for the sake of arguement. 2010 Z/28 with the least produced color and options, never driven off dealer lot, towed home, fluids drained, less than 10 total miles, covered....the whole nine yards.

Do you guys think this could be a collectable in 20 years or so? Or has the era of muscle cars with no miles kinda passed, and only works for 50's-70's cars?

 

One difference (at least in my opinion) is the mindset today. People are looking for something to be collectible. I could be wrong but I don't think that existed much 30-40 years ago.

 

well think of it in terms of the 60s cars. How much was a 69 worth in 89? You have to maintain the car. If you drain all the fluids the seals will dry up. I think you have to love it, or really be good at it or both.

 

I'm sure it will be "collectable" -- even 40 year old Dodge Darts are collectable.

If you're asking if the car will make a good long term financial investment -- I would say that there's a 99% chance you would be better off with a treasury bond. I'd actually be surprised if you could keep up with inflation. $40,000 in 2030 dollars won't be very much.

Another thing to consider is that option packages are much more standardized nowdays. And gov't testing requirements means it's not very likely they will make an extremely limited production engine or something. So it's probably unlikely there will be an ultra rare version that will really go up in value.

 

Without giving away my age, a couple of those ideas sound just like old wise tales told by guys who didn't have a clue about cars but talked like they did back in junior high school before they took a shop class, read a maintence manual, and many years before the internet.

FWIW: your engine will sieze and a whole lot of other nasty stuff will happen to your engine, power steering, brakelines, and tranny from condensation build-up, debris, and corrosion if you drain your fluids; If you drive it less than 10 miles over 20 years, that means no part on the car has worn in (a downright necessity on any mechanical car part). Finally, towing a car from the dealers lot with the expectation it will improve the value of a car is pretty flawed logic.

I thought these wives tails had long died.

Era of Muscles cars has ZILCH to do with a car's value. It's the car's rarity.

A Hemi Challenger convertible commands high prices simply because there were very few made with the Hemi, even fewer that came in a convertible (convertibles were dying out in sales in the early 70s), and the final stroke: extremely few Dodge Challengers of any sort remain intact, let along convertibles with Hemis (Challengers were nortorious for rusting out prematurely). LS6 Chevy Chevelle SS? An extremely rare engine in an age where performance cars were dropping down the sales charts.

Throw in to the mix that alot of performance cars ended up in a premature scrap heap. In the 70s, high performance cars didn't sell because they drank gas, insurence was astronomical, and many had been long thrashed.

Finally, back in the 60s, car engines really did not last very long. A 1 year powertrain warranty was almost unherd of. Typically, a car more than 3 years old was like a 10 year old car today. Over 40,000 miles was like 150K+ today.


Cars last much longer now. A decently made powertrain in a well maintianed car will run almost 200,000 miles with barely more than a water pump change.

A 2010 Camaro Z28 will be worth alot of money in 20 years if the car is junk and/or fails in the market place. There will be few enough well maintianed cars still holding together to make them rare, and therefore worth alot.

A Corvette ZR1 is a good example of what to expect in the absolutely best case scenario.

A ZR1 Corvette is now about 15-16 years old. They are collectable, and they were made in pretty low numbers. However because even with early 90s era manufacturing they last a good while, they aren't exceedingly valuable. You can still pick one up for about half to 2/3s their original price. Same holds true for the late 90s Cobra R. They are extremely rare. But again, they are durable, most every single one made is still around, and their value is measure as % of original price, not how much it's appriciated.

That includes ones towed home, drained, and never used.

 

not looking at it as an investment really...just something i've wanted to do for a while. But am i the only one that thinks it would be awesome to see an original 5th gen thats 30 years old and has less than 10 miles on it?

*edit* have no idea what you mean about old wise tales but whatever. I'm generally speaking about doing everything possible to preserve the car in every way.

 

It would be neat to see one 30 years from now that literally looked like it just rolled off the truck at the dealer, but unfortunately, that's exactly what you would have. A car you would always be hauling around on a trailer. The car wouldn't have much value if the drivetrain was junk. See previous comments.

If you want to do something to preserve the car, do what those of us with first gens and other weekend use cars do. Keep them garaged, maintain them, fluids, paint, etc. but above all, DRIVE EM.......

 

Buy the car to enjoy it. Buying a car with the intention of an "investment" will more than likely lead to disappointment and the waste of a perfectly good car.

I remember seeing an 84 or 85 Corvette on Ebay about a year ago with less than 160 miles (NOT a typo). Some guy obviously bought it with the intention of selling it more than 20 years later. Keep in mind that a BASE Corvette in 1985 was $24,403 BEFORE options. Know how much this "investor" got for his mint Corvette?? He tried selling it for a while because his reserve was never met. I never saw the bidding go over $15,000. Not only did he lose money on the deal (IF he finally sold it), but he was making payments and committing garage space to a car that he never got any enjoyment (read: "drive") for more than 20 years!! What a freaking waste!!

Granted, an early C4 isn't by any means a "collectible", so I'll use Guy's example of the ZR1 Corvette. I was pretty seriously looking at getting a ZR1 a few years ago and you could get an early ZR1 with under 20,000 miles for LESS than $20,000.
........Just did a check on Ebay, and the bidding on a '90 ZR1 with 850 miles didn't even get up to $27,000. The later ZR1's (93-95) are more collectible than the earlier ones, but even extremely low mileage cars get NOWHERE NEAR the original retail price of over $65,000.

Buy a car to drive it, not as an investment.

 

again, never said it would be an investment. Just something i'd like to do. I'm by NO means an owner who doesn't drive their car. I have 142k miles on my Z. And i picked it up with 36k.

 

If you have $35-45,000 (or whatever the Z28 ends up costing) laying around to spend on a car with the only purpose being to look at it......more power to you. I wish I had disposable income like that!

........otherwise, buy a plastic model and save yourself a lot of money!

There's some guys on the Corvette board I go on that hardly ever (if at all) drive their 'Vette. It's their car and they can do with it what they want, but in my opinion: Big deal....that's not my thing. Hell, my Dad barely has 3,000 miles on his 04 Vette and he brags that the only time it's been in the rain was when he drove it home from the dealer! I give him a hard time about it every chance I get by the way .

I'm a firm believer that cars need to be driven to be fully appreciated....by yourself and fellow car enthusiasts. When I finish restoring my 66 Corvette, I plan on driving the pi$$ out of it as long as there's no snow on the ground.

 

I totally agree. Its just a what-if scenario. If i buy one to save and put it away....then i will buy another that I can drive! lol which means i'll buy 2 cars...so it'll probably never happen.

 

The scenario you mentioned initially was based on the idea of basically taking a car & putting it away with the intention and belief that it would become valuable..... "Collectable" is the exact word you used. As mentioned, buying a car with the expectation it will become collectable at some future date isn't a very good idea. Draining fluids and putting it in storage for 20 years is even worse.

Again, it's the rareity of a car (as it is with anything) that makes it valuable. Doesn't matter if it's a rare 60s GTO model, a rare 50s Cadillac, a rare 40s Continental, a rare Pierce Arrow or a Dusenberg, an early Studebaker, or a Model T. It also doesn't make a whole lot of difference if the car has average mileage, no mileage, driven across country annually, or has barely been driven around the block.... bottom line is what kind of driveable condition is it in?

Buying a 2010 Z28 Camaro with the expectation of it becoming valuable in the future is no doubt a bad idea. Not driving it, as mentioned, a waste of a perfectly good car. That's not a cliche or rhetoric. Not driving a car is actually bad for it.

Best bet for something like you propose, find a car that's starting to become rare, but is still highly affordable and in good condition. Going back to the Hemi Challenger convertible example, it was still a pretty cheap car to pick up in the 1980s, and still pretty affordable in the '90s. It's prices have skyrocketed to crazy numbers the past 5 or so years.

To preserve a car, frequently change the fluids, do regular scheduled maintence, and most importantly.....follow the manual on "break-in" proceedures!!! The way you break in a car will dictate how that car will hold up over years of use.

 

I think its tough to predict which cars are going to have that rare collectable factor to them in the future. I never thought the 94-96 Impala SS values would hold up as they did...it was just a good looking fast car to me when it came out. A 96 with little miles is still worth close to new price I bet. I think you have to look at a cars value around 25-30 years old, 20 years is to soon.

Also, you may buy your 2010...but in 2011 GM might create the next performance package...made in less numbers then yours and be faster.
If your just a crazy car guy and want to buy z28 and put it up...take it out for a cruise once or twice a year. I dont see a problem. You may get lucky and make some money. BUt if you want to be sure you get a return on your investment...throw that money in a high % savings or bonds.