Have Classic Car values found a new level?

Have Classic Car values found a new level?

Author
Discussion

Rich135

768 posts

241 months

Wednesday 15th November 2017
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f1ten said:
Brilliant well done and on my bucket list is also an 80a 911

devs said:
I've always wanted an early 80's 911 and should have bought one years ago when they were affordable.

Following a recent bereavement, I thought to myself that life is way too short and then continued to sell pretty much everything I had in the garage and yesterday i finally bought a 1984 911. I'm collecting it next week.

I was concerned that I may miss my one opportunity to actually buy one of these cars as their values continue to rocket and the entry level will become unreachable.

Whilst I know I've bought at the most expensive time and it may come back to bite me in the arse, big bucket list tick for me and in my current mindset, you don't have long in this world so ... one happy man!
I was fortunate enough to buy one 12 years ago before the bubble grew, but unfortunately I sold it 10 years ago too, so never got the increase! It was an immaculate 1985 Carerra Supersport which would be worth around £80k now - I sold for £17.5k. Oh well. I could never afford to buy it back but at least I had my time. (pic in my profile I believe).

I don't think classics are at a new sustainable level. If we have another major recession, they will all be back down again and the cycle will repeat again in the year after that. Electric cars will have no major effect for many years.

PS Devs, Impactbumpers is a very useful forum and some great guys to meet if you get the chance.

f1ten

Original Poster:

2,161 posts

152 months

Wednesday 15th November 2017
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I agree f40s and some mega stuff might faulter in price if we do go in to decline in 18 months but I think lower value classics are now at a sustainable level. Apart from things like Audi Quattro at 40k that to me feels over the top ?

aeropilot

34,302 posts

226 months

Wednesday 15th November 2017
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f1ten said:
Apart from things like Audi Quattro at 40k that to me feels over the top ?
You haven't seen the results from the NEC Classic Car show auction the at the weekend...?

A 1990 20v UR with only 16k miles sold for £70k......... wink

And a 6k miles from new Sierra Cossie RS500 sold for an astonishing £112k....... eek

PomBstard

6,729 posts

241 months

Wednesday 15th November 2017
quotequote all
aeropilot said:
You haven't seen the results from the NEC Classic Car show auction the at the weekend...?

A 1990 20v UR with only 16k miles sold for £70k......... wink

And a 6k miles from new Sierra Cossie RS500 sold for an astonishing £112k....... eek
Just looked the results there - wow!! Ford fans really are on another planet, but some serious stuff going for relatively little - price of a new Golf-type of money.

lowdrag

12,869 posts

212 months

Thursday 16th November 2017
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Some car prices are going bananas. But here's one I posted earlier, a mundane 1959 850cc Mini bought at auction in the current state with all the rest in boxes. £18,000 the bits and £40,000 to restore, so a £60,000 Mini.
IMG_1383 by Tony Brown, on Flickr

Yertis

18,016 posts

265 months

Thursday 16th November 2017
quotequote all
f1ten said:
I agree f40s and some mega stuff might faulter in price if we do go in to decline in 18 months but I think lower value classics are now at a sustainable level. Apart from things like Audi Quattro at 40k that to me feels over the top ?
The moral is – and this is relevant to that other thread about not living for ever – buy if/when you get the chance, don't wait until you can actually afford it. There's no way I could justify the expense either of my classics at their current value.

That price of £70k for the Quattro is also interesting because that price corrects out (given inflation and all the rest) as aroundabout what it cost when new, so if you'd bought it in 1989 as 'an investment' when it was new you'd have had to wait nearly thirty years before you'd even start to see any return. Plus you'd have had to store it and service it. And by now replace a lot of stuff anyway, because (as I'm discovering) they degrade with age, as well as use. And nothing is cheap on a Quattro, (although worth every penny).

Maybe we could agree on a definition of 'classic' based on how quickly it passes through the depreciation curve and achieves parity with its original selling price.


Horsetan

410 posts

206 months

Thursday 16th November 2017
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Yertis said:
.....£70k for the Quattro is also interesting because that price corrects out (given inflation and all the rest) as aroundabout what it cost when new, so if you'd bought it in 1989 as 'an investment' when it was new you'd have had to wait nearly thirty years before you'd even start to see any return. Plus you'd have had to store it and service it. And by now replace a lot of stuff anyway, because (as I'm discovering) they degrade with age, as well as use. And nothing is cheap on a Quattro, (although worth every penny)....
Not to mention spare parts becoming unavailable.

fel71

477 posts

208 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
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lowdrag said:
Some car prices are going bananas. But here's one I posted earlier, a mundane 1959 850cc Mini bought at auction in the current state with all the rest in boxes. £18,000 the bits and £40,000 to restore, so a £60,000 Mini.
IMG_1383 by Tony Brown, on Flickr
I paid £750 for this 1960 Mini in 1992, ran it for 18 months, had the registration off and sold it for about £350, I was really pleased with myself at the time.banghead


Skyedriver

17,667 posts

281 months

Saturday 18th November 2017
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devs said:
I've always wanted an early 80's 911 and should have bought one years ago when they were affordable.

Following a recent bereavement, I thought to myself that life is way too short and then continued to sell pretty much everything I had in the garage and yesterday i finally bought a 1984 911. I'm collecting it next week.

I was concerned that I may miss my one opportunity to actually buy one of these cars as their values continue to rocket and the entry level will become unreachable.

Whilst I know I've bought at the most expensive time and it may come back to bite me in the arse, big bucket list tick for me and in my current mindset, you don't have long in this world so ... one happy man!
Hi Devs
I'd really like to know how you feel now with you 911 after owning it a while.
I too always loved the look and ideas of a 911 9f that sort of vintage but everyone I tested was a disappointment. The first a 70's modelin the early 80's then a couple of slightly newer ones in the 80's and 90's and an 80's targa a couple of years ago with so much scuttle shake it was ridiculous.
Personally after a couple of cars i'd owned for 5 or 6 years in the 80's, I decided I'd try out a few different cars. So the 4 TVRs I've had have never lasted more than 3 years, that said I owned a Caterham from 1990 to 2002 then sold it. But then bought it back a couple of years ago.
I'd love to find my "forever car" that did everything but sadly I'm destined to keep changing I fear. So if you can find me a go anywhere vehicle, convertible 4 seater, that can still be used in the winter and not leak, can take 2 dogs in the rear, looks classy, handles, good on fuel, decent turn of speed with plenty of torque for low down lazy grunt.....


Yertis

18,016 posts

265 months

Sunday 19th November 2017
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Horsetan said:
Yertis said:
.....£70k for the Quattro is also interesting because that price corrects out (given inflation and all the rest) as aroundabout what it cost when new, so if you'd bought it in 1989 as 'an investment' when it was new you'd have had to wait nearly thirty years before you'd even start to see any return. Plus you'd have had to store it and service it. And by now replace a lot of stuff anyway, because (as I'm discovering) they degrade with age, as well as use. And nothing is cheap on a Quattro, (although worth every penny)....
Not to mention spare parts becoming unavailable.
It's actually a bit better than it was a few years ago. But as expensive as you'd expect, and certainly not the level of factory support that old Merc owners enjoy (or so I'm told).

Horsetan

410 posts

206 months

Monday 20th November 2017
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Yertis said:
....certainly not the level of factory support that old Merc owners enjoy (or so I'm told).
Better than Citroen frown

Yertis

18,016 posts

265 months

Monday 20th November 2017
quotequote all
Horsetan said:
Better than Citroen frown
On the upside, that gives you a good excuse to go poking around in off-track Provence (according to my Citroeniste co-director).

Horsetan

410 posts

206 months

Monday 20th November 2017
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Yertis said:
....go poking around in off-track Provence (according to my Citroeniste co-director).
La France Profonde, as someone once explained to me.

f1ten

Original Poster:

2,161 posts

152 months

Tuesday 21st November 2017
quotequote all
Will 911s from the 80s fall back on price or are they staying high. The young generation wouldn't know how to drive then with no onboard computers so probably would not want one?

diametric123

133 posts

111 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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As someone relatively experienced in buying (and occasionally selling) I’ve pretty much given up on understanding any form of current market dynamics

In essence stock is still there but prices are 15-25% above what people want to pay. Ask any dealer and they will tell you it’s deadly quiet out there

Gut feel - give it a couple of years and things will pick up (along with all other types of asset). The only sales between now and then will either be true classics (£1M+) or motivated sellers

lowdrag

12,869 posts

212 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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Have to say that the price of E-types seems to have fallen back quite a bit from the beginning of the year. Well, that is that dealers still seem to be demanding stratospheric prices but auction sales are far less. Bonham's have and outside lock E-type coming up with an estimate of £150,000 which is less than half what one would expect. OK it is RHD but built LHD and not original colour but that could be put right and still be well under the prices asked in factory condition.

rene7

535 posts

82 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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lowdrag
IMO market is flooded with 'e' types - bit like 10-15years ago when everyone and his dog wanted/was rebuilding triumph stags - now market is flooded with stags the prices have found the cars true value, I went to a large classic car show this summer which had a large Jag owners club stand, there must have been ~20 newly 'recommissioned' 'e' types and one nice patinated original car, which had never been touched - I spent 20 minutes photographing the original car much to the consternation of all the other owners of the sad pristine recomissioned cars. I was asked why I was interested in the original car - I said I prefered nice original cars smile They looked confusedsmilesmile


Horsetan

410 posts

206 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
diametric123 said:
.....stock is still there but prices are 15-25% above what people want to pay. Ask any dealer and they will tell you it’s deadly quiet out there....
Perhaps they might want to consider dropping those prices to drum up some trade. Would it not be better to have some turnover, rather than having nothing for an unknown period of time in the hope that potential customers might feel prosperous enough to pay the higher levels?

lowdrag

12,869 posts

212 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
quotequote all
rene7 said:
lowdrag
IMO market is flooded with 'e' types - bit like 10-15years ago when everyone and his dog wanted/was rebuilding triumph stags - now market is flooded with stags the prices have found the cars true value, I went to a large classic car show this summer which had a large Jag owners club stand, there must have been ~20 newly 'recommissioned' 'e' types and one nice patinated original car, which had never been touched - I spent 20 minutes photographing the original car much to the consternation of all the other owners of the sad pristine recomissioned cars. I was asked why I was interested in the original car - I said I prefered nice original cars smile They looked confusedsmilesmile
I've had mine over 30 years now and she was definitely "patinated" after over 100,000 miles, so I decided to have her refreshed and put back into the colours she wore when new. She was like an old pair of shoes and I loved her, and now I find myself breaking her in all over again. Well, if I am granted another 20 years that is!

GTIAlex

1,935 posts

165 months

Wednesday 22nd November 2017
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Muddle238 said:
From what I understand, new ICE cars will be banned from sale from 2040 onwards. However that doesn't mean that all ICE cars from history will be banned on that date, which means theoretically classic stuff should be safe.
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