Hot Rod magazine on "collector values"

[CarlBraun]

David Freiburger, writing for the September 2006 Hot Rod Magazine in his article "Cash Kills" says this

Value ruins rodding. Remember when you cared about how fast your car went or how well it drove? Remember when guys would ask you how fast it was or what was under the hood? Today, more often than not, I hear this instead: "what's it worth?" That annoys me, not only because its rude, but also because it's value more than anything that stands to tear down the basic glories of hot rodding. Not the price of parts, but the equity of sheetmetal itself.

The solution would seem to be to start hot rodding some body styles that can be bought for cheap because no one cares about them.

Freiburger also touches on the subject that it costs the same amount of money to do a frame off resto on a Camaro as it does anything else. I would argue that parts are a bit more plentiful for the Camaro than they are for our jeeps (who isnt looking for a Gladiator tailgate?) But the fact remains, we love our Jeeps and so do a lot of other people. I recently sold a 1980 Jeep and received close to 25 calls on the vehicle with many of them saying that they like the body style and have "always wanted a wagoneer". That means that the vehicles already have a following that is sure to grow in the future.

These are all of the same signs that I saw when the GTO/Z28/442/Stage 1's all started getting out of reach financially. The same thing happened in my vintage snowmobile hobby. Evel Knievel's 1971 Arctic Cat King Kat with NO ENGINE sold for $25K and it was a piece of crap.

My advice to the FSJ guys and gals here? Get the rig you want now before you have to get a second on your house in order to afford what you want...or before your President determine's that your Jeep uses too much A-rab crude and relegates your jeep to Parade duty on Sunday's.

If you'd like a scan of David's article send me a PM and I'll get it out to you

Carl

[fulsizjeep]

HAHAHAHA!
I laugh because I kinda wish people would quit giving Krista and I free FSJs... .. . kinda... .. .

[CarlBraun]

Originally Posted by fulsizjeep

HAHAHAHA!
I laugh because I kinda wish people would quit giving Krista and I free FSJs... .. . kinda... .. .

I talked to a guy in Arizona in 1979 who had three GTO's, one a Judge...all 69's and all 4 speed solid cars. He said they'd been for sale since the arab oil embargo of 73/74 and couldnt give them away. I bought all three for $500 and shipped them to my mom and dad's place in Ft wayne IN.

I was still in High School and almost got thrown out of the house when they showed up on the transport trailer. That was an unpleasant situation.

Sold all three and bought a sweet 1970 SS 454 Monte Carlo...mom thought I was going to be a used car salesman. I think she cried that night...poor mom

[Tonka J200]

I remember having a discussion similar to this several years ago with some friends at a car show. We had just spent a good half an hour talking to an older gentleman who was there with his 1936 Auburn Boat-tail Speedster. He was dressed in the clothes of a blue-collar working man and had a very unassuming manner about him. After chatting for a while he revealed that he had owned the car since the early '50's, when it was, although still relatively valuable, still attainable by a regular Joe.

We noted that alot of the really valuable cars were owned by people that had owned them for years, buying them when they were just cheap used cars. Most of them would not have the means to acquire them today.

So we made mental notes to hang on to some of the stuff we had in hopes of one day seeing the same benefit. My buddy still has his '64 Cutlass convertible, and two '49 Olds 98's - one fast-back 2-door and one convertible. All of these were bought 30+ years ago, and not one cost more than $500.

I still have my '68 Ford Galaxie convertible, although it's hardly a blue-chip collectible, it's still a cool '60's drop-top. I also still have my '47 CJ-2A and '76 CJ-5 Renegade V-8. I'm hoping you're right in that the early FSJ's will catch on, and my '63 Panel will be worth something someday, at least more than I have into it!

I think back to what the current value of the cars in my high-school parking lot would be today. - It was 1979 and there were 442's, SS Chevelles, first gen Camaros, Firebirds and Mustangs, big block Fairlanes, one kid even had a Mark Donahue Javelin.

If we only knew...

[Gambler68]

You guys were lucky..my first cars were an 83 Caddilac Seville and a 85 Chevy Celebrity

[lost1]

mine was a '91 Buick LeSabre... paid 500 bucks for it, and that's about what it was worth.

Go figured, I paid less for this jeep and it's lasting longer!

[Brizio]

True article!

[TPICherokee]

Originally Posted by CarlBraun

Freiburger also touches on the subject that it costs the same amount of money to do a frame off resto on a Camaro as it does anything else.

How do you do a frame off resto on a unibody car?

[lost1]

Very, very carefully.

[billyrb]

maybe that would be 'sub-frame-off' resto

Heck, just do like I did.......buy a $550 GW with a knocking motor and build a hot-rod.

[Daddio]

28 years later I still have the same car I drove in high school. It isn't nearly as valuable as other late 60's cars, but it has gone up a fair amount. When you register and insure them as antiques it makes a big difference. The frustrating part is the price of new reproduction parts. I bought my Wagoneer for about the same price as all new weatherstripping.

[AM Woody]

I couldn't agree more. I have a 1961 Chrysler 300G coupe I bought in 1987. It's now insured for seven times what I paid for it. Whenever the values go up the 300 guys want to break out the champagne. I keep saying what if you want another one? I'd like a decent convertible, but a good '57-'61 is six figures now.

Even worse, it drives up the prices of parts. (At least parts still trade reasonably in the club scene - kind of like here.) Then, worse still, people get scared to drive them. It does kill the hobby. We just had a national meet last month, 150 members showed up and 18 cars! (yes, I drove mine, 1300 mile round trip.)

[DerekTJeep]

Yeah, interesting article. I've been buying and selling bikes for 3 years. Sometimes, I think that I will focus less on bikes and more on classic cars. This article is one great example that illustrates the value of cars skyrocketing in price.

Just to think back in 1993, I learned how to drive stick in my Grandpa's 1971 240Z. Now those cars will be worth pretty a lot.

[GrandWag&Prix]

I still don't know what to think about Wagonmaster recently selling two Grand Wags that are nearly identical to mine but with about 160k less miles for $45k and $38k. Does that help or hurt us?

[Cappicaper]

Just so I am clear you guys think I should do this....



I love this thing and find myself wanting one about every three months.

$800 wagoneer, $500 front axle and brake swap, $6k ish motor, bringing class to the drag strip - priceless.

[Cappicaper]

Another Hot Rod I like...

[joe]

Originally Posted by Cappicaper

I love this thing and find myself wanting one about every three months.

That's gorgeous(while gathering parts and knowledge to build a Gasser out of it) I'd drive the dog poo outta that!

[Banchee]

Originally Posted by TPICherokee

How do you do a frame off resto on a unibody car?

On Gen 1 & 2 Camaro's you remove the 6 bolts that attach the front sub-frame to the under-body and core support. Gen 3 & 4 Camaro's are true uni-bodies.

BTW, Very cool looking Wagoneer above!

[JeepNOFEAR]

Originally Posted by CarlBraun

My advice to the FSJ guys and gals here? Get the rig you want now before you have to get a second on your house in order to afford what you want...or before your President determine's that your Jeep uses too much A-rab crude and relegates your jeep to Parade duty on Sunday's.

Carl

Last summer I bought my 69 Javelin with some money I had been saving up during summer for living expenses in college. I made it through the year on ramen noodles. My mom flipped too.

[jMedia]

Originally Posted by JeepNOFEAR

Last summer I bought my 69 Javelin with some money I had been saving up during summer for living expenses in college. I made it through the year on ramen noodles. My mom flipped too.

haha that really sounds like something I would do and it would
be completely worth it

it's funny, my parents always talked about trying to get my car on one of those restoration shows and, although I would be very appreciative to have such a beautiful rig, I would rather do the building and customization myself (finances aside)

it's about it being MY rig, not driving a super valuable car