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Correlation Between Classic Car Prices and Financial Markets

314 messages,  Last post on Sep 28, 2012 at 7:48 PM

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Messages Page 28 of 32

#265 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 07, 2009 (8:32 am)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Oct 06, 2009 10:13 pm)
Keep in mind though that the classic car "market" is defined only by buyers, and that a lot of those buyers are overseas right now.
 
Case in point. A former client of mine wanted to get rid of his very nice Mercedes 190SL but could not get his price advertising locally (california). I hooked him up to a dealer who specializes in overseas sales and that car was on a boat to Holland in a week's time, full price paid and room for commissions, too.
 
So the market will reflect that 190SL prices are solid, but it won't reflect that many of them are leaving us, never to return to the US.
 
Which in turn, ironically, will create a certain scarcity and keep prices up yet again.
 
Of course, this is only for quality merchandise of the highest order.
 
No one is going to be shipping *every* type of old car to Europe. Only the "iconic" ones that are reasonably correct (Europeans aren't as fussy as we are about numbers, etc. as long as the car is not externally chopped up) and of excellent quality.
 
As usual, classic cars follow the arbitrage but I think if a car goes back to its country of origin (or near to it), it's not coming back this time around even if the dollar gets stronger.

#266 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [Mr_Shiftright] by fintail

Oct 07, 2009 (9:07 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 07, 2009 8:32 am)
You're right about those cars never coming back.
 
I've seen many fintails sent back to Europe, too - as they can be bought so cheaply in the US even with shipping one can come out ahead and not deal with the rot issues. Those things will never make it back to NA.

#267 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [fintail] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 07, 2009 (9:15 am)

Replying to: fintail (Oct 07, 2009 9:07 am)
We got back all the Ferraris that went to Japan though

#268 of 314 Re: Carlisle observations.. [andre1969] by grbeck

Oct 07, 2009 (9:57 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Oct 07, 2009 8:28 am)
It was either $19,000, or $14,000. I can't remember which price.

#269 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [Mr_Shiftright] by hpmctorque

Oct 07, 2009 (5:48 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 07, 2009 8:32 am)
Interesting comments. One deficiency for Europeans (except for the U.K.) and others is that the speedometers and odometers of these U.S. sourced German classic cars are in miles. A less important consideration for foreign buyers is that the numbers on the temperature gauge, if they're displayed, are in fahrenheit.

#270 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [Mr_Shiftright] by hpmctorque

Oct 07, 2009 (5:52 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 07, 2009 9:15 am)
I can think of possible reasons for this, but why did this happen?

#271 of 314 Re: Carlisle observations.. [grbeck] by parm

Oct 07, 2009 (6:30 pm)

Replying to: grbeck (Oct 07, 2009 8:18 am)
A '64 Olds 98 convertible? A nice one? Hey, now you're talking my speed. Anyone snap any photos of it?

#272 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 07, 2009 (7:12 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Oct 07, 2009 5:52 pm)
Japan went bust in the 1990s and (scary thought) even now has not fully recovered from its recession. Their banking practices made OURS look good, if one could even wrap one's mind around such a concept.
 
RE: American spec cars in Europe -- they "haf their vays" of converting things to their liking, quickly and efficiently. Most well to do Europeans seem to me to be pretty facile with metric conversion to American standards and vice-versa anyway. Many speak more than one language, too. --so they are knowledgeable about the cars they buy and can communicate with American buyers easily.
 
Of course the Brits have a whole other problem with RHD/LHD, so they like to shop our RHD cars---all the quirky British stuff like Alvis, Humber, old Bentley saloons, Triumph Heralds, Stags, Vitesses, etc.---all that seems to be finding a market more in the UK than here. But they know how to swap LHD to RHD for many popular makes like Jaguar, Rolls, etc. and they can deal with rust as easily as we deal with a brake job. The same British cars we wouldn't sniff at over here are often restored in the UK, much to our (my?) amazement. But then, when you live on an island where most old cars are converted readily into iron oxide, one's concept of what is worth saving, changes.
 
Scandanavians are into American Muscle of all things. They go nuts for them, if they are nice and if they are "iconic" and easily recognizable. Everybody knows what a Mustang and a Corvette is. A Buick GS, not so sure that such a car goes over big in Norway.
 

#273 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [Mr_Shiftright] by fintail

Oct 07, 2009 (8:04 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 07, 2009 7:12 pm)
And a funny thing...the Dutch and Belgians - the former especially - seem to have a thing for 60s and 70s American luxobarges. Lots of that material has been shipped there. A fair bit of tailfinned 50s stuff has made it to the continent too.

#274 of 314 Re: The Weak Dollar and Classic Car Prices. [fintail] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 07, 2009 (8:08 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Oct 07, 2009 8:04 pm)
Yes the gaudier and showier the better. I guess in a country where flamboyance has been somewhat suppressed, a '59 Caddy makes quite a splash. It would be like the reverse effect of being modest and shy in Las Vegas.

Messages Page 28 of 32

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