Cars and their value

[fostereast]

Just a little perspective/humor, not exactly accurate, but from the fifties on try naming a car that is worth a lot of money now that was not considered a POS in its day or shortly there after. The Cobra does not count; In my neighborhood there was a running/licensed one for sale for a year or so down the road, and in '73 the owner was trying to trade my dad for his 1970 Datsun 240Z. He also wanted to give my dad some money in the trade. At that time in our lives, we considered that car a POS as did everyone else that drove by it for the year or so it sat in the guys yard. Eventually some wacko thought something of it because one day it was gone and a Mercedes Gullwing took its place under the tree in the yard for a year or so.

I have always had this theory that the reason so many of the ultra exensive collector cars exist now is because they never worked or could be driven regulary.

PS: Deep down I new that Cobra was worth the trade, even at 11, but try convincing a mature adult of that... my dad regularly kept up with the vettes in autocrosses and he had a roof and windows when it rained, and he could afford the gas it needed, no way was was he gonna trade for an old run down cobra with no windows.

[Ron61]

Does a 1970 Hemi Cuda count? I had a friend who bought one new and it ran great but was the most uncomfortable car I ever rode in, was very hot, hard to keep tuned, and rusted around the rear window which I understand was a trademark of the 70 Cudas. I believe the Hemi option was an extra $800 dollars and not many factory cars were sold with it as most got the 440 6 pack. Now one in good shape is worth a lot of money.

Ron

[quickjack]

One of the more famous examples; the Bugatti Royale which is in the henry Ford Museum in Detroit was found in a junkyard by a Ford exec back in the 50's. One of 6 ever made and worth millions today. At that time, it was an old car you couldn't get parts for because the factory no longer existed.

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by fostereast

...but from the fifties on try naming a car that is worth a lot of money now that was not considered a POS in its day or shortly there after.

'70-71 Hemi Cuda (hardtops and convertibles..rag tops get huge premium)
All of the Shelby GT500/KR Mustangs
All mid-year ('63-67) Corvettes
Any matching numbers First Gen Camaro with RS/SS/Z28 heritage

I could do this all day....

[Ron61]

And then there is the 1968 Shelby Green Hornet Mustang which was a one off and doesn't even have a number assigned to it. Some Ford paid $3K in 1971 to save it from the crusher. Instead of GT-500 it has EXP-500 on the lower panels and fuel injection. The Shelby tag on the fender just says, Shelby Automotive, Inc. Vehicle Serial Number EXP GREEN HORNET.

Ron

[fostereast]

Mid year vettes were considered junk by a lot of people in the early 70's. My dad bought a running one in good shape for $100, but the headlights would not go up and down and he did not even bother to pick it up. This quickly changed in the early eighties when people started having a summer car and a daily driver. But if you remember back in the seventies, most people drove their hot car as a driver and that ruled out a lot of "special" cars. I know one guy that loved the big-block roadsters with air and he acquired as many as thirty of these for a little more than what some guys have into their cobra builds.

The big engined Shelby Mustangs: I think Shelby himself used to call them POS's in the 60's because of the size and weight gains over the smaller 289 race cars

Hemi' Cuda's The convertibles were so out of favor that people did not even bother to buy them when they were new, and many people who bought the big engined cars in the 70's quickly put smaller engines in them for gas economy and insurance savings.

The Z-28's and RS camaros were pretty regular cars throughout the 70's and early 80's and except for the big-block cars that most people changed out for gas economy and insurance reasons they were not seen as exotic where I grew up.

Originally Posted by RedBarchetta

'70-71 Hemi Cuda (hardtops and convertibles..rag tops get huge premium)
All of the Shelby GT500/KR Mustangs
All mid-year ('63-67) Corvettes
Any matching numbers First Gen Camaro with RS/SS/Z28 heritage

I could do this all day....

I could too. I love all these cars, I just have always found it interesting how stuff that is "out-of-favor" at one point in time is treasure at another, cars may be one of the best example of that.

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by fostereast

Mid year vettes were considered junk by a lot of people in the early 70's.

Maybe by the masses that couldn't afford one? I couldn't afford one on a grocery bagger's part-time wage back then (late 70's), but I never viewed them as junk. I can agree that I saw more at the drag strip then I did on the street.

My neighbor back then had a '74 that is STILL to this day largely ignored by enthusiasts because of the dual endura bumpers and the non-roadster (T-Tops) orientation. But it was bright yellow, had a black interior, ran really good (for its day) and all I could see was all the girls clamoring to get inside with me behind the wheel. Mom and Dad refused to loan me the $4K to buy it in my senior year (the deal was I'd get $2K for my '71 SS Camaro and pay back the rest). They were smart...the insurance would have killed them and I would have (probably) wrapped that car around a tree somewhere. And funny thing...the Camaro was actually a tad faster.

I suppose beauty (and relative VALUE/WORTH) is in the eyes of the beholder.

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

In my opinion, most desireable and valuable classic cars are the ones nobody wanted after they got a little worn out. In almost every instance, after a few years nobody wanted the Cobras, Vettes, Jags, Hemi Cudas and GTX's, big block Chevelles and Shelby Mustangs, among many others. The cost to keep these cars running and insured was prohibitive to many car guys, and speculators were pretty much unknown back then.
Most cars MADE to be classics and collectable just never made it. Just like baseball cards.

[Aussie Mike]

Not so familiar with the 50's cars but the Aussie 70's muscle cars are going bezerk down here. Genuine Phase3 XY Ford GT Falcons are fetching $300K or more. A regular GT Falcon will go for silly money (It's just a V8 powered family sedan after all).

About 10 years back I sold my old Holden Torana XU-1 replica for $2K and I see the other day even replicas are now fetching $10K -$15K.

I bought a 1970 Monaro coupe for $1000 in 1990. The same car these days is going for $20K-$30K. I turned down a really clean 73 GT Falcon in 1991 for $6K and the the same car today is selling for $50K.

Will we ever see the same thing happen with our current crop of cars? Will people in 30 years be saying the same thing about a 2007 Mustang or Corvette?

Cheers

[SkipB]

fostereast,

Since your referred to Datsun are you familiar with how that name came about?

The Japanese manufacturer was having a hard time coming up with a corporate name that meant anything in English. They waited and waited until the last minute when letterhead, brochures, etc had to be published. So they told the PR department they had to come up with a name within 24 hours. The response? "Dat soon!" Thus the name Datsun. Now, you know why they later changed it to Nissan.

True story? Not real sure.

SkipB

[Aussie Mike]

I heard a plane full of their gearboxes was shot down over Iraq.

It was raining Datsun Cogs.

[fostereast]

Originally Posted by SkipB

fostereast,

Since your referred to Datsun are you familiar with how that name came about?

The Japanese manufacturer was having a hard time coming up with a corporate name that meant anything in English. They waited and waited until the last minute when letterhead, brochures, etc had to be published. So they told the PR department they had to come up with a name within 24 hours. The response? "Dat soon!" Thus the name Datsun. Now, you know why they later changed it to Nissan.

True story? Not real sure.

SkipB

I always heard that Nissan was afraid the car may be a flop, and did not want to risk the "Nissan" brand name. I have never heard how the Datsun name came about though. Now I know