The Camaro Club (UK)

Heard 60's muscle were now going cheap due to modern muscle
http://eclassicautos.com/1005_2016_mecum-kissimmee.html

That's just nuts.. well over million dollars for a Trans Am

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“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Right....

I'll try not to go off on a rant. These over priced auctions have become a joke. These people buy them just to say they have the most expensive make and model of something, even though it's not worth anywhere near it. Just a game of who's got the biggest sausage. They won't drive them and haven't got a clue what they're like, otherwise they wouldn't pay anywhere near that price. We as owners know they're ok cars, nothing special about them apart from the looks, sound and feel. They rattle, suspension is meh, handling is meh, safety is not great, brakes are meh, creature comforts don't exist. Not really great everyday cars compared to what you can get for £6k these days. Far better everything these days (handling, interior noise, creature comforts, crash safety etc.) They're fun cars to tinker with and boot about, but you'd be mad to pay more than £30k for any yank. Fair enough if it had a beast of an engine etc. But when it's a run of the mill car, with mostly stock stuff, they're worth no where near what these auctions present them at. Just a talking point for the over wealthy to say "i spent this much" then it sits in a garage till next auction where the perception is now it's worth more than what the nutter paid last year, just because. Makes me mad because the people that actually want to use them and enjoy them get priced out. And the people that own them, haven't a clue and won't do more than talk about the fact they bought it.

Mini rant over

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Anything is worth what the market will support, check out the cost of a rusty E-type or an old British Ford on ebay ?
The top muscle cars in the high end auctions tend to be limited production models, top of the model range with very low miles and often celebrity owners.
They are a distinct market segment and are for the collector /investor .
Go to some of the prestige motoring events and you will find the owners and the cars on those rare occasions when they hit the road, walk around the display and parking areas and count up the value in millions.
Most people will never know what it is to own something so rare and lack the funds ... they also go up and down according to fashion and the state of the economy so the investment is not without risk.
I always enjoy the jaded comments , rather like the kind people make about the upper regions of the housing market, to be part of it you need levels of wealth most of us will never enjoy .

As long as it increases the value of mine, your's and many others I won't complain (until I buy something older). It does help to "some" degree to raise the prices in the second hand market of all classic Americana. Ok, so the likes the later second generation Camaro's certainly are the lesser desirable and by no means iconic but there will be a knock on effect. The more Mr. Rich cares to shell out on over priced classics the more the re-sale prices increase on lesser models.

I do agree, these cars although enjoyable by ourselves are Neanderthal knuckle dragging dinosaurs in comparison to modern machinery. As we know there is hardly any serious technological improvements between the 1960's through to the late 70's. Although due to desirability they are, and have achieved a highly prized status when dependent on original availability and current condition. Originality is everything, matching numbers brings in the loaded punters. Subsequently, many a piece of aged, classic Italian and English Exotica has commanded huge sums at auction, and still does despite the original retail price.

We can make a similar comparison to the super and hyper cars of today versus the continental sports classics of the day. The modern superceeds the latter in so may ways, though the old classic can far surpass the price. Do we now see rare and iconic classic American muscle achieve this status too??

It's not about the drive but the desirability and rarity (and yes, lots of willy waving) ever brought someone a diamond? Now that really is an overpriced useless bit of stone, I dont have any issues with rare old yanks fetching silly prices, 2 years ago mine were selling for around $10,000 and now they are nearly double that, you won't hear me complaining. But I also agree it's more of a fettish people have when they buy nice and rare objects just to lock them away in a vault away from everyone

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1997 30th Anniversary SS SLP
1993 GMC Typhoon