Are things turning?

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Discussion

lowdrag

Original Poster:

12,868 posts

212 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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As the old stock market adage went, no one rings a bell at the top of the market. In speaking to several fairly high placed people recently, they are of the opinion that as the age groups shift, so the demand for certain cars wane and others come into fashion. For example, it was postulated that the XK120 is losing favour and the XK140 is more in vogue today. The E-type seems to be iconic and its rise meteoric over the last year or so, and other "forgotten" cars seem to have leapt in percentage value, such as the Sunbeam Tiger, one of which, completely rebuilt, was son the market for ages a few months back at £30,000 with no takers, yet now they are around £50,000. I've never really believed it since for example when at the Barratt Jackson sale at Phoenix in 2005 it was said that 1950's cars were about to fall because that age group was dying out. They've rocketed since. I have no idea, but let's hear your opinions.

crankedup

25,764 posts

242 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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I cannot comment upon specific cars but imo the cars of the 1950/60's are increasing in selling asking prices at a very fast rate. Baby Boomers have the money to be able to indulge in those fantasy cars they could not afford in their teens perhaps.
Meanwhile the vintage car market, excluding the 'top end' marques and Austin Sevens!, seem to be just holding station value wise. As a vintage car owner I am beginning to have concerns as to where my cars will end up when I decide to sell (10/15 years hence).

427James

628 posts

212 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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I used to hold the view that as those in middle age with money changed, the cars that would become valuable would be the ones they lusted after in their youth, but this has never explained 1920's Bentleys, Bugattis etc. Indeed I wasn't old enough for XK120s or even E-types or early Stingrays to be knocking about in my youth but I always lusted after them. Xk120s used to be worth less than 140s and 150s due to the fact that they are less usable, but the market over the last 5 years has reversed this until they are now the most expensive of the XKs.


Carnage

886 posts

231 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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As I get older, I prefer older cars. A few years back, I thought anything pre E type was a bit dull. Now (aged 35) I really want a big Healey or an XK150. By the time I retire I'll be after something steam-powered at this rate!

Yertis

18,015 posts

265 months

Tuesday 19th August 2014
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Carnage said:
As I get older, I prefer older cars. A few years back, I thought anything pre E type was a bit dull. Now (aged 35) I really want a big Healey or an XK150. By the time I retire I'll be after something steam-powered at this rate!
It's all very personal isn't it. When I first got into this ruinous hobby, speed was very high on my list of priorities, hence the TR6 which in the mid-1980s was still a respectably fast car.

Nowadays, as I approach my fifth decade I crave something with a bit more style than the TR6 and Quattro, niether of which are 'stylish' cars, IMO. Handsome, but not stylish.

I'm looking at older Alfas now, which I never took any notice of previously (when they were cheap).

427James

628 posts

212 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Yertis said:
It's all very personal isn't it. When I first got into this ruinous hobby, speed was very high on my list of priorities, hence the TR6 which in the mid-1980s was still a respectably fast car.

Nowadays, as I approach my fifth decade I crave something with a bit more style than the TR6 and Quattro, niether of which are 'stylish' cars, IMO. Handsome, but not stylish.

I'm looking at older Alfas now, which I never took any notice of previously (when they were cheap).
Brilliant - I thought I was alone. I seem to have gone from TVR Cerberas to Stingray Corvettes and then backwards in time through Jaguars getting ever slower. I really want a 1920s Bentley now...

Mr. Magoo

686 posts

227 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Its funny but I this year I have been doing a fair bit of mileage in my vintage Lagonda and it has proved utterly fantastic to drive and a much more rewarding experience.

People are really genuinely interested in talking to you about the car and the attention you get on the motorway at 60 and driving through villages at 30 is far more than any modern I have driven.

Carnage

886 posts

231 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Yertis said:
It's all very personal isn't it. When I first got into this ruinous hobby, speed was very high on my list of priorities, hence the TR6 which in the mid-1980s was still a respectably fast car.

Nowadays, as I approach my fifth decade I crave something with a bit more style than the TR6 and Quattro, niether of which are 'stylish' cars, IMO. Handsome, but not stylish.

I'm looking at older Alfas now, which I never took any notice of previously (when they were cheap).
Ha, I've got an old Alfa and not sure it's old enough for me now! I think it'll be going soon to be replaced with a Healey.

Yertis

18,015 posts

265 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Is it finished yet?

Carnage

886 posts

231 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Oh yes, I really must update my profile. Its at that stage where its all done and I've done enough in it to either start tweaking it or swap it for something. Its pretty standard at the moment apart from some GTA seats and it would be a shame to turn it into another GTA clone, but they are so pretty... A nice dilemma though!

For some reason I can't upload a picture, which is annoying.


jonah35

3,940 posts

156 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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I think older cars eg forties and fifties will lose favour as people of that generation die.

Not many people under say 50 want a 1940s car.

A 1980s car yes.


Carnage

886 posts

231 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Now it works - apologies for the thread drift.






Carnage

886 posts

231 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
quotequote all
jonah35 said:
I think older cars eg forties and fifties will lose favour as people of that generation die.

Not many people under say 50 want a 1940s car.

A 1980s car yes.
I disagree. Both my cars are ten years older than me; my G4 was fifteen years older than me, and although I grew up in the eighties few of the cars of the era appeal to me. Maybe a three door Sierra Cosworth and that's really it.

RobinSherwood

336 posts

214 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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jonah35 said:
I think older cars eg forties and fifties will lose favour as people of that generation die.

Not many people under say 50 want a 1940s car.

A 1980s car yes.
Maybe I am the exception that proves the rule but I am 45 and this week bought a car dating from 1933.....

RichB

51,430 posts

283 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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RobinSherwood said:
jonah35 said:
I think older cars eg forties and fifties will lose favour as people of that generation die. Not many people under say 50 want a 1940s car.
A 1980s car yes.
Maybe I am the exception that proves the rule but I am 45 and this week bought a car dating from 1933.....
I don't think so, I grew up the 60s but my classic is from the 50s. Next I hanker for something pre-war wink

Andy 308GTB

2,918 posts

220 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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I think a lot of people are starting to kick back against the 'Play Station' generation of cars.

I've no experience of any of these cars but I suspect that whether you are sitting in a McLaren MP4, a Ferrari 458, an Audi R8 or a Lamborghini Gallardo the experience isn't hugely different. All are very fast, have semi-automatic gearboxes & have handling & grip that massively exceeds the needs of day to day town driving.

So let's say you're a bit nonplussed about driving a modern super car - what do you buy?

Driving around in a 10 year old super car makes it look like you can't afford a new one. So you need to go for something a bit different, something a bit unique. And you want something with a bit of personality & character. The classic car market ticks these boxes. Pull up outside a West End wine bar in a 1960's Alfa and you've got great taste and understand style. Rock up in a Ferrari 458 and you're just another city kid with his first bonus living the 90's dream...

wibble cb

3,586 posts

206 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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I have regressed somewhat , my first car was a 1967 Morris Minor when I was 17, and I am now in a 1959 Sprite, if money were no object ( which it sadly is)...I would have an XK120 in a heartbeat and I'm only 42!

It's all a matter of personal taste, but roll on the day old jags fall out of favour and become cheap again!

Bebee

4,678 posts

224 months

Wednesday 20th August 2014
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Count your blessings old timers, think of the generations to come if this scrapping scheme continues, image how many etypes for example would be in existence if the scheme was implemented in the 70's when no one wanted an etype.

I lust after a Bentley S3, right now they are affordable, not for much longer I suspect, I'm 48 BTW, am I of the wrong age group?

Some cars never age, the etype still looks futuristic and that's the clue here, there will always be 'any age' buyers of classics if they still look fairly modern and sexy, the question is what in the eye of the beholder is.




Edited by Bebee on Wednesday 20th August 23:50


Edited by Bebee on Wednesday 20th August 23:51

Vanin

1,010 posts

165 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
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I have always been interested in the way people view different models of a certain make over time.
With Jaguar the XK150S suddenly became the one to have for a time, then the 140 started to attract more attention and now it seems that the superior speed and comfort of these cars are being overlooked in favour of the original beautiful lines of the 120 as it was penned.
The same happened to the E Types when early on there was a premium to be paid for a manual V12 but the market reverted to the original flat floor with all its faults because of the sheer beauty of the first model.

With Astons the DB5s could be bought for a grand less than a DB6 in the early eighties and a DB4 for less than that.
Now a DB5 is more than twice the value of a DB6 in spite of being an inferior car objectively.
This is of course distorted by the Bond issue which has not so much to do with looks and performance.
But people are again looking back to the original DB4 as it was penned, the purity of line if the Mk1 DB4.

I am concluding that looks are taking over from performance and comfort.

Yertis

18,015 posts

265 months

Thursday 21st August 2014
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Carnage said:
Now it works - apologies for the thread drift.

Nice. Is it riding a bit high?