Dr911

Good one!

File under: retirement money

J richard

Another way to look at it is if I bought a car in 1990 for $20,000 just the CPI change in the value of the dollar would be $36,000.

A $50,000 car would be $90k on currency value alone....

The values are climbing but the real "bubble" is on the other side of the equation....

tomtom911

I have enjoyed the responses in this thread. I bought my 82 targa last year. A 911 was something I saw when I was a teenager and have dreamed of owning one since then. I think I fit the buyer type mentioned within. At this point of life I said WTF, why not. Time to enjoy and buy something non practical. Stumbled on a incredibly clean, very original , low mileage car at a great price and serviced by a known mechanic. I got lucky and have totally enjoyed the last year learning about them and fixing the various issues. I spent a few dollars upgrading it and now it drives awesome. The best part of this story is that the owner of the car was a family member of a friend I lost contact with in 1990 and thru the purchase we have reconnected. Sometimes dreams do come true and the car is going up in value!!! Live the dream boys. If you find a good one buy it and enjoy, wtf!

JCP911S

Actually, prices across the board are going the same way.... certain "benchmark" cars are like the S&P 500.

Since about 2010, the MB 300SL Gullwing has gone from $600K to $1.4M... the Roadsters have done better... typically they sold for 60% of a coupe, but today a #1 Roadser is also a $1.5M car.

Series 1 XKEs were $100k cars for years. In the last 3 years they've doubled in value, and top examples are pushing $250K and climbing.

Ferrari Dinos, Alfa Duettos, and Montreals, Ghiblis... all looking at 2x appreciation... these are "B-C list" cars.

This is a market-wide global trend...

oprevot

In France, clean with high mileage 3.2 Carreras sell for $45,000 to $50,000 these days.

stuttgart1

Agree...same with Pagoda SL, 190SL, 280SE 3.5...
Dino prices has double/triple in past 5yrs.
So in other sense Porsches could just be catching up or it is at the beginning of price increase.

Matt9967

Yup, this isn't just limited to air-cooled 911 variants. Other fully depreciated icons such as the Testarossa, 308, 1st gen BMW M3, etc have risen in huge month over month % increases from the 2012-13 period to now. I find it hard to believe it to be purely a wholesome generational coming-of-age scenario that happened to suddenly manifest in such a dramatic manner in such a short period of time. To me, that smacks of an inorganic infusion from somewhere else. In my opinion, an outcome wrought by a brew of excess capital and interest rate manipulation at the top tiers of blue chip automobiles trending downward and snowballing as classic and pseudo-classic cars, to the point we reach today where focus is on 'new highs' for established trenders and a frenzied search for the next shooting star. The classic car markets, so to speak, has built legitimacy as a commodity that is cap gains free, attracting money that otherwise wouldn't be in play. Financial publications have helped extensively in legitimizing as an investment vehicle, broadening the pool of players at this late point in the game where Joe Main St. is looking to secure an appreciating asset, and your corner lot dealer is flipping anything that comes out of the woodwork with anticipatory upward pricing pushes. Marketing of vintage car-specific financing to the hobbyist does its part in perpetuating as well. As we all know, the market is fickle, and as critical mass is reached, the big money goes elsewhere on to the next thing (in the blue chip world), attention is shifted, trickled down, and it recedes back to a level of *relative* normalcy. They say that it isn't a bubble until it pops, but for me, the elements propping the market up do not say 'new normal'. They say inflationary, volatile, and fickle. It has been the most contentious topic of car-world conversation from the hobbyist forums to Pebble Beach, and in my eyes it has all started with and will ultimately die with (the canary in the coal mine) what happens with the blue chip cars, particularly in the private transaction arena. As soon as that wavers, the end is near.

JCP911S

What you said.... but with one exception... "Leverage"

Now, when I see somebody (and it would not shock me) selling "shares" in a 250GTO, then I'm on board with Auto-Armageddon.

fredschoettmer

I don't think the prices will ever go down..

GTgears

Holy wall of text, Batman. What does it say?

mk85911

Last week I attended an open house at a Porsche dealer. The owner of the dealership offered me $25,000 for my 1985 Carrera which has 110,000 miles on it. Same owner offered me $12,000 for the same car five years age when I ordered my 997.2. About 95,000 miles then. I didn't counter either time. Just passing this on for reference as to rate of change from a wholesale perspective.

Freddie Two Bs

Or maybe there are just plenty of people that got sick and tired of riding in computers on wheels and that really, really long for some real driving in a real car instead.

997rs4.0

^This!

Carrera51

I think prices will stabilize and that the days of sub $20K SC, 3.2 Carreras and 964s are over.

GTgears

Yep. I read these guys talking about the impending global economy crash and that stuff and laugh about it. If that happens, I have no doubt it is going to take a bite out of the value of $1/2 Million 73 RSes and 7 figure 935s and 962s. But those of us with driver quality SCs and 3.2s will see next to no change in the value of our cars.

Everyone these days fancies himself a collector and is in on the 911 gold rush. 90+% of the guys buying these cars these days are like guys dabbling in penny stocks. One in a million will stumble on a special car with an ignorant seller and be in a position to cash out. Otherwise the real collectors will buy the real expensive cars and the rest of us will buy nice drivers. Some ding dongs will wash and wax them and only pull them out on Sundays. The rest of us will keep doing what we've always done. We will shut up and drive...