences like that are called "deja yu". Like when I tell her we have been to a particular restaurant or movie before only to realize that was not her. Awkward

 

From what I’ve seen over the last fifty years collector car market and I include everything that I might have an interest in or work on, is based on the economy pure and simple. When budgets get strained it isn’t the daily driver that matters it’s the toy. No matter how large the budget is, I’ve seen guys dump cars they have 200k in for 150k just to keep cash flowing for their business. I have a friend who sold his race car last January after finishing it in August for what the ch***is and paint work cost him and I know he had over 30k in the drive train.
I’ve been looking on both Facebook and a few other websites and there are quite a few projects for sale.

 

My stuff isn't 'collectable', it's fun.
When stuff went up in 21-22, I tried selling some of the stuff I was losing interest in. Seems others had lost interest too. It's still sitting around.