Lots of super car steel on ebay........

[quick-bowtie]

I gotta agree with the King.. The market might be soft on ebay because everyone is afraid of getting screwed and I dont think you can judge the market by ebay to begin with..

If someone here put on a GREAT no excuse car with docs.. It still woundn't do any money on Ebay unless someone on here or in the know was bidding.. Take the same car and run it in Hemmings and boom its gone. Ebay is a joke when it comes to retialing car.. but you can get a great deal on 2 once in a while buying..

Just from personal experince I think the market it still good, prices are off from last year but its still good and cars are moving, I sold 6 of my cars in the last 2 months for good money.. some in the 30k to 60k range and a couple for just over 100k and a 71 Hemi Cuda for alot more.. So I pretty much covered all the market prices and had quite a few calls on the 150k and under cars.

[tirebird]

"When the market is down,everyone rushes to sell thier houses"


Out here on the "left coast", where 2bdrm. 1 bath, 1500 sq. ft. sell for more than a million bucks in the right neighborhood, we hang on to our homes and our muscle cars. Unless you're in bankruptcy or the feds are after you for those squirely offshore investments, you don't sell until the price is right. So I think that owners of truely original and valuable muscle cars are not throwing their assets away in a fire sale. If the market is down, and that's debatable for truly valuable vehicles, then just hang on until it goes back up again.

[rich p]

Pedigree will still demand BIG Money !! I always said that the clones then the NON original cars and NO paperwork are going to fall first !`

Just my 25 cents ! Its No longer 2 cents Sorry ! inflation

[LS6 RAT]

I agree with what's said above. I currently have 2 pretty rare muscle(sports) cars. Factory paperwork and original drivetrain are most important, for maximum dollars.

[PPPJJJFFF]

Interesting topic. Alot of smoke and mirrors both on Ebay and with private sales.

Patrick

[1969z280]

A couple of years ago, you could buy a car and sell it a week later for a profit. I believe those days are gone along with the attitude that every red Camaro was a gold mine. If you purchased a documented, original drivetrain muscle car three years or longer ago and look at it's average sale price today you would probably be quite pleased with your investment even if prices are down (which I don't believe they are on documented cars). However, the days of 10% increase in value per month are gone, even if it is a Shelby.

Examples:
5 years ago, I bought a 1970 Z/28 RS Mulsanne Blue on Bright Blue with 58,000 original miles and the protecto-plate for $18,000 at the Auburn car corral. Original drivetrain and the exhaust manifolds and A.I.R. in the trunk. Everyone told me that I over paid.

3 years ago, I bought a 1970 Trans Am Ram Air III 4-Speed with original paint, original drivetrain and 38,000 original miles at the Mecum Fall Auction for $25,000 on the block.

3 years ago, I bought a 1969 X77 Z/28 with it's original drivetrain on ebay for $27,000. The paint needs to be redone but the car is a Blue Plate California car and the floor pans are near perfect.

Everyone I knew was looking at me sideways when I purchased these cars and a number of others (twenty as of today). I think these three cars are easily worth twice what I paid for them. Even at a reduced price (if that's really happening to documented cars), all of these cars are rock solid from an investment standpoint and terrific from a car guy standpoint.

You can't assess the market based on a car that brought all of the money at Barrret Jackson in January and didn't sell at Mecum in May. Or on the low bid basis of a car offered on ebay that didn't meet it's reserve.

Cars are worth exactly what a buyer is willing to pay and a seller is willing to sell for. If you look at actual sales results like Mecum or attend one of their auctions, you'll see that quality documented cars are going for more than ever.

Just my $.02 Ed

[king_midas]

427King,

With all due respect, you're incorrect on what you're saying. Cars at this level are nothing but assets, because you must pay tax on both the purchase and sale, and this tax is of a sizable amount. Thus, if you can't keep them off the books, they are like any other traded investment, where if something better comes along, the investor will transfer funds out of the declining area of the portfolio, and place it somewhere where the money will be better used.

Of course, there are always anomalies with investing, and you'll still see a few cars trading for inflated prices-- I call that instance the "heart" talking, where a man/woman has enough money that they don't care, and pay whatever price for whatever they want. However, the Chevys in general suffer from the "clone" factor, and as I said about 6 months ago, they will be the first to take the hardest beating when the market turns.

Fake documents are everywhere, and there's just too much money involved for sleazebags to NOT get involved in the market. Right now, there are more COPOs, Z/28s, 435 Corvettes, etc., than they made new. And that doesn't even take into account survivor rates for cars, which is a declining factor-- For each of the cars mentioned, there should be approximately 15 - 20% of original production left.

Now, where's that bargain Glacier Blue '69 Z/28 Clonemaro that I've been looking for all my life...?

[LS6 RAT]

I don't agree with your assertion of 15 to 20% of original production is all that is left. The survivor rate percentages are way different, depending on the type of vehicle. I would say '69 Z28's or '70 Boss Mustang 302's have a higher percentage of attrition due to the nature of their intended usage, however the more exotic musclecars that had higher price tags when new often were cared for by their owners and thus survived the ravages of time and usage much better.
An example would be the 1971 LS6 Corvette, total production of 188 examples, 12 in racing trim. These cars had an average price that exceeded $7000.00 when new, more closer to $7,418.00. Survivor rate currently is at damn near 50%, and may end up even higher. I've been involved with these cars for over 20years now. I have located 92 of the 188 production and expect to find a few more before I die.
I don't think a generalization of musclecar survival rates percentages can be so easily tossed out there.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

I agree with LS6 RAT, and also respectfully disagree on your percentage of remaining production in the 15-20% range.

The '70 Yenko Deuce Nova Registry is now at 87 remaining out of 175 produced, that's exactly 50%.

The '69 Yenko Camaro survival rate is even better, with approx. 130 of 201 existing = 65%.

The '69 Yenko Chevelle is the tough car to find, but the survival rate is still better than 15%. With approx. 30+/- cars found out of the 99, that's 30%.

I think the best cars, with solid paperwork, restoration photos, and #'s matching drivetrains will always float to the top - regardless of clones, and will bring a high price irrespective of 'heart' - they are just the rarest of the rare!

[COPO CARTEL]

Not that I am an acountant by I do play one on TV..... Always remember the difference between assests and liabilities..... When your liabilities override past your assests... your a$$ sits out in the street. Doug