wikedgolf
07-30-2004, 12:56 PM
Collecting the classic of tomorrow ... today
Ford T-bird, Chevy SSR and Audi TT among modern cars with classic potential
By DAVID GRAINGER
Thursday, July 29, 2004 - Page G12
One question I am asked with great regularity is what modern cars do I think have future investment potential?
While I have covered this on more than one occasion, it seems there is an unflagging interest and perhaps it's time to revisit the subject.
I will not belabour the cars that are sure bets, those of limited, hand-built production and with prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cars that most are interested in are those that are currently affordable and may have future "collectibility."
I suppose I should divide the subject into two distinct columns: Cars that may have future collectibility, but even as collectibles may not have much value, and cars that will have collectibility and may offer good investment potential.
In the first column you can include cars like any Chrysler PT Cruiser, Volkswagen Beetle, perhaps the Ford Focus SVT and other small, high-performance cars.
Currently there is a horsepower war being fought reminiscent of the late 1960s. The current muscle cars, much like their old American progenitors, are usually mid- to low-priced high-production cars that the factories work some magic on. Examples of these are the PT Cruiser GT, Dodge Neon SRT, Focus SVT, Honda Civic SI and Toyota Celica TRD.
Not all limited-edition vehicles offered by manufacturers will have much collectibility in the future. Special editions that consist of just trim and interior packages rarely elicit much interest from collectors.
A good example of that kind of limited edition was a sickly gold-coloured PT Cruiser with badges that called it the Dream Cruiser. It had gold seats and interior trim and was not the kind of colour scheme that ages well. Sort of like the avocado green and gold schemes from the '70s that makes people shudder when they see it now.
In almost all cases in the past, any car that has become collectible has had significant performance or other mechanical upgrades. If this is accompanied by special colour, trim and interior alterations that is even better, but the most important feature is the performance improvements.
Turbo or supercharging, performance handling and suspension packages and larger displacement motors are what whets the collector's appetite and will insure continuing interest in a vehicle for years to come.
Most of those cars will hold value and even appreciate after a few years, but don't be thinking that you can buy one new and sell it in two years for more than you bought it for. Any of these cars will cycle through the depreciation process so the time to buy is when they are $2,000 and have bottomed out, not when they are $30,000 and because they are in high demand the dealership is slapping on a premium before it rolls them from the showroom.
The cars that fall into the other column of collectibility are the cars that may in the future offer very real investment potential.
These are generally low-production vehicles that are fairly expensive, have cutting-edge technology and performance and may or may not be successful sellers. In fact, most highly-desirable collectible automobiles are production cars that just didn't appeal to the public enough to justify large production numbers.
In the '50s, this was epitomized by the 1955-57 Ford Thunderbirds. These cars were unsuccessful from a sales standpoint until the larger four-passenger Thunderbird appeared in 1958, but the small 'Birds are among the most collectible of any of Ford's offerings.
Early Chevrolet Corvettes fall into the same category, as do some of the highly-collectible but limited-production muscle cars that were often ignored new but are now purchased for tens of thousands of dollars by collectors the world over.
Cars that may well fall into this category over time are, once again, the new Ford Thunderbird (a great car with flagging sales), the Chevy SSR (perhaps missing the mark because it is too expensive for the truck crowd who want it) and the Audi TT (a marvellous car that isn't developing huge sales).
The highly-desired collector cars are in most cases two-passenger convertibles with high-performance engines and luxury leather and wood interiors. This is true of cars built in the past and will in all likelihood hold for cars built today.
In this case, these cars will need to be purchased new or almost new, driven lightly, immaculately maintained and held for at least 20 years or more.
And if I were buying investment potential cars, I would be picking up a lot of spare electronics, especially computer boards and chips. If you wonder why, try buying an old Apple computer and then restore it. I think you will find it an almost impossible task.
In 30 years or so, cars will hopefully not even run on gasoline, so you might expect that finding a new processor for your fuel-management system could prove a little difficult.
Ford T-bird, Chevy SSR and Audi TT among modern cars with classic potential
By DAVID GRAINGER
Thursday, July 29, 2004 - Page G12
One question I am asked with great regularity is what modern cars do I think have future investment potential?
While I have covered this on more than one occasion, it seems there is an unflagging interest and perhaps it's time to revisit the subject.
I will not belabour the cars that are sure bets, those of limited, hand-built production and with prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cars that most are interested in are those that are currently affordable and may have future "collectibility."
I suppose I should divide the subject into two distinct columns: Cars that may have future collectibility, but even as collectibles may not have much value, and cars that will have collectibility and may offer good investment potential.
In the first column you can include cars like any Chrysler PT Cruiser, Volkswagen Beetle, perhaps the Ford Focus SVT and other small, high-performance cars.
Currently there is a horsepower war being fought reminiscent of the late 1960s. The current muscle cars, much like their old American progenitors, are usually mid- to low-priced high-production cars that the factories work some magic on. Examples of these are the PT Cruiser GT, Dodge Neon SRT, Focus SVT, Honda Civic SI and Toyota Celica TRD.
Not all limited-edition vehicles offered by manufacturers will have much collectibility in the future. Special editions that consist of just trim and interior packages rarely elicit much interest from collectors.
A good example of that kind of limited edition was a sickly gold-coloured PT Cruiser with badges that called it the Dream Cruiser. It had gold seats and interior trim and was not the kind of colour scheme that ages well. Sort of like the avocado green and gold schemes from the '70s that makes people shudder when they see it now.
In almost all cases in the past, any car that has become collectible has had significant performance or other mechanical upgrades. If this is accompanied by special colour, trim and interior alterations that is even better, but the most important feature is the performance improvements.
Turbo or supercharging, performance handling and suspension packages and larger displacement motors are what whets the collector's appetite and will insure continuing interest in a vehicle for years to come.
Most of those cars will hold value and even appreciate after a few years, but don't be thinking that you can buy one new and sell it in two years for more than you bought it for. Any of these cars will cycle through the depreciation process so the time to buy is when they are $2,000 and have bottomed out, not when they are $30,000 and because they are in high demand the dealership is slapping on a premium before it rolls them from the showroom.
The cars that fall into the other column of collectibility are the cars that may in the future offer very real investment potential.
These are generally low-production vehicles that are fairly expensive, have cutting-edge technology and performance and may or may not be successful sellers. In fact, most highly-desirable collectible automobiles are production cars that just didn't appeal to the public enough to justify large production numbers.
In the '50s, this was epitomized by the 1955-57 Ford Thunderbirds. These cars were unsuccessful from a sales standpoint until the larger four-passenger Thunderbird appeared in 1958, but the small 'Birds are among the most collectible of any of Ford's offerings.
Early Chevrolet Corvettes fall into the same category, as do some of the highly-collectible but limited-production muscle cars that were often ignored new but are now purchased for tens of thousands of dollars by collectors the world over.
Cars that may well fall into this category over time are, once again, the new Ford Thunderbird (a great car with flagging sales), the Chevy SSR (perhaps missing the mark because it is too expensive for the truck crowd who want it) and the Audi TT (a marvellous car that isn't developing huge sales).
The highly-desired collector cars are in most cases two-passenger convertibles with high-performance engines and luxury leather and wood interiors. This is true of cars built in the past and will in all likelihood hold for cars built today.
In this case, these cars will need to be purchased new or almost new, driven lightly, immaculately maintained and held for at least 20 years or more.
And if I were buying investment potential cars, I would be picking up a lot of spare electronics, especially computer boards and chips. If you wonder why, try buying an old Apple computer and then restore it. I think you will find it an almost impossible task.
In 30 years or so, cars will hopefully not even run on gasoline, so you might expect that finding a new processor for your fuel-management system could prove a little difficult.