I guess the prices are still going up. Lot # 693 was a 13 year old restoration, the car was nice but missing some key pieces, no smog, no T-3's, silver painted dash bezels, wrong shifter and knob. Even though this car was sold as a recreation it generated a lot of interest prior to the stage and it brought 162000. with the buyers premium added. In a couple years it will probably show up with documentation and fetch 650000.

I've seen this very same pattern many times. Everyone remember the late 90s when the hysteria around internet stocks had reached a point where people were buying everything they could get, including companies that had absolutely no earnings, no cash flow, and bascially no intrinsic value whatsoever, and basically paying whatever price they had to to get them? What eventually happened? Everyone remember the mid 90s hysteria around those stupid little beanbag animals that were given cute little names, produced in limited numbers and eventually "retired"? I remember people happily paying $2K, $3K, $4K for some of the earliest ones made. Now, you can't give them away. There were a lot of the same things going on with those that is going on with cars now - fakes, ripoffs, shill bidding, etc. A lot of people made a lot of money off the hysteria. Even more people lost money. Same thing happened with vintage guitars in the 1980s. The list goes on.

Cars are no different and will follow the same pattern. Prices are being driven by something other than a sensible rational mind. Prices WILL come down to a more reasonable level - it's just a matter of when it will happen. Once the prices top off, all the people who are trying to make a fast buck will dump their "investments" and flood the market. Naturally, prices will drop, and we will be able to buy that LS-6 recreation for what it is actually worth.

Now, the prime examples like real LS-6 converts, GT-500s, hemi Cudas, etc will always fetch good money simply because they are the real thing and they are rare. And it's doubtful you will ever be able to get an SS396 for $2000 like in the 80s. After all, unlike internet stocks and beanbag animals, cars DO have a certain amount of intrinsic value as transportation. However, the days of the sky high prices are numbered. That's a good thing for us car guys I guess.

Andy

I also remember the early 90's when there was a cycle in collector cars........... or the end of a cycle actually. In the late 80's some of the muscle car stuff went nuts in comparison to prior history. It's when 68/69 L88 Corvettes hit the 100K mark as did the 67 435 Roadsters. I remember MotorTrend had a full cover picture of a red with black stinger 67 435 with a tag on the front that said 100,000, and an article inside about how crazy the market had become. Fast foward several years and there were 67 435's all over the country for 50 to 60K, and sometimes cheaper when there were motivated sellers involved.

I already had my 69 L88 from BEFORE the boom, and wasn't interested in selling it, but a friend who'd seen the rapid appreciation went out and paid 110K for a pretty nice one, NOT a perfect one, but one with a lot of positives. In the late 90's, after some business reversals he needed to dispose of it and some other assets. After running the car in Hemmings for several months, a half page ad in the Dupont Registry, and listing with a nationally recognized high end Corvette broker, he finally sold the car for about 75K. Today that car would bring 250K within 24 hrs from any number of sources, and probably a good bit more at BJ. (I wonder where it ended up......Monaco Orange, which is same as hugger orange on Camaro in '69, original paint, original drivetrain????)

I think we're past due for a "market correction" on muscle car values. All the components are in place to duplicate the one from the 90's: stock market improving, economy weakening, energy prices soaring. It may be a bumpy ride for the speculators, which of course suits me just fine.http://www.chevelles.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gifhttp://www.chevelles.com/forums/images/icons/icon10.gif

Another thing to consider is the price of body panels, paint, labor, etc., this all keeps going up, as long as this goes up, the cars will also.

How much was a gallon of paint in 1970, compared to today.

These cars are 35 to 40 years old. A lot of them are worn out, so go out and buy a SS, 15 to 20 thousand, then replace everything, buy all the paint, pay somebody to do it, all adds up pretty quick.

Sixty to seventy five thousand with new stuff in it, and a really nice restoration, is not out of line.

The yenkos, motion, hemi cudas, those prices could fluctuate, but they will always be big dollars. But this restored run of the mill chevelle will be priced according to how materials and labor are at that time.

It's like they tell us at every barrett jackson auction, quality is one of the main factors in getting good money out of a car.

Rob

Baby boomers copied from google


We are amused when visitors ask what effect the boomers are having on the economy. Folks, in 2006, the economy IS the boomers! We represent the vast majority of the work force. There are 75 million of us; we ARE the economy. (That is not bragging; that is just a statistical reality.) The huge growth in the economy in the 90s was due in no small part to 75 million of us working up to our peak earning and spending years. What are we spending our money on? Other than Metallica CDs and movies aimed at 15 year-olds, whatever is being sold... we are buying it. What kind of cars are we buying? What kind are Detroit and Japan selling? We ARE the upper end of the automobile market. What explains the explosion in the popularity of SUVs? We do. Where do we go on vacation? Everywhere. How do we get there? Every way possible. Day care centers are thriving because boomers do not want to take care of the kids they produced. And their offspring think it is supposed to be that way. (Parents are not supposed to stay home and raise their children. Why, that's a terribly stupid idea, huh? That is what day care centers and the government is for.)
In the 50s, businesses focused on stuff for kids.... 30 million boomers... and still growing. Gerber (the baby food company) was huge in the 50s. Toys.... there was an enormous growth in the variety and quantity of toys. ("You can tell its Mattel; it's swell!") And TV, just coming into its own, focused heavily on kids' shows. Disneyland.... a 50s thing. (Disneyworld.... a 70s thing, paid more attention to history and thrill rides.... things of interest to young adult boomers.) The stylish cars of the 60s and 70s -- a direct response to the boomers. The recent, huge explosion in recreational vehicles.... a direct response to empty-nest boomers.

Back to the subject, look at the mustangs, selling lots of them, new challenger and camaro, pretty sure they will be coming

99.5 % of these baby boomers don't have an extra engine or car parts laying around to put something together, nor do they have the tools, building or knowledge to do it if they wanted to.

But they do have money, and a lot of them can afford that 75 thousand dollar car. You build a car with new stuff in it, and build it right, they will buy it.

Just maybe the prices we see right now aren't inflated, but where they should be, and still to go up.

Just my .02 cents

Rob

Dont even go there comparing stocks to cars, A stock is a peice of paper! A car is a peice of metal that sits in YOUR garage, you can touch and smell and smoke the * out of the tires, Its to have fun with not look at gettin a 10% gain per year on, But you will with the right car choice, they ant making them anymore, If you like the HAY NICE CAR!!You cant get that with a new car!

Dont even go there comparing stocks to cars, A stock is a peice of paper! A car is a peice of metal that sits in YOUR garage, you can touch and smell and smoke the * out of the tires, Its to have fun with not look at gettin a 10% gain per year on, But you will with the right car choice, they ant making them anymore, If you like the HAY NICE CAR!!You cant get that with a new car!

I think that's the point Andy's making sharpie, people are comparing them to stocks.
They are being traded as if they were stocks because they have been a better investment than just about anything else.
The tires aren't getting burned, heck they aren't even being driven, only bought and sold.
They might be setting in someone's garage for a while but they aren't being considered for what they are, just thought of as an investment by non car lovers probably.