Either I have made the best deal of my life or ???

[Tony]

Now, either I have made the best deal of my life or some of the dealers are taking the Michael. Forgetting the Eagle cars which are made of gold, certain other dealers seem to be going mad.
Now I appreciate some cars may have some special heritage behind them which will increase their value, I cannot see what so special about some of the car being advertise for anything over 100k and more. Some of them are going for 200k plus. They cannot all be the first car off the production line and as far as I know, Norman only drove one car to the Geneva motor show. Who is buying these cars???

I cannot help feeling it's all going to go bump. But not to worry, I bought mine to own , not sell. Although it would be useful to leave my wife an asset that at least holds it value.

[Heuer]

Most people seem to agree the E-Type is undervalued compared to Aston Martin DB5's and some other contemporary machinery. A value correction is long overdue especially since restoration costs can be anywhere between ?75k and ?130k on top of the purchase price of the car. The only downside is as they get more valuable people will be reluctant to take them on the road. I don't think prices will collapse, they are just becoming more realistic. A similar thing has started to happen to the Lotus Elan.

[MarkE]

I think that you're absolutely on the button Tony.

You can plot the rise of E Types, and many other classics, as a pretty linear increase over the past 20 or 30 years, with two exceptions.

Starting in 1989 prices of many classics increased considerably over a 2 or so year period, and crashed back to the pre-bubble value, in some cases a fair bit less, over a month or two.

Starting in 2009, the same thing began all over again.

The fact that it started at the beginning of the biggest recession the western world has seen for nearly a century should ring alarm bells. Combined with that, the economic 'fundamentals' just don't add up, as they don't for earnings / house price ratios.

The current seemingly strong economic situation in the west is being sustained by the Governments printing money to support the bond market, unsustainably low interest rates and companies reducing costs rather than increasing turnover in the equity market.

The first to blink will undoubtedly cause a very large re-adjustment in all markets, and those who bought classic cars as an investment or a hedge will get burnt for sure.

But from what I've seen of folks on here, I don't think it will affect us. For most of us an E Type is for fun, not part of an investment portfolio!

However, on a more positive note, properly restored cars will always have a good value, and there aren't too many more desirable classic cars than the E type. Standards have risen considerably since the 1990s crash, where a lot of very poorly restored cars were exposed, and confidence left the market for many years. I don't think that the crash, if and when it comes, will be quite so steep or long lasting this time.

[1954Etype]

Most people seem to agree the E-Type is undervalued compared to Aston Martin DB5's and some other contemporary machinery. A value correction is long overdue especially since restoration costs can be anywhere between ?75k and ?130k on top of the purchase price of the car. The only downside is as they get more valuable people will be reluctant to take them on the road. I don't think prices will collapse, they are just becoming more realistic. A similar thing has started to happen to the Lotus Elan.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating though. Who do you know has privately sold an E for 100k +? The reason the *good* dealers do is because the people who have that type of money to spend like to feel the comfort of buying from a credible company with a warranty etc etc. Look at how successful the E Type Centre was.

[PETE V]

I just wish prices for the poor old 2+2 would rise at the same rate

[Heuer]

This is how it works (from today's Daily Telegraph Motoring section):



Maybe this one?: http://tinyurl.com/3e2rb2r