At 11:40 AM 5/12/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Riley, most of us that own these car, own them because they are unique.
>If you are purchasing almost any car to "make money" most of the time
>you will loose.
Well, I have owned in the neighborhood of 100+ cars over the past 40 years.
I only lost money on two of them and then I wouldnt say I realy lost
money, just got it back in a way different than I was expecting.
My first car was a 1929 Model A bought for $40 in 1952 and sold for $1000
in 1973
Next was a 1959 Ford bought for $800 sold for $1000
1958 Continental bought for $2500 sold for $600 (trade in on New
Citroen)
1964 Citroen bought for $1900 (new!) sold to $2200
1967 Plymouth bought wrecked for $600 sold for $1800
1962 Dodge Tempest Convert bought for $600 sold for $1500
1960 Impalla Convert bought for $300 sold for $600
1959 Cadillac bought for $300 sold for $1000
6 @ 1952 Bentleys bought for $300 each and sold for $2500 each
And the list does on. The Continental and an AMC Pacer were the only two
cars I sold for less than I paid but I felt that I got my moneys worth out
of both.
The secret is that you buy them either trashed or forgotten and restore
them to usable condition, NOT to show condition. There was alot of labor
in each of those cars, but I count the labor as FUN. So if there is a
value in the labor it is a positive value not a negative value.
OR...as with the model A you keep them for 20 years!
My current stable is:
1936 Jaguar SS100 (replica) cost $2,500 5 years ago worth about $5,000 today
1970 Jaguar 2+2. Cost $12,000 4 years ago probably worth $12,000 today
1974 Bricklin Cost $10,000 (actualy part of a trade) $10,000 today
1979 Lola T-540 Cost $5,000 3 years ago Probably worth $8,000 today
1982 Jaguar XJ6 Cost $9,500 5 years ago probably worth $10,000 today
(show car)
1985 Jaguar XJS Cost $6,500 1 year ago Probably worth $8,000 today
1985 Cadillac Seville Cost $2,000 3 years ago probably worth $1,000 today
Except for the Caddy I expect to sell each of these at a profit when I do
sell. I may even sell the Caddy for a profit if I keep it for another 10
years.
But each of these cars is daily transportation that I enjoy working on and
that turns heads as I drive by and that cost alot less than a new car
payment to maintain and that I could buy without a loan. All these
features add up to profit in the big picture.
I have friends that have $200-$300 car payments and they wonder how I can
afford to drive Jaguars. I tell them it is because I dont make $200 car
payments!! I buy my cars under $10,000 and they buy theirs at $18,000 then
pay interest on top of that. No wonder I live so well, I dont waste my
money on banks and over priced new cars.
Cheers, Jim
"Better an outlaw than not free." Nance Oneil
Low Tech Web page http://www.angelfire.com/tx/MillenniumFalcon
(need only web access, no pictures to download)
Medium Tech Web page http://members.spree.com/Millennium
(Need at least VGA and 28K modem or else its very slow)
High Tech Web Page http://members.tripod.com/~Jim_Isbell
(Should have fast modem, fast computer,SVGA, sound capability...etc.)
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