Duragrouch

I had a 928 that I bought in the early '90s when they were dirt cheap. Nice shape, 5 speed, owned it for 4 years and sold it for more than I paid for it. But, I should've put my money into the stock market then instead of a collection of 5 cars (including a Miata NA and an Audi 5000 Quattro Turbo). Today, I bike most of the time and have a reliable old car that gets less than 3000 miles a year. I've passed on some great deals, some great, some dangerous. The great ones: Another used Miata (absolute lowest cost of ownership), possibly a used Boxster that has had the intermediate shaft service, a used 'Benz C-Class. Dirt cheap and tempting but notorious for exorbitant service costs: First model Audi S8, Audi S4 V8 Wagon... (sense a trend?)

Bandera

The "Collector Car Hobby" is as doomed to a lack of interest by persons younger than my age cadre as our C&V bicycles are/will-be.

A friend in HOU has a British roadster collection: MG-A, Austin Healy 3000, Triumph TR-6 and an early Jaguar XKE all in good nick.
Despite appreciative noises from his fellow collector Kool-Aid drinkers of the "value & heritage" of his machines none are Pebble Beach perfect or rare enough to bring the $,$$$ "invested" if put up for sale.That ship has sailed as the reality of owning cars that can't be driven in the summer HOU traffic w/o overheating both engine and driver, the retirement of mechanics who can service them, the cost of NOS parts and the fact that 50's-70's tech makes for a pretty lousy automobile in today's traffic environment sinks in.
"Oh you have one of those, how beautiful." does not mean "Here's a the bunch of cash you want."

-Bandera

tkamd73 

A lot of us have other toys, not much excuse with that one. The only tending you have is driving it, and maybe washing it once in awhile, not much extra effort required. Pretty bullit proof toy, some of the others posted, not so much.
Tim

robertorolfo

Honestly, I love the looks of that generation of Corvette in any iteration. I've never driven one, and I've heard they aren't the best in terms of driving dynamics, but I think they just look amazing. Dirk Diggler had good taste!

Really? Wow, how do you ride bikes with balls as big as yours? Seriously, you have my respect.

This came up in another thread recently. Soon enough the generations that appreciate this stuff will either pass along, or get too old to appreciate/use/maintain it, and the value will simply evaporate. But if you are doing it for passion, that doesn't really matter. If you are doing it for $, that's a different story.

tkamd73 

Yeah, we have all heard this before, and just like all the doomsday predictors, you’ll be right eventually! However, I have been waiting for good driver examples of all those cars to become cheaper as time passes, but it hasn’t happened yet. Probably won’t happen in my lifetime, or yours. In fact values are still going up. Most wouldn’t consider driving a vintage car in a Texas summer, that’s what winter is for down there. We tend to use the summer more, here in Wisconsin. Parts on those vehicles are way more reasonable, then the equivalent ones for a modern car. Common sense, and a shop manual avoids taking them back to a shop, every time something goes wrong, which does happen more often.

The valid argument you should have made, but didn’t, is that they are definitely not as safe as almost any modern vehicle, which is the big drawback one needs to consider. These are usually just driven for pleasure when conditions allow. I would never consider one as a daily driver, so space and disposable income required. Every one of your friends cars, are worth more then he paid for them, of course if he had to restore any of them, he won’t get his money back. Most never do, but that’s the nature of the hobby. For my sake, I wish your argument was more correct, in the present tense.

Tim

styggno1

Since this thread has already gone astray I might as well put forward my bicycle hauler (one can put at least one bike behind the seats).

1971, 350 SL, manual gearbox, from the first month of R107 production (April). Unrestored. "624" - version for Sweden. 92 000 km.





For those of you interested in a MB R107 connection to Lotus and (though far fetched) Mazda/Miyata have a look at this (skip to about 2 minutes if bored with MB) :

Goes very well with a 1971 Masi.

Duragrouch

I pined for one in my early adulthood. But these days they have as much appeal to me as ducktail haircuts, wide neckties, and elephant bell-bottoms. Funny, the things I loved are the things I abhor these days, like hidden headlights. (Although the hidden wipers are cool!) But they are a snapshot of the times, and period movies always need period cars. I remember seeing up close, a convertible in yellow with a cream white top, that was sharp, I wouldn't mind one if I had money to burn. I think the Corvette reached the pinnacle of style with the C6, looked great in targa or convertible. The C7 looked too angular boy-racer to me, though they seem to look better in person. What's kept me from buying the currently superb iteration is a) forward visibility is like looking out a mail slot, and b) they just feel so big when driving, larger than their weight (in terms of size, not agility).

iab

Just because you raced, it doesn't mean you raced well. I've been mid-pack fodder from the beginning and am still that way.

jamesdak 

M Sport 340i. Optioned to be about as close to an M3 as you can get without being an M3. Original MSRP was about a grand less than M3's started at. I got it as a CPO car with only 10,000 miles on it and for about 1/2 of what it was new. My last BMW was a 330ci ZHP so it seemed like this was the current equivalent....on steriods!

WaveyGravey

Amazing how most bicycle enthusiasts are also into sporting automobiles. I certainly am. Great thread!

robertorolfo

Someone in the other thread (apologies for forgetting the name, otherwise I would post it) linked to an interesting article about the price of Elvis memorabilia. To sum up: nobody really cares anymore, and the bottom is falling out. I'm pretty sure the same is happening with baseball cards, save for the ultra rare examples.

Cars and bikes will eventually follow suit. Sure, a mint Stingray or Shelby or whatever will still have value, but your run of the mill stuff will eventually depreciate again. Just like my Basso's will eventually become less and less valuable, because they aren't Colnago's or Tommasini's...


Nah, you aren't getting off that easy. If you took that car to the limit on a racetrack back then, you have my respect (unless you were a super rich kid that bought his racing seat, in which case it is slightly diminished).

iab

My brother and I bought the GT350 with inheritance ($7K each) we received from a grandfather passing. As for the GT40, I worked in the shop that restored it. A perk was the owners would let us drive/race their cars sometimes.

Bandera

If that machine had been covered and put up on blocks "back when" in a suitable storage facility to emerge in today's market it would have been the very rare vehicle "investment".
Boring and useless that would have been.
So, who wrote it off in a crash back when? You or your brother?
Either way, great fun until then no doubt and kudos to Grand-dad, bet he was a pistol in his day!

-Bandera

iab

I wish it was sexy like that. Turns out we bought a stolen car. Bought it from a restoration shop in Pennsylvania, they didn't know either. Owner got a new car back. The shop's insurance got us a full refund. Unfortunate, but not the end of the world. I think today it is in the $150 range.

Everyone had left town. I was washing it for a show. Cops called, said they would be over. The only thing I could think of was what did my dumbass brother do. Cops checked out the serial numbers, said it was stolen. Had me drive it to the impound and that's all she wrote.

Bandera

Have had the same thought a good many times myself, only about my brother........

-Bandera

Robr

This supports why it is not necessary to be around much. Bicycles get little attention but other subjects do.

Duragrouch

Wow, what a great deal, mileage vs. new cost! Can't quite tell if that is the paint I am thinking of. Not sure if it's the same blue as I saw the M's in, which was so cool. I hate light blues, but this was lovely, just the slightest bit lighter than medium blue, and metallic if I recall. Looking online, I think it's Marina Blue Metallic. Yours' might be that, or Estoril Blue Metallic, also lovely, but the Marina Blue knocked me out.

jamesdak 

Yep, it's the Estoril Blue Metallic which was on option only for these M Sport packaged 340i's. The same blue is used inside for trim highlights on the door panels, dash, etc. To me it's just the classic BMW blue.

gomango

My brother and I went through a living h... in our 20's refurbing British and German sports cars.

You name it, we likely had one at a point of time.


One of my TRs. Bitd by gomango1849, on Flickr


One of my TRs. Bitd by gomango1849, on Flickr
@Chombi Your MX-5 is a beauty.

Duragrouch

Yeah the estoril blue metallic is pretty classic BMW. But the marina blue metallic just does it for me, it's the blue equivalent of Bianchi celeste green. Aaaaand, we're back to bicycles. See what I did there?

Duragrouch

Which one are you, young Putin or young Ahhnold?

gomango

Putin baby.

Bald as a cueball by 25.

Easy peasy for hair styles nowadays.

Five minutes with a razor and all's good.

tricky 

But, you have driven a GT40. That's legend status right there...

tricky 

How can you hate flying buttresses!? I love the Miata RF. And this!




Just recently learned about the existence of Maserati Mareks, but I could see the beauty of these being in the eye of the beholder. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1975-maserati-merak/



Good thread!

Duragrouch

I was going to cite the Merak as well! But the Merak was different. The Corvette buttresses curved inward at the top (from top view) but in side and 3/4 rear view, somehow that was visible so it looked like they were curved up top from the side. (Does that make any sense?) And that, to me, detracted from the clean lines. Though perhaps it was consistent, as there were duck-tail curves all over the car.

The latest Ford GT, those are special, I hadn't even thought of them as buttresses, but in this case they actually are structural buttresses, to compensate for the huge gaping air passages between the body and the rear wheel fenders. The large passages served several purposes: a) Allow the body to be teardrop shaped, very aerodynamic (also allowed by the narrower 60 degree V6 engine angle versus a 90 degree V8), b) use the space between the aft body and fenders as aerodynamic downforce area, c) allow the sides of the rear spoiler to act as as wings (flow on top and bottom), even when flush with the body (before lifting). However, I have not seen the underside of that model GT so I am quite curious to see the rear suspension upper lateral links to see if they are "dog-legged" to fit around the bodywork.