73911

Last year at Montery they tried to sell us a bunch of marginal cars.

It should be interesting this year. Has the quality of the auction cars at Monterey improved?

Richard Newton
Climate Control for Your Garage

gerry100

similar to some others on this thread . I've got more cars than I have time or reason to drive.

Discussing with the boss the possibility of selling the '86 3.2 coupe in the spring.

She argues that it's not depreciating so what's the rush?

I have a different theory - "the 30 year rule"

People who lust after hot cars when they're 14-22 years old have the money to live their dream 30 years later. This contributes significantly to demand IMHO.

The old 911s will always be a unique and awesome driving experience but the buyer pool may diminish as the boomers age out.

Hell, we went to a fancy wedding in our stick VW and we had to park the car ourselves because the "stick" valet was off that day.

73911

Here's one that got no money at Mecum. It's a really rough 1972.

btw - If you're trying to sell an early 911 it might not be a good idea have your trash cans in the image. Just Say'n.

Richard Newton
Car Tech Stuff

porscheandy

I agree with you Gerry.

I have a different theory - "the 30 year rule"

That's what happened with the muscle cars....
There seems to be a lot of 356 inventory accumulating...

73911

Reeves Callaway taught me about the 20-year rule decades ago. the 30-year rule is a little safer. Maybe.

Car values often resemble a normal curve. They rise for a while and then they decline. We've seen this curve with the Model A, the Tri 5 Chevys and the muscle cars. Now we're starting to see it with the 356 Porsche.

People always want to buy the car they couldn't afford when they were in high school.

There are a few outliers though. Cobras and Ferraris seem to be immune to this curve. So far.

Richard Newton

Hulley

Spoke to an owner of a small dealership in Atlanta that sells a lot of Porsche as well as other classics. The 911s that are under $50k sell fairly quick, the $50-150k have slowed dramatically. That would seem obvious but he claims that was not an issue a year or so ago.

sugarwood

30 year rule is nonsense, and nothing more than curve fitting based on a single anecdote of muscle cars.

How does the 30 year rule explain that in the Porsche world, the 356, long hoods, middies, SCs, Carreras, 964, 993 ....all spiked and peaked at the same time?
Those cars cover 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. That's a FIFTY year spread that peaked at the same time around 2015...

If the 356s peaked in this most recent surge, that's almost 60 years after it was made. Not 20. Not 30. 60.
Consider a '57 Chevy and a '57 Speedster. They have totally divergent price graphs, yet are from the same year.

It's a lot more nuanced than some facile "When people are 45, they buy their teen dream car"
If that was the case, the 356 buyers would be 80 years old.

sugarwood

In fact, even the muscle car anecdote is wrong.
A Hemi Cuda hits peak value in 2015 at $3mm.
That is a full 45 years after it was made.

Who bought it? It could be someone aged 45, 55, 65, or even 75.
The simple reality is that someone may buy a vintage "teen dream" at ANY age from 30 until 70, which covers 40 years.

73911

"If that was the case, the 356 buyers would be 80 years old."

Have you been to a 356 Registry gathering lately?

Richard Newton
Historical Racing Images

Freddie Two Bs

Totally. And as for the comparison with ford model As that seems to gain consensus these days, those were pretty crappy cars to begin with. Early Porsches were the stuff of legend.

356s? If they came down in price, I'd buy one in a heartbeat, and I was born in the '70s.

niche

I think it boils down to a natural cycle. Cars have appreciated so much and so quickly that demand will naturally slow.

Spyerx

i'll say it again:
you buy car 20-30, all of a sudden its "worth" 50-60.
Does that 20-30k mean a life changing event for most porsche owners
probably not

unless your car is a very low (sub 20k) mile bubble wrapper, just enjoy the damn thing!!!!

Low mile rare and collector cars are a different beast completely. So unless your car has an RS, RSA, Speedster, slope/slant nose, turbos, etc in the name... it's not a rare car.

The market will always be there for the low mile rare cars. everything else is just rising along with, and sure, may pop, but most of us will gladly burn that $20-30k or whatever to drive one of these things on a regular basis.

sugarwood

Complete rubbish. The car enthusiast culture is as strong as ever. There are **** loads of capable enthusiast cars you can get for $5k to $10k. Go look at the universe of Miata, BMW, and GM owners clubs.
Maybe the exotics culture is threatened, but car culture at large? Give me a break.

sugarwood

If your car doubles, just up the insurance. Simple.
Not driving it b/c it's worth more makes little sense.
The money wasn't even there before the appreciation.

u7t2p7

RS = rare and expensive (none imported into US adds cache)
Speedster = 356, 3.2, 964; all unique to themselves
RSA = easily the most overrated of the group. in fact if you compare production numbers of MY93-94 C2 manual coupes, there are less of these than there are RSA's here in the US. With the only real difference being a manual steering rack in the RSA, the premium is totally unwarranted in my opinion. FWIW I've owned a RSA (paid $19k for it) and now own a MY93 C2 manual coupe.