Classic cars and Antiques

[68spitfire]

Hi all,

 

This one should get some healthy debate going.

 

We all own and run classic Triumphs from the 60s and 70s, they have a market value and to many of us the value is in the pleasure of owning and not necessarily financial.

 

We like to think that our cars will appreciate in value, but the reality is that only certain models within a marque seem to attract the following and hence higher prices.

 

I am beginning to come to the conclusion that we own these cars due to either having an example in our youth, or having one in the family many years ago and the nostalgia is what keeps us hungry for them.

 

Values however obviously decline over the years post production until they hit a rock bottom.

 

Then the values rise again as nostalgic interest takes hold, cars are restored and more people say 'I remember them' and want to buy one.

 

But then the prices either stagnate or in exotic cases, continue to rise.

 

So to the title of this post; Classic cars and Antiques.

 

Antiques are the same, unless they are a Rembrandt or such, their value is only there when people of 'that generation' who remember them fondly like to  collect such examples. When that generation decreases the value of such cars also decreases as younger enthusiasts don't have the interest in older machinery.

 

A bit like most of us I suspect who find Vintage cars pleasing to watch, but we would never consider buying one.

 

After all an antique Item up to a hundred or so years old is probably worth a decent amount, but a bowl or pot dug up thats a thousand years old never seems to have any value at all.

 

Just my ramblings for the afternoon.

 

Wondering how our cars will fare over the next 5-10 years or so.

[Pete Lewis]

Unless we can get youngsters interested , many are, but insurance restricts ownership

we will soon head for the happy driving grounds and know one will be left to remember

that Dad had one, I learnt to drive in one, we went on holiday in one , nostalgia disappears

along with the values

 

just done a 180 mile trek to a pub with some friends who moved from the area and big lunch

with 14 members on the run

So stuffed and thinking doze , rather than anything useful

 

pete

[mishmosh]

i would hesitate before investing in antique furniture. We live in a house stuffed full of antiques, and they seem to be going down in value . Brown antiques just are not popular amongst the under 70s.  My herald has barely moved in value in 30 years  and My Bond shows no sign of creeping up despite its rarity.  

[Colin Lindsay]

Thankfully some of my musical instruments are increasing in value - but only those made around the mid 1990s (Stefan Sobell Octave Mandola has doubled in value)

I have some over 100 years old and they're still selling for pennies. Old clocks still go for next to nothing at sales and auctions.

As for cars... well we'll always have people who love a particular era and will go for anything from then, cars included, however both my darling wife and daughter have no interest in Triumphs whatsoever so I may as well leave a valuation beside them for when I pass on and they can't wait to sell. Having said that, my daughter has no interest in her own car other than as a means of transport. Her phone is a different matter....

Maybe we should amalgamate our club with a Mobile Phone Owners Club and be sure of the future....

[Pete Lewis]

 Hi Colin,  brilliant,    Just tried that its engaged , call back  , no voice mail   pah 

 

Pete

[Colin Lindsay]

The Triumph Sports Text Club..... 

 

"What size wheels will fit my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge?"....

[NevSpit]

And there was me thinking the topic referred to our cars and the drivers....

[Steve C]

Interesting thought, but not necessarily true - veteran cars now have huge values, even if some of them were (misbegotten horrors when new), because they are eligible for the London to Brighton run.

Until very recently, our cars have never been that valuable, except for Mk2 Vitesse Convertibles, because the classic car press spent years telling people that was the one to buy. A Mk 2 saloon with a sunroof is a much quiter, more usuable car, yet it was always the bridesmaid to the convertible. The 1600 Vitesses have their own virtues, yet were tagged, like Heralds, by the classic car "experts" with the idea that the rear suspension spent its days conspiring to kill you. Thwe Bonds have never been worth serious money, probably due to the restoration costs involved in cutting away GRP to repair the rust and then having to re-make it and re-bond it all, yet they are now rare.

 

At some point the current classic car market is due a massive correction, in which those who have staked silly money on cars as "investments" driving up prices may well get their fingers burned. Once interest rates rise, watch out...and then it will be an enthusiasts market for a while, not a speculators' who would not know a Daf from a Swallow Dorretti!

 

Regards

 

Steve

[dougbgt6]

One of East Berks members has a GT6 mk3, valued by the club last year at £19k. So, the GT6 joins the TR6 in the unattainable price bracket.

 

Colin, on the musical instrument front I have a Lachenal concertina, well over 100 years old, don't tell me it's worthless!    

[JohnD]

I had one of these:

 

 

 

Isuzu Piazza.  Lovely car, designed by Giugiaro, no less.    Turbo 2L, it was our family car until the kids got too big.

Then I kept it, it was bound to to become a classic.

Twenty years later, and  a few probs - some bad rust traps in the design, but those are due to the Japanese production engineers, not our Giorgetto - but still as pretty and powerful, but you couldn't give them away.   And I had another project, so was lucky to find another enthusiast to take it.

 

Pity, it still looks modern, like a Citroen DS.

 

JOhn

 

 

[Steve C]

I can't help feeling that the dynamics of the club scene are changing, away from the traditional model of a group of marque enthusiasts, who elect officers and committees and set up a club, often with premises and staff, to something far more fluid. There are now a couple of generations out there who have grown up in a wired society, where nearly everyone runs their lives with mobiles and social media, and we are seeing this in the club scene, with a growing number of "virtual" clubs, where loose coalitions of car enthusiasts meet up at a location announced on social media, without any officers, subs, or the traditional trappings of a club.

 

On one level, I welcome it, as you cannot stop social change, and it was inevitable that the new media would influence the classic car scene, especially the youngsters who favour the newer vehicles relvant to their experience. I don't miss either the petty politics and prima donna behaviour that clubs sometimes experience. On a more practical level though, it does raise issues around things like public liability and legal resiliance if one of these groups was ever to be sued for something and did not have insurance or limited liability.

 

Regards

 

Steve

[NevSpit]

Interesting points Steve although I for one welcome the core of our organisation such as the shop, this forum and the events they run / support (just placed another order with them this week and found polite service, good prices and postage plus quick turnaround) with social media you can indeed create a virtual club of any description at the drop of a hat.

 

In today's world of blame and claim I suspect there is a thin line between a group of like minded people congregating in the same place and an organised event.

 

On the plus side the interweb has made owning a 'classic' / old car (or even a new one) so much easier in my eyes. Instant advice, support and banter in the blink of an eye.  If i had my Spit pre web it would probably have been off the road more than on it or i would have been a lot poorer from garage bills...