Hot Rods Is the hot rod market really slow these days?

I guess I'm the cookie cutter street rod bellyacher about a new Vette with a dealer tag winning a trophy, and I don't mine giving money to these charities. What pisses me off I spend 10 or more hours getting my car ready to show the jerk in the new vette has someone wash his car, I just don't feel these cars should be at these type shows.
Let me tell you the Camaro , Mustangs and the Vette clubs are the worst when it comes to there car shows, Vettes only no other cars or cookie cutter street rods invited.

 

So 7500 is way to high for this ?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

If no one is willing to meet the price, then yes.

 

the Pinto might command more in today's market....

pretty sad, eh?

 

The comment about paint being a necessity is correct. Nobody wants to go though the hassle of getting a car painted. Too many rip offs and stories of cars winding up in Paint Jail. Besides nobody wants to pay over 10K for a half way decent job.
The Streetrod market is way down and the 60's market is no great shakes either. I'm trying to sell the 63 Impala in my avatar for about half of whats in it. Its a just completed nut and bolt frame off restoration and is one of the nicest 63's you'll ever find. It has it all. Its been in one judged car show and won best of show. Its in show condition and needs nothing. Nobody has even come to look at it. Got a few phone calls with offers to trade and one cash offer that I turned down.
Timing in life is everything. A friend of mine took his 65 Chevelle to the Mecum Auction in Louisville last September hoping to get 40K. Two guys got in a bidding war and he got over 60K.
I've sold a car each of the last six years that all sold easily. This is the best of them all but is also the most expensive. The higher the price the smaller the market.

 

That's the nature of the market and the hobby. If it's about the money, you have to know when to sell. There are certain iconic cars that hold value better than others. The rest are old cars.

I love the third generation t-birds over any other but the facts are, they aren't sought after like the first generation. I think $7500 for the one above is a pretty good buy but but I'm not buying. Offer it to me for $4000 and I'll buy whether I'm looking to buy or not.

When I first started posting here I got a thread closed over this very same topic. LOL

 

if I had the cash, I'd drop it for this in a heartbeat.

 

The sprint racer front with the sloping hood sides is very unusual head on. The intent was to build a unique ride but it may be just a little too unique to quickly find that buyer. A good artist cannot sell every piece of work as sometimes the audience does not get it. It is not as creative but if the intent is to sell it & to maximize price then consider a 32 Ford grille shell & hood. It is basically like putting curb appeal on that house being sold except it is curb appeal for the RPU. It is not as imaginative but it may get more interest to float a price.

 

I guess I'm cheap, I won't pay over $5000 for a daily driver, for sure never pay $20,000 for a hobby car. Even when I get finished with mine I doubt I'll have. $10,000 in it. But I'll never own a 32 or a 40 , either. Way above my pay grade. I'll just be happy with my cheap junk, it fits my cheap ass......

 

I don't know squat about roadster pickups or T-birds but I do know that 40s to 78 or so Chevy trucks are hot in my neck of the woods. They seem to sell fast around here as long as they are not half done projects.

And of course 59 Chevies are always in demand. Anybody have a few they'd like to part with?

 

Lately it seems, when I'm selling, everybody wants something for nothing. And when I'm buying, everybody wants top dollar for their used problems.

 

Don't listen to the nay sayers, that's a nice, tastefully done Bird by the looks of it in that one pic. It takes time to find the right buyer these days, especially here in the 48. I've had good luck selling overseas as much as most guys hate it here. Overseas buyers are usually less picky, easier to deal with and pay what a car's worth.

 

It's a great looking car. No one said any different.

 

I LOVE loud cars and guns, you can leave it to me!

 

" I think it'll pick back up". You probably ought to pick up a newspaper one of these days. Stock markets are at all time highs, real estate has become a seller's market as the demand is high and houses are selling for more than asking price. The GNP is up for the last 3 quarters in a row and the percentage is greater than the previous 8 years.

Old cars, on the other hand, are in the crapper. I watched part of the Mecum auction last week and they could not give a street rod away. The only ones commanding high prices were specialty exotic one off types that two or more people decided that they had to have. Remember-a car is only worth whatever someone will pay for it.

 

I agree. I meant the the market on old cars would pick back up. I know the economy's doing great.

 

I am guessing his point is what is going to bring it back up? If the economy is booming and you can't sell and more and more cars are getting added to the pool as older owners pass or just get rid of their cars what is going to drive an increase in value in old cars?

 

Alright man, how about some details on this


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

All stock except bags.

 

I had this for sale for over a year and no takers at $22,000.00. Put it on E-Bay two years ago and it sold in three days for $18,600.00. Everything is only worth what someone will pay by the time the sun goes down. Long story short $22,000.00 was to much. If you have something on the market and it doesn't sell, it's to much money.

 

Do you have a for sale ad some where?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Funny how a 20,000 dollar nice car won't sell but yet people with incomplete rusty beat up "project" cars are asking 5 to 10,000 dollars. I guess they don't realize you have to put another 15 to 20 grand in it and a million hours of work to make it worth $20,000.

 

I agree that the cars we consider icons of hot rods and customs will lose value and desirability as we die off. The younger folks have no emotional attachment to them like we do. The restored, numbers matching will still be attractive to some collectors.

 

I think it has everything to do with the price range. Most people live on a budget, if they have decided to buy a hot rod, the price tag they can or will pay has a specific dollar amount.

Lets say, they want a hot rod, but are unsure of exactly what they want, so they look at cars that are available for their specific dollar amount. If that price is $15,000, most will not look at $17,000 priced cars, and most will not look at $10,000 priced cars. They look at all the $15K cars for sale, and see if any fit what they might be interested in. They will compare all the cars in that price range, very few above it, and very few below it! Your car will be competing with every hot rod in that specific price range. How far from home a car might be also will have a huge influence on the desire of a car. Shipping cars has nearly as many horror stories as body shops have. If none of the cars priced in their price range scream at them, maybe they will look again next month. If they see the same car at the same price month after month, most probably assume something is wrong with the car. After a while, they won't even look at it again.

If you have a car on the market for the same price it was 1st listed at a year ago and hasn't sold, maybe its time to take it off the market a few months. When you relist it, write up a new ad with different pictures. If your listing a car nation wide, it might be a good idea to have a names of a few reputable shippers on hand to provide for prospective buyers. Be sure they understand shipping is on them, but you have a few names of companies that have a good reputation for delivering cars to buyers.

There is one more thing you need to consider. We may love the traditional cars, but most buyers today haven't driven anything with a carb on it for 20 years, and most will remember all those carb problems of the old days. They want EFI, disc brakes, modern suspension, and modern tires. They also want something their "car" friend can work on. If these things are not present, it will reduce the price or eliminate the car from their choices altogether. Gene

 

I've been reading this "The sky is falling" editorial in car magazines for decades. In the 70's we had editorials such as this in car magazines asking if there was a future to Hot Rodding!!!??? Smog laws, gas prices, oil embargos and the ever present we're all getting old and there's no interested young people to carry the torch. Here we are 40 years later with the same lament. The "old guys" in the 1970's are no longer with us, but their cars are and they're now owned by young or middle aged guys. That old Hot Rod barn find some 28 year old dug up in 1972 may be some 28 year old's barn find in 2022.
I've always believed there will be old cars and enthusiasts. We have to remember, this hobby is cyclical and goes through it's styles, fads and side tracks. What was hot 5 years ago might not move in 5 years. And what you're building today may not be sought after in 5 years, but who cares. Build it for you. In real estate there's an old saying that says "if it's been on the market for 90+ days and hasn't sold, then it's overpriced". Like the stock market: if a car price gets to a certain devalued price point, someone will step in and buy it. Then the value may creep back up. If you consider old cars and "investment" instead of an activity, it will ruin your enjoyment of the hobby. Like you said, if you can't get your bare minimum price, keep it and get the car out and drive it and enjoy it.

 

?

 

Or.......a person can swing $5000 believing over time they can make it as nice as the 20k car.

 

Yep.

 

I blame shows like Gas monkey where they ask double what they want . I was asking 9500, looking for 8000, but would have taken 7500. Got so tired of people offering 2-4000 then getting mad when I said no. I did turn down 7000 ,guess I didnt want to sell it that bad.

 

That's a good point. Many times we simply do not want to sell the car bad enough for what people are willing to pay. I've been there. "Nah, for that I will just keep it".

Nothing wrong with that. I'm partial to those t-birds and wouldn't sell for $4000 either.