Vette Values

[dlrshort]

I would like to pose some general questions to C3 owners or anyone else 'listening' who owns or has owned any generation vette:
1. What do you see the value/ or cost of all generations of vettes doing over the next couple of years?

2. Have any of you seen any direct relationship between the stock market or general economy and vette values?

3. Do limited production cars, BB, LT-1's hold value better or do they follow their geneation in values?

My observations having owned 3 C-3's over the last 6 years are that the earlier generation vettes have climbed steadily in cost, C-3's have stayed steady to very slight increase. I haven't followed later models, so I can't comment.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

[69MyWay]

I think the following:

1. C 1, 2, and early model 3s will increase
2. C4s will continue to plummit
3. C5s will take a hard nose dive with the intro of the C6.

When the stock market is down, often people look for other investiment vehicles (no pun intended). We saw this in the late 80s when they had Black Tuesday, etc, but the value of cars went through the roof. At least you can have a car appraised, buy it, and insure it for that value. If anything happens, you get your money back or more. You can't say that for stocks and bonds.

Yes, numbers matching original special cars are worth more and will always be worth more.

However, in the new hot rod society, people are looking more and more for drivers. Well modified cars that have modern features are becoming more valuable than perfect original stock vehicles. For example adding EFI, Vintage A/C, and hydraulic clutch systems as well as other features make it a far more easier to to drive and allow the owner to take it to cruises, drive across country, etc. with decent mpg, etc. By not being an original "numbers matching car", it does not matter as much if something happens to it while it is being used and enjoyed.

That is just my .02, and may not even be worth that!

BTW, you gave me a close run in the www.c3vr.com online car show. We were tied there for a while. You have a beautiful machine!

 

[dlrshort]

Thanks for your insights, Chris. And thanks for your kind words about my C-3. Happy New Year. Hope to meet you and that mighty machine you built one day.




dlrshort:BOW

 

[jonstr]

I'm certainly no expert, but I do like to watch the Corvette market. In general I agree with 69MyWay. I think that the C1, C2, and C3 are for the most part firmly in the 'classic' realm and will continue to appreciate. C4s are still somewhat variable. The earliest ones seemed to have bottomed out in the $5K-$8K range, while the later car values are still sinking. I am amazed, however how much of a price difference there seems to be between low mileage C4s and higher mileage C4s. And yes, I think too that the value of C5s will take a dive when the C6 comes out.

As for the Vette (or other classic car) market vs. the stock market, I think they are definitely related inversely. Last year, amid all the uncertainty going into the new year of 9/11 and the economy, the Barrett-Jackson auction here in town did almost $27M in sales. The speculation was that it was going to be a tough year, but I believe the results ended up setting some sort of record. As one example, I saw a '67 L89 car go for $210K, or something ridiculous like that. This year I tried to get some cars into their auction to sell and all their consignment spaces were sold out. I can't wait to see what the results are this time around.

Big blocks and other desireable options will always make a car more valuable, however (despite that L89 example), I think that people are getting more realistic about this. I don't think we'll see the skyrocketing of prices that there was in the '80s, in part I think because people are getting really good at counterfitting cars. It's getting harder and harder to validate the pedigree of a car, and that makes it scarier to spend the big bucks. There is less risk involved in buying what may be a cheaper, perhaps less desireable car and you end up getting something that you can drive and enjoy.

 

[resto75]

My belief is that the c3 corvettes will jump in price in a few years. There are way too many c3s on the road still due to the large number that were produced from 1968 thru 1982 (14 years) and that will keep the value down. As these cars disappear from the roadways due to neglect and crashes etc. the values will go up.

Look at c2 prices they have risen because they only made them from 1963 to 1967 (5 years)and not that many were produced each year compared to the c3 years.

If you have a nice c3 hold on to it 5 or 10 more years and enjoy it.

 

[Swamp Thang]

People will always want to buy what was "cool" from when they were 12 years old. But they usually don't have the $$ until they are 35-45 years old. So, anything collectable (cars, memorabilia, etc) usually hits its peak in about 25-40 years, then has less rapid growth afterwards.

I think we have already seen the big $$ jump on the chrome-bumper sharks, and I'm hoping that collectors will not pass over the 74-82s.

 

[lytemup]

People will always want to buy what was "cool" from when they were 12 years old. But they usually don't have the $$ until they are 35-45 years old. So, anything collectable (cars, memorabilia, etc) usually hits its peak in about 25-40 years, then has less rapid growth afterwards.

I think we have already seen the big $$ jump on the chrome-bumper sharks, and I'm hoping that collectors will not pass over the 74-82s.

i completely agree with this. i think those who craved sharks like the '78 pace car will continue to drive up the later C3s over the next decade. while i agree the hp numbers will keep them from the god like status of big blocks, i think they'll hold their own!

 

[Lucy64]

I agree with most of what has already been said. I also think clean low miles C4s will hold and start going up in value with the into of the C6. I they continue to follow the pattern of Vette resale values in the past, with the introduction of a new model the model 2 models perviously level off and start to increase in value. When the C4 came out the C2s really took off. I think the same will happen with the clean C4s with the intro of the C6. One reason I bought my C2 a couple of years ago was because of the investment value and fun factor. You can't drive and turn heads driving your stock investments. I have loved driving my C2 and the value has gone up mucho in the last couple of years.

 

[Eric]

Lucy64 brought up a good point and one which has been proven to be fact. With the release of each new bodystyle, the most recent body tanks and the one previous to it suddenly becomes nostalgic. Granted , the C4s aren't that old so while the release of the C6 may not cause them all to shoot up in value I firmly believe some of the more collectible ones may very well increase at temporarily and at the very least you will see the decreasing values slow down substantially.

 

[dlrshort]

So many good points have been brought out in this thread. One mentioned was counterfitting of cars. When I bought my LT-1, Eric brought my attention to some threads in the forum on how to recognize a fake. I would think that forums like this will become more valuable to collectors especially if those collectors are not mechanics. As our C1's,2's, and 3's get older, more scarce and valuable there will be more incentive to 'lie about what is being sold.

Secondly, I am always more interested and would pay more for an original car. Having talked to people who have owned old vintage vettes and new ones, I have been told that the technology is so far superior now that if you're purely want performance and power you've got to love the newer generations over the old. Being nostalgic I love to own
a car that reminds me of my youth rather than a new one, however.

I was wondering if anyone out there saw an article in I believe it was Motor Trend or Car and Driver several years ago where the magazine road tested and compared I believe it was a 65 or 67 Big Block with a late model vette. The upshoot of the article was that if you want purely performance you got to love the new vette, but nothing looked, sounded or struck terror like the old big blocks! For that reason, I think these cars will always have value to us romantics!

There's nothing like a vette, old or new....but especially old!

 

[jcompton]

Some times the Corvette to collect is the one that you can afford. I would like to have a C2, but they are out of reach for me. I started trading dirt bikes, quads, got enough money to get a 65 Impala ss. Got on the internet and found someone to trade me even-up for a 82 Collector edition with a bad engine. That is something that I can fix myself. I invested the time and money,about $8000 totally,car and parts, and now I have a 82 Corvette Collector Edition, with a fresh engine, new seats, new door panels, good paint, new Goodyear Eagle GT's. I am trying to restore it the best that I can. (With the CFI, it IS a challenge).Even tho it isn't a 67 427-435 it can still make you smile on a cool summer day with the tops off cruzn back roads. Hopfully I can hang on to it and the value will start increasing more. Again it is a car that I have always dreamed of having but couldn't afford until now.(48 yrs old) Also if the importance of those years are minimized, then they won't be held onto and restored and that will help in future years.