Is money killing our car hobby??????? Just a couple of thoughts

[JIPJOBXX]

Some of the folks here think that money is no object when it come to there cars and I beleive it is.  I read recently an article about people paying over a million and half dollars for one car!  I know these people know nothing about what they own but just love to show them oft and better not touch or you might hurt it. 

 

As for me I have only one old car and that is my 1942 Dodge of which I take to car shows and do not expect anything but compliment of how nice my old rig looks for a 70 years old car.  My car is what you call a 10 footer but has my heart and soul put into it.  I have had my old time machine for over 25 years now and she is part of me.  Its to bad for our younger generation that most of the old cars they can not be obtained because of financial reason as the price has gone through the roof.  Who would ever think you would have to pay for a everyday driver mustang 10,000 plus!!!!!  Where will this price of old cars stop who knows?  But I know one thing it stopped here!

 

I'm prode of my my car, I let people kids sit in at car shows and state on one of my reader boards that I did it my way (did most of the work myself).  I love to talk about the history of my old car and that most of the cars you see at car shows today the wheels cost more than my whole car.  Yep the day of the 100 dollar car is gone and replaced by the 5,000 dollar fixer upper.  Any comments as to where our hobbies are going??  Just check out Hemmings Motor News and that will tell you-through the roof or maybe not???? Jon

PS. This is just like our sports figures getting millions upon million to play a game and its sort of like our cars in so many ways.  Our society has its priorities in the wrong pocket ;(

[JBNeal]

In the past 10 yrs, the price of steel has gone up considerably, and I partially blame this as a cause of the disappearance of the $100 fixer upper.  I've bought several parts trucks that were beat up, picked over & riddled with rust & .22 vents, and only one was I able to pay a c-note cuz they guy needed it removed from his property by order of the city govt.  The other guys wanted on avg 2x the price of the scrap metal value.  Then there is my retired neighbor who bought a nice GTO, kept it for a year, then unloaded it for health reasons + car needed more work.  He was quite proud to have profited $2k on his toy, even though all he did was attempt to bleed the brakes on the thing.

 

People purchase old cars for several reasons these days, and speculators and profiteers compete with hobbyists for that vintage ride and parts now more than ever.  Suppliers want to maximize profits as times have probably been tough on them as the US is still emerging from some of the worst economic conditions seen in decades, so they raise prices because they can.  During this time, the bottom fell out of the collector car market as owners were looking to liquidate for a multitude of reasons.  And then there is that wealth gap, as the rich that keep getting richer can afford to do whatever they want as the rest of us have to prioritize and sacrifice.  So collector owners who are looking to sell will inflate their selling price (as my neighbor did) to attract those with deeper pockets.  I've sold two late-model vehicles in the last 7 yrs, and both times I inflated my asking price to keep away the tire-kickers, and eventually someone would make me an offer that I was looking for...I got close to the KBB value, and the buyer had the sense that he had accomplished a significant negotiation.

 

My biggest worry is that there may come a day that our vintage rides will be vilified as destroyers of the environment and severely limited as to usage and taxed to the point where it will be cheaper to sell them for scrap than it is to maintain & enjoy them.  Hemmings and others have advertised over the years that salvage yards start to send their stock to the crusher as legislation gets passed that makes it tougher for them to keep their inventory as it has been deemed detrimental to the environment.  The eye-opener is the $10/gallon unleaded that Europe has seen, most of it because of taxes...could that happen here?  Not today, but maybe someday down the road as legislation is enforced for zero-emission vehicle usage.

 

So for now, I try to keep the wildlife out of my fleet so that I can roll on down the road for a little while longer.  And if I win the lottery, I'll build a shed to park'm in 

[Plymouthy Adams]

PAY TO PLAY...can't afford a 10K Mustang (insert other name here) or buy a Pinto...who cares....I am sure that if you went to the local country club that has a 8000.00 annual membership and told them you felt you should be able to join for 300.00 they will let you...(at this time imagine alarm clock going off and dream ending)

[RobertKB]

Jon, I respect your car and what you have done to it. Probably smarter than me with my four old mopars. However, I drive 3 of the 4 and am working on the last one. They are a priority in my life after family. I don't mind spending money on them as they give me great pleasure. So in that sense, I am with Tim.....pay to play.

 

At the same time, there are a lot of people out there with more money than sense. Just take a look at Barrett-Jackson or that auction in Nebraska lately. That is their deal and they do what they want or can/can't afford. As for million dollar plus vehicles, most of those are pretty rare or one-off types and the deep pocket boys are the only ones able to buy those.

 

Collector car hobby is what it is with a wide spectrum of people, cars, money involved, etc.

 

Me, I love the old Mopars more than anything else on the road and hopefully have another 20-25 years left to enjoy them. I am 65 next birthday but bought my first old Mopar, my 1953 Plymouth Belvedere which I sitll have, when I was 26.

[JIPJOBXX]

It's sad that people have to pay to play. Remember when we were young and you could buy that 100 dollar car put some reverse rims on it and maybe some bruce slicks for the mean look.  Then if you wanted to have your car painted it was oft to Earl Shibs 39.95 paint job.  Life was so much simpler and I can see why the younger crowd is not getting into our game.  Sure there are a few but the many are grayed hair people who are kind of stuck with the love of there cars and there past.  As I see it and maybe some people will not like it but in 15 or 20 years all these so called hot rods of today will have no homes to go to.  Full will be over the top and of course  young people take over the guard of wanting old cars.  So as I see it enjoy it now as it looks like the tunnel of opportunity for a non expensive hot rod is gone and so rapidly are the people who want to own such rigs.

[JIPJOBXX]

I have made plans to give my car to Lamay musium as in that way I hope that it will have a home way into the future-no money envolved just the idea other people will get an idea of what it was like to own a car in the 40's.

[RobertKB]

It's sad that people have to pay to play. Remember when we were young and you could buy that 100 dollar car put some reverse rims on it and maybe some bruce slicks for the mean look.  Then if you wanted to have your car painted it was oft to Earl Shibs 39.95 paint job.  Life was so much simpler and I can see why the younger crowd is not getting into our game. 

 

Jon, the past is the past and we shouldn't look at it as all rosy. What you say is true but those days are gone. However, so is being diagnosed with leukemia, diabetes, or some other now-curable disease that was a death sentence at one time. Want to be in  a car crash and bleeding to death but no cell phone to call 911 and the excellent paramedics of today. Racial prejudice, although still around, is nothing compared to what it was. Hell, we wouldn't even have the internet and this great forum.

 

Every age has its good points and bad. I am not sure if "back then" was really any better. I am nearly 65 and have fond memories of the 60's but really I don't think things were any better. Different, yes, but different means just that.....different. Not better or worse.

[Young Ed]

Also consider how much harder that $100 or even the $39.95 was to come by back then. You can't compare the 100 of today to the 100 of then. Dad paid little over 100 for his 51 convert and paid payments on it for a year!