Surely no-one will pay that much?

[Wes]

I must admit I haven't looked at Triumphs for sale on ebay for quite a while but I was utterly amazed at some of the buy-it-now and classified ad prices. There's more than 20 TR's for £20k and over but the one that really surprised me was this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-TRIUMPH-SPITFIRE-MKIV-1300-/301710312782?hash=item463f56054e

 

Who on earth is going to pay £17500.00 for a Spitfire? And I say that as a Spitfire owner. Sure, this one is in nice condition but its not original and it not as if there's race history or anything interesting like that.

 

Can't help thinking there's an awful lot of chancers out there hoping to dupe rich fools out of their money, I'm off to put my car up for sale...

[Guest]

Wes.

 

I think the garage are chancing their arm as it's International Beaulieu this weekend.

 

Then of course because they trade in the New Forest, they think everyone is a millionaire !! 

 

Hopefully with a new era commencing at Beaulieu, as of this week, pricing for traders and attendees may be reviewed. There is no doubt that it has spiralled out of control with the "humble man" having to dig deeper in their pockets with nothing or not much to show in return. 

 

I know the European market are always thirsty for British classic cars, so it would not surprise me if a deal is not brokered for that Spitfire over the weekend.

 

As you say, sheer madness !!

 

Regards.

 

Richard.

[Gary Flinn]

Just another sign of Classic Car prices spiraling out of control?

 

It's a lovely car but at an unrealistic price  

 

I'm on the lookout for a Nice TR5, prices of those are getting unobtainable for most people, there's one on Car & Classic now for £59K  

 

When will the bubble burst?    

[Steve C]

Some thoughts: This is only happening because interest rates have been on the floor since the crunch in 2008, and even gold is not rising much in price. Speculators are looking for a haven for their cash, which will yield a return when they sell. Many of them have no interest in cars, other than as a tradable commodity which will rise in price, and at the extremes, you get supercars wrapped in plastic in air-conditioned warehouses which are never driven and only leave to go to the auction block. Johnny-come-lately chancers on Fleabay are only jumping on the bandwagon, as are the idiots who break good, solid cars for parting-out.

 

One of the few advantages of increasing age is perspective. Those of us old enough to remember that last classic car boom know it all ended in tears when the market "corrected", and the "Ruperts" landed with their shiny "cwassic cars" took a big hit when sanity returned. In particular, less desirable models that had ridden the coat tails of the more iconic models in the range, such as S-type Jags and the series 2 E-Types, corrected sharply.

 

We have been spared the worst of it in the TSSC, because "our" cars have not attracted silly prices until very recently. Anyone spending £17,500 on a Spit frankly needs their head read. We are probably coming to the end of very low interest rates, and the minute speculators have other investment area open to them, they will be off and prices will fall to more realistic levels, which will be hard lines for those who spent silly money.

 

It is still possible to ignore the speculators and have some fun in a classic car for not a lot of money, by looking past the fashionable choices to some more left-field options. The BMW E30 series, and some of the Volvos and SAABs, and in our own marque the 2000s and 2500s are just a few examples of perfectly driveable classics you could use daily. Avoiding dealers like the plague is another good strategy, as they are about creating a market in which they charge silly money.

 

Everything in the end, comes full circle, and the old saw about "markets go down as well as up" was never more true than at present. I hope my heresies will start an interesting debate!

 

Best wishes

 

Steve C

[AndyCrews]

Ahem.....how much???

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506044023737?make=triumph&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&page=5&radius=1500&postcode=ws149sr&search-target=usedcars&quicksearch=true&logcode=p

 

Andy

[John Bonnett]

Ahem.....how much???

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506044023737?make=triumph&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&page=5&radius=1500&postcode=ws149sr&search-target=usedcars&quicksearch=true&logcode=p

 

Andy

The poor trader has to scrape a living somehow  

[Colin Lindsay]

I hope he buys a spellchecker... it’s “amasing!!"

[Peaks]

I agree to a point with Steve’s comments about the rise in car prices being coupled to low interest rates, but investors only buy low mileage, low ownership cars in totally original and A1+/Concourse condition. So a totally correct two owner from new, 50k miles 1972 Porsche 911? Absolutely. A 1965 Herald with who knows what miles, replacement engine, gearbox, trim and welding carried out to keep it running through the years? No. Even if it is rust free and has a great paint job.

 

And yet classic cars like that Herald are increasing in value, and that’s got to be due to the fact that people are appreciating them for what they are and what enjoyment ownership can bring.

 

I am of the school of thought that thinks a rise in values - within reason -  is a very healthy thing indeed, and will encourage more borderline cars to be saved,  better quality restorations, better maintenance and care of the cars and higher quality & an increased range of remanufactured parts.

 

I’ll caveat the above with the statement that I agree entirely with the previous comments/sentiment that prices being asked for the cars in the links are ridiculous. To add to them, I happened to see a MkIII GT6 locally which was for sale for £35k. Crazy.

[shag.e]

I totally agree with an awful lot of what's been said. I've just bought what appears in my eyes to be a ropey Vit 6, and it came quite cheap really. I now need lots of bits, but the car itself is only a small corner of the deal; I've bought myself several years of playing with outsized meccano, meeting new people, learning and honing skills, enjoying days out for a drive somewhere nice, understanding and appreciating the people, circumstances and market forces which created the car, the parallel societal history, music, culture and fashions that prevailed at the time.... There's SO much more to doing it yourself than paying thousands over the odds for a car. It's expensive to do it properly, and you'd rarely get your money back for what you put into it, but Tarquin p***ing '47 Lafitte up the wall in celebration of having made a few grand on his hermetically-sealed Flying Spur or DB4 Zagato is his problem. As long as we can meet, chat, laugh, enjoy each other's company, pick bits up off the road that fell off the car in front on the way to the nationals and just generally enjoy ourselves, then our cars are a beautiful, enigmatic and much-loved accessory to the community that we are and the friends that we can become. For my money, THAT'S what it's about.

[AidanT]

Agree totally with that. Xalways learning new things. I still don't like camping though!!!! Sorry

[Steve C]

Shag.e

 

That is the most eloquent and powerful statement I have ever read about why we all engage in this particular brand of lunacy. It should be on a plaque on the entrance at TSSC HQ!

 

Well put!

 

Steve

[Colin Lindsay]

I totally agree with an awful lot of what's been said.

There's SO much more to doing it yourself than paying thousands over the odds for a car. 

Totally agree. It’s a learning process as well as an enjoying process; in fact both maintaining and driving should be part of the pleasure of owning older cars.

It’s not only older cars either, I’ve just taken ownership of an MOT-failure 2001 Renault Clio from a friend who gave up on it after one too many let-downs and botched repairs; in the last fortnight I’ve learned how to change injectors and seals, replace modern cam belts, clean out blocked breather valves, replace coil packs, sort out aged electrics on everything from radio to power socket, free up dragging brakes and sticking calipers, clear blocked sunroof drains and replace the seal, and repaint horrible black alloys to a more conservative silver. And - it was actually enjoyable! It may be a terrible car in any case but I wouldn’t have tried half the things on something of value. Now I can put my beloved Landrover into storage and have a cheap commuter, with the pride that I did it my way - and it worked!

[shag.e]

Thanks to you all, guys. I think we're all fed up of having everything we enjoy hijacked by the profiteers of this world. If everything continues to be quantified by it's financial value, I'm being farmed off to Dignitas.

[Colin Lindsay]

NOW: on a slightly different note: a Tristan-converted saloon for sale at a higher price than many genuine convertibles, due to its’ alleged ‘rarity’? Missing sunvisors and flaky paint but, because the seller claims not to have seen another like it, it’s held to be worth a lot? At least the cigarette lighter still works….

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-herald-convertable-1970-13-60-/201433175146?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276

[Pete Lewis]

Who remembers..................bring back 'piano man' .....he had a way with words none of us ever understood and doubt he ever sold anything

 

pete