Noticed the Plymouth prices on eBay lately?

[Loren]

There are three very nice 1949 Plymouths on eBay right now.

The prices are very steep. $39,500, $38,500 and a car that I know the seller wants $22,500 for (the reserve is secret. I know what it is as the car is listed on his web site).

If you think those are grand theft prices you should see what the asking price for a DeSoto is!

What is going on here?

Is that really what you have to pay?

 

[Frank Elder]

When chivvy and ferd guys buy our stuff and sink ungodly amounts of money into them they think they can get chivvy and ferd prices for a lowly run of the mill mopar. Well not from a tight fisted, cheapskate, penny pinching mopar guy that knows how to wheel and deal for one! Unfortunately there are full grown men that are new to mopar that will pay these crazy prices because they don't know any better....and thus prices have gotten out of control on your average pre and post war mopars. That those ridiculous car auction shows.

[Plymouthy Adams]

people need Christmas money....seems they have hocked their good senses already.....

[Loren]

When I bought my 49 I paid $150 for a nice running example.

They were considered a "Transportation Car" too old to be fancy and too new to be classic.

People bought 20 year old Plymouths to get to work reliably not to impress people.

You could find them on the back row of a used car lot. Most of the time you really had to look for them.

A very nice shiny one could bring $250. I got mine from a classified ad in the L.A. Times.

Later on:

When 70s Cadillacs and the like were 20 years old they were called "Leavers".

You bought it, changed the oil once then drove it till it died and left it where it died with a signed title and the keys on the seat.

[Sniper]

I bought my 51 in September, 2019..  Paid $4k for it.  It was a presentable driver.  Most of it's issues were induced by whomever was working on it before me.

[knuckleharley]

I can tell you what is going on,the owners are "fishing". They don't really expect to sell their cars,but are looking to see what the market price is.

 

BTW,I paid $850 for my 42 Dodge biz coupe,and $3500 for the 48 Ply coupe. The 48 has a Camaro clip up front with the 350/350 combo and camaro rear. Lots of the stuff what half-assed to be generous,but I WAS able to put license plates in it and start driving it righ away while I was redoing some of the mechanical work.

Drove it for a couple of years before it backfired in the carb one day can caught fire under the hood. Luckily I carry a fire extinguisher,so the car was saved.

Been parked ever since as I bought everything I would need to totally redo the car,right down to having all the chrome redone,new wiring harness,and good used 412 and turbo 350 I already had. The 412 was built for me by a friend that is a mechanic in a NASCAR speed shop and took it there to build and balance,so saying it is a little "sporting" is an understantement. It would scare me in the 1 ton van it was in,so it should have plenty of power for the little Plymouth.

 

Yeah,I would have PREFERRED it had Mopar power,but it had what it had,and I have no problems living with it. I do follow the "if it ain't broke,don't fix it" philoposy,and since a SBC was what was in it before,this will be a bolt-in.

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by knuckleharley

[plymouthcranbrook]

I think that too many folks watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions on tv and think, hell my 19.. whatever is worth more than that. So since Barrett-Jackson is not always available and E-Bay is...  If you watch the auctions on E-Bay you will see the same cars over and over, hoping for a Miracle. 

[Frank Elder]

All good answers, seriously though........people that are not mopar people have no idea how tight most of us are....some more than others, me.

[MarcDeSoto]

$39,500 for a 49 Plymouth!  Whoever would pay that would prove the old adage, "A fool and his money are soon parted".

[Sam Buchanan]

It's all relative. For someone with considerable assets who decides they want a nice old Mopar, the money isn't an issue, probably gets lost in the accounting noise. If the resources are available, and the individual gets to enjoy something they want.......it's a good value regardless of how many zeros.   ?

[knuckleharley]

1 minute ago, Sam Buchanan said:

It's all relative. For someone with considerable assets who decides they want a nice old Mopar, the money isn't an issue, probably gets lost in the accounting noise. If the resources are available, and the individual gets to enjoy something they want.......it's a good value regardless of how many zeros.   ?

I agree,but I ain't rich or ever likely to become rich.

 

I DO have friends that are rich though,and it seems to me they rarely spend money without looking for a bargain.

 

Then again,none of my rich friends are trust fund chilluns. They are a different creature,alltogether. Only known one well,a young woman in her 20's at the time who was already a millionaire at birth,and was destined to inheirit billions. Literally. Family fortune started with oil,and grew from there.

 

She tried to be friendly,but I don't think she ever trusted anybody but immediate family. Maybe not even some of them for all I knew.

[kencombs]

14 hours ago, Frank Elder said:

When chivvy and ferd guys buy our stuff and sink ungodly amounts of money into them they think they can get chivvy and ferd prices for a lowly run of the mill mopar. Well not from a tight fisted, cheapskate, penny pinching mopar guy that knows how to wheel and deal for one! Unfortunately there are full grown men that are new to mopar that will pay these crazy prices because they don't know any better....and thus prices have gotten out of control on your average pre and post war mopars. That those ridiculous car auction shows.

Only ridiculous to you, me and the buyer(the day after the auction, when he realizes what he'd done).  Seller is a happy camper.  I would be too if I was the seller!

[Frank Elder]

I didn't say that the auction and the profits there of we're ridiculous......

I said the TV shows about the auction were ridiculous.You do have a good point  about the seller leaving the auction with hundreds sticking out every orifice..........?

[Tom Skinner]

I noticed in the last 10 years or so ebay prices have risen steady. Lately it seems almost to much. I only buy what I need now, no extras like back in the day.

The younger people think $10 hamburgers and $2.50 Cokes are a deal as well. But really now the last several years have been a boom for most people financially.

The Christmas bonusses must have been good this year! I think Plymouth - Cranbrook is right allot of these sellers are just hoping for the best.

Merry Christmas everybody!

[Sam Buchanan]

You only need one buyer......  

 

When a new GMC pickup can cost $100K what's $20-30K for a collector car that nobody else in your circle of friends has?

 

It's all relative.  ?

Edited December 25, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[Sam Buchanan]

1 hour ago, Frank Elder said:

I didn't say that the auction and the profits there of we're ridiculous......

I said the TV shows about the auction were ridiculous.You do have a good point  about the seller leaving the auction with hundreds sticking out every orifice..........?

 

It seems to me that most of the cars sold at the TV auctions sell for far less than it cost to build them. Somebody is losing their.....shirt.

 

I've often considered how easy it would be to pull $100K out of the piggy bank and bring home a neat collection of three or four cars that would have cost a half million to build in a custom shop.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[Plymouthy Adams]

Just now, Sam Buchanan said:

You only need one buyer......  ?

 

When a new GMC pickup can cost $100K what's $20-30K for a collector car that nobody else in your circle of friends has?

but it is really so  hard to justify the cost of the new vehicles today.....runaway prices is so the norm that the exceeding slanted escalation goes without many actually looking closer at it all....much less questioning it...on vehicles the main issue for me is all the extras are not options....base line models are few...I think that many of the bells and whistles lead to accidents due to distraction on use as much as many of the features are there to try to prevent accidents...they should call the new cars mass transportation devices...as they are built in the manner the masses want....

 

 

 

[Plymouthy Adams]

1 minute ago, Sam Buchanan said:

 

It seems to me that most of the cars sold at the TV auctions sell for far less than it cost to build them. Somebody is losing their.....shirt.

 

I've often considered how easy it would be to pull $100K out of the piggy bank and bring home a neat collection of three or four cars that would have cost a half million to build.

I think the loss is poetic justice that the guy who pays without question the enormous going rate for repairs and especially the larger swindle know as a "paint job"    Guess we all have our own way of looking at things....the work to get there is 10 times more fun that the car when finished....many others know this and why they sell their recent build sometimes at a slight loss just to start another....the real fun for the DIY guy

[Loren]

One thing is for sure, prices that are out of line come down and sometimes very hard!

Years ago a Ford 1963 1/2 Galaxy 500 Fastback with a 427 and a 4 speed would bring $150,000.

I knew a guy who had one who had bought it new (the late Charles "Kong" Jackson).

By the time they had settled his estate, everyone who wanted one had bought one and the price fell to a more reasonable $60,000.

Then there are the "Tribute" phony cars built to cash in on the bubble.

You know the ones, "One of the 300 built out of the 900 still in existence!"

A flathead Plymouth is not by any means a "Flash Car" like the Galaxy it was just a good value transportation car for a workingman and his family.

Why would one ever sell for 20 times its original price? First of all they are not that special. Second of all they are not that rare. Third the prices I've seen are the average price for a new modern car. Now I am not saying I wouldn't lavish that much money on a car that was special to me....I am just saying I'd be loath to buy someone else's car for that much.

[plymouthcranbrook]

New cars are built to a formula.  Easier to build if they all have mostly the same components.  And if you train your customers to think they absolutely must have computer screens and power everything very soon folks will not buy cars without them.  When we bought our Kia several years ago the hardest part was finding a car not packed to the gills with options. For the Elderly the standard equipment was more than confusing enough.

[Sam Buchanan]

I amended my post to read "that would have cost a half million to build in a custom shop."

 

We must keep in mind that not all vintage car fans are gearheads who know how or love to crawl under their vehicles. For these owners the only avenue is to pay someone to build and maintain their cars. As I mentioned earlier....it's all relative. The person who is in a position to pay a shop a few $100K to build a restoration or custom vehicle won't blink at buying an old Mopar for a fraction of what a show paint job or interior would cost.

 

I don't disrespect those well-heeled owners, I admire the effort and years they spent achieving their success. If one of them wants to pay a good price for my Plymouth....I'm fine with it. But my P-15 probably isn't nice enough to get their attention.  ?

Edited December 25, 2020 by Sam Buchanan

[Plymouthy Adams]

Sam you make a good point....I place myself in the realms of reality and with a bad case of caritis.  I have way too many cars here, I have them and also accumulate the parts and pack them with their associated project.  Will I ever get them done, realistically and with full knowledge of mortality...the answer is a frim no.  Do I even care, not at all, they bring me joy just having them here, keeping me active and alive as I search out parts and prepare build plans for each one.   The journey is the fun as I have so many times stated....once you arrive, you are just in one place....where is the fun in that.  Merry Christmas all, out to stoke the heater and stage the next subassembly for my lift I am erecting.  

[LazyK]

Some one once asked why are wedding rings so expensive when there is but a few dollars worth of gold, and a lump of carbon in one.

The answer. we buy with the heart, and sell by the ounce

prices points 

What it is worth, buyers and sellers both have their own ideas

what would it cost to build, materials AND labor. Both of which continue to go up.

 

So why should our old MOPARS be worth less than a ford or chevy?

definitely less common, rarity should increase the value. parts cost more, back to the rarity issue. labor is labor regardless if it is an OLD MOPAR or the other guys.

Having just completed a restoration on my '51 I can tell you I spent WAY MORE that I would have spent to purchase a simular "finished" '51.  For me it was about the history of the car, the satisfaction of doing it my self, and knowing there is a good chance it will be the only one I will see on a weekend cruise. Would I pay what I have invested for someone else's car, NO WAY.  Would I expect some one else to value my car as I do, again, NO WAY. 

 

So what are our old MOPARS worth, there is no right answer.

 

 

[Frank Elder]

49 minutes ago, LazyK said:

 

 

So why should our old MOPARS be worth less than a ford or chevy?

 

So what are our old MOPARS worth, there is no right answer.

 

 

I see your point but I don't want to pay that kind of money for my Mopars.........I liked it better when they were the belligerent red headed step child of the auto industry. You could pick up 3 or 4 cars for the same price as a decent chivvy or ferd and still have some beautiful iron because hardly anyone wanted them.

[Sniper]

They are worth what someone is willing to pay, nothing more and nothing less.

 

A seller might think it's worth the moon and the stars only to find he's not going to sell it. 

 

Some won't sell at any price because their attachment is strong.

 

Other's will flip them for a profit.

 

All kinds of boats floating in that sea.