This one always puts a smile on my face!

 

love my AAR ‘Cuda. And my Hellcat

 

Nice AAR 'Cuda. That is a rare car. Never saw one in the wild..

 

I am so jealous of the people just about 10-15 years older than me that had an economy that allowed you to "dabble" in many cars over time, especially before they became computers. The stories of my 78 year old pop and his friends who could just "pick up" random classics in the 60s and 70s is so surreal to us Gen-X and younger people. It must have been a delightful time.

 

Well, "picking up random classics" in the 1960s doesn't mean that they were free and identified as future classics. Factor in what a dollar was worth then and you'll find they weren't always cheap. Also, when looking at a used car, you don't have the advantage of hindsight, telling you that THIS one here will increase 100 fold over the next 50 years.

Case in point, a buddy told me the story of how one day back in the 1970s he was leaving Laguna Seca Raceway, and parked on a trailer at the entrance was an authentic Ford GT40, with a for sale sign - $20,000 dollars. He told me how he kept kicking himself for not buying it. He left out the part about not having a crystal ball at the time, or not having that much cash or credit available to him.

An opposite example would be someone who has for example, an old Mustang, changes the engine, races it, and beats it to hell. After the car is long gone, he complains about seeing the exact same model (but unmolested and in good condition), go for $$$$$$ at auction. How was he to know it would go up in value? He couldn't. Buy what you like and be happy.

 

Back in the 80s so many cars that I should have bought. I once saw a totally restored 69 Boss 302 that the owner wanted 8k for that I thought was ridiculously to much. Today it would be over 100k. That’s probably the main reason I bought my 2012 Boss. The other reason was my F Type is to nice to beat up by tracking it to much.

 

And that's my point, that you (and all the rest of us) had very good reasons at the time to not buy some car. How many of us would take out a loan on some random used car because we though that it might someday maybe be worth more. Not even Jay Leno does that... he buys what he likes and if it happens to appreciate, that's besides the point.

If I were to say that my crystal ball says that in 50 years, a mint condition Prius will be worth 50X what it is now, what would you say? You'd say that's ridiculous, the same thing you said about the Mustang... And, regardless of car, don't forget the cost of storing it and insurance for those 50 years. We all glorify what could have been, but ignore those pesky details of foresight and running expenses.

Regarding the Boss 302, while I wasn't into cars all that much at the time they were new, I thought that it was a big overweight version of a "real" Mustang, never mind that I was too young to drive and had no money. So yeah, we all have our reasons - at the time - to not buy whatever. "What if" you put $1000 dollars on a tiny $2 stock called Microsoft? That's a never ending pity party...

 

i learned how to drive a stick on a 1977 TR7 that spent much of it's life looking like that. it was the worst car i've ever had, but i WAS the coolest kid in my high school parking lot.

 

Yes, I'm old enough (73) to remember working on those V8 and even Straight 8 flat head cars. Never bought new parts, no, head for the wrecking yard. Had 53 Ford that we bored out 1/4 inch per cylinder. I can't recall if it was an A block or Y block. Put Mickey Thompson pistons with Mercury rods in it and topped it of with 3 dueces with progresive linkage. Stuck a four speed tranny with a high speed rear end under it. We thought we were the fastest thing around, untill we met up with a Studabaker Golden Hawk. Humbled

 

My "wish I had" was a XKE roadster in '87. Mostly restored as a great driver my neighbor was tired of waiting to finish it, even as he drove it. He wanted $8k and had all the receipts. Another $2k would have finished it. As I always wanted one I still don't know why I didn't move on it. He kept it, finished it and a couple years later sold it for $18k! Was a red Series II. This and maybe the '57 T Bird for $4500 in "77.

 

My time machine TR6 always brought a smile to my face. Had it for over 20 years and two DIY restorations. But, I recently sold it and bought my F-Type, with no regrets.

 

Oh, yes. the ole "Shoulda, Woulda Coulda". The cars that I passed up while stationed in Germany in the60's/70's and not knowing that I would be promoted to E5 very shortly before rotating back to the states. Making E5 meant, my car would ship to the states for free! And yes, the 57 T Bird was a gorgeous car, When I was a teen, the young female that lived next door had a brand new one. Of course being a teenage boy, it was her body and not the car's that I paid attention to..

 

The site!: https://midlana.com/

That is so cool.

 

I wanted to edit my comment to read "I just need to make more money" lol and get a proper garage.
And your points are well taken. Also the Forer effect (I guess) to some extent: you're only going to hear about the great luck and great car story, not the ones not worth telling.
Here's one interesting bit: This 1995 4cyl Jeep Wrangler with one owner (me), and 170K miles with about 30K on a rebuilt engine as well as full body work and paint, with only about 100 miles a year since 2013.
I think I got it around $10,500+ or so, and it's likely to sell for that much (not with inflation of course) as 4x4 nostalgia has taken over. Everyone wants Marty McFly's Toyota truck vs an old Buick!

(edit: forgot the pics, and I should say the stickers are all gone, to be sure. =) )

It's interesting how well the auction companies have made a data gold mine in tracking evaluations. I'm always very intrigued by the fluctuations as noted in Keith Martin's Sports Car Market, as one example.

 

This raises a great point about why cars, as works of art, rise in value... they are very complex, become cultural icons, have storied racing legacies, etc. They are a wonderful metaphor for our human condition of being flawed, but at times absolutely beautiful. In this case the engineering and design is imperfect, but significant, and ultimately massively transformation to culture and society.

As for EVs, it will be interesting to see if the end is nigh on the idea of them gaining value. The batteries are a liability, and you can't fix those, so you'll not have the original engine (so to speak), and although the maintenance hassles on an EV are wonderfully limited (basically just change the tires and wipers, to some extent?)...

I can't imagine that many finding a reason to gain value? Maybe a racing ev, movie ev, first production of a weird EV, supercar EVs... but it's not the same by any stretch of the imagination

 

My Dad's 68 Olds 442, gold over brown, was a winner for me as a HS senior. Then I put 200,000 miles on a 65 VW Bug, paying my own bills this time. Later my 88 E30 5 sp Cabriolet was a great car for San Diego for 20 years, that I only sold to open a slot in the garage for my F. All that said, racing a Miata has been the most fun of all. Flat out from Club Corners to Phil Hill at Buttonwillow, with just a dab of the brakes and two wheels in the dirt at Bus Stop. Yeehaw!

 

Nice! I had a TR8 in the early 80's and I've always wanted another one. My wife however hates how they look (I guess she has good taste )so we picked up a TVR Chimaera last year, with a 4 litre version of the Rover engine, fun car!

 

Top of my list:

-Lotus Evora & S (2011 base, 2011 S, and 2014 S IPS): The 3rd was an IPS. Did not like the manuals shifter though. Did not like to be rushed.
-1999 Boxster. I think I liked it when cars has smaller wheels and everything felt more connected and nimble;

Honorable mentions:
- 2015 Jaguar F Type R (feels like a high horse power car should. Needs better tires that what I have now. And, I've only had it for two months so far)
- 2005 Lotus Elise (great performing car when the tires where warmed up and pavement smooth enough)
-2011 Boxster S (more power but did not capture the handling feeling of the 1999 version)

Not impressed:
- 2016 Corvette: (Did not feel like a 460hp car. Nice technology though. Handling was okay. I mean, it had the grip but just didn't give me the confidence my other cars did and probably due to the vague steering feel)

 

Most memorable cars to drive?

Ferrari 458 Italia
Lamborghini Huracan Performante

Both were buddies' cars and I only took each one out for about 5-10 miles, but got into the throttle and on some twistie roads. I can not overstate how amazing the brakes on the Huracan were. Both drove great, sounded great and if you happened to drive past a shop window and see your reflection...

Out of cars I owned, my '77 Firebird was a great car for me in high school, but it was not a good car. My Porsche 928 S4 with the dogleg 5 speed manual was a great car when it ran right. I loved the rawness of my 2006 GTO, but my best all around car I ever owned: 1987 Saab SPG. That car handled great, was quick for the time, had a great interior, was the days before airbags in the steering wheel, could carry more stuff inside than you would think possible and was the right level of weird for me.

 

My 2.5-swapped and suspension-tuned Mazda MX-5 is great fun, especially when i feel a need for using a clutch.