do you think the release of the 2009 camaro will lead to a drop in the prices of 4th gen F-bodies?

 

F-bodies? No. Camaro prices in general? Well the first and early second gens are already reaching crazy levels. Compare the price of a first gen Camaro to that of a first gen Firebird. You can't touch a rust bucket project Camaro for under $5000. However, you can pick up a complete and fairly nice Firebird for the same amount... sometimes lest.

If you're looking for a bargain f-body that will probably raise in value; pick up a clean numbers matching 67-69 Firebird. 400s and Convertibles being the most desireable. I forsee early Firebird prices going up, once enthusiasts start looking for Camaro alternatives... especially once more people realise the Firebird is dead and isn't coming back as a Camaro sister car.

 

Yeah, I agree with you. I think Firebird prices could take a drastic upswing in the next few years. I think the 02s have held their value a little better than their Camaro counterparts already.

 

I think the GTO's prices would be the hardest hit.

 

I think practically every year 4th Gen bird has held their value better than the Camaro. Especially 2000-2002. But either way, I do expect it to be even more drastic after the 5th Gen Camaro comes out.

 

I predict 4th gens will gradually replace the third gens as the stereotypical mulletmobile, as more and more third gens are run into the ground by amatuers.

I would not be surprised if 90-92 Camaros start to match the values of the 70-73 Camaros within a decade or so...

 

i think 4 gens will take a hit maybe im wrong but a lot of people bough and held on to them and made them run as long as possible becuase they thought they wouldnt be able to get another

 

I'm hoping the 4th will take a dump so i can afford one .

 

Any new car with this much excitement is sure to get the whole Camaro community going. I think if anything it will hold up the 4th Gens and maybe the 3rd gens. The 67-69 and the early 2nd Gen F-bodies are already red hot so they don't need any help just more Barrett-Jackson

 

The 4th gens might increase in value, if people see them as an alternative to the 5th gen if they can't afford to buy one.

 

They will all keep going up as long as people collect them and can afford the gas and insurance.

Old ones are like real estate... nobody is making any more of them.
Doesn't matter if it's a 2002 or a 1972.
And, every day, another one dies somewhere... accident, housefire, flood, etc.

Old is good.

New is good too, but available to anyone with cash.
Old is available only to those with MORE cash.

 

Prices are based on availability and desireability:

If there's a large number of cars available, it's not going to affect prices. If the cars available have more buyers than cars, it's going to affect pricing.



Newer cars last longer than old cars:

In the 1960s and '70s, cars had a lifespan barely higher than 60,000 miles. Warranties lasted 12 months for a reason. Today, cars routinely last beyond 150,000 miles and have warranties that reach 5 years. I have a 14 year old Thunderbird that's in far better condition than the 5 year old '75 Malibu Classic I had as one of my 1st cars. My 5 year old 2002 B4C Camaro with 145K miles is essentially new compared to that Malibu which had only 45K when I got it.



Only performance models keep their value:

The only cars people spend their time and hard earned dollars maintaining are top performance models. Also, top performance models are usually just a small portion of a car's line's total sales, usually around 10% or less. Camaro & Mustang are unusual because about a third of Mustangs sold are GTs, while Z28s made up about half of Camaro sales (not a good thing because there were so few 4th gens sold). You'd think that means a larger portion of Camaros will retain their value, but......



A car has to be highly desirable:

There's a reason why 4th gen Camaros didn't sell. Even today, when you pop open an Auto Trader (at least in one of Camaro's 3 hottest markets, California) Z28s tend to be notably cheaper than Mustang GTs and SSs are most certainly cheaper than Cobras, reflecting the ability to sell and hence the desirability of the cars.



In short, IMHO, if you are holding onto a 1st gen Camaro, because the 5th gen's stylistic jump off point is the 1st gen, there'll be additional intrest in those cars. Since 1st gens rusted out faster than snow melting on a summer day, and good ones are about as rare as sunshine in Seattle, no doubt those values will go up. Most 2nd gens are gone by now and late 70s Camaros aren't nothing special as far as collectors (and also rusted and loosened up structurally), unless you have a Trans am, I wouldn't expect anything unusual in increased intrest unless you own a early 70s Z28.

3rd gens were so prolific in number, unless you have a mint condition IROC, I wouldn't get delusional about the value of that 305 RS you're holding.

4th gens are cars even Chevrolet is running away from and trying to ignore. There hasn't been a 4th gen visible anywhere near the 5th gen in any GM photos.

As far as value, consider this:

* It has dent free, rust free plastic panels.
* It has an engine and drivetrain designed to last (mostly) for 200,000 miles.
* It's arguably the least desirable of all generation Camaros, and was certainly the worse selling.
* It's plagued by a multitude of pennyanny quality & durability issues.

So you have a car that despite performance figures that should assure it star status, is less than rockstar in desireability, whose main components and appearence will last for many years, essentially doesn't rust, that has numerous gremlins from window motors to fuel pumps and guages, and carried the same body for 10 years.


On the plus side, the GTO Judge was a utter and complete failure in the marketplace. Throughout the 1970s, you couldn't even give the car away if it ended up on a used car lot. But yet in the late 1980s, the things started to appriciate, and even though the new GTO handed the "Judge" it's head in every performance catagory including acceleration, it still became as valuable as a house.

Who knows. Maybe in another 25 to 30 years.......

 

4th Gen prices are going to continue to fall as they reach the 10 to 15 year old mark, regardless of the 5th gen. Prices may fall a bit faster then currently because of people trading or selling their 4th gen to purchase a new camaro.
Then somewhere in the 15 to 20 year mark when many camaros have been beat and destroyed their value will slowly start to pick up again.
Also, I think their still may be a lot of lower mileage 00-02's out there. I know a guy that has less than 5,000 on his 02 SS. Drove it enough to break it in then put it away when new.
To many people were planning on collecting them like the 96 Impalas.

 

i agree with you and disagree with you guionM. there are a lot of cars out there that people said were junk in the50-60s but when restored today sell for a good some of money.

its to hard to judge a cars vaule in 15-30 years from now becuase its all based on how much people want them.

the fact that the car had a ton of problems has no real effect on its future value. as much as a love corvettes they are plages with problems through most models and some have extremly long production runs the c3 68-82.

your logic make sence but at the same time i feel that who knows what will happend or what people will be doing in 15-30 years from now or trends will be.

 

4Th Gen, will probably drop the most, b/c they're not old enough to be that collectable, and haven't dropped that much in price yet, 3rd gens have already bottomed out pretty much...It might possibly increase the price of some 1st gens by rekindling feelings for the classic look, at maybe a lower price.