The Value of a Collector Car—Determining Its Worth
Car collecting raises some important questions concerning monetary valuation. For a specific car or for a specific collector, the two most important of those questions may be how much is it worth right now, and why? The "how much" part can be found in some established sources, mentioned at the end of this article. The "why" portion is addressed here.
Collector cars have value, but how is that value determined in a changing market? How do you know what to pay or how much you can get if you sell? Should you sell now or wait for values to go up? Will they go up at all, or are they only going to decline for your car?
There are some accepted methods of arriving at the value of any car, collectable or otherwise. They include some well-respected sources as well as a few cliché expressions. The latter category includes the one that goes, "If the top don't go down, the price don't go up." Expressions such as this do carry some weight in the valuation of collector cars. But their conclusions are not set in stone.
Having shared or owned several collector cars, and having personally witnessed (with considerable interest) the typical selling price fluctuations, my direct experience is that collector cars are the most fickle and difficult of investments. My experience would suggest that they should usually be regarded as examples of a hobby or a pastime, rather than as an investment. Like most hobbies and pastimes, car collecting is more likely to cost you money than turn a profit.
Many years ago it was much more common to hear of someone finding an old car in someone else's barn, and fixing it up for a profit of $5,000 or $10,000. When we hear stories such as this now, they are usually focused on things that happened quite some time ago-not recently. I remember one day long ago, when I visited an actual farmyard barn with my father, to view a basket-case Duesenberg. Not that this kind of discovery can't still happen, but it isn't very likely any more. If you find something like this today, it is more likely an intentional set-up by the seller.
Here at the turn of the 21st century, the most easily available cars that might be deemed collectible are those made in the 1950's to 1980's. The cars of the 30's and 40's are pretty well spoken for or no longer exist. Cars built earlier still are almost surely all accounted for or gone by now. If any remain to be found, they are in the category of the proverbial hen's teeth.
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