Technical hot rod prices (inflated?)

I see all these neat cars for sale on The Hamb and wonder how many actually get the high prices most are asking. not trying to be a smart-ass, but do these cars really sell for the prices asked or close to it? i know building a rod is more expensive than ever, so am not knocking anyone.

 

Not too long ago I had my 63 Impala a nut & bolt frame off restoration listed for sale on the HAMB Classifieds and got very close to my asking price.

Gary

 

I usually depends on what the buyer is looking for, some cars will bring exactly what the seller wants while others don't.

I have notice a lot of reasonably priced cars as of late, many very nice builds for under 12 grand and some good drivers even lower.

Buyers are few and far between when the prices get in the upper 70's and above but everyone is not as broke as I am and if they want it they will buy it but it has to be a exceptional build and be the right type of car.

I have sold several cars on the Hamb, when it was a deuce it went fast but the old 49 Chevy truck that was priced dirt still took almost a year to sell and the 50 Ford Coupe has had a lot of interest but it's still for sale, to my way of thinking it just hasn't been seen by the guy that really wants it, eventually it will sell. HRP

 

if an individual has spent a lot on their ride, and trying to recoup most of those costs or more prices will seem high. but, a ride is only worth what someone else is willing to pay & seller accept have had cars sell within hours, and some took many months

 

I like the HRP Ford, but the timing is bad. Cars for under $15k seem to move. I like project cars anyway, a finished car holds no interest for me.

 

Prices seem to be dropping IMO. I see much nicer cars in the 15-20k price range than I did 10 years ago. I also think it seems like cars are not selling well right now. I think that holds true for higher end cars, but to be honest I have never paid that much attention since it was always out of range for me.

 

It's just the times we live in, things are always changing. Just a few weeks ago there was a multi page thread about prices being flat. All I know is that prices are high when I buy and low when I sell.
-Dave

 

Are prices inflated? In my opinion yes.
I think there are several factors-

(1) Flipers- People who are in it just to make money. Slap a little Bondo and a fresh coat of paint on a $500.00 field car and sell it for $7,000.00 plus. Not everyone does this but it drives prices up.

(2) The uninformed (The prey of the filpers) people who have no idea what they are getting into when they by an old car, get in over their heads, and upside down in the project.

(3) Braggers The guys who have more money then God and have to let you know. Ask them where they found the Horn intake and they have to tell you want the paid for it.

I do a fair amount of buying and selling parts, I will keep what I need and sell off the extra.
I see it as helping the next guy. If I can get the parts I need and recover some of my essences, if I can make a little something it is good but that not my main focus.

 

"the pray of the filpers"
Very interesting.. sounds like a '50s horror movie about a canibalistic cult,
kind of a pray on words..

I've been thinking of letting my current car go, but I have a feeling it would barely bring the cost of it's major parts.. might be better to part out some than to sell whole.
Which ironically brings us back to canibalism..

 

Rich people that spend too much because they can't or won't build their own car and need to be told what is cool drove prices up then they want to make money when they sell the "Investment" and people wonder why the younger generation don't get involved this culture does not belong to people who can go buy a brand new performance or luxury car it belongs to the people that had to make their own My Culture Is Not Your Retirement Plan

 

My belief is in the age of the buyer. Over the top tri-5's will a lot more than some 32's because the buyer doesn't give a shit about an open highboy or a cramped coupe. Right now 32 guys are dying off in groves and other eras are close behind. Everything is over priced labor too but we all need to eat and make a living. It is what it is...

 

The 27?

 

The guys that only right checks, the hours of shop labor and the shops profits all come into play . A lot of customs are built with the owners vision and color choices and total cost. Ones vision is usually in the minority .

 

I guess I'm part of the problem : I restore expensive cars for rich people who rarely drive them if at all. Then they sell for a profit or with a little loss after a couple years sometimes even before the car leaves the shop, to them it doesn't matter because it's money that was hidden from the IRS, so even with a small loss they win... What was illegally tax free is now legal. Unfortunately since I'm only an employee I can make just a living and struggle to pay for my daughter school.
But these people sure make it hard for the rest of us to enjoy those cars.

 

I don't believe labor is over priced.
I see vision, ability, skill, experience as priceless. Too many that have no concept of craftsmanship and mastery of skill think anything can be bought and for less.
If you work for me you must be worthless..

 

Yes

 

Well everything is relevant. If the paint job is 10,000 bucks the upholstery another 5000 engine transmission another 4000 labor at a dollar an hour I can see where a decent car was started 20 grand. I myself sold my old LaSalle 15 years ago and something I always regret at any price. My wife said last night maybe you should get a few cars .Get rid of the ones you like the least. I said I like all of them and I'm not getting rid of anything. When I die you can do what you like

 

I think your assessment is right on. Used to be if you went to a show or cruise in most of the cars were prewar coupes or roadsters. Now they are few and far between now replaced by muscle cars. But even the muscle cars are being replaced by 70s and 80’s cars or the brand new factory Mustang, Camaro, Dodges, etc. Its all about the age of the owner and what was cool when they were a teen or young adult. The guys who liked the coupes and roadsters for the most part are now in their 70’s and 80’s and are dying off.

The high asking prices are the result of Jackson Barret, Mecum and a few other national auctions. People believe if they saw a similar car sell on tv that they own it is worth thousands more then reality. A car is only worth what someone will pay and the buyers are fewer as they die off and reality is younger folks aren’t near as interested in cars. A lot of younger folks see cars as simply appliances and there is a growing sense of cars being evil polluters that no one should own but simply use on a pay for use basis. Sad but true the car hobby or lifestyle as we know it is slowly fading away.

 

Gosh, isn’t this the way it has always been?

 

My predecessors told me to always buy good stuff and it will hold its value.
I look for the best I can afford.
The guys on here that claim you must build your own car and that is who the hobby should focus on are full of smelly stuff.

 

Too a certain extent I agree with you about the monkey see,monkey do, I saw one similar to mine sell for X number of dollars and mine should be worth that, the problem is that's at BJ and the prices are always inflated by the frenzy of multiple bidders.

Were I disagree is there are a ton of younger guys making a much better wage than I ever did and are in fields where the pay is to the point they can buy just about what ever they want.

I am a die hard '32 Guy and have owned several of them, but unlike some guys I had to sell to build something else, some people are happy with a project others a happy with one driver and some are never satisfied unless they have one of each. HRP

 

As far as cars on the Hamb Classifieds I think that we have several different breeds of sellers there. there are HRP and the other regulars here on the board who decide it is time to let this one go and post it at a price that may have a bit of flexibility but not that much. Some times those guys have had the car for sale locally but the regulars at local shows don't want to be reminded that they bought _______'s old shoebox that HRP freshened up and fixed what needed to be fixed and then decided he didn't really need every time they are at a local show but take the car 500 miles away and it is a fresh car in the area and then the same history adds to it's character.
My buddy had his Pontiac ragtop for sale locally but the car was so connected to him that he couldn't get a decent offer. He took it to an event 1500 miles away and it sold for his asking price. The car had never been in a magazine article, was a great looking and superb driving car that needed to go where it was "new".

The other ones we have in the classifieds are the sellers/flippers who only sell in the classifieds, never post on the board and seldom if ever even look the board over to see what is going on. You run into them at swap meets if you have a HAMB shirt on and it seems to be their badge of honor that they are sure to tell you that they only use the classifieds and don't participate on the board. Those guys are the ones who usually have jacked up prices for what they have for sale. Most likely hoping to catch someone who has the fever and deep pockets.
Unlike some I can't knock the guys who have plenty of disposable $$$ to have a shop build a rod or custom for them. We have a good number of members who own shops or work in rod or custom shops who depend on those guys to stay in business, pay for the groceries on the table and otherwise support their families. Every time you badmouth someone who paid someone else to work on or build their car you stand a chance of slapping one of our members in the face for having done that work.

 

............and more often than not, they won't even pony up the Alliance Membership fee even though they take full advantage of the free ads.

 

I read in the paper that the world will end in ten years if we don't get rid of cows, airplanes, fossil fueled transportation. Maybe people are saving up for electric cars to prolong that to eleven years.

 

Go onto ebay and search '34 Ford and you will notice there are probably more cars listed by dealers/flippers than owners. Prices get nuts.

 

It was not so long ago that there was a thread on here about car values having fallen and people worried about that, now there's a thread about cars being over priced. WTF?????

 

It depends on if you're buying or selling.

 

I think people just like to fret about things. Values have not fallen flat and they are not now inflated. You can find examples of either if you look, with some sellers and buyers both having unreasonable expectations. But if you're a buyer and you're patient you can find the right car for a good price. I was just looking through the classifieds the other day and I saw several cars that are real good buys that I would jump on if I were in the market, and a couple I'm tempted to go for now even though I'm not in the market. Of course there are those that are over priced too. Those are the ones that won't sell and will still be in the classifieds 3 years from now with the same price. But there is no general trend in either direction right now.

 

Barrett Jackson has ruined the muscle car market and everyone thinks that their rusto-mod '69 Chevelle warrants a $90,000 price tag. eBay is full of these cars, one way or another the cars are gone in 10 days or less. I'd love a '55-'57 Chevy next, the price on those has skyrocketed.

 

I view this as a complex subject, on one hand, prices in my opinion are high and thats for a number of reasons, in my area, there doesn't seem to be a large amount of folks with disposable after tax funds to spend on a car. Two, the market is changing, we are getting older and dying off, plus, cars that were never considered hot rod material are showing up, ie, international pickups, AD series chev pickups, Nash'es, early dodge and chrysler products, late 50's finned cars of all makes, the resale market is flooded with stuff.
However, the builder shops seem to be going gangbusters, with plenty of high rollers waiting in line. I do know, when I was young (a long time ago), I couldn't afford a 32 five window, and I still cant. Some things haven't changed.