> I also find this entire discussion interesting.
So do I but from a rather different perspective. I own a '69 MGB which
I bought 3 years ago for $ 1750. I figured it was not a bad price for
a convertable that ran OK. In the last 3 years I have put maybe another
$ 800 into it to fix minor things and keep it going. I usually drive
this car to work once or twice a week. When I don't drive the MG, I
use my '85 Toyota van for commuting. The car is in fairly poor shape
right now. It needs paint, some rust work, a transmission rebuild
and some other fairly costly stuff. Sometimes I think, OK, I'll do
all that done and have a really nice convertable, other times I think
there is no point in pouring more money into this silly little blue
car that no else would ever want.
> Clearly these prices were well below what
> the cars are worth either as pieces of history or simply as machines
> to receive driving pleasure from.
A piece of history? Well sometimes I see the little letters
"Made in U.K." down at the bottoms of the Smiths instruments and
think about places far away that I've never been to where many
years ago some blokes put these things together, but then on the
other hand, when it's time to drive to work in the morning, who
gives a flip about history! I gotta get to work. As for receiving
driving pleasure, yea this car is fun to drive, but what that really
worth when the thing don't wana start.
> Investors came in and brought the
> price of a Ferrari Daytona convertible all the way up to $6 million dollars.
Right, when MGB's hit $1 million dollars a pop, please let me know.
> Probably what is today a $1500 Spitfire will appreciate to $8000 or
> $10,000 over the next few years, but then go down to $4000 or $5000 over the
> next few years after that.
I really don't expect my $1750 MGB to go anywhere in terms of price. It
all depends on demand, which I don't think demand for 20 year old cars is
really growing much at all. The very expensive old cars are expensive
because they have become quite rare, and people like rare things, but
only to a point. MGB's are getting faily rare, I hardly ever see another one
on the road, but I don't think they are getting more desirable.
> Any opinions on this? It would be interesting to see other view points
> onto what will happen to the hobby.
>
To me, this car is just that, a hobby. I enjoy fixing this old puppy up.
Prices may go up some, prices may go down some, but I don't think that
fixing up old cars as a hobby will change much.
--
Andy Haber (andyh@hdw.csd.harris.com)
Harris Computer Systems Division, Ft Lauderdale, FL
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