Autos as a Market Investment

[Small Biz Owner]

How many of you buy collector cars as part of your diversified portfolio? What do you buy and what return do you expect?

I have some that I have acquired as a hedge against inflation. I sold a few already for some nice profits.

[Jeffrey]

It depends.
As you probably know the rarer model late 60's and early 70's muscle cars are very hot right now. Any C2 Corvette or C3 with chrome are good at least at the auctions.
Unless you are sitting on an original CSX Cobra you may not want to buy now in that category anyhow.
I think the lesser known full size muscle cars are the hot or going to be hot market. Late 60's Torinos or Cyclones. Big block Impalas and Bonnevilles. That kind of vehicle.
The problem is unless you are prepared to spend 5X to 10X the original sticker you will probably have to find a car in need of restoration and that will take some bucks.

[Virgil Showlion]

Also note that profits are taxed at "collectible" rates, meaning that your before-taxes profits have to be all the greater.

Posterity and "significance" seem to count for a lot. I watched a modified 1963 Pontiac that had supposedly carried the body of newly-assassinated President JFK bid up to 132,000. The owner had just stuffed it into a garage for a few decades.

[Small Biz Owner]

Those older models are harder to turn for profit. Fewer places willing to loan for Big Boy Toys.

I have been picking up later models these days. 98 Lincoln Mark LSC with 33K miles for $4,500 and a BMW 850i with 55k miles for $6,000. Both are like new inside and out. Now looking for a deal on a 2002-2006 T bird.

[itstippy]

You need a good place to store them, especially in Wisconsin. Years ago I had a 1968 Merc Cyclone in my parents' garage. 390cu monster motor, not running. The mice got at the interior & wiring. My Dad told me, "Son, collect stamps not cars." I lost money on that car.

My Stepson made tens of thousands of dollars buying & selling little toy "Hot Wheels" cars, though. When he got divorced his wife drove a hard bargain - he could keep his toy car collection, but she would get the new bedroom set and the color TV. He walked out of that marriage with two suitcases of those little toy cars. They were worth an unholy sum of money. He dribbled them out on eBay and never paid any sales or income tax, either. This was in the 1990's.

[rovo]

I have a C1 sitting in my garage which I expect to make some money on someday. My buy-in cost was fairly low but I have put several thousand into it over the years I used it on the road.

[blackcard]

What is a C1 ?

[blackcard]

Toy cars worth a fortune? I wonder if beanie babies are worth anything?

[itstippy]

My stepson sold some of his Hotwheels cars on eBay for over $1,000 apiece. He sold many, many of them for $100-$500. Those things were HOT. Investors were flying over to the States from Japan to attend Hotwheels conventions and buy the best-of-the-best. They had armored, padded attache cases to haul them back to Japan in and everything. It was unreal.

My stepson got into Hotwheels well ahead of the craze, and had a very select collection. He was one of the early "fanboys" and got his hands on the rare stuff before the big-bucks buyers got involved. He sold at the top. I'm sure he cleared $50K on those things. Maybe $100K.

[rovo]

The Chevrolet Corvette (C1) is the first generation of the sports car by the Chevrolet division of General Motors introduced late in the 1953 model year and produced through 1962. It is commonly referred to as the "solid-axle" generation, as the independent rear suspension didn't appear until the 1963 Sting Ray. The Corvette was rushed into production for its debut model year to capitalize on the enthusiastic public reaction to the concept vehicle, but expectations for the new model were largely unfulfilled.[1] Reviews were mixed and sales fell far short of expectations through the car's early years. The program was nearly canceled, but Chevrolet would ultimately stay the course and Harley Earl and company would transform the Corvette into a true world-class sports car.[2]

[domeasingold]

Feb 20, 2011 21:29:59 GMT -5 blackcard said:

What is a C1 ?

Thanks ROVO. Good luck with her.
Corvette
C1 53-62
C2 63-67
C3 68-82
C4 84-96
C5 97-05
C6 06-11

[itstippy]

Rovo, please keep taking the C1 out for a drive once in a while in good weather even if it does add a few miles to the clock. Old classics should be seen by people, under power and on the road. They don't all belong in car museums, private collections, or sitting static at car shows in their assigned spot where they were rolled out of the enclosed trailer.

I get a big smile when I see a great piece of Detroit Iron rolling along. Modern cars are way better in every way except style, sound, and that undefinable "cool factor" that you know when you see it. Seeing you & Mrs. Rovo out for a pleasure cruise in that C1 would sure make my morning commute special for a day.

[domeasingold]

Come June here in Chicago we are having the Corvette National Convention. Every style color and year of Corvettes coming to town. Thousands. Should be colorful.
K for U itstppy!