Classic car values appreciate over time

As time passes and classic car values increase enthusiasts begin to realize that it would have been good to buy as many XW or XY Falcon GT’S, or E38 or E49 RT Charger’s as was possible.

A western queensland photo of my canary yellow E38 charger from 1974. From left Bob, daughter Robyn and friends.

Because in those days the classic car values of a good E38 Charger or Falcon GT was not all that much at all. In fact they could be bought for peanuts in comparison to what a nice car would fetch on the open market today. The author owned an E38 Charger which was bought only 2 years old for not much money at all.

Photo of E38 Charger

Hey Charger!

Today’s classic car values

People tell me that recently an XY Falcon GT Phase 3 was sold for an amount well over 100K. Now that is starting to push the classic car values out of the reach of many buyers.

Photo of a Phase 3 GT Falcon

So, the idea now is to identify a car which will appreciate in the same manner as those cars just mentioned did, and go out and buy a few.

A bit of a gamble no doubt and that is just what it would have been back in 1970/71. It’s always easy to look back and think what we could have done while to think that way now is a really big gamble. Also will most or any of today’s cars generate such a large following as those days gone by classics. They had chrome on them you know and some also had fins.

Market Forces

As values increased over time, many classic car traders saw the opportunity and commenced to buy and sell these cars. This trading together with the interest of private buyers and sellers tended to force the values upwards.

So your classic car under the house started rising and rising in value and as this happened the ownership of these cars turned into investments. Because they became so valuable most cars were driven very little or not all.

Classic car values

There are several classic car price guides available in the United States and generally sales figures can be assessed across a number of markets.

By doing this you can achieve a more realistic and exact value for your classic car. You can do some classic car values checking here.

The gold book is the oldest continually published authority on collector car values.

Enter the Replicas

Because of the high classic car values of genuine GT Falcons and RT E38 Chargers and others they tended not to be driven, and then ordinary average XY Falcons and Chargers were turned into replicas of the originals.

Because these were initially not very valuable they were driven fairly often, while today the replicas are also becoming valuable and possibly will be heading into the category of not being driven often also. Most of these were built with genuine parts anyway.

Car Shows

As you hardly ever see a genuine Falcon GT or E38 Charger being driven on the road you have to go to the Car shows to see one. Whether it’s genuine or a replica is sometimes hard to work out.

As long you get to see cars that you like the Car show has served it’s purpose well. Some cars are for sale at these shows and you can gauge the steady increase in values from year to year.

Conclusion

It all gets back to how much spare cash you have now, and whether you are prepared to gamble it on a certain car or cars to put in your shed and leave them there. Most people would probably go and buy a house or two and rent them out.

Want to add a little to this classic car values discussion, then please contact us with your views or comments. Thanks.

Yours in classy classics,

Cheers,

Bob.

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