Opinions on E-Body Pricing

[JeffAARy]

What is everyone's take on the prices of E-bodies right now, and where do you think they are going?  They most certainly are down, and I don't see much selling.  Lots of stagnant cars on Cuda World and other on-line services, and most of the ones on Ebay don't sell.  I bought my '71 Cuda last year for $50K, a year or two earlier and I couldn't have touched that car for less than $75K.  I'm starting to see nice AARs back in the $50's and $60's again, whereas you couldn't touch one for less than $90K two years ago.

Do you think the prices will continue to drop, level out, or go back up in the next five years?  I'm guessing they will level out or continue to drop.

[72hemi]

I believe that they will go back up. Right now everything is hurting and the economy won't turn around until probably next year. I remember when 55-57 Chevy's did the same thing and now they still continue to go up, just not as quickly as they did at their prime.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

They are definitely down, but for how long? They aren't making any more of them, so... be patient if you are wanting to sell. The economy has a great deal to do with that. Maybe once the new Chally comes out, things will pick up for the E-Bodies.  

  Mike

[Oldschool]

I am not sure if they are at the bottom yet.  But they are probably getting close.  I think it has more to do with the current economic situation than the value of the cars. Either way, I think that when the economy begins to return to prosperity, you will see the cost of these cars rise again....        

[bb71challenger]

I think we will still see the prices drop for the rest of this year at least. After that my gut feeling is they will start to rise gradually but steadily back to where they were and then some.

[FJ5_440]

I have followed the muscle car markets for a long time now, and I think these cars will follow the old pattern where they drop with a poor economy to the point where a nicely finished car costs about the same as the restoration cost without the car.  At that point (we are very close to it), the cars stagnate quite a bit and the only ones that trade hands are the hardship cases where the seller NEEDS the money so the buyer gets a steal, or the top shelf cars that the investors hold onto.  Poor performance in the stock market tends to stabilize the "investment grade" cars as some investors turn to tangible investments like gold or some types of art.
As a person who enjoys driving the wheels off of cars and investing in stocks and bonds, this is both good and bad news.  The good news is that if you want a really nice car to enjoy, the prices will be bottoming soon making them more affordable than they have been in a long time.  The bad news is that there is obviously less money to be made by restoring these cars because labor and parts prices generally don't fall with the car values.   Less money to be made means fewer restorations being done means fewer nice cars exist and fewer restoration products are developed.  Right now we are in an interesting spot.  The availability of cheap Chinese labor and the "development to market" times of significant reproduction parts means there are more restoration parts available than ever before and at better prices than any sane person should expect.  Couple this overlap with the falling prices of these cars, and the guy who wants one, and then wants to make it his version of perfect is in a better position than I can ever remember seeing before.

While development and production of reproduction parts will undoubtedly fall off, and our economy and society will bear the eventual cost of all this "cheap" labor, there has never been a better time to acquire one of these cars and drive it.  IMHO it is also a good time to squirrel away some of the more "damageable" parts while they are still being offered.

The prices will level out, but it might take some time yet because of the looming recession.  After the economy levels out the prices will rise again, but it may take a while to see the values we had a couple of years ago.

In summary, get 'em while they're not as hot.   

[DAYTONA]

I have followed the muscle car markets for a long time now, and I think these cars will follow the old pattern where they drop with a poor economy to the point where a nicely finished car costs about the same as the restoration cost without the car.  At that point (we are very close to it), the cars stagnate quite a bit and the only ones that trade hands are the hardship cases where the seller NEEDS the money so the buyer gets a steal, or the top shelf cars that the investors hold onto.  Poor performance in the stock market tends to stabilize the "investment grade" cars as some investors turn to tangible investments like gold or some types of art.
As a person who enjoys driving the wheels off of cars and investing in stocks and bonds, this is both good and bad news.  The good news is that if you want a really nice car to enjoy, the prices will be bottoming soon making them more affordable than they have been in a long time.  The bad news is that there is obviously less money to be made by restoring these cars because labor and parts prices generally don't fall with the car values.   Less money to be made means fewer restorations being done means fewer nice cars exist and fewer restoration products are developed.  Right now we are in an interesting spot.  The availability of cheap Chinese labor and the "development to market" times of significant reproduction parts means there are more restoration parts available than ever before and at better prices than any sane person should expect.  Couple this overlap with the falling prices of these cars, and the guy who wants one, and then wants to make it his version of perfect is in a better position than I can ever remember seeing before.

While development and production of reproduction parts will undoubtedly fall off, and our economy and society will bear the eventual cost of all this "cheap" labor, there has never been a better time to acquire one of these cars and drive it.  IMHO it is also a good time to squirrel away some of the more "damageable" parts while they are still being offered.

The prices will level out, but it might take some time yet because of the looming recession.  After the economy levels out the prices will rise again, but it may take a while to see the values we had a couple of years ago.

In summary, get 'em while they're not as hot.   

...very well stated

[VTMopar]

I also agree with FJ5 -- but there is one other factor in play -- the cheap dollar.    I just bought mine, but a couple of Convertibles that I looked hard at over the past several months and came very close to purchasing ended up being snatched up and shipped overseas.   The signficant devaluation of the dollar has effectively put our ebodies on sale in Europe -- and it doesn't cost much to ship them because we aren't exporting much anymore ......

Vermont MOPAR

[bb71challenger]

I know our brothers and sisters in other countries deserve every right to get a cool mopar but it sure sucks to know that our cars are leaving, most likely to never come back 

[JeffAARy]

FJ5_440:

Interesting points.  I don't think there's ever been money to be made in restoring most cars, though.  My experience has always been it is cheaper to buy one done than restore one.

I just wonder about the demographics of the E-body owners.  Here is my opinion of how we got here, and I could be wrong.  First off, my observation is the Mopar muscle car crowd is mostly blue collar and middle class.  The really rare stuff is now owned by millionaires, or long-time Mopar fanatics that were in this hobby long before the prices went insane.   When the price of the high dollar stuff multiplied several X almost overnight (thank you Ebay and Craig Jackson), it dragged the more common pieces (if you can call a Cuda common) with it and the investors swooped in to make a buck.  But now the market is saturated with investors.  The people who truly love the cars can't afford them, and the investors can't unload them for what they have into them.  On top of that, you have the crowd that would rather spend their $$$$ to make a resto-mod with better performance and creature comforts than buy an original car with a pedigree (and manual drum brakes and no AC).  This all adds up to stagnating cars.   For these reasons I believe the prices will continue to fall.  I just don't think the people who truly love the cars can afford them, and eventually the investors will have to move the cars at a loss.

[72hemi]

I have found in building cars that I can build them for a fraction of the cost to buy one most of the time and this is especially true for e bodies. I am in no situation to buy a finished cuda (clone or factory) with a 440 6 pack 4 speed and a shaker hood, but I was able to afford to build one. Now if by building one instead of buying you mean buy a project car and send it out and pay to have everything done then yes I agree with that. I also think that there are people who bought these cars as investments, but a large portion of people who are buying these cars buy them because they love them. There is a member of the Mopar club I am a part of who is well off and has several 70 and 71 hemi cudas including 2 unrestored survivor cars and a 71 convertible (yes one of the 11 real 71 hemi cuda convertibles) and he buys them because he loves them. Last year at our car show he brought 7 of his cars to the show. Once the economy stabalizes prices will start going back up on these cars. The days of buying hemi cudas for less than 100k are gone most likely forever except for the insanely rare occasion.

[alphabuck]

i think prices will level out.  it seems to me theres a finite market for these cars.  as the population ages the next generation of 30 and 40 somethings will seek out the cars of their youth.  stuff like late 70s trans ams and camaros will take off.  at my parts store ive noticed a growing number of guys in love with buick grand nationals and ford mustangs from the mid 80s.  again 40 year olds who had one 20 years ago.

[70challrtse]

i think prices will level out.  it seems to me theres a finite market for these cars.  as the population ages the next generation of 30 and 40 somethings will seek out the cars of their youth.  stuff like late 70s trans ams and camaros will take off.  at my parts store ive noticed a growing number of guys in love with buick grand nationals and ford mustangs from the mid 80s.  again 40 year olds who had one 20 years ago.

Excellent post, but I hope you are wrong.

[cudagirl4406pk]

Well i think the car market will go up again in the future as will the housing market but hopefully you will be able to get your dream car before the price become out of reach of most car people.

[vryfast]

I'm 55 years old. I bought my 70 Cuda rust bucket to restore because it was the car i wanted when I was 18 but could not afford. My concern with 70 muscle car values are that as the boomers continue to age the new car buyer will be buying the cars from their youth not the ones we are buying now. 15 years ago the 55 chevy was the hot car the last few years its been 70's mopars. When my son is 55 he will probably be trying to restore a subaru WRX.