Muscle Car Prices Coming Down.

[novadude]

Originally Posted by 70 copo

For me it is simple. I go to a cruise in and the average age is 60 and I am one of the youngest guys there. Same thing with the swap meets. It is the coming demographic shift and sadly the writing is on the wall.

You make a good point. I am 46, and grew up with these cars. I see a lot of retirement-age folks at car cruises, a smaller group of people in my age bracket, and very few under 35 yrs old.

The one counterpoint I will make: It seems like NICE examples of 1950s cars still bring good money, and you aren't going to pick up a 40 Ford coupe, 32 Ford 3-window, etc for cheap. Most people in my gen-X age group don't really care about anything pre-musclecar era, but somebody must be buying them.

[70 copo]

I agree completely. There are cars that will remain strong moving forward as collectibles.

A kid was showing me his LS camaro a while back and if it was not plug and play easy - that was a turn off for him. “Points”-What is that”.

The kids have to have a basic understanding of how to work on the old stuff too.

[69LM1]

The bigger question to me is will the new "HP Wars" of today garner the same magic of the 60's and 70's did?

I have had Boss 302's, Z06/Z07's and others. Will the current cars like the Demons and others be the ZL1's and Hemi's of the future? Sadly I do not think so.

I have enjoyed them, and to be honest, they are faster, more comfortable and just better cars. But, they don't have the memories that the Muscle car era did for me. And that's really what we are talking about, memories of a more carefree and "free" time in our youth.

With all of the regs, rules and tracks shut down. No street racing (and the consequences for same brutal) and of course, Video Games what they are, kids will not be making the memories we did.

Go out and buy a copy of a Grand Theft Auto video game, that's what the kids today will remember of cars from their youth.



Rich

[novadude]

Originally Posted by 69LM1

that's really what we are talking about, memories of a more carefree and "free" time in our youth.

Yup. Many memories of hanging out in the parking lots at South Park (Pittsburgh) in the late 1980s / 1990s with my '70 Nova, amongst friends that also drove '60s and 70s cars.

You sure don't see kids hanging out in parking lots on a summer night, congregating around cars in 2018 (to be honest, I have no idea what late-teens age kids do these days).

Seems like the post-war car-centric recreational activity some call "cruising" pretty much died after about 1995 or so.

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by novadude

You make a good point. I am 46, and grew up with these cars. I see a lot of retirement-age folks at car cruises, a smaller group of people in my age bracket, and very few under 35 yrs old.

I am noticing the same thing...I'm 48, my brother is 45. We got involved in the hobby because of our Dad and grew up around Camaro's Corvettes, Chevelles, etc. We both had (and still own) our first musclecars (Camaro and Chevelle) when we got our drivers licenses.


Most of the people at the swap meets and shows we frequent are around our dad's age/generation. We went to a Cars and Coffee in Peoria IL a few weekends ago and the younger people in attendance all were driving/hanging around newer Mustangs/Camaros/Imports. I'm sure this shift in interest will be seen eventually on the demand side of the pricing issue, if not already. I also agree that good cars will always bring good money, especially as the number of quality cars (survivor's especially) diminishes.

[William]

Seen at a local car show. I can't relate to someone that thinks this is a classic car.

At the same show, there was a funeral home set up in a vendor area. Distributed pens, key fobs, calendars. Seemed like a good place to do some marketing I guess.

[markinnaples]

novadude, I probably passed by you in the South Park McD's parking lot a thousand times in the 80's and 90's in my '76 Camaro RS, '78 Trans Am and '89 Camaro, lol.

[JamesinHBCA]

Younger people entering the market for collectible cars have such a huge choice now. 80's and 90's semi exotics and JDM imports to mention a couple. There is opportunity for them to get in early on the next generation of classics to go up in value. Why would they want to buy cars that have no memories for them and have pretty much maxed out on appreciation?

[Astock]

Doubt many younger guys can afford $35K for a second car, and the garage space it requires. Makes more sense to buy a hipo daily driver, and the ability to make pymts.