What's up girls?

I recently saw a post on a forum that asked; 'What would you buy if you could go back ten years?'.

My first inclination was to respond that I would go back with the winning lottery numbers to a couple of big prize pots.
That would be fun and would take care of finances for then and now but...it wouldn't bring back the 'iX'.

So; given the focus of this forum; I would answer that question with this...I would buy all the decent E30s I could get my hands on in 2003.
Why? Well because around here they were going for $1500 to $2500 for the cherry ones! Today; you're lucky if you can find one that hasn't lost 500lbs due to rust for under $5000!

A herd of 2003 E30s today would be almost as good as a winning lotto ticket!

Can you tell what car I miss?

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Archeo-peteriX
I recently saw a post on a forum that asked; 'What would you buy if you could go back ten years?'.

My first inclination was to respond that I would go back with the winning lottery numbers to a couple of big prize pots.
That would be fun and would take care of finances for then and now but...it wouldn't bring back the 'iX'.

So; given the focus of this forum; I would answer that question with this...I would buy all the decent E30s I could get my hands on in 2003.
Why? Well because around here they were going for $1500 to $2500 for the cherry ones! Today; you're lucky if you can find one that hasn't lost 500lbs due to rust for under $5000!

A herd of 2003 E30s today would be almost as good as a winning lotto ticket!

Can you tell what car I miss?

Better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all, Peter



perseverance furthers

Very well said, Rick!

Investing in art is safe and very pleasant, cause you get to enjoy the collection while you own it!
The most important automobile museum over here started from a private collection:
http://www.museu-caramulo.net/uk/index.shtml

,

I hope you are right Peter. That is why I have two of them. I drive one like there is no tomorrow and save the other one in the garage in case there is a tomorrow. I just saw a 96 M3 engine with not too many miles I wish I had in my daily driver but I have no where to work on it without pushing some other antique iron out into the rain. I am sure that if I did the conversion it would take a lot longer than if I paid someone else to do it. The cost for such a project is not popular with the spousal unit.

Bob in Lake Havasu

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Bob in Everett
I hope you are right Peter. That is why I have two of them. I drive one like there is no tomorrow and save the other one in the garage in case there is a tomorrow. I just saw a 96 M3 engine with not too many miles I wish I had in my daily driver but I have no where to work on it without pushing some other antique iron out into the rain. I am sure that if I did the conversion it would take a lot longer than if I paid someone else to do it. The cost for such a project is not popular with the spousal unit.

I'm sure the "spousal unit" already has her hands full!, Bob I know mine does...

My cohabitational unit has prevented me from touching the E30 for over a year!

Mine just held her breath while I considered that pretty red one in the Temptation thread. She was relieved when I decided not to buy it, at least for now.

She was much more outspoken about the $1,000 bicycle wheels I was looking at. I'm not getting those for a while either.

To the original question: I would buy every 1967 and earlier VW Microbus I could get my hands on. Thos suckers are like gold these days. I've seen several go at auction for more than $100,000 (really fixed up shiney ones). I knew they would be collectors items someday back when you could get them cheap, but I never imagined they would go for that kind of money. You could buy a nice one in 1980 for $1,000 and I'm glad I did, and that I still have it.

John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2013 04:29PM by John Yust.

D'oh! I guess I didn't pay enough attention to the original post. It was only ten years. In that case a load of E30s would be the right choice.

John

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Michiel 318iS
My cohabitational unit has prevented me from touching the E30 for over a year!

My ex was always bitching about how much I spent in "old cars" so I started and kept a log of everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) I was spending on the car, and comparing against the devaluation of any new car alone, how i was NOT wasting money. And we had gone separate ways (not because of that), and now I am so glad we did so!

Around 2000-2001 there were a number of E30 M3's changing hands for very little money. I know quite a few club racers and track enthusiasts who bought M3's for as little as $5-7k in those days. Mint examples were going for $12k; and $15k would get you the best of the best. Ten years later, it's difficult to find an E30 M3 in good condition for under $20-25k.

It's the same story with some older Porsches. About 10 years ago, you could buy a clean 964 RS for $16-20k. Today, that's a $35-40k car. The 964 RS was (and is) my dream car for weekend/track use. The price puts them out of reach for me.

Same deal with older 911's. Hell, I see 911 SC's going for $15-20k these days. The SC was considered a pile of junk; you could have your pick of the litter for $3.5-5k not too long ago. No one wanted a late-70's to early-'80s 911, especially not an SC.

Also, NASA spec racing has driven up the prices for cars such as the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Porsche 944. What used to be a $500 car is now worth 10x that amount. I've toyed with the idea of picking up a clean 944 Turbo, but prices have gotten stupid.

I think the popularity of Spec E30 racing has contributed to the sudden rise in E30 prices as well. All the clean, straight, rust-free California cars have been stripped out and turned into racers. Good luck finding a cherry 944 or E30 in the US and Canada anymore.

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Jose Pinto
Very well said, Rick!

Investing in art is safe and very pleasant, cause you get to enjoy the collection while you own it!
The most important automobile museum over here started from a private collection:
http://www.museu-caramulo.net/uk/index.shtml

,

That museum looks like quite a place Jose

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rkj

That museum looks like quite a place Jose

Indeed! As soon as the weather gets better, I will go there with the boys some sunday.

Odd things happen as well.
Over here, there have been a classic car races held with Datsun 1200 of the '70, lightweight, RWD, plentiful cheap parts, the works. It was the kind of car you would find rusting around and bought for the weight in scrap. Turned out most of them were restored to racers or used on the road again, and now any decent specimen sells for thousands.

On the other end of the line is my Citroen BX, when new it was a fine car and not very expensive, it sold well. Then as they grew old, earned a reputation of troublesome due mostly to the HP active suspension (mainly leaking oil tubes). Now, most were scraped and a decent running car can be bought for few hundreds.