20th Apr 2016, 11:13
I just did a show last weekend inside the Concord Mall in Wilmington Delaware. Only one car was trailered. The rest were all driven. I have driven mine to large shows in Carlisle Pa, Ocean City Md and Ocean City NJ, parked in the boardwalks Wildwood NJ etc. Carlisle especially has thousands of cars driven in from all over as well as Woodward Ave etc. If you have a cell phone, you can have a car towed even to your home. Most cars are so nice they can be driven anywhere. Don't knock it til you drive it. It's great owning older cars.
I am not against new sports cars either. There are some out today that are as fun or better as the nicer pre 1972 classics. After 72 with insurance pressures and smog devices, it was a bleak period until the late 90s. Then you started seeing some great factory muscle cars again. GM, Ford and Dodge have some amazing cars. I think AMC waited a bit too long to get into this segment in the 60s and had a very conservative reputation. But they did make some neat cars in the late 60s. I just saw an AMC Machine for sale in my area. Pretty cool model and rare. The AMX was a 2 seater - a pretty bold move.
21st Apr 2016, 04:08
Last weekend I attended the Barret Jackson Palm Beach auction where a "great factory muscle car" ('87 Regal GNX) from the bleak '80s was pushed across the block with a high bid of $107K and still didn't meet the reserve.
21st Apr 2016, 12:55
I paid 8 times the price of mine than what it cost new. And it was a very wise move. And it has escalated since its purchase in 2010. With ones going overseas etc, it's a good move with a very well documented and desirable optioned model. The disturbing thought is the ones you once had and sold. But at least you had them. Hopefully my old car offsets the depreciation of my new one. My cars are not Javelins, so I am not bringing my models up. But the idea is the same. The pleasure and quality of life with ownership is beyond financial considerations alone.
22nd Apr 2016, 02:35
Most muscle car brands from 1970 will bring 8 times the value of the factory sticker price.
22nd Apr 2016, 10:13
I didn't mention that I still am ahead by flipping muscle cars before to reach the current prices I paid. I know guys with 6 figure cars that didn't spend that as a first muscle car. They appreciated and the cash went into the next ones. But not all cars appreciate. Some have condition issues that people buy cheap and then put countless hours into. Sending them out adds up. But there are exceptions with even that.
I buy the best I can afford. It's almost always cheaper than restorations. Even paint is high today. I have seen people buy cars in primer and think they got a great deal. Or people that buy less popular cars or 4 doors. OK and many you break even. But the ones that do really well from the 70s are rarer and highly optioned.
I have done best with 1970 as the pinnacle muscle car year. And late 60s. I made mistakes along the way, but have really learned. I don't think most AMCs are great investments. But fun factor and having something different has a different kind of value. I remember watching the AMX go from 5k to 10k to 15k. And now higher. The other AMCs less so. They are a special interest vehicle.
I am glad I was driving especially in the late 60s and especially 1970. That year alone across the board was an exciting year for muscle cars. I recall parents buying Olds 4-4-2s and Buick 455 GS cars that were more of a luxury segment with muscle. We got to drive our parents' cars to high school at times. And later bought our own.
As a baby boomer with my home long paid off and kids educated, it's even more of a time to buy these cars again. There are a lot of us driving cars of our youth. And sharing a new type of performance model in our garages. Many of my friends have lifts and large garages. My one friend says there's nothing like having over 1000 horses in his garage (2 cars). We do have a Motorsports park nearby to legally use that power. And it's great to do selected bursts at other times.
My only recommendation is buy a manual trans car vs an automatic. You never tire of it. And power steering and brakes. I can't wait til Saturday to drive mine.
19th Apr 2016, 18:53
And then there are the trailer queens, for whom MPG, towing coverage and spare tire sizes are all non-issues.