Muscle Cars as Investments

[yellocharge68]

I am not sure if by being born in 1964 I count as the last of the Baby Boomer Crowd, but there is an interesting article in the Dallas, Texas Newspaper....Dallas Morning News  Front Page........

The article is about muscle cars and talks about them growing as an investment by as much as 25% a year.  The point I bring up here is, that they have a list of the "Most Desireable Cars" so here is the list in reverse....

   #5. 1964 -1965 GTO's

   #4. 1965-1967 Shelby GT 350 AND GT 500's

   #3.  1970 Chevy Chevelle SS LS6(Ithink that is the 454)

   #2.  1969 Chevy ZL-1 Camaro

   #1.   1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda

This list in my opinion is seriously GM slanted and flawed...but the article points out that Mother Mopar has the most popular and desireable cars right now due to their style, desireability and rarity.  Mother Mopar also lays claim to a most expensive muscle car with a $3 million dollar Hemi Cuda!!!!!!

[RECHRGD]

I'm not sure about the article, but people are now starting to think I'm wealthy when they see me driving the old Charger.   Bob

[Silver R/T]

definitely good investment

[Khyron]

mine more then doubled what I payed for it in less then a year

but it's not getting sold

[cudaken]

 Good investment Mine is a f--king money pit.

Guess it is a good investment after someone else lost there ass on one. That is the drection mine is going.
                             Cuda Ken, throwing money at it again.

[Charger_Fan]

Even though mine's just a 318 car, it's nice to know that the longer I own it, the more it's worth...not that I'd sell it.

It's pretty much the only good thing that's gone my way in the form of a decent financial upswing...everything else has been a train wreck.

[cudaken]

 I am a Numismatic (collect coins) as well as a gear head and some other sickness I have. OK Audiophile as well. One thing I have learned the hard way is if you buy to good you can losse your a-s.

Had some PPG Graded and slabed coins (car people Grover look at them) and where MS 68 coins that would be a silver certificatate in the concourse car world. Went to sell the good stuff, lost my ass. Paid $150.00 for a Mercury Dime that was PR 68 (proof like) and could only get $90.00 for it after 5 years. Reason I was told is "most people cannot afford this grade of coin". But where I got my money back was the middle grade coins or lower grade.

1916-D Mercury AV 4 (close to junk) paid $1200.00 and got $3,500.00 in the same 5 years. Kind of like a rusted Hemi Car that was rolled but the vin is still there.

Midde grade cars, can make you some money. More people can afford the EF-45 (extra fine and a mid grade) Charger than the 12,000 miles Hemi Charger's.

                          Cuda Ken

[Afflyer]

After talking with the guy who appraised the "Mistress" on Friday, I don't have a car..I have a piece of "real estate"!

[hemihead]

For one thing a 318 car is not a Musclecar.It was just a basic transportation piece no matter what engine is in it now.And personally, I can't wait until the bottom falls out of the market.The people that are in it for an investment just makes it worse on the people like me who owned these cars before it became a Fad.If you really like Mopars you wouldn't care what it was worth.

[04lbram]

"For one thing a 318 car is not a Musclecar.It was just a basic transportation piece no matter what engine is in it now.And personally, I can't wait until the bottom falls out of the market.The people that are in it for an investment just makes it worse on the people like me who owned these cars before it became a Fad.If you really like Mopars you wouldn't care what it was worth."

Now hold up here. My 71 Challenger was a 318 car originally. It now has a 69 RR 383 in it. Adding that motor does add some value. Does that make it any less of a car? No, not really because how many cars now a days have the original drivetrain. Let's be honest there? In addition, I can't help that I don't have the original 318 but, having it this way does make it more desirable and a funner car. I bought my car not only because of investment purposes but, also because I love Mopars in General because in my mind there is no more Dodge. Dodge now or DCX is just a entry version of Mercedes Benz vehicle in my mind.

[beenaround]

then there are those of us who have owned these cars since the 70's and never let go of them.we just watched the value rise.if i ever sold mine i would never be able to buy another one in the same condition.besides it has everything i wanted in a 1970 charger.so the way i look at it is i would only sell if some dire family emergency came up.

[bull]

Muscle cars are a good investment, however, owning one or two for a long period of time as an investment goes against one major rule of investing: diversification. A big part of a safe investment is diversifying your funds into several areas so as not to lose a ton of money should one or two or a dozen of the investments fail. Even then, I think muscle cars are pretty safe for time being. Once the stock market goes nuts again, if it does, look for muscle car values to level off or even drop. IMO if you're going to invest in muscle cars for investment purposes only in the current market you should buy and sell quickly, say every six months or so. And diversify by buying different kinds of cars. Maybe a Camaro and a Charger or a Cuda and a fastback Mustang.

[TheGhost]

If you really like Mopars you wouldn't care what it was worth.

Exactly.  It's nice to know that with some of these cars, you can get alot of money for it, if you ever need it, but, I don't really like the people who buy them just for profit.  It drives up the price for those of us who are in it for the love of the cars.

[04lbram]

That's a good point too Ghost.

[Dale The Bold]

I think it will eventually reach a point where car guys won't be able to obtain these cars.  Instead, they will just be owned by rich guys who see them as investments.  The rest of us will be left dreaming.  Glad I got mine, but I'd like to have more before it's too late!

[Lowprofile]

I have never owned or thought of any car of mine as an investment. I consider myself fortunate to have owned so many fine muscle cars of all makes in my short life. Every time I sold a car, for whatever reason, it was never just about the $$$$$. I sometimes traded, sometimes sold them because things in my life changed, or just because something else caught my eye. 

I Pity the man who only buys these cars to add to their portfolio.

[Old Moparz]

I've got some Chebby & Pointyack friends that would bust my chops when we went to swap meets in the early 1980's. They'd come across every part they needed in the first aisle before anyone broke a sweat. One guy with a '70 Malibu, another with a '73 Firebird never had any trouble finding things. I'd be lucky if I saw a Mopar vendor at all, let alone if he had something I actually needed like a piece of trim for the seat. Now that same piece of seat trim is worth as much as their cars.     It's great to know they're worth money as an investment, but that's not why the majority of us are into it.

The sad part is the guys who can't afford to get into the hobby, or the one's who are afraid to drive the "investment" for fear of ruining it. I've had most of my cars long before they went nuts in price, so I'm fortunate in that respect. The other part of being at the lucky end, is having something like a car or NOS trim from years ago, & selling or trading it now for a needed item. Up until a year & a half ago, I never paid more than $1600 for an old "car/toy" to tinker with, & I've been buying & driving these old things since I got my license in 1980. I'm not investing in cars, I'm just happy that all the years of spending time & money in the hobby might let me break even if I ever get out.