Credit Crunch Hits Muscle Cars - WSJ

[Vegas69]

You can look at it at least two ways. You live once, and you can't take it with you. There is no guarantee you will live to see tomorrow. If blowing all your money on a kick ass toy makes you happy, so be it. You can suffer the consequences.

[Rhino]

I can sleep in my car, but i can't race with my house.

Very true!

[vintageracer]

Fox body Mustangs and Fox Body Saleen Mustangs. Try to find a good one now because you will pay dearly for them in the future. Good ones are already hard to find. The guys that dreamed of these cars when they were new are now 30-40 years of age. The perfect age to once again want to crack in the back seat of their dream car. Since many of these cars are still under $10K, the dream is still VERY affordable!

As a point of interest. Steve Saleen built about 2,400 total Fox body Saleen Mustangs between 1984 and 1993. Carol Shelby built about 2,400 Gt350's during the 1966 model year alone. Does this mean that Saleens will be like early Shelby Mustangs in value and desireability? NO it does NOT!

But you never know????

[Texas Hotrod]

I save my "spare" money to buy parts on a weekly/monthly basis and I have purchased several project cars over the years using the same concept. I jumped on a deal for a clean Corvette many years ago, so I took out a simple personal loan at my local bank. No collateral w/o any money down, I got the money with my signature. I knew what I could afford, had the payments set for 2X the time allowed and didn't have anything to worry about. I managed my funds, paid 2X the scheduled payments, and had it paid off in no time. A loan for an automobile would have created many hassles, a personal loan was simple.

We work/live/pay our expenses on a weekly basis, just like everyone else. I operate my shop the same way. The work I produce for a week pays the bills for that week. Weeks add up to months and months add up to years. After 15 years I'm closer to having the shop and equipment paid off. So don't get the idea that I'm making big bucks and have a lot stashed away. I work my a$$ off for what I have, just like everyone else.

There is no way in hell that I would ever get money for a toy, at the expense of my house. What the mortgage companies shaft people in interest alone makes me pissed off. What the average family ends up paying for our homes in the end is enough to pay for it twice to 2 1/2 times over, then add a 2nd mortgage on top of that. We pay extra each month just to stay ahead of the system, and after 12 years, it'll soon be ours. If people are stupid enough to get these "interest only loans", pay only the interest (and spend the rest) and come up screwed in the end, it's nobody else's fault except for their own. It's hard enough for the average person to manage money, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out when not to put the house in jeopardy. Interest alone can surely kill anyone.

Back to the car subject: I agree that the cars that people have here are an exception to the rule. I for one started out with a cheap project. I'll invest about $15/20K in the thing in the next several (many) years and will eventually have something valuable. Not that I'm looking at resale value, but I'll be able to get more out of it than what I have invested. Can I get my hundreds of hours worth of labor out of it? No, but I'm not expecting to. I plan to drive/race/enjoy the thing.
I'm starting out with a $2K project, not a $30/50K+ bondo wagon.

On the flip side: It's cool to refinance and swing the deal for a bad-assed ride. We need more of that on the streets. It's just not a good idea to risk the family's good fortune when budgets are stretched thin. There's always a better way to get it done.
I for one have learned from my mistakes.

[bigvegan]

Between the number built, the emissions equipment and the sub-200hp ratings of a lot of the V8s, I'd guess the Fox Body Mustangs are unlikely to be high dollar collector cars.

They and the 3rd gen camaros will continue to have a strong following, and nice examples may have some value, but the sheer numbers alone will keep them out of the stratosphere.

Of course, with gas getting close to $4 a gallon and the economy headed into the toilet, even super high-dollar collector cars may not be super high-dollar collector cars much longer.

On the plus side, if you've been smart with your money, there will be some outstanding buying opportunities between 2008-2012.

[Vegas69]

What I think most are missing here is......a real investor is not hurting today. They are out buying at the deep discounts available. The guys buying high end cars aren't worried about $4 gas and they sure as hell aren't using them to commute to work. The lower end cars will get hit the hardest without a doubt.