left field question

W

wealthyjay

Hi All. I have had this idea in my head for some time and dismissed it for many reasons.

Has anyone toyed with the idea of investing in classic motor vehicles? there are many examples through my life I could have made money given a crystal ball, and apparently its becoming a trend in the US. I wouldn't think its a get rich thing, just another string to the bow I suppose.

Any thoughts?

I didn't know where this post should go since its not property related :)
 
Hi wealthyjay'
this isn't a new 'thing' I'm sure you know! My father being a motor mechanic (retired) has spent many hours rebuilding and servicing European Old cars. Don't quote me but "Classics" are cars that are in the vicinity of 10 to 20 yrs old only (something like that is bouncing in the back of my head). Anything worth investing in falls into the "Vintage" class (ie: older than 20 yrs) and they, if in original condition, are worth $$$. As with anything, uniqueness is king, but will also cost more money in every aspect!

Go for it! I can't say as a bank will use them as assets, but the insured value might be!
 
calvin@34 said:
Hi wealthyjay'
this isn't a new 'thing' I'm sure you know! My father being a motor mechanic (retired) has spent many hours rebuilding and servicing European Old cars. Don't quote me but "Classics" are cars that are in the vicinity of 10 to 20 yrs old only (something like that is bouncing in the back of my head). Anything worth investing in falls into the "Vintage" class (ie: older than 20 yrs) and they, if in original condition, are worth $$$. As with anything, uniqueness is king, but will also cost more money in every aspect!

Go for it! I can't say as a bank will use them as assets, but the insured value might be!
Click to expand...

My understanding is that vintage is over 30yrs.

Its not a new thing I know, it is just that my radar perked up about a year ago with an article in a magazine regarding an increased interest in people looking at cars as investments.

A friend of mine has done well with a number of restorations he has done as well. He regards many of his projects as money in the bank since he chooses well, and sticks to a budget. He inspires me with his simple logic in regards to money management, very humble and not wealthy but goes a long way with what he has.

All this brings back up one of my dreams to have a collection of valuable cars. They do cost, but its a labour of love, and I think we should all have a luxury as a reward for all the hard work we put in :)
 
At a glance this is what I see:

Pro's

- Supply is fixed (they aren't making any more original GTHO Phase 3's)
- No CGT (Why? Because how often are cars sold at a profit!)


Cons

- Maintainence
- Registration (if indeed the car is registered)
- Time factor (if you do it yourself)
- Cost factor (esp if someone else does the work for you.


My parents next door neighbour bought an original Torana SL/R 5000 L31 a few years back (shame it was not the L34) - I saw the papers that proved it. There are plenty of Torana SL/R's on the road, but most are SL models that have been done up as an SL/R - this thing was the real deal. Anyway, said it was an "investment" and then proceeded to have the car resprayed in a non-original colour!!! :eek: He also used it as his daily driver for a few years, mostly around town in a 60 zone where the wear on the gears and the brakes and suspension would have been worse than if the car had the occasional cruise on the open road. He did end up selling it, I dont know what for, but there is no way known that his "investment" made him a profit.

I'd love to have a '71 HQ Monaro GTS Coupe 350 parked in my garage, but I would never kid myself that it was an investment. At least not until I planted the right foot, anyway. ;)

MB
 
My understanding is that vintage is over 30yrs.
Click to expand...
you are correct there WJ! I don't recall the exact timings and the like. I have had my head into other ideas so I never really paid much heed. I know though that vintage are the main cars used as investments. Again I am not too familliar with investing in cars, but most of the ones I have seen aren't registered UNLESS the investor is a member of one of the car clubs and wants to go out on outings.....
I tend to be with Pitt St, on the investement pros & Cons, but then, it isn't for me to tell you what to do.
Certainly, if done well, they are a joy to the eye, but I'm one of those guys that would rather a hotrod made out of fibreglass and high-tech components, etc once I've made some money! :D
 
Age means little with collectables. Rarity, Quality and Beauty determine value.

Now, buy a gull-wing Merc (SL300?) and you have serious bragging rights :D

Thommo

ps. "muscle" cars don't rate highly in my opinion.
 
Last edited:
Right field answer:

Hey wealthyjay,

I loved this comment:
wealthyjay said:
there are many examples through my life I could have made money given a crystal ball
Click to expand...
AMEN :p


I'm certainly no expert on cars but:
wealthyjay said:
My understanding is that vintage is over 30yrs.
Click to expand...

I’m definitely a VINTAGE

Regards,

Steve
:D
 
duncan_m said:
My crystal ball says J Series Bedford Trucks from the 60's are a sure thing, you'll make a killing!
Click to expand...
You wouldn't have one for sale now Dunc, would you ? LOL

I know you are not selling. Just keeping the market alive. :D
 
Calvin, the aforementioned mate is a rodder with a 1932 5 window coupe (fibreglass body), very cool.

Muscle cars are my main attraction, and while capital gains are not huge, there is pride of ownership that is probably the main attraction to getting involved in this. I would have loved to pick up the 1968 428 Cobrajet Shelby Mustang GT500 that was for sale recently near me, but at $120,000 it was a little out of my reach.

Quite frankly, even if you pick up a humble LHD '65-'69 Mustang coupe you will at the very least make most of your money back on resale, which is a better proposition to the massive depreciation of new cars, which have nowhere near the same character I might add :)

Even the humble mini is going up, I remember buying a 1963 Morris mini for $1000 in good nick. You can't buy one for less that $4000 in the same condition, and that ain't all inflation.

I've rambled, but you get the picture. i don't know about the ultimate investment potential of many cars, its nice to have as an option even just for egos sake :)
 
G'day people,

Just to set things straight (as I understand it) - anything 30 years old (or more) falls into "classic". Vintage was the period from ~1915 thru 193? And for the REAL OLD stuff (pre-1915) - these were Veterans.

No someone can check it out on a website and correct anything I've got wrong (I'm going by memory - and parity errors are commonplace at my age :D )

Regards,
 
Les said:
G'day people,

Just to set things straight (as I understand it) - anything 30 years old (or more) falls into "classic". Vintage was the period from ~1915 thru 193? And for the REAL OLD stuff (pre-1915) - these were Veterans.

No someone can check it out on a website and correct anything I've got wrong (I'm going by memory - and parity errors are commonplace at my age :D )

Regards,
Click to expand...

Les, I think these definitions are what most people consider in terms of ages. These definitions are changing with time. the ages I was using is the governments deefinitions which can be applied to rego ie you can register your 1960's vehicle as a vintage/club car and save on rego etc

It all depends on who you talk to :)
 
The driver's for the owner of a transport company (NSW, South Coast based) have told me their boss has a complete warehouse full of "vintage" cars & employ's a guy full time to restore them.
This bloke does not spend any money unless he is going to make a buck out of it.
I know the guy, not that well, but rest assured if he's pumping $'s into it then you can be damn sure he knows he's going to make lots of $'s out of it.

Mind you, he knows a hell of a lot more than I do & he has the $'s to do it.
 
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