Art & Inspiration Times are Changing in the Classic Car Market...

Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post:

Times are Changing in the Classic Car Market...

Continue reading the Original Blog Post

 

Surprising how the Racing tin didn't go as high as some expected at the auction in Harrisburg.

 

I forget which TV auction I saw a bit of recently where a nice looking (on TV) 2 door 49-51 Merc ended at $42,500 or so without making reserve. I think it was a Saturday night, and if so I guess that would have been a better car than you might see on Thursday.

 

You are so right, the market for really high quality pro built cars has softened considerably. What cost 200K to build will have trouble breaking a 100K these days.

 

Want a driver??
go to the auctions on a Thursday or Friday early in the morning,,, they have to move vehicles across the aution block at steady (maybe low price) pace. And with many it is no reserve with 'normal' cars.
We saw some go for less than they would have in just paint.

 

After looking on the HAMB for sale cars on here it sure doesn't look like the market price is going down. The cars with the wow factor are always going to be worth the money in my opinion.

 

The market is crazy. You see depressed prices for cars on all the auction shows but yet prices for parts have gone through the roof.
When you see Walker radiators sellng for over 1,000 bucks, roof tack strips advertised for 3,000, hoods for 4,000, rotten door skins for 1500, etc. It's not hard to see where his is headed. Tulipmania all over again. Want a barometer ? Just look at Instagram Partswapper.

 

A lot of The HAMB cars, but not all, are like the cars in the Goodguys magazine, dreaming.
37,000 for a pile of parts '37 sedan delivery ? Not in this lifetime.

 

On various nights, that our night at the local watering hole, my friend and I put the car auctions on the TV above the bar. Since you can’t hear anything, it’s good to watch as you can see the prices. Well , we try to guess the final price...... some times we are high.......sometimes we are low.......sometimes we are just right! Sound familiar?
We, also have noticed a trend of certain cars actually going up and some coming down.....but there are always surprises! Many times we have said it’s a good thing we aren’t there. But then we say, there must have been something that we couldn’t see on TV. Most of the buyers there are very sharp guys! They didn’t get those many thousands of dollars by being stupid!
But the car prices are going to take a tumble at some time in the future, because the new generation of drivers don’t have the “ kin- man-ship” so to speak with the previous generations cars like the buyers in their sixties and above had. When we’re gone all these cars will be able to be bought on the cheap. It’s the law of supply and demand!



Bones

 

While I will not be building any more '34's, I will not be selling any of them either.
To me thay are art, and they represent something more than $$$.
The experiences I have had and the people I have met through my hobby are priceless.
After I croak they can fret about their value.

 

"Classic car prices at recent auctions aren’t jumping up from month to month like they use to, and although some particular models have remained flat, many others are actually rolling back in value. What does this mean for your average HAMBr in the market for new iron, then? It means if you play your cards right, you can get a little more car for a little less money than just a few months ago, as prices on certain models are slowly sliding downward."

I always thought the TV auctions were way over rated anyways. Some say they've ruined the collector car market... Maybe things will settle down and become normal again.

 

I sold a 1948 Chrysler T&C convertible for six figures a couple of years ago and could purchase one for $75,000 to $85,000 today. I sold everything at the right time.

 

A popular topic here is another current post:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/wow-interesting.1163632/

 

I've been watching "auction" prices like others here and see the same thing. True buyer/drivers are shopping early in the week and over priced 32's are not the wanted commodity they once were. It's the age of the buyer vs the age of the seller.
You still see many speculators buy their "size". A 350 pound guy (farmer) dressed bib overalls isn't buying a 1960 Nash metro for a driver...

 

Sort of in a similar vein, I spotted a car last summer and negotiated an agreed price. Then the guy backed out because he claimed he had an additional $10,000 in it . Then a few weeks later it reappeared but he had only bumped the price $1200 ! Last I heard it still hadn't sold.

 

As a younger hot rodder, kinda hope this happens so I can start grabbing up 32-34 Fords. Lately the Model A's have skyrocketed in value that they are not even an alternative anymore like they used to be.

 

You young guys are going to get some deals, that’s for sure. Maybe you will be a good influence on others , to keep the hobby going.
But with electric cars on the horizon......all of our old hot rods that we thought were quick....are going to seem super slow to the next generation. That’s kinda what made the hot rods cool, that old jalopy was faster than your Dads new car! Not so... when the electric cars become prevalent. It’s the future........





Bones

 

It's a game he's playin' on ya.. Don't bother with him..

 

while the electric car might be fast, its the most boring thing to watch. Last time i was out at the local drag strip for the open track night watched two tesla's race and even though they clicked 12 second passes it wasn't much to watch. Much more fun to watch the 14-15 second flathead powered roadster with that old "full race" cam thumping away out open headers.

 

I will be 68 next month. just last week two car guy school mates the same age bit the dust. Many my age are taking the dirt nap. When we are gone the hobby and market will shrink.

 

The market is saturated now most kids dont want our stuff. Only the best will sell and the rest of us if we do sell we will probably take a bath on the deal. I didn’t build any of my cars just to sell and i will probably be dead when my kids have to try and get rid of them.

 

Was there any supporting data used to make this claim? Or is this wholly based on feeling?

 

I agree times are changing and it's not only in the Classic Car market or even in the Hot Rods market.
In many forms of sports right now they are seeing low attendance numbers and a shortage of fans in general.

Many forms of racing are trying to catch up with their changing fan base and that's true for Nascar, N.H.R.A.. and many other things from what people want to read to the T.V. shows they want to watch.

Even the world of car shows events are changing because of a lack of cars that open the shows up to newer model cars trying to fill the place up and from the promoters point of view I understand their problems.

Much of it is very normal in my opinion because older guys like different things then the younger people like such as cars, music and many other things.

Sometimes change is not an easy thing to except because many times we like things just the way they are and that is also understandable but change is also inevitable so we have to learn to try and change with the times.

Just my opinion.
Jimbo

 

Most guys under 40, if they can't tune it with their cell phone, they don't want it.

 

Ya the deal was dead when he bagged out.

 

HAHAHA, it never really bothered me. I don't own anything that high dollar anyhow.........and never will. IF I sell cars I would like to break even...sometimes I do.....sometimes I don't and rarely I even make good money. I don't do it for re sale I do it because I HAVE to....I NEED to, that's the nature of addiction. I try to buy when the market is in the crapper (cars and parts).

Funny I do watch auctions on TV and seen "off" cars (not popular makes or models) go for cheap (I seen a restored '58 Cadillac go for 16k) but it seems everything I want is high dollar (cars AND parts) .

 

I just looked at eBay sold listings for the following vehicles: 1956 Nomad, 1940 Ford coupe, 1932 ford, 1930 Ford, and 1934 Ford. The prices they actually sold for were high, medium and low, as one might expect, depending on the quality of the car, etc. As I looked at the pictures and descriptions, I think the selling price for almost all of them was in line with what I thought they were worth.

 

Something that I think people seem to be missing when they say the younger generations don’t want our cars is that they do.

Cruise your 28-34 into a 80’s Chevy truck meet, an import show, almost any kind of scene really.

I’d bet you $50 you’d have a good chunk of them say “I would love to have one of these old schools but no way I can afford it”

If you’ve watched the Chevy truck trends the last 6-8 years you’d see it clear as day.

47-54 trucks were hot then the market bumped the price, next year it was 60’s trucks, then late 60’s trucks. Right now it’s all 1988 into the early 90’s. All the same crowd, the trend explode the prices sky rocket and the guys who didn’t buy quick enough bump to the next generation of design because it’s still affordable.

When’s the last time you met a 20 year old who could swing 20k for a 32 5 window body for a second fun car? Not very often. Make it a 3k pickup? That’s do able.

I hear people talk about being bummed that they can’t make money on flipping their projects or their “investment” but it’s not killing hot rodding, it’s in theory going to make it affordable again.

A decade or so ago when choppers blew up all over tv shit box basket cases were going for crazy money. Then it shifted to hot rods and a few years later you can buy a bike for a couple hundred bucks again.

 

We have ups and downs in pricing all the time. When prices are falling it feeds on itself. Buyers want to wait to see a bottom and increase in prices before making a purchase. It also hurts vendors and shops. Enthusiasts hold off on projects.

 

Your right Taboo, boring as hell, but......ETs are ETs. What impressed us back in the day, lopping engines loud pipes , big tires.....all meant low ETs, fast cars. We put up with bad idles to get high speed power, things like that. They have got the gas cars doing things I never thought possible.....but the electric car is going through the roof, so to speak. The electric cars of today are like the model T back in the day, if compared to gas cars. No telling what they are going to do with them in 25 years .......or less. I don’t like it...... but it’s not up to me. It is the future!





Bones