Old Car Trader Magazine from 1999

[Arkgl01]

Because of this post I went and bought some off ebay for conversation pieces!  be cool to show off at cars shows and guys coming over hanging out! AWESOME!

[Chad L. Magee]

Thanks for sharing those.  Really enjoyed checking them out.  Prices probably seemed high back then but who knew they would continue to rise like they did.  Wonder what we'll say in 15 years when we look back on ads from today.  Anybody's guess.

Twenty years ago, I knew that prices for second gen Chargers was going to rise in the future.  I calculated that they would be in the $25,000 range for a second gen project by about now, so I was relatively close on that figure.  That is one reason (but not the only reason) why I started collecting them when I did.  If I would have waited around, the prices would have went up and up, going out of my price range.  Makes no sense to financially shoot yourself in the foot if you do not have to....

[HANDM]

I bought mine around 96-7 for $1,170 and I thought I overpaid 

Then I bought my former 73 Cuda in 2000 for $2250 and knew I overpaid. Sold it a few years ago for 12,000 so not a bad investment....lol

[ws23rt]

I didn't buy my cars when I did because they may increase in value later.  I bought them when I could first afford to- in every case.  Expecting them to be harder and more expensive to find as time passes.
The selling side of the hobby was not much of a vision for me but I needed to sell a few cars along the way. This (for me) was not a fun part.
Examples--I bought a 57-300C for $300  and sold it for $1700. in late seventies.  Also bought a 68 Hemi RR for $2000 in the mid eighties and sold it for $18,000 in the mid ninties.

These may seem like gains for me but the loss of the value of money --over those times-- takes that away.  But more to my point is that I am not living well because I bought a few cars at a good price (at the time). I am without some cool cars today and even If I still had them--and sold them today-- I would hardly be better off money wise.

This is a hobby that I like to play in.   Those that make it their only living are very few and have a tough road to make it so. And some may even fool themselves about how well they have done over the long haul. 

If one keeps good records that --do not-- exclude hours spent ---a proper bottom line cost will tell something important to us all when we use the word "INVESTMENT".