Long time lurker, and I've gotten much in the way of help and information, so thanks for that. Current thought. I've got to many cars and need to thin the herd a bit, but before I put a hot rod up for sale, I have to ask, "What the H-LL is going on with the hot rod market. I know about the age of rodders, threads about grey beards only at shows, etc but it appears to me the price of early cars is really going soft. Am I wrong? I watch the online ads, auctions and other and I want to sell a car, but not give it away. It is not a fire sale! I may post a picture and ask for information about what members think it's value is before I put it up for sale if others think that would be a good idea. Thanks for letting me rant. Glad to be aboard.
hey Jon, welcome aboard, i think the rod market is soft for a few reason... 1. 8-10 years of stagnate economy (pretty much globally) and the extra dollars get held onto and not spent on toys. (buyers dry up and price goes down) 2. years of guys lying to their wives about how much stuff costs so when its time for the family or the widow to sell the price is lower than it should be.. just kidding about the lying to the wives thing but the family selling to settle the estate is a real thing. (if the price on "Comps" drops...) 3. General decline of hot rodders out there. how many WWII vets do you know who are out driving? even 60's hot rodders are into their 70's now. and a lot of the 1970's and 1980's "hot rodders" built muscle cars. now kids are into turbos, hot hatchbacks, and such... its cheap, fast, speed compared to the $$ it takes to build a hot rod. 4. m*** influx of Gl*** or Kit type rods... people want it fast and inexpensive. Guys that want to "hot rod" but not get dirty doing it...(even Plymouth tried to get in on the act with the Prowler). I think Harley went/is going through the same type of thing with marketing the "lifestyle" to the m***es... market is now flooded with weekend bikers. lately in the summer around here it seems every other house has a Harley for sale in the driveway. These are just my observations and opinions. But sadly i don't see it getting any better any time soon. Chappy
All good points, I sold one of the Hot Rods and had to discount it pretty heavily but the guy was standing there with cash and there are not a lot of them around. I still have the 3 window, if I can ever get it done. Now with less distraction and some spare cash it may get new motivation. Now I'm trying to sell a HD, and am seeing the same thing with a Road King you described. As a friend told me, when you go to a good guys event, how many young guys do you see, and how many grey beards do you see! Stay safe.