What will be the 'collectables' of tomorrow?

[L00b]

It's a classic case of the 'if only' syndrome. Some of the cars I've had over the years...A 1957 VW Beetle, Triumph Herald, Rover P1, Austin A40, Hillman Minx, Fiat 500, A bubble car, Ford Cortina 'E' and probably many more I can't remember...All of them probably classics by now.

In that context, my Dad's long been well and truly syndrome'd: he bought a Porsche 356 Coupe for a song (300 Francs IIRC ) in the late 70s, in one of those 'cos I can' moment only us blokes know how to do properly

 

Tarted it up some (had it repainted frog green, FGS! Heathen! ) and then pottered about in it for 3 or 4 months. Then flogged it on for the same money.

 

Seen the rate these go for nowadays? Prepare to rub your eyes some.

 

The rivers he's been crying about it since...and I'll never let him forget about it either

Edited November 16, 2015 by L00b

[PeteMorris]

In that context, my Dad's well and truly syndrome'd then: he bought a Porsche 356 Coupe for a song (300 Francs IIRC ) in the late 70s, tarted it up some (had it repainted frog green, FGS! Heathen! ) and pottered about in it for 3 or 4 months, then flogged it on for the same money.

 

Seen the rate these go for nowadays? Prepare to rub your eyes some.

 

The rivers he's been crying since...

 

Yep I'll bet he's been crying ever since...

 

I'm pretty brassed off with just the one's I had, which weren't 'particularly' special...But today I bet they're worth far more than I ever paid for them.

 

The bubble car I had was very similar to this one....Oh and then there was the Citroen (upturned pram)...With the soft top...That was great fun to drive, except that it kinda felt like it was going to fall over when negotiating a corner...And everyone had the 'classic mini' at some point...I know I did...

[L00b]

The bubble car I had was very similar to this one....Oh and then there was the Citroen (upturned pram)...With the soft top...That was great fun to drive, except that it kinda felt like it was going to fall over when negotiating a corner...And everyone had the 'classic mini' at some point...I know I did...

Now these two are cult cars nowadays, I reckon in a different (or upper/higher) category to 'merely collectable' altogether.

 

Same effect (albeit slower and better-'grounded', as in with more momentum behind it) as, more recently, the stratospheric rise in value of Audi's 80s Quattro Coupe on the back of the Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes TV series.

[geared]

You have a point there, but I don't necessarily think they have to be special.

 

Look at the Ford Escort MK1 - the epitome of a working class family car, the Rolls Royce on the other hand was the epitome of pure luxury.

 

Yet today nobody wants the Roller, hence the pitiful used prices, but Jeez....seen the price of the MK1 Escorts!!

 

:wow:

 

Yea it's quite common when it comes to classics:

 

Old Ford = Money

 

Don't know what it is specifically when it comes to Fords, but if it's wearing that blue oval and it's old you've got a payday coming your way.

[tzijlstra]

The original MX-5 (Mk1) is one of those cars that are still readily accessible in budget, but already clearly appreciating as 'becoming collectable'. Earliest examples are knocking on 26 years, latest examples (before the Mk2 facelift) are 17 years old by now, and non-import unmolested/fully-original ones in good condition with good history are already getting quite rare. My agreed valuations for ours, with classics insurers, have been going up by £500 to £700 annually in the past 3 years, currently at a hair under £4k. Up to 4 or 5 years ago, I'd have been lucky to get agreed on £2,000. I've also been seeing a lot more young-ish retirees (not 50-somethings, but not 70-somethings either ) knocking about in them (MX-5 MK1s) in the past couple of years or so, than I ever did in years gone by.

 

For electronics, I agree with geared above, there has to be some sort of "special character" to an item for true collectable value to arise. Hand-in-hand with enough people of a certain age (for whom, in their earlier years, such items were the stuff of dreams when they were new) with disposable income going through a nostalgia-/retro- phase.

 

For instance, with reference to tzijlstra's example of videogames consoles, those he mentioned (Playstation, NES, SNES, Xbox) are still worth pennies and will likely remain worth pennies for many years yet (though a mint boxed NES set is not to be sniffed at these days), until enough of them have perished altogether. But the really rare/special stuff (NeoGeo AES, Vectrex, VirtualBoy, PC engine variants, Coleco-Nintendo tabletops) has long been worth £££, and their value is only ever increasing: most anybody who was into videogames when these were new (80s-90s) knew about them, but could never hope to afford them, and so there weren't many of them sold/around due to their unavailability/extortionate price tags; many of those same people who are still into videogames nowadays, are after them and std market dynamics do the rest: what is rare and in demand is expensive

 

Another classic car that is rapidly gaining value is the Volvo 850 T5/R - we sold ours coming to the UK for around 4000 euros, I looked into buying one back and it would cost me over 8000£ for a good example... still gutted we had to sell it due to insurance considerations

 

Another thing I got rid off during the move is an original Apple II - it was in rubbish state cosmetically but still booted up and did most things, it still wouldn't be worth a lot now, but people are paying well over 300£ for working examples now.

Edited November 16, 2015 by tzijlstra

[Alcoblog]

Me and a friend own a rare 'long door' 1953 Triumph TR2 (the 72nd one built). When I say 'own', we have the original engine, gearbox, chassis (plate, at least) and paperwork, as well as most of the other bits for it including a 'brand new' original wiring loom and all the other rare parts. The prices of these cars are beginning to go up pretty healthily now, so all we have to do is build it.

 

Having said that, the Citroen 2CV is in my estimation, the car worth investing in … a design classic which raises very good money nowadays. I've owned several and love 'em! Reliable, fun, and (when not quite as reliable) easy to work on. Very collectable, especially the earlier ones.

 

Ten years ago, on a whim (because I've always wanted one), I bought a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow (1973). This was a great car in superb condition for it's age (there are some sheds), and, had I kept it, would be worth double what I paid for it now. Lovely to drive and can handle pretty well too (6.7 litre engine). Good ones are worth buying as an investment.

[milquetoast1]

I'm afraid I'm guilty of binning packaging and boxes..(in single use carrier bags? )...It drives me insane keeping stuff like that!...So I strongly suspect, anything I've hung on to over the years will be of much lesser value than if I had kept the packaging...I mean I'd have a house full of empty boxes, had I held on to it all.

 

Sometimes the box will be worth more than the thing.

 

http://www.wired.com/2002/03/a-mac-box-worth-weight-in-gold/

[MikeFrank]

A Sheffield United ticket when they won something...

[Janus]

FHM and Zoo magazines if you can grab the last issues, but be quick.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/the-end-of-the-lads-mag-fhm-and-zoo-magazines-suspended/

[geared]

Me and a friend own a rare 'long door' 1953 Triumph TR2 (the 72nd one built). When I say 'own', we have the original engine, gearbox, chassis (plate, at least) and paperwork, as well as most of the other bits for it including a 'brand new' original wiring loom and all the other rare parts. The prices of these cars are beginning to go up pretty healthily now, so all we have to do is build it.

 

How does that work though, you find another chassis, rip the VIN off and weld another one on??

Is that legal???