Comments on: Classic cars a poor investment

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:05:48 +0000

Classic cars will still be classic cars, and markets will still be markets. Markets dictate the price of an asset. Nothing is a truly bad investment if there is a market behind it.

By: John Christian

John Christian — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:23:20 +0000

A few points on this economic crisis which is not going to go away. Nor throwing trillions at the banks and finance gurus (big money) which is a continuince of the same process that caused the crisis along with the worthless toxic paper. The banks are now using the bailout money for increasing their leverage and position (read domination over the market) by buying up all the smaller banks. The same big money interests with their golden parachutes have created another successful touchdown by cashing in, on the very crisis of their making, for another big payday. The Great Depression of the 1930’s increased the tensions sharply between countries so that trade war became shooting war. The Depression went right through till 1954.
I think the odds are weighted in favor of decreasing prices for classic cars rather than rising.

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:28:30 +0000

Pure BS and anyone who agrees with these sentiments knows little about cars and the classic car market. How do you explain the millions of people who have made millions by buying and selling classics?? Sure, there will always be rich goofs who overpay and over-value cars as “investments”, but those are the only ones that really get bilked. Many people own classics – or restore them – and if they know what they are doing, almost always turn a profit. It’s not rocket science, but guys with money just throw too much at things. Those getting burned currently are the guys who overpaid at Barrett-Jackson for the past few years. No car is going to apreciate a million dollars in a year or two (read: hemi-cuda!). If they where worth 50 grands three years ago and are worth maybe 60 grand today.

By: eh179driver

eh179driver — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:04:29 +0000

Andrew M, you are 100% right. I went with the EH for the same reasons many people do. Firstly nostalgia. My dad had a new one when I was very young. Then I had one as a first car. Went quick but like most 17/18 year olds, never ad the money to make it a good car.
I initialy looked for an LC/LJ XU1 before buying the EH, but the prices people wanted for them was just ridiculous for a hobby car. Settled on the “H” and have never regreted it. If you have some common sence, are preparred to have a go, join a good car club and can read simple instructions, you can do anything to the car. If you go wrong there are plenty of people in car clubs to help. The Holdens are cheap to play with and I have as much fun in my car as my mate with his $60′000 69 Camaro. I even take mine on dirt roads. His comes out to play when the weather is just right…

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:53:52 +0000

eh179driver,
you just proved my point and summed it up beautifully.

your EH wouldnt be a great Investment, but rather a great Hobby.

you have spent 6K on it plus the other few dollars you have forgotten to add in, coupled with the obvious that most people would have to pay to initially purchase one for restoration (not all inherit classics).

and then the obvious of your hundreds of hours of work you have done multiplied by a decent hourly rate would equal pretty much 14K (or more).

i see so many ads for restored vehicles selling for half of what they say they have receipts for

buying a classic in original condition isnt as risky as restoring one and hoping to make some dosh

By: Frontman

Frontman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 07:13:20 +0000

Actually reckless the customers I put into them found their fuel economy better than 70 series cruisers and they only got scary if you used genuine injectors when replacement was due.
But even so it’s still crazy given their build quality

By: Reckless1

Reckless1 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:21:32 +0000

Ah, Frontman, it’s true they are retailing for more than when they were new.

But by the time you have paid for 100,000k of running costs, and pocketed the wholesale selling price of $50,000 you have still not made money.

I know of one that is for sale for $149,000 which the dealer bought for $95,000. It has a lot of mods….

By: Frontman

Frontman — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:59:00 +0000

The only vehicle that I have seen honestly retaining value over recent times is by no means a classic (unless You’re a Red Neck). That vehicle being the F250 Dual Cab 4×4. I mean really, I was selling them for $78k or under nad now 2nd hand ones are selling for $90k with 100,000km on them. There’s an investment for ya.

By: Fenno

Fenno — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:58:00 +0000

Reminds me of a story in the uk where a dude brought a Jag XJ220 and had it bricked up under the stairs of his factory. He died and the car was forgotten about. Eventually the car was discovered and taken to the big auctions in London where it was sold for a tenth of its original purchase price…even though the car had never been driven.

By: eh179driver

eh179driver — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:12:22 +0000

Andrew M. It took me about 2 years of work and I spent about $3′000 cash but hundred of hours. The car had been used as a a bit of a farm hack. I must have removed 30kg of dirt from the floor/wheel arches. I did all of the body, mechanical and paintwork myself. That was about 3 or 4 years ago. Since then I have spent another $3′000 on trim and a new engine. The car is stock with the exception of the engine as it now runs a 186 bored out, head work, cam, holley, extractors etc. The front seat are Prem seat trimed in the original 2 tone metallic. I run on a set of rare Magnum light alloys. I have kept all of the original mechanicals and trim parts and there are no additional holes or mods to the car that a weekends work wont fix. It is a great car and the family love it. Goes like stink as well.
My point is that even though I would make a monetary profit, the hours of labour are incalcuable and I would never ever go into a classic to make a profit. But it also proves yoy can get into a classic for a modest investment but have a great deal of fun along the way. If it is done right it is also a hobby that the entire family can enjoy. I just wish I spent more time in Australia enjoying it.

By: realcars

realcars — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:13:13 +0000

If u want to “waste” money on classic cars in the next 12 months should be ripe pickings if the economy goes into recession for reasons already mentioned.

Gee might be able to pick up a good XA GT for less than 30k.

I remember how a mate bought an immaculate stock 911 before the recession we had to have and was forced to sell for less than half the price he originally paid.

By: Tugger

Tugger — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:47:55 +0000

Damm! Damm! Damm! I thought I might get $180000 for my classic 1983 SJ camira.My mother hates it

By: jon

jon — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:40:41 +0000

what about the $150000 Commodore isn`t that a good investment, lol

By: Andrew M

Andrew M — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:14:24 +0000

cars are a poor investment. its old news.

sure something that you have had in original condition, is rare, and have had for a few years will spin you a few buck,
but the ones you restore to get back to original are a waste of money and time.

eh179driver,
how much did you spend on your EH including time and effort to find the parts?? (and how long did it take you to complete)

My brother inlaw has an EH (Not quite finished yet) and the amount of time and money he spent/spends on it hardly makes it worth it. even if he gets 14K for it when or if he finishes it, it still wont reflect a good investment

By: Neo Utopia

Neo Utopia — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:50:02 +0000

I once owned a 1967 mk 2 Jaguar, an inheritance from my late grandfather. It was in fair condition and needed approximately 6k to pass road worthy compliance. I had the work done, drove the car to uni and back and some shortish road trips. Then one day I decided it wasn’t reliable/practical enough so i decided to sell, advertised it for 10 k for year; no genuine buyers, dropped the price to 6 k; sold at 5.5 k within a week. The point of my post: I regret selling the car and that classic cars are ultimately priceless, and should be bought/sold using their own monetary value system, not the conventional system!

By: realcars

realcars — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:19:20 +0000

Agree,Cars are a non profit making exercise.

By: tonyn

tonyn — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:35:26 +0000

the article is spot on, you should buy them cause you love them.

Anyone who bought them as an investment is an idiot!

By: Reckless1

Reckless1 — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:09:23 +0000

The “invest and hold” philosophy (for non-income producing assets) is bollocks, folks.

Every investment that does not produce a revenue stream is a pure gamble. You must have an exit strategy for such investments, which in reality makes you a trader.

So, buy a classic car, sell it when it goes up 10%, and you are a successful trader. If it goes down, your exit strategy might be sell if it goes down 8%, so you lose a bit but don’t take a total bath.

If you hold on to the car and it goes up 10%, you have effectively still lost the purchase price, same thing if it quadruples.

The article is spot on.

By: Ra

Ra — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:42:49 +0000

Unless it’s a rare Classic (All original, only ever driven off the back of a truck) I’d have to agree with this article.

By: eh179driver

eh179driver — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 03:21:40 +0000

The good thing about th current ecconomic climate (maybe the only good thing) is that classic car lovers (like me) see the people who purely by classics gradualy drop out of the market. That leaves the people who buy these cars left. Prices become more realistic. When I bought my EH 8 years ago I paid $1200. Sure I have put a lot of time and effort into the car, but it is not worth the $14′000 I have been offered for it a few times. The same with the bloke that paid (a reputed) $750′000 for a Phase 3 GTHO last year. Sorry but that is just insane. I feel sorry for him if the value drops but all he did was help to drive the price of Aussie classics out of reach of most ordinary car lovers. Here’s to hoping that the market comes down to more realistc prices so we can all enjoy classic motoring.