4 replies to this topic

[Dave Crevie]

I was sick when I saw how much VW Kombis and campers have been bringing at collector car auctions.
 
But the real killer is to see what '60s dune buggies are getting. Back in June a well-equipped one brought 68 grand. 
 
But at Monterrey a very plain Meyers Manx RTR got 58 thou., and it was only a condition 3 car. A condition 1/strong 2 Jaguar E-Type was only bid to 60 gs. In high school my crew and I built about a dozen buggies to sell to other kids in the area. I guess I should have kept a couple.    

[Cheater]

Dave, the one that has me shaking my head is what Mercedes-Benz 190SLs are bringing today. I remember in the late '70s no one wanted them at just about any price. Performance-wise, they make snails look quick. And now they're bringing well into six figures, I suppose on the familial styling cues from the 300SLs.

Same thing with the DB5-5-6 Astons. In the timeframe metnioned above, running cars in decent shape were $10k or less. And, they're into the stratosphere in terms of pricing.

[Phil Hackett]

Prices of all this stuff is from baby-boomers retiring and trying to relive the '60s glory years or people with so much money that they don't care and it's like a "mine is bigger than yours" competition. It will all slide back when reality strikes.

[Mike Patterson]

I'm not sure of the actual quote, but "God must love stupid people, because he sure made a lot of them" is an acceptable approximation.

[Dave Crevie]

I think the peak in 190SL prices has to do with there being so few left. Rarity usually drives collector car prices, and

if most of the examples have rusted away, the remaining cars will get more money. I restored two 190SLs and a 280SL.

All had major rust, with the 190s actually having door closure problems due to chassis sag. The bills well exceded the

value of the cars at the time, but back then the owners were more interested in having showable cars and weren't so

interested in flipping them for a profit. We installed a Datsun five speed in one of the 190s, and that actually made the

car a little more interesting to drive. Oddly enough, that didn't hurt the selling price of the car several years later. It

sold for about the same as others selling in that same time frame.