First, I think I agree with the opinion I've seen expressed by several
classic car experts, which is that your money would be better put to use
investing in the stock market (especially at its current low point) or in
real estate, than in speculating in which cars will become valuable in the
future. The difference between financial markets and a garage full of cars
is that the cars are losing value every year they sit without being actively
maintained or restored -- and that costs money. So you'd be lucky to break
even. Look at MGBs, for example. Sure, I've seen the prices asked for good
specimens go to what I consider outrageous levels ($15,000???), but if you
factor in inflation they still haven't climbed back to the original selling
price, and I don't think the seller is making any profit on his restoration,
either. I used to see 1980 MGB LEs advertised with almost zero miles,
"stored since new"... I bet if those sellers had taken that original $4500
or so, and put it in mutual funds, they would have had a lot better return
after 20 years than the $10,000 or so they got at auction. In other words,
you can do it for the preservation of the breed, if you feel so inclined,
but don't kid yourself you're going to make a heap of money. Even the guys
who picked up classic Duesenbergs in the late Depression for pennies didn't
make a killing, because 1) it took decades for a market to develop, and 2)
it cost many tens of thousands of dollars to restore cars of that caliber,
even in the 60s. LBCs, and other popular sports cars of more recent vintage,
aren't as expensive to restore, true, but also are not as rare, or
intrinsically desirable due to uniqueness, pedigree or craftsmanship.
IMHO...
on 3/24/02 7:17 AM, Dave Ciaccio at tbird52@msn.com wrote:
> This is a question off our usual MG discussions. Has anyone ever thought of
> what makes our LBCs classics? Is it the styling, the engineering, the limited
> number of production, the era in which they were produced, etc? I am thinking
> of purchasing cars now (as bucks allow) that will be classics in the future.
> The key here is buying a car at the bottom end of its valuation, but when
> restored and over time, will increase in value....similar to what our MGs (or
> other classics of that time) did in the late 70's. So, the question becomes,
> what are those features that make up a future classic and what might some of
> those cars be...mazda miata, pontiac fiero, etc, etc.?
>
> Any opinions appreciated.
>
> Dave Ciaccio
> '74 MGB Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download :
> http://explorer.msn.com
>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
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