AAR Cuda and 1971 Cuda Prices Plummeting

[N96]

i've been an old school mopar guy since high school, 1983, i've owned at least 4 cudas, a superbird, and 3 challengers. one car i had graced the cover of the jan 99 issue of mopar muscle, a green go t/a challenger. now after buying a 2008 srt i won't buy another old car. as cool as they look a well tuned srt will run high 12's with the air on and i won't be stuck to the vinyl seat when i try to get out. you can get shaker hoods, retro stripes, and all the goodies. and if you buy an r/t you get a 5 year/100k mile warranty. i'd never thought i'd be out of the old and into the new until i drove the srt. i'm at least one guy that lost interest in old cars. the problem may lie with how many more people like me are out there. hey jeff haven't seen ya on the new rlol yet. mark

[JeffAARy]

Mark:

I've been on the new RLOL.  Just commented on Sid's plum Top Eliminator proto.

Now back to the regularly scheduled programming; I still love the old Mopars.  I don't want to use one as a daily driver, but they still appeal to me more than the new Challenger.  In fact, other than appearances I don't see a lot of similarites between the new Challenger and the old.  I consider the new Challenger to be the current version of a 1970 Fury GT (big, expensive, comfy, powerful, handles like a truck).  I think the SRT-4 Neon and Caliber are the current day equivalents of the original Challenger (more bang-for-the-buck, better handling, aggressive sound from the factory).

[JeffAARy]

I'm not seeing where it actually says it's an AAR.  In fact, it appears that it is just a Barracuda dressed up like an AAR.  For $35,000 that would seem like a high price to pay, actually.  Wonder if the buyer thought he was getting an AAR.

You are correct, I am assuming it is an AAR.  However, two purple AARs have appeared in the last 9 months with asking prices in the 50's, and there is a nice white AAR on Moparts right now for 40K.  There's no doubt that prices are crashing.

[1970 RT Challenger 1970]

i've been an old school mopar guy since high school, 1983, i've owned at least 4 cudas, a superbird, and 3 challengers. one car i had graced the cover of the jan 99 issue of mopar muscle, a green go t/a challenger. now after buying a 2008 srt i won't buy another old car. as cool as they look a well tuned srt will run high 12's with the air on and i won't be stuck to the vinyl seat when i try to get out. you can get shaker hoods, retro stripes, and all the goodies. and if you buy an r/t you get a 5 year/100k mile warranty. i'd never thought i'd be out of the old and into the new until i drove the srt. i'm at least one guy that lost interest in old cars. the problem may lie with how many more people like me are out there. hey jeff haven't seen ya on the new rlol yet. mark

How's the Depreciation on a Used 2008 srt8??? Consumer Reports or Car and Driver said it drops about $13,000 the first year, and was over priced. They're nice, but just plastic.

[_Russ_]

You are correct, I am assuming it is an AAR.  However, two purple AARs have appeared in the last 9 months with asking prices in the 50's, and there is a nice white AAR on Moparts right now for 40K.  There's no doubt that prices are crashing.

Possibly - but it all depends on the condition level. One may sell for $40k, and another may sell for $90k, but maybe one was a nice clean driver, whilst the other was a pristine no expense spared nuts & bolts concourse resto?

I think that whilst prices have dropped, the numbers cars in near flawless condition with low miles are still bringing in big dollars.

Fortunately, the worlds financial state has punched the silly people in the face and bought things back to reality. Numbers cars that still need work are still valuable, but nowhere near as much as the better examples - and thankfully, (almost) gone are the days of people paying top dollar for clones/tributes - This will also have a huge impact on the repro parts business. People can no longer get stupid money for clones/tributes - and rightfully so - so, they'll stop paying stupid money for the parts, as it's just not worth it.


Whilst it may look like prices are plummeting, I believe their inflated values are merely coming to join everyone else back in the real world, and things will be as they should.

[acudanut]

 Not good for me. I have always told the wife that my cars were my insurance/retirement fund, if I had to sell.

[whitesatinmopar]

Actually there are no average or normal prices for any model, yeah, you can take a calendar year and find the lowest price paid and the highest price paid for a common denominator car but makes no difference,...................when a guy has the gingle in his pocket and wants an available car he could care less what it is "worth", he's going to pay what he has to to purchase it. Call that kind of individual what you please, bottom line he bought what he wanted at a price HE could afford, just like you and me.    If I ever sell any of my common Mopars I hope he hears about them 

[brads70]

I just watched a rerun ( I assume) of Barrett Jackson at Scottsdale... a 1970 Hemi Cuda vert just sold for 2 million dollars?  that's just nuts?

[Challenger III]

I just watched a rerun ( I assume) of Barrett Jackson at Scottsdale... a 1970 Hemi Cuda vert just sold for 2 million dollars?  that's just nuts?

I guess some folks have money to burn.... Most are hanging on to any funds they may have available right now due to the uncertain times. When times are good, we spend. When we spend, times are good. when we rat hole our money, (or have it "confiscated") times are bad. 

[whitesatinmopar]

Check these out:


This is 2003 pricing, right before that moron paid 99K for an AAR at Barrett-Jackson and sent the whole Mopar economy sky-high.  Personally, I'm ecstatic.  Now maybe the cars can be put back in the hands of the people who truly love them, and we can get the scumbag investors out of the equation.

Interesting, I came in from a little painting project on the house for a break and a brew, sit down and turned on speed channel. Well a rerun (for whatever reason) of the 2006 BJ auction. On center stage was a 70 Cuda convertable, now with each word of description the price goes up. It was restored, naturally and matching numbers. A HEMI ? No A 440 six pack? No. Just a "lowly" 383 4 speed.  Sale price................. a paultry  $ 160,000.00 ,  So now who would be considered a "moron"?   Just saying again, we (both of these buyers included) will pay what we can afford to pay for the cars we want.  Just because most of us don't have that kind of money dosen't mean they are all going to sell cheap.  I know, sad and funny at the same time.

[ragtopdodge]

I think as the demand diminishes, the smaller companies that were able to jump on the bandwagon will drop out, and only the big names with the financial backing (Year One, Classic Industries etc) will keep on going.

The bigger parts - body panels, grills, interior trim etc - are what will consistently be produced, while the smaller obscure times may only get re-produced once every few years in smaller batches - rather than having an endless supply of stock that won't move.

1st of all, that ain't no AAR.

2nd of all, we don't know if that '71 'Cuda sold.  Guy's been trying to sell that car for many months; something must be wrong w/it.

3rd...if maybe vendors will sell the parts at lower prices, maybe they'd sell???

I mean, $175.00 for some plastic e-body rain deflectors?  Sure, they're rare, but it must take maybe $0.25 to make them.

I wish I had some more $$$ so I can hoard a lot of these repop parts.  I just need to buy ASAP what I need immediately.

[71cudajoe]

With the plummeting prices of 71 cudas, it certainly is an unfortunate time for me to be finally finishing my 71 cuda restoration project -- but I guess if it holds true that repop parts are going to become less and less prevalent, then maybe it's a good thing I got it done when I did (when I didn't have any problem finding virtually any part for my car).

[mopardave]

here is my  worth on the parts gig,  Goodmark stopped investing and R/D on mopar parts not because of AMD but market demand is very soft, They are laying off reps now. Amd his having there fair share of QC woow's growing to fast and NOT quality recheck the parts. the  comment that was made about the good parts not being sold and will not rerun is TRUE. Allot of people think because they have a car but it wll be another few months to years before they buy not because so much they dont have the cash its because they dont want to walk around or store them. Bad idea, I quote many parts and that is some of the replies i get. When I am ready i'll buy. Well economy sux, obama dollars are running out and so will the parts once they are gone. frozen capitol is parts that dont move is bad. 

[mopardave]

With the plummeting prices of 71 cudas, it certainly is an unfortunate time for me to be finally finishing my 71 cuda restoration project -- but I guess if it holds true that repop parts are going to become less and less prevalent, then maybe it's a good thing I got it done when I did (when I didn't have any problem finding virtually any part for my car).

some can but most cant build a nice car for what they are selling for. Allot of people are in dire straights and liquidating at any cost to get cash.

[71cudajoe]

some can but most cant build a nice car for what they are selling for. Allot of people are in dire straights and liquidating at any cost to get cash.

Thanks for all your insight and information on the topic of parts availability for the future. The bright side for me is that I was able to get my parts before they disappeared. You are certainly correct in saying that most can't build a car for less than what they can sell it for. That's especially true in my case since I had to hire out a lot of the labor (either because I didn't have time or didn't have the skill). I've got WAY more money wrapped up in my car than what I'll ever get out of it, but I have a feeling I'll soon forget what I paid for it once I get a chance to drive it -- hopefully within the next couple weeks.