Sky high car prices

[H. L. Chauvin]

Maybe good Model A Clubs & good Model A Forums can make Model A prices go up.

Appears that if everybody was critical about how Model A Fords are junk, it would be normal for Model A owners to begin to believe that their cars are junk & not worth keeping.

On the other hand, with so many Model A owners talking about how great their Model A's are on these Model A Forums & in magazines, (& displaying photos of same), it appears normal that more Model A owners are proud of their current Model A's & are not as eager to get rid of their treasures.

Seems like a normal human reaction.

Maybe look at it this way: If multiple people everywhere commented all the time on how good looking your wife was, you probably would take her out more often & never think about getting rid of her either. LOL

[Sixseven]

Wait until the minimum wage goes up to $15.00/hr. The ripple affect will be felt through the entire economy. That $15K Model A will still be outside of the living wage bringing in $25K or more.

Then on the other hand, I occasionally hear how the young people are not interested in these old cars so the price is going to drop to next to nothing.

Can't figure this out any better than my granddad 80 years ago.

[48fordnut]

Thats right Purdy,and look at todays salaries. average joe mech 20-25 bucks an hour. So if you do serious work 40- 50 bucks an hr. Times change ,but not the way of thinking. I have always said it's cheaper to buy than to build. I'm experiencing this now on a build.

[partridgekelley]

Some people don't believe me when I tell them I paid $20 for my 28 ccpu back in '59'. Needless to say it didn't look as it does now. But try to buy anything for a model A for only $20 today. I'm glad I saved any extra pieces I came across back than. SHOCKING , aint it!

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by kelley's restoration

prices may be high, but its still less than the cost that someone else payed to have it restored.
my sport coupe that i am selling right now is an older resto, but zero miles on it. i cant even get an offer on it, but a guy will buy a basket case that will be in the works for 2 years for $5,000 spend $20,000 on it to finish it and then be in the same boat as what he could have had for $9,000 less and drive it for 2 years
my .02
tk

They are afraid that the "older resto" will need two years work $20,000 to finish it. You say it is 100% good but you are selling it. The buyer hears that and only wonders what is hidden in a 80+ year old car.

[Mike V. Florida]

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Originally Posted by partridgekelley

Some people don't believe me when I tell them I paid $20 for my 28 ccpu back in '59'. Needless to say it didn't look as it does now. But try to buy anything for a model A for only $20 today. I'm glad I saved any extra pieces I came across back than. SHOCKING , aint it!

If you paid 2000 for it then and looking at what the car looks like, and is worth now would you say you over paid for the car at $2000?

[kelley's restoration]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

They are afraid that the "older resto" will need two years work $20,000 to finish it. You say it is 100% good but you are selling it. The buyer hears that and only wonders what is hidden in a 80+ year old car.

honestly i am good with them wanting to have a basket case restored...its kind of our thing lol
but value to value its hard to beat the "bang for the buck"
also we restored it and have all the pics videos and info from when it was done
tk

[Tacoma Bob]

Coulda-been's and shoulda-been's. Frankly I'm glad to see asking prices begin to climb. Please no hate mail guys but Model "A"s are nothing more than the poor man's approach to antique car collecting. I love em just like anybody else but in today's world it still takes a sizable amount of cash to restore even a decent driver. I often hear the comment "well you never build these things to get your money back" Sounds like Bull Durham to me. You bet I'd like to recoup (no pun intended) a few of my hard earned restoration dollar$.

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

If you paid 2000 for it then and looking at what the car looks like, and is worth now would you say you over paid for the car at $2000?

Think you forgot the decimal point Mike, he said $20 not $2,000.

[Purdy Swoft]

H.L. I remember a while back a few of us started talking about our Fumaze crankcase breathers and how good and rare the originals were. Prices seemed to sky rocket. I felt like we had played hell if we ever wanted to find another one at a reasonable price.

48fordnut, the dollar sure won't buy what it use to. When I bought my roadster, I never dreamed it would cost as much as it did to restore. I'm still happy though and plan to keep it.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by CarlG

Think you forgot the decimal point Mike, he said $20 not $2,000.

No no I meant 2000. Here is my point, we often hear that an object has been "overpaid" for of it is not worth as much as was paid. Overpaid is only based on today as a point of reference. If he paid 2000 for the car all those years ago he would have been told he paid too much but now 2000 for a running complete Model A would cause a stampede to get it. If he told people he paid 2000 for it he would be told he made a good deal.

When pricing a car one should think of how long do I wish to keep it and what would it's worth be if I sold it then.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

H.L. I remember a while back a few of us started talking about our Fumaze crankcase breathers and how good and rare the originals were. Prices seemed to sky rocket. I felt like we had played hell if we ever wanted to find another one at a reasonable price.
.

Yes I can't believe what they go for now. Wish I had picked up a few extra's

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

H.L. I remember a while back a few of us started talking about our Fumaze crankcase breathers and how good and rare the originals were. Prices seemed to sky rocket. I felt like we had played hell if we ever wanted to find another one at a reasonable price.

48fordnut, the dollar sure won't buy what it use to. When I bought my roadster, I never dreamed it would cost as much as it did to restore. I'm still happy though and plan to keep it.

Originally Posted by Tiny

Yes I can't believe what they go for now. Wish I had picked up a few extra's

I have a spare one. Hmmmmmm, now what were they selling for?

[Bob-A]

I bought my old cars to have fun with and not to make a profit, now or in the future when I sell them. Hopefully, I will make at least what I have in them monetarily. The labor, parts, etc., that I put into them was/is the fun part. I've seen money ruin many hobbies. Old Harleys & Indians is one good example. Riding and building these old scooters use to be a working man's hobby. Not now! Ever since the yuppies and especially Hollywood discovered Harleys. The sky is not the limit and the
prices just keep going up. I would hate to see this happen to building and restoring our beloved Model-A Fords.......

Bob-A

[Mikeinnj]

Originally Posted by Bob-A

O'Kay, we know what the asking prices are. What are the selling prices?

Bob-A

I agree....they are not always nearly the same.

[Ross/Kzoo]

"If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong." - Jay Leno

[Jeff/Illinois]

The old rule of thumb at an auction is, you didn't pay too much you just bought it too soon.

If you find an old car you like, and you don't have to sell your soul to the devil to get it, buy it and have fun. Don't 'look back' or try to tell yourself you got a good deal. it becomes more than the money. All of us are gonna die, and time is going by pretty fast. How much fun is it to see a bank statement every month with a figure typed on it? Who gives a rat's a-- how much money anybody has in a bank?

Remember some of the Model A greats that have already left us, Dave Lopes, Roger Kaufman, and many others. Guys that were my age. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow.

[Ross/Kzoo]

Like this:

[Joe K]

Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow

Ain't it the truth!

I bought my Model A truck back in 1977. It was my "graduation present" from college - one that my father indicated "I shouldn't make this my actual mode of transportation." But I did have a reliable used car to drive.

When I first began I kept scrupulous record of my expenditures. So much for this and so much for that. I had intent to keep pricing reasonable such that I could always turn over the car should need be and get my money from it.

But money was tight starting out. And there were so many other competitions for the "discretionary dollar."

I did make a couple of bad moves back in the day. One was to collect the parts necessary to convert the CC pickup to hydraulic brakes - and then I discovered the true limitation of the Model A brakes was not the brake shoes or their application - but rather the tire area. So I gave that idea up - and about $100 in loose brake parts which ultimately went to the dump. (hey, we didn't have the Internet in the early 1980s and as the parts came from a 'salvage yard', they could go back into the scrap metal stream without much consideration.)

Another 1990s diversion was acquiring a Model AA truck which I was going to use for HAULING. The Model A pickup is small and although good for up to 1000 lbs load, it's not really a truck you haul firewood around in - although in small batches it will work fine. More the length/height/width limitation to go to the lumberyard and pick up plywood or boards or anything domestic.

The Model AA truck was truly a truck on steroids. But alas afterwards a job change and the vanishing of my spare time put that project on hold. Seeing the deterioration as it stood in my barn, I ultimately gave it up - but having bought well, I sold well too. And had sense enough to do it timely when opportunity afforded.

Now, I don't bother to keep track of my investment in the Model A. Perhaps I would be disappointed? Or shocked? Better instead to chalk it up to money spent for one's pleasure? Life IS short I've discovered. TOO short. And not worry so much about how much financial return or lack thereof one gets? And enjoyment is where one finds it - or if lacking time for the search buys it?

I do make a bit more now in my work. And my anticipated costs (college education, retirement) are now mostly covered. So the money is less of an issue.

Some people own the classic "hole in the water." Other enjoy Disney. Others save to go to Barbados on their time off from work. Some of us spend our work life travelling to places like Barbados and Disney and frankly the boat has left the pier on this for me. So I count myself lucky to be able to own and restore a Model A on those rare moments when I am actually at home.

Joe K

[Terry,NJ]

-My cheapest car, a 1958 Vauxhall $5. (Yup!)
-One of my best deals, a 1964 Ford Galaxy, in 1966, for $1200.
-My first Ford was a 1949 tudor for $20 in 1960
-My Town Sedan cost $1500 in 2010 and my Coupe costs $5000 in 2012. Good deals? I thought so at the time. Sometimes I wonder, especially about the Town Sedan.
-Asking prices drive the paying prices, If someone asks more for their cars, others will do the same and buyers will grudgingly go along and pay the higher prices in the end.
-There has never been, in the history of the world, a Govt that could resist the temptation to counterfeit it's own money!
-Which controls pricing? The availability of cash or the sellers desire for more? Or both?
Just some stuff to ponder!
Terry