One of the members of our local British car club, the North Alabama
British Motoring Society, is Gene George. Gene has been an active club
member for years and owns an automobile appraising business. He owns 6
Jaguar E-type roadsters, 4 E-type coupes, an XJ12, and many other cars
from the 50's and 60's. All of the above have been restored by Gene and
his son Vance (our club VP), with the exception of the XJ12. The reason
I am telling you all this is that when Gene talks, attention should be
paid, because he knows what he is talking about.
As part of his appraisal business, Gene keeps a close eye on the
old-car market. Tuesday night (March 6) at the monthly club meeting he
spoke for about 10 minutes on some recent developments in that market
that affect each of us.
The old-car market, particularly cars of the 50s and 60s, and
especially British sports cars of that era, are increasing in value at a
phenomenal rate. The main indication of this is that there are now
more 'wanted' ads than 'for sale' ads in the publications that cater to
these cars. The demand has caught up with the supply and is beginning
to surpass it. One member asked if the recent surge in roadster
popularity caused by the Miata might be one of the reasons for this
sudden increase in value. Gene's response was negative. The rest of
the world, particularly the Europeans and Japanese, are fascinated by
the U.S. culture of the 50s/60s. With their increasing economic
prosperity, they now have the means to indulge their fantasies. Thus
all the stories you hear about cars being bought up in the U.S. at
premium prices and shipped overseas are true. Gene gave one specific
example of a man who bought 4 British cars in one day in Florence,
Alabama and loaded them into a semi. Those cars won't be on U.S. soil
again anytime soon. Our club president, George Cagle, recently had
his beautifully restored '62 A-H 3000 for sale and said he would have
taken $11,000 for it. He got calls from all over the country, but the
one caller who stuck in his mind was from Sweden. The caller had heard
throught the grapevine that there was a Healey for sale, he had not even
seen a specific ad for the car. After a brief description of the car,
the man offered $10,500. Before George could answer, the man's next
question was, "Does it run?" (George ended up keeping the car and it is
definitely *not* for sale). Personally I was amazed at this. Prices
for British cars tend to be a little lower in Alabama than California or
New England, but this guy was willing to buy the car sight unseen and
didn't even care if it ran.
Gene also mentioned that he has seen MGBs that normally would go for
$2500 sell for $4000 to out-of-town buyers. And he gets calls almost
weekly from someone wanting to buy his Jags.
My own personal theory on the sudden increase in demand was based on
the fact that middle-aged men wanted a car that they might have driven
in their youth and now had the resources to get it. My theory is partly
based on Gene's statement that prices for cars made in the 30's/40's are
falling. Who wants a '35 Chevy? Mostly people in their 60s who
remember the cars from that time. How many people in their 60s are
buying 50-year-old cars? Thus the drop in prices. However, my theory
cannot account for the caller from Sweden.
Which models will be affected? According to Gene, as with any
collectible, the more unusual models will get the highest prices. He
specifically mentioned AH3000, Jensen-Healey, MGBGT, all Triumph TRs,
and Sunbeam Alpine. The more common models, such as MGB, Spridget, and
Spitfire will follow, but to a lesser degree.
How much will prices rise? Over the next couple of years, the
$15,000 to $20,000 range is not unreasonable for the above-mentioned
models. This is the price range of today's sporty convertibles (Miata,
Mustang, Z24). After prices hit this range, people will realize they
can get a brand new convertible for the price of a 25-30 year old car
with Lucas electrics. So this should be the limit. Basically you will
see the prices of smaller British cars follow the trend set by the
Jaguars of the era, only on a smaller scale.
I'm not trying to throw anyone into a panic, or cause a feeding
frenzy, but this phenomenon will affect each person who owns a British
car. The #1 reason I'm writing is to keep you from giving your car away
when you sell it. It is a seller's market out there, and will be for
the forseeable future. If you sell one of these cars, be aware of what
it is worth and get a fair price. One source of information that I have
personally found to be good is the Auction listing in British Car
magazine. I didn't buy my car as an investment, I bought it to drive
and have fun with. I had no idea it's value was going to appreciate in
this manner; I suspect this is true of most everyone on this list.
There are good and bad sides to this issue. The good side is that my
car will fetch a better price if I ever want to sell it. Thus those of
us that own these cars are in the driver's seat. The down side is for
those that don't own cars, but plan to in the next few years. They
might not be able to afford *any* British sports car, much less the car
they really want. To me this is a great loss, since these cars were
supposed to be for the common man. While a '70 TR6 may have cost more
than an equivalent Mustang of the day, it wasn't *that* much more; it
was certainly accessible to the majority of the new-car-buying public.
It would be a shame if the prices zoomed out of reach of tomorrow's
Son of Lucas. Then he would really be SOL.
You will also be affected on your insurance. As the cars go up in
value, you need to be sure your coverage keeps up.
The final effect you will feel personally is on taxes. If you sell
your car for a profit, you must report the gain. However, if you sell
for a loss, you cannot deduct the loss. You can deduct, however, all
improvements to the car that you have receipts for. You can't deduct
your own labor, but you can deduct the labor of a commercial mechanic
who worked on your car. Of course all those parts from Moss/TRF are
deductible, but save those receipts!
Everyone knows that you can take any rusting hulk of an E-type that
you find in someone's barn and no matter how much you spend on
restoration, you can almost be assured of getting your money back when
you sell. Hmmm, if the same happens to Alpines, it might be worth
restoring my $325 parts car that has no engine or tranny.........
I hope that you maintain your awareness of your car's value, because
if you don't, it might cost you *big* money in the next few years.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
T.J. Higgins uunet!ingr!higgins (UUCP)
Intergraph Corp. M/S CR041 higgins@ingr.com (Internet)
One Madison Industrial Park
Huntsville, AL 35894-0001 "Well-weathered leather, hot metal
(205) 730-6191 and oil, the scent of country air"
-Rush
|