Collapsing Collector Car Market?

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eric
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It may soon be a good time to buy that classic car you’ve always wanted to own – but couldn’t afford to buy. The speculative demand that has pushed the prices asked – and paid – for what were once just “old cars” that used to be driven by high school kids back in the ’80s higher than the cost of new luxury cars by the early 2000s seems to be waning.

An excellent barometer of this is the Pebble Beach Classic Car Auction – which is one of the highest-end markets for concours-level classic cars.

This year was not a good year:

Instead of the usual up-bidding into the six (and even seven) figures, the bidding isn’t rising. Especially for the highest-end vehicles, which either didn’t sell or sold for much less than the seller had expected to get.

Why?

Part of the reason is the same reason why more and more people aren’t buying $50k new cars. People can’t afford them, either.

But there’s a more significant – and permanent – reason.

Baby Boomers – the generation that is chiefly responsible for what used to be just old cars becoming investments – like paintings – are selling rather than buying. Which they are doing because they are reaching the age at which people generally stop driving. Soon to be followed by no-longer-living. This is just a fact of life. It will happen to every generation, in time – including the currently youthful Gen Z people.

The youngest Baby Boomers are pushing 70 and the bulk of this demographic – born shortly after the end of World War II, which ended in 1945 – is well into their 80s. Each year, there are fewer Baby Boomers – and that trend is beginning to look like the proverbial hockey stick because once a generational cohort gets into the ’80s, in short order there will not be very many of that cohort left.

Joe Biden, for instance, is probably already at or very near the point in life that he is no longer physically able to drive – much less work on, if he ever did – his classic 1967 Corvette. It is of value to him because of the history and the memories; he was gifted the car when he was a young man back in the late ’60s by his father as a reward for becoming a lawyer – so the story goes. He has kept it all these years since and for all of those years, its value has waxed rather than waned, in part because GM wasn’t building any more ’67 Corvettes and also because there was a lot nostalgia for these kinds of cars as young Boomers became middle-aged Boomers.

cc-10-23-24-EPonKMED     

This began to drive the prices up, especially as the ’80s rolled into the ’90s.

By the  early-mid 2000s, they had risen so high that it became common for a used classic Corvette from the ’60s to fetch more than it cost to buy a new one back in the ’60s. And the old one was a good investment, as these classics came to be regarded. That added another layer of incentive to buy – even if the buyer didn’t know that much (or care that much) about the car.

It was blue chip on wheels.

It got so crazy by the mid-2010s that even a relatively run-of-the-mill latter-day muscle car such as my 1976 Pontiac Trans-Am cost so much to buy that I could not afford to buy it.

I italicize myself to make a point.

When I bought the ’76 TA back in the early ’90s, it was just an old/used car – and priced accordingly.

It was the kind of cars esteemed by young guys back then and which young guys could afford to buy. I was only a few years out of high school back then – and I could afford a “nice” (i.e., in very good condition) ’70s-era muscle car. The only reason I own a “nice” ’76 Trans-Am today is because I have kept it all these years – not because it’s an investment (I have zero interest in selling it) but because I love it.

Because it has history for me

But if I had waited to buy until about 25 or 30 years later to buy it, I would not have have it today. Because like most middle-aged men today, I cannot afford to buy a “nice” ’70s-era muscle car today. Not even a relatively run-of-the-mill one like mine. Similar ones from just a few years prior have recently been selling for six figures.

But that’s changing, because time is moving right along. You can get a neat old car from the ’70s for less than it costs to buy a new entry level compact car. Maybe not a Trans-Am. Not yet. But maybe soon.

And that’s good news if your a Gen X’er, Millennial or even a Gen Z who likes the idea of owning a classic car.

. . .

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Related posts:
  1. Muscle Cars: The Just For Men Hobby?
  2. Classic Muscle Cars: The Just For Men Hobby?
  3. Car Prices Would Go Down… If The Free Market Were Allowed to Operate
  4. Silver Linings Amid Darkening Clouds
  5. Too Many Cars . . . Not Enough Market?

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

82 COMMENTS

  1. Just found this…..

    Car culture…car enthusiasts…

    New Free App DriveMob

    DriveMob is the first app in the world designed for motor enthusiasts.

    Create your virtual Garage and look for other Cars and Drivers to get in touch with.

    Make yourself visible on the Map to be invited and invite other Drivers to ride with you.

    No data shared with third parties…..Data is encrypted in transit……You can request that data be deleted

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.reissdigitallife.drivemob&hl=en-US

  4. It is all about passion….people that hate cars don’t get it….

    Boomers like collector cars, classic cars…

    When you are younger you can chase women in bars and drive muscle cars, sports cars, driver’s cars….

    when you get older you might not chase women in bars….but you can still drive muscle cars, sports cars, driver’s cars….

    If there is a bit of luxury in it…like a new Maserati…women might like it….but…how many women buy Caterham’s?….

  6. Some of the younger generations like JDM cars…so the value of these has been increasing…

    A good example…on BAT right now….price rising not falling…

    1,500-Kilometer 1991 Honda CRX 1.6i-VT 5-Speed….current bid…$40,813…a new record…previous record on BAT…$40,000….

    N. America didn’t get the 1.6-liter B16A1 DOHC VTEC 150 H.P. engine….Europe always got the good stuff….

    2200 lb car…fully analog….a great car…

    The N. American car had 108 HP …but…had shorter gears and a 4:25 diff…to compensate for lower power….Euro had 4:13 diff….

    so…get the U.S. car and engine swap the 1.6-liter B16A1 DOHC VTEC 150 H.P. engine….

    https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991-honda-crx-82/

    • I owned a 1989 Honda Civic SI…same as the CRX but had a backseat…bit heavier….fantastic car…drove it hard for 5 years, 60,000 miles….zero problems…just brake pads, belts and one headlight to replace….

      there is no car like that today….bigger, heavier, less reliable, not driver’s cars now…ruined…the new SI is far too big and heavy….

    • I built a Factory Five Racing Cobra replica back in 2000. It used Fox Mustang parts so it was pretty much bulletproof. The only problem was of course, the government. Massachusetts (which is the home of FFR) makes it almost impossible to register one. This state sucks so much…..

  8. Early Xer here, started driving in 1982. Cars of that era totally sucked, it was only a few years after the emissions mandates, and everything was small — Escorts, Omnis, K-cars, Citations, Chevettes. None of that stuff survived, it all rotted out or ended up in the junkyard. Little of it was really worth saving anyway. Not until the later ’80s and 1990s did you see a return to cars worth buying as classics, Fox-bodies, Impalas, Ford panther platforms.

    As a kid, though, I recall that even most of what we could consider a hot classic car now was considered a hot car, then, such as a Chevelle or Mustang or GTO. Some people used those as daily drivers and they ended up in the junkyard, but a lot of people were saving them even back then. I know a Boomer probably 15 years older than me, he bought a Chevelle in 1972 and still has it, kept it his entire life. Same was true of some of the tricks like K5 Blazers, Broncos, F-150 4x4s and Dodge Lil’Red Trucks, people knew what they had even back then, and built and rebuilt them for long service lives. They only last so long in daily use, though.

    I recall a lot of what would be considered “second-tier” classics like Mavericks and Torinos and Corvairs and Econoline pickups being used as daily drivers in the 1970s, most of those cars were clapped out in 8-10 years and were scrapped.

    My own desire at present is to stay out of the high-priced, over-teched new car market as much as possible, and have access to anything from about 1970 to 2005 that can serve as and easily-maintained, cheap daily driver or “nice-but-not-restored-to-showroom” car. It is increasingly difficult to find such vehicles at a reasonable price. I do not an never did want a $50,000 or $60,000 restored classic for nothing but shows and cruise nights, I’d rather have something that can be put into semi-general use but still kept nice.

    • How ironic that classics that will continue working, long after electric/battery cars die, and new vehicles of any type are unaffordable, that average guy will HAVE to buy, because it’s the only car he can afford???

      I’m looking forward to seeing this happen, lots of great classic cars I’d love to be able to buy, but couldn’t years ago because of lack of $$$, or having to put $$$ elsewhere, house, kids, divorce, etc.

      YMMV….

  9. I bought my 71 Charger about 10 years ago, at below the price of an average new car at the time. Today, like you Eric, I could not afford it.

    The only reason I was able to afford it 10 years ago is because in 1971, the body style of the Charger changed and people either loved them or hated them, and they are just not as sought after. I’m in the “love” category. Won’t ever sell, but if I did, it would bring double what I paid for it.

    • It may bring double the money you paid, but what if that money has lost so much value, you still lose of the sale of it, now or in the future??? If it’s an investment, not good, but as a car, even a “dream car”, it’s a loss anyway, but you can enjoy it for what it is …and ironically, it may be the only vehicle you can use if we have an EMP , or something terrible happen to the US

  10. The classic car market is cratering because the boomers are aging out, but also because people just don’t have the money to spend on a collector car.

    Also, as a Gen Xer, you like the cars with which you have memories. For us, it’s the wonderful Japanese cars of the 1990s, along with F-bodies, Mustangs and some trucks. These cars had fuel injection, but weren’t overly burdened by all of the nonsense nannies. I love muscle cars from the 1960s, but the older cars and hot rods just are meh to me.

    My red Mk. IV Supra has been mine since 1998 and I restored this once-wrecked car to near concours condition. I probably could get a lot of money for it on Bring A Trailer, but I’d never sell because too much of my blood, sweat and tears are tied up in that car. My oldest son is a car nut and he will inherit it after I spring loose the mortal coil.

    A Toyota dealership pays me to bring it in on the weekends to the showroom so they can show it off, but the deep, dark secret is I drive that car HARD, like it’s supposed to be driven. It’s not a showpiece. It’s got some nicks on it, but the 2JZ runs like a champ even with a lot of miles on the odometer.

    We had a Supra meetup at the annual Cruisin’ The Coast in Mississippi and we had two guys with JDM Mk. IVs with right-hand drive and about 10 cars in all. I also saw a couple of Skylines and Toyota Crowns, also RHD. JEALOUS!

    If you have been hankering to buy a Mustang or Bel Air or any old car, just wait until more of the Boomers die off. Their kids will want to unload that car and that’ll be when you, with cash in hand, can swoop in at a steep discount and have a bit of history in your garage.

    • Good morning, Dr!

      I’d drive my TA more often if I could afford to – but it costs nearly $80 to fill up the tank and the TA gets maybe 16 MPG if I drive it with a light foot. But when I do drive it, I always let ‘er rip. Hear the Qjet moan; smell the aroma of roasted Radial T/A tires!

      Addendum: When I was 17, I could afford to daily drive a very similar car – my dearly departed ’78 Camaro. I could fill the tank for about $20 because gas cost about $1 back in the mid-’80s. Now I am middle aged and cannot afford to drive my TA except occasionally.

  11. The boomers like the cars from the 1920’s to the 1950’s, 1960’s…they are starting to sell…so values are dropping….

    Some of the younger generations like JDM cars…so the value of these has been increasing…

  12. Will classic, oil-leaking Harleys become more valuable if the company plotzes?

    ‘Harley-Davidson’s stock fell 4.9% Thursday. At Harley-Davidson Motor Company (HDMC), motorcycle shipments fell 39% to 27,500, as dealers continued to adjust [sic] inventory levels to match current demand.

    ‘Revenue at HDMC tumbled 32% to $876 million, with motorcycle revenue down 40% to $616 million.’ — MarketWatch

    https://tinyurl.com/2zdm6kw3

    These are apocalyptically awful numbers. Repeat after me: it’s the ‘consumer discretionary’ sector. No dough, no discretion.

    It’s the end of the Hog as we know it … and I feel fine. 🙂

    • Jim, their bikes in the UK are as much as 40k… and now they are selling more lines of clothes than bikes. I guess thats the first sign a once iconic brand is about to go extinct….

    • Harleys now seem like a niche, nostalgic product. Much like the replica Cobra market or perhaps all those choppers from 20 years ago (which have not aged well at all). It doesn’t seem relevant anymore. I just can’t see Harley surviving as a mass market bike builder.

  13. Good ppoint. I wouldnt say X ers hhated cars, but their relationships with them are ambivalent. As early Gen X, i got my license in 80. It was just after the second fuel shortage, the middle of the safety era and the height of the smog times. Four years later the first belt law was passed in New York. A year later, every other car had a baby on board tag hanging from the window. Seven years into my driving experience, we relaxed the National Speed Limit to 65 mph on the rural interstates. That marked the official end of the malaise era. Eight years later, as the latter wave of Gen X got their licenses. The 55 mph limit ended entirely. It coincided with peak power and drivability. No one can say 60s cars drove worth a crap xcept for a few muscle cars with beefed up suspensions. As the 70s wore on, horsepower totals cratered. But cars had increasingly tall highway gears. It made for interesting encounters on the freeways for those Gen X people who had some faint notion of driving pre 1974. You could hit a lick at 80 without the car sounding like a blendomatic.

  14. It is great news. These wonderful examples of peak civilization should be driven and enjoyed far and wide. It is a reminder of the ‘better vanished time.’ Helps with the awakening of younger people about what was lost.

    Would never spend a hundred grand, even fifty grand on any car I can think of, even though I could probably swing it without too much pain. I’m looking forward to a collapse in prices. Keeping powder dry for the inevitable fire sale. Of course I’ve been waiting awhile and it may never materialize. Its nice that the classics retain some if not most of their value. But if I buy one and I like it, I don’t really care if the price goes to zero. The classics may become like PMs, manipulated prices crash to near zero, so leviathan can gather them up and crush them, still, none physically available at any price. My only regret, not having a bigger garage to keep more than two.

    Getting my wife to switch to an older car has been wonderful. Although only twenty five years old her fifty thousand mile ‘new’ Mercedes has her enjoying driving again. Now if I could just get her to enjoy driving a stick shit, we’d be in high cotton.

    • Hi Norman,

      Around the time I bought my ’76 – circa 1992 – I could have bought a much rougher condition ’74 SD-455 car. I didn’t- because I was young and stupid. The ’74 would be worth prolly $75k-plus today and I could have bought it back then for $3,500.

      Still, I am glad I have my ’76. It and I have been through most of my adult life together!

      • It s sad to think of all the great cars I could/should have bought, but instead, was only worried about the work vehicles I relied on to make a living. Had a garage and everything, could have bought one of those Prowlers and kept it nice. Buying PMs instead wasn’t such a bad choice, except for our recent inter coastal boating misadventure.

        Kudos to EPAutos for being a shinning beacon to our common cultural heritage.

    • THE expert on Italian cars Davide Cironi…..

      His take on a Maserati Granturismo S (MC-Line) – Driven by Davide Cironi

      @ 8:50 in video…He says….. when passion is involved it is always an irrational thing….the passion for cars is the most irrational thing, we like to harm ourselves in every way possible, spend tons of money,

      and we argue with our women, because we like cars that they don’t…but…this is a car they would like…

      My opinion….
      Ferrari engine with the great Ferrari sound track…why not….buy it just for that…

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMv5fPw9L3s

  16. >the bulk of this demographic – born shortly after the end of World War II, which ended in 1945 – is well into their 80s.

    Well, no. “Baby Boomer” gen starts officially with the end of WWII, which ended 2 September 1945 (VJ Day). Do the math, Eric. You are allowed to use a calculating machine.
    2024 – 1946 = 78. Well into their 70s, yes. Eighties, no. But, hey, what is ten years, plus or minus?

    My own DOB is 2 September 1949 (VJ Day plus 4 years) , so I turned 75 last September. My Dad was trained as a bombardier in USAAF in WWII. Japanese surrender meant he did not have to bomb Japan.

    Air crews had notoriously short life expectancy.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G9xmV3wiEo

    • Ok Boomer. According to the authors of Generations andbthe Fourth Turning the Boom generation actually began around 1943 and ended in 1961. Gen x began 1962 and ended in 81. Millenials got their start in 82 and ended sometime around 2000. 2001-19 are the Genz.

  17. I sold my Triumph when I moved out here and have considered getting something else. Fear of electronics and love of simplicity will probably keep me in the 70s or older.

    The Austin-Healey 3000 has always been a favorite. I haven’t seen prices softening that much, but I suspect they will as this market continues to crater.

  18. I have been noticing (looking on Faceboot marketplace and similar), in the last few years or so that pre-1964 classic cars have been becoming cheaper, except for the more notable ones like the 1955-57 chevrolet 2-doors. Perhaps even now, I might be able to get my hands on a 1955, 56, or 57 chevrolet

  19. ‘time is moving right along’ — eric

    A healthy 80-something colleague who works on trails met with a 20-something government biologist last week to survey some rare plants. ‘She looks about sixteen,’ he quipped.

    Eric cites the secular reason why the classic car market is changing: Boomers are aging out. Those with personal memories of ‘paradise by the dashboard light’ while making out in their muscle cars are geriatric grayhairs now, jauntily tapping their canes to ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ (and it’s too late now).

    But the cyclical reason for classic car price weakness is that consumer discretionary purchases are sinking. Yesterday we learned that existing home sales have fallen to a level last seen in 2010, when the housing market was bottoming out after its last bust. New vehicle sales reached their all-time in 2000 [not a typo], and their post financial crisis high in 2015. Chart:

    https://tinyurl.com/3wypbzwe

    As Nancy Pelosi is wont to say, ‘Embrace the suck’ — it’s bad out there, and about to get worse. Winter is coming. :-0

    • Hi Jim,

      No doubt the majority of the public is having a hard time making ends meet. The familia and I headed into Florida yesterday, for shopping. Very few people in the stores and even less buying. We didn’t suffer from that problem since I have a seventeen year old daughter who can always find something to buy. Fortunately, she did buy more books at Barnes and Noble than makeup at Sephora, but neither trip was cheap.

      I did notice one thing that people do seem to be spending on…eating out. The restaurants have been busy even mid week. Maybe it is the area of the country I am in, but dining out hasn’t lost its appeal. I think people are willing to cut back “stuff” for “an experience” and that is where the money (when they have it) is going.

      • I really like reading your comments, Raider Girl.

        I wonder, are many people who are eating out in FL saying, “Well, we’re not buying a house, so lets go out to eat!”?

        “Sales of existing homes in the U.S. are on track for the worst year since 1995—for the second year in a row.”…

        https://archive.is/miKiL#selection-5863.0-5865.30

        I wonder what that’ll do to nest egg asking prices going forward? Up? Or, down? …Or, really flat, then down?

        Meanwhile, a new Marshall’s department store opened in the small-ish city near me. The parking lot was totally packed. The experience of, grand opening?

        In contrast, the big orange hardware store across the street where I went (here in IA) was a ghost town.

        • Hi helot,

          I think many Millennials and Gen Zers believe buying a home is out of their wheelhouse. My poor nephew has been looking for a year for a starter home and they require so much work that the renovation of the home keeps him from being able to both purchase AND update.

          In the same breath, my sister’s home outside of Tampa has literally dropped $100k less than when she purchased it two years ago. So homes in certain areas of the country are falling, but many areas are still holding strong even though they are sitting longer. They also are not decreasing enough to be affordable to younger adults.

          With such big purchases being forego by the younger generations I believe they want to use their money on things they enjoy. That seems to have moved from such items as clothes, new phones, or other tech to dining out, concerts, and vacations.

  20. I’ve been saying this for years…I’m waiting in the wings for the boomers to die out so I can get my hands on some cool cars, though my preference is more toward the 1930s and 40s, like that Lincoln Zephyr with the flathead v12. Love the streamliner and art deco style of all those old Cords, Packards, even the steam cars. Heck even a model A would be cool. More silent generation cars, but plenty of boomers will be offloading them too, or they will be in the estate sale.

    Steam car would rule, people would call for me to come over and I’d be like, “hold on, I gotta fire up the boiler and drain my cocks before I can go balls out and meet you.” then blast steam and yell tally ho lads!

  21. The household name stuff like mustang and chevelle might never decline that much, even the children of boomers love them. However I can see a world where you can’t give away an equally cool Torino Super Cobra Jet or Buick GSX because nobody knows what it is

  22. Middle of Gen X here.

    I bought my 1968 Olds Delta 88 for $2800 in 2002 and sold it for $4000 in 2005.

    I can no longer do that.

    For one thing, people have started going after old cars that were once overlooked, like big station wagons and land yachts. A car like an Olds 98, Pontiac Bonneville, Chrysler New Yorker, or Mercury Marquis now sells for more loot than many muscle cars did a few years ago.

    • Bryce, yeah. Wagons are an exceedingly rare and popular automotive segment. The beginning of interest i. Wagons can be found as far back as 90 when the last ones rolled off the assembly.line.

      That said, they cost about 25 percent more than their sedan counterparts.

  23. A lot of the collector markets are set up for money laundering. Art is traditionally viewed as a way to get money out of a country easily. Cars, antiques and antiquities, vacation real estate… anything that has a subjective value is ripe for washing out high tax transactions or hiding wealth.

    As Bitcoin and other virtual currencies become common, I think a lot of the old ways of hiding wealth from the tax man (or FBI) will be discontinued. Which is probably a good thing. Let the people who really like the stuff keep it for the ages.

    • The collector watch market….

      After a year of price declines in the secondary market that caused more than a little angst in the luxury watch world…..sounds like the collector car market….maybe some of the same players…

      many insiders are predicting 2024 will be marked by greater stability and a return to buying and selling among passionate collectors as opposed to investment buyers.

      passionate collectors as opposed to investment buyers….sounds like the collector car market….

      the investment buyers screwed up the market…they might know very little about cars, hate cars, or don’t like to…. or can’t even drive cars properly….it is the same as buying a stock…

      the investment buyers also screwed up the real estate market……

      The real passionate car buyers are the ones that like the driving experience, on and off the track…and are likely to know a lot about cars and wrench on their cars….

      Other collector car owners might just like looking at it, or showing it off at car meets, drive it only a few miles per year….

      A million dollar watch seems like an easy way to get money out of the country….at the airport they might not even figure it out….won’t identify it…just say it is a cheap Chinese replica….

      https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/watch-industry-predictions-2024-1235475238/

      • I like your out of the box thinking anonymous1. The only problem I see, if it comes to that, and you flee Globhomo’s jurisdictional tentacles, you’d probably be lucky to get thirty cents on the dollar for the watch at your new destination. Very painful exchange. Maybe have a bank account with some money already safely deposited in your new countries currency. An air gapped cold wallet like an Elipal with some crypto, also useful. Another good thing not to forget, fly private, avoid scrutiny.

  24. I don’t look at my hit ‘n’ miss engines as an investment. They make me happy and therein lay the value.

    There’s plenty of people in this hobby to do consider them to be investments / retirement funds. And most auctions are of families selling off the departed’s collection. And I don’t begrudge either the hobbyist or family making some money off them.

    BTW, if yall know where an antique jaw crusher, an upright Meyers Bulldog pump, or a Jensen 13w pumpjack can be found, I’ll be your new best friend. 🙂

    As for cars, if I were a collector I’d like to have a ’71 Hemicuda and an ’87 Buick GNX.

  25. The good of declining values is that perhaps these cars will be driven more, the bad is that lots of them will be stored outside and slowly deteriorate. A major part of owning a collector car is having a secure shelter for it.

    Next year my rat motored Chevy will wind up in a Shelter Logic garage to make room in my shop. This is in part due to a multi hour job of moving stuff to go to a cruise in and the put the junk where it was before afterwords. Multiple welders, generators .etc take up a lot of space.

    • Re: shelter storage, I’d recommend a pest repeller(s) to keep critters from chewing the insides, under hood, wiring while in winter storage. Our 91 Silverado is in ShelterLogic and I’ve rigged a 12v under hood repeller with a cig lighter plug in that’s now on the truck floor underneath the heater outlet. My daughter’s Acura MDX is a mouse magnet. Nests in the cabin air filter, chewed up the sound insulation under the dash, and the leather boot around the shifter. Neighbors Toyota FJ went in on a hook the critters destroyed wiring under hood, $900 for that adventure.

        • Re: Videos…All these guys are into the old analog cars….

          For people who love EV’s or hate cars…don’t watch….

          Jack…was an automotive journalist…knows a lot about the Italian, European cars…educational…

          James is very good…Came from a film background…owns and has owned a lot of different cars…knows a lot about the European cars…

          The Stig…yes the real stig from Top Gear…knows a lot…a real race car driver…educational….

          Tavarish…owns lots of cars…rebuilds them for a living…in Florida…..exotic stuff like Lamborghini’s etc….

          Davide Cironi….Drive Experience….

          A car restoration business…takes barn finds…rebuilds/modifies them….all the old cars…no new crap….

          Goes into a lot of detail….shows you the whole build process…

          The Italian car expert, learn the complete history of the Italian car industry….

          https://www.youtube.com/@davidecironi/videos

          All the car magazines now are just full of the new EV crap…or spywear filled new cars….

          Far, far better content then facebook forums or any TV program or any woke new movie….

          • Want more education on cars?…read the comments on bringatrailer auctions…

            very knowledgeable content…if someone has a bs comment…they are straightened out very quickly….a no bs forum….

          • There are videos, or magazines, or posts, etc….. out there that are made by people with far less knowledge then me……I have zero tolerance…..after 2 minutes I see it….the end gone….

            I only watch something where I can expand my knowledge….or zero interest….

            • I have nothing but contempt for the likes of “pawn stars” auto expert Danny Koker. The only thing he is good for is to devalue the true honest appraisal of cars that come into his purview. Not only that, chasing down car owners and “lowballing” and pressuring them into selling at ridiculously low prices is just dishonest.
              Of course, 99% of Koker’s expertise is actually scripted. When it comes to knowledge of automotive types, systems and engineering, I can run circles around him…

      • Tried can’t do it. So tired of videos where some idiot is going to take 1/2 hour of my life to tell me something that can be said in 3 minutes.

        • Right on. Seems more and more are leaving print and going video. I see vids at 60 – 90 minutes they want us to watch rather than type up a page. What! Like we haven’t anything else to do? The damn things ramble on foreva then beg for clicks, subscribe and/or money. And when you do find it in print you discover they used a “AI” dictate machine that hasn’t a clue when words of different meaning sound the same. Then we have the clowns that abbreviate everything or use the freaking twitter encoded abbreviations. Nothing like trying to guess AAFEHYR!

        • What is the front/rear weight distribution of a Porsche 911 with a great honking V8 in back? 40/60? Worse?

          Must be thrilling when the rear end breaks loose and suddenly you’re looking back at where you came from.

          Warning: objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

  27. Boomer generation one ended in 1955, began ca. 1941.

    Boomer generation two began in 1956 and ended about 1968, after that, who knows what any generation is anymore.

    America is filled with Queequegs, tattooed people everywhere you go.

    Ink me up, Jesus.

    Good Lord Almighty, it’s the Ink generation or something.

    Collector car? Hell, I got me collector ink all over my body.

    Uff da

    Beam me up, Jesus!

    • Boomers are 1946 until ~ 1965. The earlier half is much different than the back half.

      War Babies like my mother and father are very different than Boomers. Watch the mother in “I, Tonya” to see the personality type.

      X-ers are where the uneasy relationship with cars began. My generation either hates cars and votes accordingly or, like my neighbor, feel they missed out on appreciation and make a modern vehicle like his Bronco and the wife’s 20-ish year-old Camaro convertible into garage queens.

      • John Kerry was born in 1943, must be a war baby, a war baby of all war babies, I guess. Joe Biden was born in 1942, another stupid war baby who knows nothing else except for war, as long as he ain’t any part of it and it does pay. FJB, FJK

        John Kerry wants to tell people what they can say and not say.

        Those war babies never stop telling people what to do, no matter what generation.

        Hillary is a boomer shithead, she never stops hollering on what you should say and do. Fuck her, stupid bitch from hell that she is.

        Is that too woke for ya?

        Got to blame those stupid gullible boomers how it all is, John Kerry can do the job.

        Fuck those people.

        Gen X, fuck you too.

        Gen Z, fuck you also.

        Boomers, fuck’em.

        War babies, who needs them? Fuck them too, again.

        And most of all, fuck those dumbass Jews until the fucking cows come home.

        It is going to be another great day in America, no matter what those filthy rotten no good Jews do.

        • The greatest generation (jews) used Hollywood producers to give life to and legitimize the so-called “holocaust”.
          Bodies emaciated by typhus (due to allied bombings and infrastructure collapse) were redefined as “gas chamber victims” (another big lie) further demonizing all White males who “didn’t just do something”.
          Fortunately, the “holocaust” is on its last legs as the jews are really doing (genocide) what they falsely claim the Germans did to (((them))).
          Actually more Roman Catholics were interned in the work camps than jews.
          Jews lived out their lives without incident throughout Germany, Europe and the rest of the European theater during WW2.
          A jew living anywhere in the world, even born on the last day of WW2 is still considered a “holocaust survivor” for “reparations purposes.
          Hell, jews served in Hitler’s military as well as in important government positions as well. The “holocaust” being the massive “grift” is finally being exposed for all to see.

      • GenX was the first group to live in the mass choice world. Boomers grew up on AM radio, 3 TV stations, and 3 manufacturers (although you could say that GM was actually 5, but the “rivalry” was F vs GM). Boomers also were the first young generation specifically targeted to by corporations, if only because there were so many of them. This led to the splintering of the age group into “target demographics” -57 channels (and nothing on), with 57 different varieties of advertising, 57 variations on products, and 57 choices.

        The GenX bust meant they tried the same things that worked with boomers but because there weren’t enough of us to make a dent (and it got more difficult to get a decent part time job in Reagan’s financial boom), consumerism took a hit. Not to mention all the now adult boomers preaching that everything they enjoyed as youth was going to kill us and destroy the world while they continued to enjoy their excess.

        And as cars got smaller and more annoying, they didn’t have the same attraction. BMW built a fine product, but because it was associated with boomer lawyers and salesmen, who would want one? Meanwhile we’re cruising around in Dodge Omnis, Chevy (generic X-platform box) and Buick Centurys… yuk!

          • Like vultures,,, the latest four generations circling impatiently waiting for their inheritance to cash in on what greedy mummsy and poppsy worked fifty/sixty years to accumulate.
            The great movie Greedy (Michael J. Fox, Kirk Douglas, Nancy Travis) comes to mind. A good movie, by the way.

            • I guess I’m the exception. Mom and dad earned it, they should spend it.

              Too bad they think they are wealthy enough to pass it on. This is becoming a problem as they’re at the point of needing to move into a smaller home and get some assistance. “It’s too expensive!” is the howl.

            • Prolly only cost Renault $10,000 back then to bribe Motor Trend scribblers. For sure, they didn’t want the freakin’ Renault. They might be greedy, but not crazy,

        • Yes, I grew up seriously disliking BMWs as pretentious, soul-less yuppie haulers. Turns out they were a pretty good car. Die yuppie scum!

          • In the 1980’s the rich yuppies drove the E30 BMW’s…

            In the 2010’s the drifter crowd drifted them into ditches and walls….

            They crashed all those…now they have switched to 350Z’s….

            In the 1980’s BMW’s were great cars….back when BMW made the best cars in the world…

        • Our car choices sucked compared with boomers. At war with ourselves, we sat out the auto safety and emissions debate, choosing remain apathetic. As the vice grip claws at out birthright, a few are getting antsy, but most Gen X have no clue of how we got here. Fortunately, some of the silent contemporaries had an idea. Bud Lindemann of Car and Track was on target when he said “we live in a time when “concern for safety and the environment” threatens much of what makes men love cars” as thw 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass W30 convertible was thrown across the test track. Later he stated that we are going to miss what progress takes from us. Thats why i, as an early Gen X gets along a lit better with the conservative elements of the early silent generation better than anyone else. RIP Bud Lindemann.

  28. The story about the Biden thing’s ‘Vette seems to constantly be in a state of flux.

    Wedding present? Law school graduation gift? College graduation? First born child?

    Beau. Beau. Beau.

    The one constant seems to be Scranton Joe’s “poor” Chevy dealer father scrimping to provide the vehicle.

  29. Bring-a-Trailer is another good barometer. If you drill down to the auction results for a Porsche 356C you will note that in ’21 prices rose dramatically. Now, in ’24, the prices have gone soft. Many used to sell for $100k+, now it’s just a handful this year selling for over 6 figures.

    I figure after the war these will be easily obtainable…for those that survive.

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