[tirebird]

I think Zap is correct. I live in a housing market where the prices are among the highest in the nation. My home has never lost money going from $110k when I bought it in 1981 to $950k today. It will keep going up in value but not at the 15-20% a year it has during the past decade or so. How does this relate to cars?

Well, everyone wants a home and there are tax, financial, and emotional reasons to own one. Lately, with certain muscle cars, there are emotional and financial reasons. For many muscle cars, in the near future, there will only be emotional reasons.

After us old folks die off, will men and women born in 1980 or later lust after a Yenko or an LS6? Yes, they like them today, but when they're 50 and older, with discretionary income, will they pick our cars or others?

The owner of one of the big consignment shops in the Bay Area, who sells dozens of muscle cars, British, German, and other cars each year says he thinks the muscle car market has this exponential growth for the next four years. Now, he's only guessing, but he says the next generation, and the generation after that, will go for Ferrari's, Porsche's, and other exotics with their big money.

I think he's partially correct. I think the Yenko's, LS-6's, Hemi Cuda's, Thunderbolt's, etc., will always have high value and thus, collectability. They're rare and will always be so. But, those guys who paid big money for a 383 Satellite may not see their funds ever when selling.

Now, and I think this is important, many young people today don't know or care about originality or authenticity. They like our cars for the looks not the cowl tag. Thus, a cloned Z28 with dubs and a killer stereo is even more valuable than a numbers matching original. They're the ones buying 20-30 years from now when many of us are racing at that dragstrip in the sky.