Hot Rods Deuce guys are in trouble

I agree, I think musclecars will probably nose over later than hot rods, but I am already noticing a slide there as well. The most desirable stuff in each genre will probably fall slowest, but its going to come.

 

Well here we go again, yes? Pop quiz kids, what's this year's big news? C'mon, you know, spill it. Yeah, another election year and this one's a clown car. Perfect excuse to sit on your stuff and your money and "our stuff" is always 1st on the list to go or hide. It was only 4 years ago the same fuckin convo hit these pages and the sky didn't fall then either. Hershey was soft for the 1st time in 9 years. Plain cars, plain as in 50 Chevy 2dr project sedan or 36 Plymouth 4dr, or 59 Ford 4dr sedan, or indeed even our precious early V8s, like a 35 4dr unfinished rod project. All the way up to 'X' frame Chevy sedans and the like. Entry level stuff that a market WITH FEW, IF ANY, DOLLARS TO SPEND appeals to. Anybody price a 62 409 Bubble top lately? How about a genuine HEMI anything from 64-70? What's a 65 Shelby Mustang worth, nothing now? Who saw Sunbeam Tigers topping 6 figures about 6-8 years ago? I didn't but fuckin eh they went to Mars! Wish I'd have bought 4 of em! Price an Auburn Speedster lately? I don't think they're worth what they bring but holy rectal exam they're headed for Andromeda! And then there's the "holy grail" Ford V8s. 32-3-4-6-7-8-9-40 Coupes. How much? Rusty but fixable versions start at $10K, and clearly some years top others, like a 36 will out sell/price a 37-8-9, then that 40 comes along and back up again. Is this a good place to pick on the youth market too? "They don't want our stuff, it's worthless!" Kool. Can't wait to buy a Duesenberg for $100K. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY is in trouble unless you plowed $300K into a Deuce 3W and something big, serious or tragic has happened to you or yours. Kiss at least 1/2 of that good-bye and maybe more. And there's another thing, that uber-billet-LS or Ford Mod Motored-20" wheel-ostrich leather-digital gauged-modified beyond the pale? You know the kind, with the Mercedes headlights and led tails and polished stainless everything underneath? Out of style to all but very few. I think anything that comes out was started so long ago there's no choice but to finish em. "Our stuff" is the new billet. It's in style because it's simple and user friendly, and other than McCulloch (sp?) blowers or Ardun top ends or any number of rare priceless speed stuff anyone with discipline and an eye for craftsmanship can build an impressive traditional car. What it gets built from will still carry a high price admission ticket if it's a gennie coupe, roadster, and even a few Tudor sedans. 3W? Pay up cuz they'll never be "cheap" in our lifetimes. So no my brothers and sisters, NOBODY is in trouble, NOTHING is cheap, ACTIVITY is slow because it's what? You there's be a quiz near the end, right? Don't give us that "...and I don't care because..." bullshit bravado. There's not a swingin dick in here that will give their 32-3-4-6 Ford away because they're done with it. Every owner of such, even if quietly, is glad that they bought it decades ago and it's worth 10 times what they have in it. Everyone in here would love to "barn find" a 3W and get it for .25 on the dollar. When you can have your own special fun AND it pays you or your heirs back plus a bunch at the end? Tell me what a bad thing that is. I dare you, c'mon, tell me. Bet there's not a single taker to that one...

Hang in there kids, everything is fine and don't let anyone piss on your leg crying rain.

 

a 32 for $22,000? got to be glass

 

Honestly, I think people aren't buying stuff due to the election. People tend not to spend in an election year until things settle down and people are comfortable with the new president. My parents noticed this trend when they owned their business. They owned their business for along time. My 2 cents.

 

IMO it's a combination of things, Us Baby-Boomers that hold/held the 32 as the Holy Grail of Hot Rod's are aging, sold mine and I went to a 51 Mercury for the room and comfort and my OT late model Hot Rods are my future, The economy is somewhat stable, but not good for many, wages have been stagnant, fear of the election results, the unknown, And to repeat myself, I/We Are getting Old and thoughts change on what's important, family and health issues take over and I realize these hobby cars are not that much in the big picture.(BEEN a Car guy ALL my life) I don't see the next generation coming into our Hobby, there are alot of younger men on the HAMB, but they are not the buyers that fueled the Hobby for many years IMO, as someone said, trends/fads come and go with everthing, change happens. No matter what, The Sun will come up tomorrow, life goes on and Hot Rodding will survive in some form and have said this before, The market is going to be flooded w/ Hot Rods in the next 10/20 years, especially the older Rods IMO.

 

the old car hobby has been in danger of collapse for a good 40 years at least. I remember reading back in the 70's how all the vintage tin had dried up and disappeared. I read here that young guys don't like HOT RODs any more and there is nothing but old farts with vintage cars. I wish it would hurry up so I can buy some of these expensive early cars for cheap.

 

Man, I am buying shit right now like its going out of style, but its not because I am under the delusion that any of it is an investment, its because its stuff I couldn't afford ten years ago, and its CHEAP! I will be lucky to get my money back on any of it, and I sure as hell don't expect it to be Emilys 401K. That's what we have two properties for. I will probably do ok on the '39 if I finish it quickly and don't sit on it too long, but I bought the raw material CHEAP. Most everything else I have here, I will lose on, that's ok, because I get to have my fun with it. Money is only worth the satisfaction you can buy with it. but an investment?? REALLY?? Buy Monsanto stock instead.
As far as the election? Normally, I would agree, but if you think people are scared now, wait till they wake up on Nov 9Th, and realize which one of these two complete JACK-ASSES is going to running things for the next four years! Then you will know some REAL fear! The only thing that is keeping the nightmare at bay is right now, you still don't know which one its gonna be!

 

Nope, my wife made me buy a house ( I DO miss the rock, hard to heat though.)
Whenever I see anything posted about '32 Fords, I think of Larry and his humor and miss seeing his comments on here. He'll always be part of this site as far as I'm concerned.
I still talk to my Dad too, and he's been dead 20 years.
Keep smiling.

 

I hope 68 F100s & 86 944s are the next big things, then I can sell them & buy a deuce, finally.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Still waiting to see some links to some of these incredible bargains everyone is talking about. Surely those listings haven't disappeared since the market is so stagnant. Shouldn't take more than a quick buzz through eBay completed listings, Craigslist, or wherever to post up a whole list of them.

Is it weird if I read that in Ben Stein's voice ala the high school lecture from Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

 

Here's hoping for a price increase on '34's - maybe then I would think of selling mine. Until then, I'll continue to drive it.

 

I hope '34s come down! I want a full-fendered roadster!

 

I don't care what it is, if it's built in a traditional style, you should always get your money back.. It's the $30,000 paint job, $12,000 interior and $4.000 wheels and tires type cars that are hard to recoup your investment...

 

We're only on this spinning rock for a short period of time. If you can rationalize buying or building what you truly want, without putting your family or yourself in the poorhouse, then by all means do it. Enjoy it for what it is and that doesn't mean an "investment". In my mind, the people who try to "play the market" with their toys are only fooling themselves. Be sensible though, do some research, don't go spending $60K for what is obviously a $30K car. This is a hobby not a portfolio.

 

Milo, I hope my post (written as you were posting) doesn't seem counter-intuitive to yours. I'm continually impressed with your builds and find them to be examples of home-built, innovative hot-rods done on a reasonable budget with great results.

 

My opinion, people who bought so called high end cars or payed to have high end cars built are in trouble.
Besides that, Real original steel cars will always lead the market. Plastic and new repop steel cars will not hold value.
If you pay attention to events like TROG and the Hot Rod Hillclimb (and others), there is no shortage of demand for real cars.
The lesson is to do as much of the work on your car(s) as possible and keep your investment low.

Also, traditional is not a Fad. Look back at old magazines, traditional cars were around in the 70s , 80s, and 90s.

Involve your kids, grandkids, nephews, neighbors, etc.
Build, drive, repeat.

 

Invest in lottery tickets. Its almost a sure thing....

 

I would love to see them come down in price so I could afford to buy a 3 window so I will stick with the 50s cars for now.

 

............................."Trouble" is a relative thing. The people who had the money to begin with to have those "high-end" cars built probably don't care that they take a loss at some point. The mere fact that they were able to impress their friends for a period of time is the reward.

 

If you are in this hobby for the money then get off the HAMB your head is in the wrong place. We don't live forever and this is one of my passions. After I am gone it won't matter much the value of all my stuff. What will matter is that I did what I wanted and enjoyed myself. My 2 cents.

 

I have no data to back up my feelings on the status of our hobby but I do have some observations and gut feelings. I believe we are in a state of decline and the rate of decline will pick up speed soon. One observation would be the decline in attendance of true streetrods at NSRA events. Another one would be the amount of powered wheel chairs and trailers at events. The old gang is getting very old and I am one of them. Now HAMB type events seem to be level or at a slight growth rate and that may be due to a different age group than the NSRA crowd. I think it is all part of an evolutionary cycle.

The price of specialty autos has been greatly inflated for a long time. I never speculated on hot rods although I have bought and sold a few. Mostly I just wanted something to drive and hope that I could break even when it was sold. I figured that it was better than losing money through depreciation on a daily driver vehicle. I have been very lucky. In the end something is only worth what someone else will pay for it and that is going to drive the value of some vehicles down as the group that wants to own some of these will be older and lose interest.

My two cents and rambling thoughts.

John

 

Just did a Craigslist search for 32-34 model years, found none for sale in my area but Craigslist gave me results for all the surrounding areas, found 4 fiberglass easter egg cars (3 '34 3w and one '33 roadster, all hideous) and one original steel 32 (kinda street-roddy but not bad) asking $85,000.00

I totally see what you guys mean. They're popping up everywhere and they're dirt cheap!

 

There may be a decline as us older guys are getting fewer by the day but not a big deal to me--I like my 40 and really don't care. When I get too old or check out my wife can do whatever with this junk. I haven't run across any of these cheap 32's but if I did I would be on it like a duck on a junebug! Also have built several 40's-two recently and they sure weren't hard to sell! Two guys right now want 40's built-may or may not do but there are folks out there still wanting these ol cars.

 

I've been hearing hot rodding is dying for the last 4o years and it seems as alive today as it was then.

Some of us old grey Beards have sold our early cars and migrated to more comfortable bigger hot rods but I honestly believe the hard core Deuce Nuts will kept the 32 banner flying high well into the future.

And if the prices drop most of them will add to the collection. HRP

 

Seems like I am always in trouble and finally I know why!

 

Randolph and Mortimer Duke [of Duke and Duke] are selling '32's and buying Corvairs and Ramblers.
it's driving the market down, buy with the trends, guys............

 

This is my second Deuce(age68) first one was a nice 5 window 36 years ago(age32). Personally, I don't think they will NEVER go out of style.Show me a better looking hot rod than a 32 Ford and I will buy it! I have had 50 years of hot rod Fords and will have nothing else! Ford made the best looking,well proportioned bodies and cheap too during the 30's,40's, and some in the 50's. NUF SED.

 

No, no, no! NEVER buy with the trend, by the time its a trend, you have missed the boat! get ready to sell those Corvairs and Ramblers!!!

 

I'm a 32%er and I'm OK.

 

There are a number of factors at work in the short run..........but DEMOGRAPHICS always rules in the long run.....i.e. taste in cars is mostly generational.

Ray