I believe most rodders have a little " restorer " or hoarder in them ... I know I do. My 32 has been hit, damaged or otherwise involved in three incidents since 1977. I drive it ... a fair amount So I buy 32 stuff whenever I can ... I have fenders, dashes, hoods, ect. I have a 2 cars ... so I need extra ... spare pieces. Also I found that ... when I NEED a part ... sometimes ( most ) money will not buy it but if I have another 32 part to trade ... I am able to trade for what I need.
I just found out yesterday that a yard an hour south of me has been ordered to "clean up" their back field because is it is an eyesore and "affects the water table". I called the gentleman today, and asked about pre-64 tin he had lying around. He said," whatcha lookin for?" "Anything and everything" I replied. "Well I got a few 50's back theya that gotta go," he says. "See you Friday" I reply. End of conversation. I don't know what he's got, but I know he needs to get rid of it. The musclecar guy who divulged the name and location of this joint was all excited because he got a pair of straight rust free fenders for his Dart for under $200. I did the mental math, converting musclecar dollars to pre-64 dollars, and decided that he's letting stuff go for cheap. I'll bring my camera and cross my fingers. With any luck, there will be a few gems. And if I had the money - I'd buy everything in sight too.
HMMM, i just got flamed (a little) and my thread shut down for a similar thought. Maybe i worded it wrong. Foresight's more important now than ever with the advent of the computer, and the overseas interest in our cars ***********.
I bought a 32 Ford 3-window with doors for $5k a couple years ago. It's gl***. Supply never ends... No need to hoard.
Here's a tip for everyone without a barn to fill full of tin..... PUT THE MONEY IN THE BANK! Just like the value of the tin will grow, so will the value of your investment. It's one thing if you have acres of storage and empty buildings. It's another if you're paying storage, tripping over it, or your career moves you cross country every 10 years. My personal favorite are all the musclecar guys lamenting they didn't go fill a barn with GTOs and LS6 chevelles when they were new. Ummm, how well off do you suppose you'd be if you put the value of 5 new cars in the bank 40 years ago?
^^^ i disagree. it's more than just appreciation of value, it's appreciation of the enjoyment of the ***et during the time you own it as well. and while values have slipped at times over the years, there has never been a "crash" of values like what can be lost in the market. BALANCE is where it's at if you ask me.
I'm not defending ANYONE, but in the mid-70's those cars were CHEAP when the oil embargo hit, and people could only get gas every other day depending if the last digit in their license plate was odd or even. M*** panic. I laughed, and drove the coolest gas guzzlers i could buy. With the money i saved on the "buy", i could gas up FIVE of the cars i was driving! I'm driving built, "cammy", big block stuff, and my dad got a 69 Datsun pickup. What a piece of ****ing garbage that was. Was i a ****ing visionary to think of getting enough gas on an "odd" day to last until the next "odd" day? Yeah, right. 65 GTO Tri-Power four speed, CLEAN, on a ****ing CAR LOT for God sakes, $775!!! Next to it a 6-Pack 440 GTX w/4.88's a 4-gear, SAME price!I bought my 1st Vette during the embargo. 64, 365HP, 4-gear roadster w/both tops, flared (a must then), for $700. BUT, instead of sweating yesterday, focus on the future. What can we do to keep from lamenting like the aforementioned?
You have to remember, in the 50's and early 60's those cars were just "back lot" used cars at the time. Fords were popular for racing and rodding because they were the only realatively light weight cars with V-8 engines and they were easy to work on. A few years later (late 60's early 70's) the racers went through tons of 55-57 Chevies because they were cheap and had overhead V-8 power...again light weight compared to Oldsmobile or Chrysler. In the late 70's and early 80's the tracks and street rodders were hacking up the Camaros, Chevelles, Mustangs, etc... with no regard for their future value because at the time a Datsun or Toyota was popular and an old muscle car/gas guzzler was worthless. Through the 90's and today, racing has moved on to 78-81 Malibu and 81-87 Monte Carlo as the mainstay of stock car racing donor cars. I already see the Malibus as being the "next" 55-57 Chevy but I haven't been hoarding every body I can find. Maybe we should save a few of the Monte Carlos too, but who has the space to keep them all? Right now they are at rock bottom and percieved by most to be "junk". I'll bet the mid-80's IROC Z Camaros will be a hot commodity in the future too. The racers just intervene into a car's existentence. Usually they buy it and prolong its life a little longer on the track....otherwise it would have gone directly to the junkyard. Most of those coupes pictured at the races in the 50's would have been s****ped if they weren't raced. I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm hoarding, but every now and then I will consider selling one of my project cars. Then I'll talk myself out of it because I'll overhear some old guy at a show saying something like "I had one of these when I was younger, then like a fool I sold it for $100 and now look what it would cost me to get one". They are usually referring to a 32 Ford or a 63 Impala SS or something like that. I have a 1970 Camaro that I have had in pieces for almost 25 years. They were easy to find back when I got it, but today forget about it. If I sell, I'll never get what I think it's worth yet a few years down the road if I decide I want another one I'll have to give my right arm for it. Safer to just hang onto it instead of kicking myself in the *** for the next 40 years. I will say that those that save or hoard should at least have the decency of trying to preserve the cars. I know they can't restore them all, but don't let their condition deteriorate terribly by neglecting them and refusing to sell until there is nothing left but a rusted hulk that could never be brought back. Just my 2 cents worth.
I am investing in my retirement because when the time comes Uncle Sam will not be there to help............................Hoarding = Investing
Old cars are always increasing in value. Buying a few and sitting on them might not make you the next Rockefeller, but its a rare chance that you would lose money if you buy smart. I have been able to support my family and my hobby for years. I do have an addiction. I also dont want to sell certain cars because I got them cheap and could never replace them today. Kind of like real estate investors on a smaller scale.
i collect as many parts and cars as i can, then i sell them to those who need them and friends when they cant afford swap meet and bloated prices, for the same price i paid, and in return i get the same from them.
I think when hoarding is looked at as investing, one must be careful not to hoard the wrong thing. A barn full of rusty 4 doors probably won't be worth much more in 20 years than they are now. But change that to coupes and 2doors, and your on to something. Just remember, we(pre 60's vintage cars) are not where the money is right now. Watch B-J, muscle is where its at, and will be for a quite a few years. If your just hoarding for YOU, then buy what YOU like, or want.
I am a guilty one. But I don't look at it as hoarding. I look at it as preserving pieces of history. I have the room, and if I have the money or means when I come across a vintage car or truck, that is surely headed to the crusher if somebody doesn't buy it, I will get it. Even if I don't use it myself, somebody with an appreciation for it will eventually. I have an especially soft spot for old Cadillacs.
Hoarding and collecting are different-I know a guy around here who has had stuff since the 70s,he would never sell anything.But he let it sit outside all those years,not a real bright thing to do in NY state.It's mostly rusted into the ground now,and still not for sale.This is hoarding!!A collector cares about what he has.I buy everything I come across that is what I consider to be a good buy.But I'll sell it if someone wants it to do something with it.
Heres what my pops told me the other day. He said all the baby boomers are buying everything up right now and paying an arm and a leg to relive their kid days but the next generation doesnt really care that much about the cl***ics and we should see a price drop and alot of cl***ics up for sale when all the baby boomers start p***ing on so we shouldnt really worry
That's exactly how I was raised this hobby is supposed to be! My Dad was always trading labor, parts etc. with his buddies so they could get all their stuff done so we could all go places together. My best friend and I are like that today. We always owe each other a favor, and we'll never be even. If either one of us has a part that the other needs, it's there to use. Heck I've let him have a set of Cal-Custom valve covers and a Caddy air cleaner just to decorate his walls.
Yes, one day the prices may come down but most of these cars are never going to be "affordable" again.
Call it whatever you want, but as long as they aren't going to the crusher they will be around another day for someone to drool over, or use/build. Just keep 'em from the mighty bone crusher. My wife still thinks I'm crazy for having the small batch of stuff I do have, but she is slowly starting to realize that this stuff isn't going to be around forever. I'm trying to do what I can to barter & sell the things that fellow rodders can use, I think we'd all do it, if we don't already.
I also wanted to add that if you need a hand moving those cars, rixrex, after the RoundUp I should be available on the wknds. Or every couple of wknds. PM me if interested.
I buy alot and actually end up giving away quite a bit. Works for me cause I receive alot of stuff free too. My dad had a 10 x 30 building full of old parts for years and eventually sold it all off. Now we hoard entire vehicles so that my kids will have cool stuff. Cars are alot more fum then parts!
My buddy runs a business buying / selling 2'nd gen Firebird and T/A parts and cars. I have a few of these myself. The 70's pony cars are really picking up in value right now, I've seen eBay prices on the cars I have triple in the last five years. If you want something to buy up cheap right now and sell in about 10 years for a decent profit start buying IROC's, GTA's, Turbo Trans Ams, 80's Vette's and Fiero's Don't buy the base models, part those out. Buy up the top-line, full load cars. These things run in a 25 year cycle, guys buy up the cars they couldn't have when they were kids. There is a 1980 Trans-Am SE Turbo on ePay right now for $33,500.00. It's getting stupid out there. You used to be able to take $500.00 to the nearest trailer park and get the pick-of-the-litter Z28 or T/A, now you can't find them anywhere. The Fiero's, Vettes and 3'rd gen F-bodys will go the same way soon. You just have to be able to hang onto them long enough. Shawn
I know I'm just bein a **** here....But these guys hoarding parts know a lot of people( otherwise they wouldn't know where this **** is) Let someone else know about it and let them buy it and use it now!!! If it's being hoarded, I'm sure it's to make the almighty dollar. Can you say investment???? It's sounding like musclecar mania and all of the other automotive speculation scemes. If you are truly an enthusiast, let your fellow rodder know so they can use this stuff now and at a reasonable price!!!!
I buy em cheap and stock em deep!! I've got 3 boys all under 10 and hopefully they will show interest but if not, I know I will still drive the **** out of em!! Besides I just love vintage tin, 4-doors, coupes, 5 windows, trucks, wreckers, flat beds, cadys, name it and I love it! I dont care for the guys out there being profitiers, I just love restoring something someone else is throwing away!!
I've got tons of **** right now. Seems like parts are worth a fortune but I can't GIVE a project car away. I don't get that. The parts of the car are usually worth 6x what the car is worth as a whole. And I don't see huge prices for cars either, unless they're musclecar era **** or totally restored. 50's cars are still dirt cheap if you're willing to take on a project. ****'s gonna be cheap for a long time yet.
But if your doing it for investment, I believe the lower end cars have the most to gain. When people can't afford the big $$ stuff anymore they get the next best thing, and once everyone starts buying the next best thing it becomes hard to find and the prices rise. Also, big $$ stuff like muscle cars run a greater risk of losing value in a market adjustment, just my 2 pennies. I just wish I had some extra $$ to buy some investment iron, I have 3 projects and enough $$ to work on only one.
I have several cars that I am planning on keeping, a 69' Dart , 80 Z28, and the 49' Chevy. I had at one point 7 cars but I have been thinning the fleet over the last two years and the next one to go would be the Camaro. I still have a DD for the winter too. Funny thing is that the dart I bought when they were dirt cheap 15 years ago. Now I can't afford one if I had to buy it. The 80 Z was a $400 wrecking yard buy several years ago and is a 4 speed, t-top car that came with an aftermarket turbo kit on it. I can't afford to replace it either. The 49' Chevy luckily is a low buck recent aquisition and is being built up, and I actually like it a lot. But with my luck, I won't be able to afford one in a few years, so I am going to pick up some other cool project and store it until I am ready for it.
The Jalopy Journal
