Prices are a sticky subject. Do they seem inflated? Sure, but then given how long we've all been in the hobby looking at a rare car like a Boss or Shelby, or even a run of the mill offering like a V8 fastback; we all remember what they used to cost back in the day. I bought my '67 fastback for $3,900 in about 1992. It was a running (kinda), driving (mostly) car that looked decent from 50'. My total investment in the car by '96 was around $13,500, and I remember thinking I'd never get my money back out of it if I had to sell it (not that I thought I ever would and thus far have been proven right). Fast forward to 2024 and the car I initially bought would probably sell for closer to $20,000, and in the condition it was in in '96 would be more like $50,000. BUT, we also have to look at what's happened in the world in that time. I remember $20 filling the tank with high test and having change left over. I remember a date consisting of diner and a movie running $30. That tank of gas now costs more like $55, and diner and a movie is more like $70. Anyone own a house they bought 20-30 years ago that isn't worth at least twice what you paid for it? Point being, inflation is part of the rise in prices.
Another thing to consider is that classic cars trade like all commodities. Most economists would tell you that other commodities like say gold or silver are worth today what they were worth 2,000 years ago. The amount of effort and cost to extract those metals is the same as it was in Roman times; the difference is that everything costs more now that it did then because of inflation. Sure, the markets do experience upward and downward trends depending on other market conditions (people tend to flock to commodities in inflationary times for example, raising prices). But overall things with intrinsic value tend to just adjust with inflation, and classic cars aren't much different.
Then you have to factor in what happened when the largest generation in US history hit retirement age and all had awesome pensions and lots of retirement savings. The market size increased by a factor of 4 0r 5 overnight and the pool of available cars didn't increase. Demand was sky high and supply was low, so prices rose precipitously. Over the years demand has cooled, but always seems to come back. This also bled out into the rest of the market taking nice, but far less desirable cars, like the run of the mill fastback V8 that isn't a Boss or Shelby, along for the ride. Today we even see the classic 4x4 market booming, and '80s cars are also now hot.
So, the Richard Rawlins of the world definitely set some crazy highs at auctions over the years, BUT also consider that I've seen a lot of cars not sell for inflated prices, and the base demand for the cars comes from us. Rawlins and Co didn't create the market; he simply capitalized on it, and in the end I don't think that I despise him for that so much as his on screen used car salesman, jack@$$ persona.
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6sally6 wrote:
