Re: Mecum Auction COPOs everywhere
No man, you're wrong... There are waaay too many musclecars available to sustain current prices. The difference between the musclecars and the pre-wars is that only the very precious pre-wars survived. They either became cans, ammunition, or are/were hotrods. There are no others left. So, the market is governed by limited supply, and the price moves with inflation. Also notice that very few pre-wars are driven, and guess why-- Because the generation of enthusiasts that saw those cars as "the good 'ol days" is slowly vanishing.
The musclecar hobby is eating itself, and it's because young people aren't interested-- Today's cars do everything so much better. As stated earlier, I don't know anyone else in my age group that cares about old cars, especially as life gets more complex. Combine this with stupid prices (some clown on CraigsList wants $65K for a '67 Chevelle SS 396/325; I was just killing time with a search...) for a car that is virtually un-driveable and out-performed by NA 4-cylinders. And well, you know how that goes...
I drove a new GTI this weekend, and at less than $25K, you'd need to be made of money to pass something like that up for a '66 GTO, etc... The thing is a rocket, and oh so much fun to drive. And, that's just one car from one manufacturer-- There are lots of great offerings out there.
I also am all for someone striking gold in the garage, and I also love the stuff that I grew up bashing my knuckles on. But a bunch of guys trading money with each other because the kids are in college and the equity line isn't tapped out yet has driven the market into an area where the kids today have been forced elsewhere. Seeing the cars flip is because the guy that buys that 1st gen Z/28 isn't 25; he drives it once, the wife won't even get in it. He figures out that it's miserable to drive compared to the Infiniti, and dumps it at the end of the summer. I know because I lived it. Look, it's like this-- You can go to a cowboy bar and ride the mechanical bull for cheap-- Who wants to spend $50K - $whatever for the the equivalent?
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