[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by transam1972

and here I am thinking,I wonder why the guy did not sell..thats a lot of $...and I wasn't trying to be negative in the beginning saying it would not sell...guess we need to watch a realistic auction...it does make sense this e bay auctions can be rigged...is nothing sacred?

The issue is, there really are no "realistic" auctions anymore. Everything is either on Ebay getting bid way up, or on TV with people throwing cash around like its play money. Its very hard to gauge a cars true value based on auctions anymore.

You have to look at the true, 100% correct cars that change hands without ever having an add placed. Like some of the very high dollar cars right here on PY. There so good, the cars get sold just by word-of-mouth.

[2manyT/A'S]

The TV auctions are even WORSE than ebay for "realistic" car values.....

Entertaining to watch...but "fairy tales" for the most part...TONS of staged/shill bidding going on there,as well...

[transam1972]

now that you are saying some of the TV auctions are fake, I am inclined to agree...like Storage Wars...I was actually believing this 46k EBAY auction...I am such an idiot...but that's why I was so skeptical when this first started...to heck with all this stupidity...I am going to a more fun thread like shaker hood scoops, I still have an entire car to restore!!

[pmdclassics]

Really reality TV is nothing more than "staged tv" I can't wait until it goes away forever. I tend to watch MeTV the most besides sports.

[RamAir]

I have been selling cars at Mecum and other auctions for 30+ years. The Mecum fellas are marketing geniuses and have a knack for attracting buyers. Every car I have sold at Mecum has been a 'real' transaction with no fake transactions. Granted, they will run the auction up hoping to get an unsuspecting buyer to jump in, but by and large all the transactions are valid.

[blue71ta]

Originally Posted by ramair

I have been selling cars at Mecum and other auctions for 30+ years. The Mecum fellas are marketing geniuses and have a knack for attracting buyers. Every car I have sold at Mecum has been a 'real' transaction with no fake transactions. Granted, they will run the auction up hoping to get an unsuspecting buyer to jump in, but by and large all the transactions are valid.

wouldn't "running the auction up" be the same as shill bidding? and therefore, not real bids?

[RamAir]

Originally Posted by blue71ta

wouldn't "running the auction up" be the same as shill bidding? and therefore, not real bids?

They disclose to the buyers that they have the prerogative to bid to the reserve at their discretion.

[Mezzo]

Originally Posted by ramair

They disclose to the buyers that they have the prerogative to bid to the reserve at their discretion.

Ramair. You are correct. The so-called shill bidding is basically to get the selling price as close to the reserve as possible. This is perfectly legitimate and that is what Mecum attempts to achieve for the seller. Otherwise the seller takes the car home and pays a fee to Mecum for this services. A true value is what one is willing to pay for something without feeling fleeced. If a car sells at that price, then a market price has been established based on the condition of what is being purchased. Then again, if a reserve is unrealistic or set to high, then that's when Dana steps in to get the deal done so to speak.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by transam1972

.makes me re evaluate what I have sitting in my garage...assuming I do not sell my car for 20 to 30 years I wonder what type of person the car will have significance to?

And that is the million dollar question. My answer - slim to none. Kids now, and I mean up to their late 20's and early 30's, aren't into the classics, they prefer their I-phones and little foreign cars.

These classic cars attract us buyers that are by and large in our mid 50's or older, who are established financially and can afford it. Right now and probably the next 5-10 years is the hot time to sell. After that it's anyones guess as we die off and have the younger generation left that has very little interest in these cars let alone the cash to buy them. Prices will drop accordingly.
However on the other side of the coin, the pre-war classics still fetch big money and they are 70+ years old. You would have thought most of that crowd interested in these and driving the price up would be gone by now. We can only hope that our passion rubs off on our kids :shrug:

[Judge273]

Its funny the direction a thread can go when a car doesn't sell for its BIN. If this thread is a sign of the future... Driving them until I retire is what I prefer anyways!

[necdb3]

Everyone looks for these cars to go up in price. I hope they plummet. That way anyone who wants to get into the hobby can afford it. The high prices make it hard for the young guys to get into the hobby. That's why they buy what's cheap now (just like we did as kids)
Plus, I'll be able to pick up a few more wanted cars.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by necdb3

Everyone looks for these cars to go up in price. I hope they plummet. That way anyone who wants to get into the hobby can afford it. The high prices make it hard for the young guys to get into the hobby. That's why they buy what's cheap now (just like we did as kids)
Plus, I'll be able to pick up a few more wanted cars.

Well, the high dollar stuff may continue to climb and continue to be expensive, and rightfully so. Alot of your base model stuff is still affordable today, and likely will never be a high dollar car or climb much higher than they already are.

Your base model Formulas for example are very affordable, even a very low production 1970 ram air III example isn't all that expensive considering their aren't many to choose from. Low production doesn't always drive up the price.
Pontiac also made alot of other very nice models that are inexpensive, not just F-bodies. That is if you limit yourself to just Pontiacs.

Your ram air IV cars will always be expensive, as well as any other round port poncho. They are considered the cream of the crop during the performance years, so they will always be the most sought after.
Like any other brand, the top of the food chain in performance grabs the most money, and then on down the line. That holds true for all brands. An R code Ford will always be more money than an S code. A hemi in anything will bring more money than your base 340 version. Doesn't mean I'd kick a 340 out of the stable though. A car enthusiast doesn't need to have the top performance model to enjoy the hobby. Still plenty of models out there to get into reasonably. If you limit your choices you'll be opening that pocket book further
One could even build clones of your favorite. Correctly done they bring silly money. But you'll quickly find out to do one correctly the parts alone that make the stop light ringers what they are will rack up a hefty credit card bill. Makes alot of those correctly done clones look like a pretty decent deal compared to the thoroughbreds.