It has been a year since it was apparent
to the world that the collector car market was experiencing the
same trouble as our economy in general. That happened at the
Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale last January, 2009. Collectors
had to face the fact that prices were no longer in an upward
spiral as they had been for many years. Even for those who had
been in denial, it was obvious that prices were dropping precipitously.
That was then, but since this past summer
we have noted that the "bleeding" has stopped. Our
sample group of hot collector cars that we watch is up 19 percent
over the period from June to December 2009. Cars
On Line Daily Update newsletter readers know that we watch a "hot
list" of top collector cars to determine how market values
are trending. We frequently published the chart below. We update
it with the most current average pricing for the cars that are
on our "hot list." This is a quick measure of how collector
car prices are doing. We base our numbers from auction prices
on No. 2 condition cars. We look at No. 2 condition cars only
because they are a smaller group to look at and reflect a more
stringent price discipline. (It is harder to detect the trends
in No. 3 condition cars.) Click
here to view the definitions of classes for appraising collector
cars as used by our Cars On Line Inspection Service.
But remember, collector cars are still
one of the safest investments. The chart below continues to bear
out what we have been saying about the market all along. If you
invested in collector cars a year ago you would have lost maybe
5 percent in value over the past year. If you invested in the
stock market, you are still down 25 percent, even though the
market has recovered somewhat. Where do you have your money?
Here (below) is our COL Market Trends
Report. The first column shows the results of the Barrett-Jackson
Auction in Scottsdale, the big one, last January. You can compare
those numbers to the average prices we saw at the recent Barrett-Jackson
Auction in Las Vegas in October (in the last column.) The values
in the column marked "June 2009" are average values
experienced at auctions in the spring of 2009. You'll see that
June prices were up by 15 percent from the January column. Since
then we've climbed another 4 percent. So values are steadily
inching up. Notable exceptions are classic Ford Thunderbirds
and 1969 Camaro Z/28s, both of which have shown further weakness
in pricing throughout the year. The chart does not give you much
information on Mopar pricing because there were no significant
Mopar muscle cars present at the Barrett-Jackson Auction in Las
Vegas. Also absent were Mustang Boss 429s and Boss 302s. For
vehicles that were not represented in the auction, we have simply
put an asterisk in those boxes.
|
FORDS |
Class |
Barrett-Jackson
2009 |
June 2009 |
End of
2009 |
|
1956 Ford Crown Victoria |
No. 2 |
* |
$25,500 |
$39,000 |
|
1957 Thunderbird |
No. 2 |
$42,350 |
$62,270 |
$55,900 |
|
1967 Shelby GT500 |
No. 2 |
$115,500 |
$134,000 |
$125,000 |
|
1966 Shelby GT350 |
No. 2 |
$110,000 |
$117,000 |
$155,000 |
|
1966 Mustang Convt |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$27,500 |
|
1967 Mustang GT Fastback (S Code) |
No. 2 |
* |
$48,000 |
$32,900 |
|
1964 1/2 Mustang Convt |
No. 2 |
$48,000 |
$35,500 |
$29,200 |
|
1969 Mach 1 Mustang |
No. 2 |
* |
$42,625 |
$51,500 |
|
1969 Mach 1 428 CJ (R code) |
No. 2 |
* |
$100,350 |
$75,500 |
|
1969 Boss 429 Mustang |
No. 2 |
$209,000 |
$195,000 |
$204,500 |
|
1970 Boss 302 Mustang |
No. 2 |
$121,800 |
$95,300 |
$76,500 |
|
1970 Ford Torino 429CJ |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$42,000 |
|
CHEVROLETS |
|
|
|
|
1967 Chevelle SS 396 |
No. 2 |
$47,300 |
$41,200 |
$53,900 |
|
1969 Camaro Z/28 |
No. 2 |
$55,300 |
$67,000 |
$58,300 |
|
1970 Chevelle SS 396 |
No. 2 |
$38,500 |
$38,700 |
$55,000 |
|
1970 Chevelle LS6 |
No. 2 |
$80,300 |
$96,500 |
$92,800 |
|
1967 Corvette 427/435 Convertible |
No. 2 |
$143,000 |
$146,250 |
$165,000 |
|
1963 Split Window Coupe |
No. 2 |
* |
$50,500 |
46,900 |
|
1963 Impala SS 409 Convertible |
No. 2 |
$77,000 |
|
$75,200 |
|
1958 Chevy Impala Convt (348 Tripower) |
No. 2 |
$73,000 |
$80,700 |
$90,200 |
|
1957 Chevy Bel Air Convt |
No. 2 |
$94,200 |
$85,000 |
$78,000 |
|
1955 Chevrolet Nomad |
No. 2 |
* |
$60,500 |
$63,000 |
|
1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Hardtop |
No. 2 |
* |
|
$41,900 |
|
MOPARS |
|
|
|
|
1969 Dodge Charger R/T |
No. 2 |
$58,300 |
$43,350 |
$41,450 |
|
1970 AAR Cuda |
No. 2 |
$68,200 |
$77,500 |
$77,500 |
|
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T (440 6Pack) |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$58,000 |
|
1970 Plymouth Superbird (440) |
No. 2 |
* |
$102,000 |
$92,850 |
|
1970 Hemi Cuda |
No. 2 |
$167,700 |
$248,750 |
$254,950 |
|
1970 Plymouth Road Runner |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$44,540 |
|
1957 Plymouth Fury |
No. 2 |
* |
$105,000 |
* |
|
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$74,200 |
|
1970 Dodge Super Bee |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$35,800 |
|
CADILLAC |
|
|
|
|
1957 Cadillac S62 Convertible |
No. 2 |
* |
$54,500 |
$64,000 |
|
1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible |
No. 2 |
* |
$29,000 |
$25,650 |
|
PACKARD |
|
|
|
|
|
1953 Packard Carribean Convt |
No. 2 |
* |
$56,000 |
$108,650 |
|
PONTIAC |
|
|
|
|
|
1965 Pontiac GTO (389 Tripower) |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$48,000 |
|
1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible |
No. 2 |
$64,900 |
$49,950 |
$66,000 |
|
1970 Pontiac GTO Judge |
No. 2 |
$51,100 |
$43,000 |
$50,420 |
|
1973 Trans Am Super Duty |
No. 2 |
* |
$69,500 |
$48,600 |
|
1969 Firebird Convertible |
No. 2 |
* |
$23,500 |
$30,000 |
|
1977 Bandit Trans Am |
No. 2 |
* |
$28,000 |
$28,000 |
|
BUICK |
|
|
|
|
|
1970 Buick GS Stage 1 |
No. 2 |
* |
$50,000 |
$42,000 |
|
1953 Skylark Convertible |
No. 2 |
* |
$139,500 |
$146,350 |
|
1954 Super Convt |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$76,150 |
|
OLDSMOBILE |
|
|
|
|
|
1970 Olds 442 W-30 (4-spd) |
No. 2 |
$60,500 |
$63,000 |
$57,070 |
|
1957 Oldsmobile Starfire Convt |
No. 2 |
* |
$123,500 |
$50,800 |
|
AUSTIN HEALEY |
|
|
|
|
|
1967 Austin Healey 3000 |
No. 2 |
$66,500 |
* |
$62,000 |
|
JAGUAR |
|
|
|
|
|
1967 Jaguar XKE Roadster |
No. 2 |
$83,600 |
$65,000 |
$65,000 |
|
1956 Jaguar XK140 (MC) |
No. 2 |
* |
* |
$94,450 |
* Some of the vehicles that we follow were not represented in
the auction. We have simply put an asterisk in those boxes where
a similar No. 2 condition car was not in the sale. These asterisks
can be significant. It means that people who own these cars are
not putting them up for sale because they may not think they
can get their price.
|