I'm Back!
10/05/08 10:47
Hey. Sorry for the silence. Was a little bummed
out about Porsche blocking my latest endeavor but
that’s ok. That’s life!
Anyway, in the process of selling my Range Rover, cleaning up my apartment, doing some consulting work, etc. But some Porsche and general car market thoughts are on my mind so here goes...
With the recent economic meltdown, and it is a meltdown that will affect all of us, what is the effect going to be on the car market? Well, we have seen a general softening in certain areas. In the hot area of American muscle, there has been a lot of troubling indications. Clones, replicas, and just-not-there cars have taken a dive. Your SS, Eleanor, ‘Cuda ‘recreation’ isn’t getting a fraction of what it did at the height of the market a couple of years ago. But what’s more troubling is the softening of the Hemi-market. No more do these four letters spell extreme bucks any more. Your car has to be extremely special to achieve the ridiculous prices that were achieved before. While auctions like Barrett-Jackson and others are doing well, albeit in lower numbers than even last year, the drop in total numbers are a harbinger of the future.
And this before we have truly felt the effects of the Wall Street, housing, and other indicators. Scary.
As to Porsches, well, so far they’re doing well. Big Dealers, especially in Europe, who used to deal strictly with the top echelon of classics (Bugattis, Dellahayes, W.O Bentleys, old Alfas, etc.) have been featuring Porsches. True, ‘special’ ones. RS Spyders, 356 Carreras, racing cars, etc. When they take out full page ads in the top mags and instead of an Invicta feature a Porsche that’s a good sign.
Prices have been strong, and moving upward. But there are troubling signs. A beautiful RS Carrers Touring went for around $140,000 in a British top auction recently, about 50-100K less than was hoped. Hey, some dealers are trying to get $250K and more for them lately. What was that about?
I’m seeing some lag in sales. It’s taking longer to sell some very nice cars. True, the asking prices might be very optimistic, but most dealers aren’t so inflexible that they won’t bargain.
There are always going to be some remarkable sales numbers, such as the 12 million that Chris Evans paid for the California Spyder (but I think someone was pushing him on there, a dealer). But again, that was a few months ago. I wonder how many millions Chris lost last week?
I do think we’re going to see a big drop in final numbers at Barrett in January, as well as RM, and Brit houses as well. If you have money, might be a good time to buy. On the other hand, if I had money I’d hold on. What goes up must come down. The rationale for this market has been that is less speculators as in the Eighties, and now more collectors. Trust me, ‘collectors’, unless they have silly money, are going to be more careful in the next year. You are going to see a drop in auction prices, followed by a realization by dealers that they have to adjust or, perhaps, close up shop.
Hopefully, if the market softens it means that we can buy that cherry 356C Cab for non-Speedster money, or a 993 Turbo without the premium. Well, one can look on the bright side of things, can’t one?
Anyway, in the process of selling my Range Rover, cleaning up my apartment, doing some consulting work, etc. But some Porsche and general car market thoughts are on my mind so here goes...
With the recent economic meltdown, and it is a meltdown that will affect all of us, what is the effect going to be on the car market? Well, we have seen a general softening in certain areas. In the hot area of American muscle, there has been a lot of troubling indications. Clones, replicas, and just-not-there cars have taken a dive. Your SS, Eleanor, ‘Cuda ‘recreation’ isn’t getting a fraction of what it did at the height of the market a couple of years ago. But what’s more troubling is the softening of the Hemi-market. No more do these four letters spell extreme bucks any more. Your car has to be extremely special to achieve the ridiculous prices that were achieved before. While auctions like Barrett-Jackson and others are doing well, albeit in lower numbers than even last year, the drop in total numbers are a harbinger of the future.
And this before we have truly felt the effects of the Wall Street, housing, and other indicators. Scary.
As to Porsches, well, so far they’re doing well. Big Dealers, especially in Europe, who used to deal strictly with the top echelon of classics (Bugattis, Dellahayes, W.O Bentleys, old Alfas, etc.) have been featuring Porsches. True, ‘special’ ones. RS Spyders, 356 Carreras, racing cars, etc. When they take out full page ads in the top mags and instead of an Invicta feature a Porsche that’s a good sign.
Prices have been strong, and moving upward. But there are troubling signs. A beautiful RS Carrers Touring went for around $140,000 in a British top auction recently, about 50-100K less than was hoped. Hey, some dealers are trying to get $250K and more for them lately. What was that about?
I’m seeing some lag in sales. It’s taking longer to sell some very nice cars. True, the asking prices might be very optimistic, but most dealers aren’t so inflexible that they won’t bargain.
There are always going to be some remarkable sales numbers, such as the 12 million that Chris Evans paid for the California Spyder (but I think someone was pushing him on there, a dealer). But again, that was a few months ago. I wonder how many millions Chris lost last week?
I do think we’re going to see a big drop in final numbers at Barrett in January, as well as RM, and Brit houses as well. If you have money, might be a good time to buy. On the other hand, if I had money I’d hold on. What goes up must come down. The rationale for this market has been that is less speculators as in the Eighties, and now more collectors. Trust me, ‘collectors’, unless they have silly money, are going to be more careful in the next year. You are going to see a drop in auction prices, followed by a realization by dealers that they have to adjust or, perhaps, close up shop.
Hopefully, if the market softens it means that we can buy that cherry 356C Cab for non-Speedster money, or a 993 Turbo without the premium. Well, one can look on the bright side of things, can’t one?
