I've been curious for the last few months so I thought I'd ask the question... Are folks buying "traditional" cars that are being priced in the $15K-$40K range, given the state of the economy? Some might not consider $15K "big buck", so maybe I'm just out of touch with what these vehicles go for... I cruise through the "Cars For Sale" cl***ifieds on the HAMB and see a lot of vehicles in this price range. I'm probably your typical, middle cl*** old car nut, but I couldn't justify spending $20K on a vehicle to cruise around in. There are no hidden agendas here--just curious...
In the cl***ifieds, seldom does anyone report back whether things are sold or not. So it's hard to know...
Justify spending the money and actually having the money to spend are two different things. IF you don't have the $20K to spend on a hobby that is actually more like an investment then I would not consider you middle cl***. On the other hand, if you can't justify spending $20K on a car because of other "responsibilities" then that is a different story. Someone later in life in middle cl*** has alot more disposable income then someone younger with a wife, kids at home, mortgage, daily drivers to pay for etc. $20k on a car that runs, drives, looks good and will retain it's value is not alot....in my opinion.
Took me a year to sell my pickup, didn't lose money but neither did I make any. Of course that's considerably better than my stock portfolio has done in the last year.
I don't know specifically about traditional hot rod sales (especially on the HAMB because most HAMBers are pretty cheap! ) but in the old car business in general higher priced cars are still moving nicely. I've sold way more cars in the $30k plus range this year than $20k and less. The way I figure is people with extra income still have the money to spend where casual hobbyists (the $25k and under crowd) are feeling the pinch of the economy and tightening up their belts. Just my .02
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