[daveg]

Pretty much agree with most but some points to make

The speech this is about is what I would call a "glass is half empty" attitude in the extreme.

I am definitely a "glass is half full" attitude in the extreme.
Mid boomer here

Derek covered model T so I will start at model A'

Never owned one but friends did.
They fell off the pedestal long ago but like the model t still had a following so price receded but did not totally collapse.

I started with a 36 Ford 5w coups at 13.
Switched to 33- 34 cars and still have some.
They have gone through many up and down cycles in price but still can bring high prices.
Definitely not what they did 1995 through 2005 but not totally collapsed.

In the mid 70's it was not hard to buy a running driving ss396 Chevelle for $200 in MPLS MN. Camaro 396 cars were less common but could be found.
Had a mess of them

Drifted into Hemi Mopar's in 83- 84 and started buying them.
Paid $7,500 for first one.
The 66 Coronet black 4spd sedan with 7,100 miles on it i have posted here'
It was at MCACAN last year. [not mine since 1993]
Word got around a crazy guy in MPLS would pay $5,000 cash for a reasonably complete Hemi car and they started finding me. Had 18 of them.

Along came summer 1989 and I had my 70 Challenger RT at 'DODGE of BURNSVILLE' show swap.
Had made a hitch that bolted to the tie down brackets and another existing hole on each side.
Did no harm to car.
Pulled my small swap meet trailer with it as I had much surplus stuff from buying parts cars to get dana 60's and hd 4spds etc.
That was right at the time these cars went crazy the first time and my first glimpse of it. Some thought pulling a swap trailer with a 14,000 mile factory paint 70 Hemi Challenger was a hoot, and some were really pissed about it.
A few have hated me since.
Fred Engelhardt was one spot down from me.
A buddy with an unrestored 70 superbird 6pack auto with hitch and trailer was next to me.
He got pretty much the same reaction I did.

Fred and I knew each other so he looked the Challenger over numerous times.
People asked for price on it so many times I taped a big sign in back window
"car is not for sale"
That slowed it some but did not stop it though.
Bruce Gertner was asking about it also.

Went home and that evening Fred and Bruce both called with Fred being the most aggressive.
He said he would be at my house the next morning with $50,000 cash.
He showed up next morning as I was finishing removal of the hillbilly hitch and putting the spare parts for it in trunk.
He sold it to Bruce the next day.
I had bought it in Feb 89 for $8,000

Decided it was time to buy land, so most cars left.

That started in 1989 but by 1993 the market had settled way down.
Heard much talk of "collector cars are dead"

Actually, advertised the Boss 429 in Hemmings back in the dark years and did not get a response at $40,000.
Twice what I paid for it in 1986.

Pretty much did nothing with cars but happened to watch parts of the Feb 2002 auction in Az and saw cars were alive again.
Red 66 ss396 325 4spd Chevelle brought $125,000.
Nice car but!!

Along comes 2006 and I get a call from Fred Engelhardt. He had someone looking for an honest 69 Boss 429 and had seen mine on several occasions. Car market was obviously very hot as he offered a lot for the car and he got it. Bought more land like I did with the earlier ones.

Also familiar with collecting old 2 cyl JD tractors.
They peaked around 2006 also.

Most know what happen a few years later and it is still sputtering some.

Point is it goes up and it goes down and it goes up and down again.
Seems to be a somewhat firm bottom to it though.
I view it as a cycle repeating itself.

When I was selling off the Hemi Mopar's I added 295 acres in one chunk to my back yard.
Jan 1993 at $254.00 per acre.
Feb 1995 160 acre addition at $310.00 per acre

I do not think all is dead now any more than at low points in past.
We simply buy what is down and that is why we are adding cars to the shed.
Bought a decent 24,000-mile L78 M22 69 Chevelle [OLE BLUE] in 2022
Paid $42,278 on epay.
Do not know if that has gone up or down but do not care.
It was not bought for resale.
Son loves it so it is not going the junk it route the video guy hypes.

For sure cannot buy land around here for anything other than nutso prices now.