Are desirable Camaros becoming out of reach to the average person?

[onlytherich68]

I wonder now in this age of skyrocketing prices for muscle cars, if the desirable Camaros are only for the rich. When my Camaro obsession began back in 1985, one could snatch up a Camaro at any price point it seemed. I found my first 68 SS396 for 3500 bucks in the late eighties and it was a running car. Correct me if I'm wrong but back then if you drove around in an old Camaro then, you were "lower class" or a "redneck" or a "gearhead" or whatever. Now it seems you must be wealthy to own or drive an original RS/SS camaro and if you are a convertible freak like me, well then forget it! Unless you are ready to lay down 20 to 30 grand! If I wanted to drive the car i wanted, an original 1969 RS/SS convertible, I would have to come up with 40 thousand dollars! I think this contributes to the birth of so many clones. To make matters worse when I get another 1st gen Camaro, it can't possibly be a daily driver. My 68 RS convertible a couple of years ago, got so much attention any time i drove it, I was scared to leave it unattended for longer than 10  minutes! So it seems this very expensive car can only be a weekend toy. Who can afford such an expensive hobby in the real world? Even an educated guy like me with a good job has to play the wating game and hope to be able to afford to get another 1st gen one day.....

[zdld17]

Comment if I may,  You are correct of these prices and even those clones are up .  Indeed they are money pits along with your work cars and mortgage.    But I look at it as a way to "pay me first in life"  providing  you have provided for everyone else and cause.     The price you pay is sometimes for the work someone else does at a $40-80 / hr labor rate plus parts.   If you have any mechanically inclinations,  you could save a load.   Its getting even the first gen "rat rods" are getting expensive and a bunch of younger guys are buying them up from the older guys like me.   

[rod67ss]

Agreed $20 to $30K IS a lot of money - however look at the price of new cars. $30 won't even buy a top of the line model Toyota mini van. I know as I own 1 along with my '67. In 10 years the van will be in the junk yard while the Camaro will probably doubled in price.

So perhaps the question should be can you afford NOT to buy one....

[1968RSZ28]

Agreed $20 to $30K IS a lot of money - however look at the price of new cars. $30 won't even buy a top of the line model Toyota mini van. I know as I own 1 along with my '67. In 10 years the van will be in the junk yard while the Camaro will probably doubled in price.

So perhaps the question should be can you afford NOT to buy one....

Rod -

I like your thinking!!  Now, I need to get my wife to see it like that...    

Paul

[sd1968z28]

it,s a delima faced by many, they want a car but can't afford it.  in my case i bought a car found out what it was, found through crazy luck all the original parts, now i have so much in it i have to get rid of it.  it was great fun finding the parts and such but now what, i can't drive it or even park it i my garage for fear of bikes ect, and that kind of sucks!!! kinda makes me wish i had back my original 6cy car with a crate motor and a 5speed.

[dab67]

Kind of like the thread I posted regarding finding parts at swap meets. I believe we are our own worst enemies when it comes to trying to preserve these cars. The biggest reason I bought a clone was to be able to drive it and enjoy it without worrying if it were a NOM car. That is not to take away from what people that have restored their cars to numbers matchin are doing,, that is pretty awesome to say the least. Supply and Demand will alway dictate the price of something and right at the present, these cars whether NOM, a good Clone or Recreation are in High Demand hence the price goes up. Will they ever meet a saturation point? I don't see that happening anytime soon simply because the "younger generation" is starting to enjoy these cars also. And with the aid of the internet it has only aided in keeping the price up. JUST MY OPINION. Plus like Paul states, the more I spend on the car, the more I have to please the wife!!!!!!!!!!! HA!

DAVE

[zdld17]

The above two posts are exactyly what I was referring  as per money pits.  As one of you mentioned, once completed either clone or not, you are faced with garage reality and enviroment.    Some chose not to drive their prize but I say, You only die once.      We are caretakers of these cars , for the next generation.  So it cost to keep these cars, what else would you do with your money, once all other obligations are satisfied.   Like I said,  it pay me first, this is what we live for.      I have maintained my Z 39 years and dont want to even think about the expense.   Just keep in running and polished and drive it . 

[lakeholme]

Dave and I figured that we are in the same boat a while back, so basically ditto to what he said.

But before we go too far with this economics lesson, let's consider a couple of things.  In the last 100 years in the US, people as a whole were "the best off" financially in the late 60s.  As a matter of fact, minimum wage in 1968 was the higest it has ever been in equivalent dollars, nearly $10.00 in today's dollars.  It is true that many of us are not as "wealthy" now as we would have been then.  But my 68 coupe came off the lot to the original owner in the mid $3k range in early 69 (actually a little expensive for the time).  Even when I finish restoring it I'll still have less than $30,000 in it.  By today's dollars that's a bargain...  Anyway, that's the story I keep telling my wife, and I'm sticking to it.

Now, as to your descriptive nouns:  GM would have been "cut to the core" to hear you describe Camaro owners as "lower class".  The Camaro (and the Mustang) was for all the people.  I'm from North Carolina and thanks to Jeff Foxworthy I know I'm a redneck.  But, hey, who are you calling a gearhead?!?     

[onlytherich68]

I have always lived in the South and I know that for a while throughout the late 80s and early 90s, if you drove an old muscle car you were considered a Redneck or Gearhead or something like that. I told my wife I wanted a 68 Camaro convertible back in 1999. She called it a redneck car so I left her and got my convertible. The car was much more fun and did not bitch at all.......

[jdv69z]

I purchased my 69 Z/28 in 1982 for $6200. That was steep at the time, and the only reason I could afford it then was that I was single, and had made some money traveling with my job. Even at that, I never considered it an investment. I am sure that many at that time thought it was an ill advised use of my money, but I loved the car and especially the 302, so I went for what I wanted. Now I look like a financial guru which I am not. The difference between me and others of that time, was that I took the risk, while others I knew always talked about wanting a car like mine, but when it came to putting their money where their mouth was......it was just talk. I think that if  these cars are a dream for someone, they should go for it if they can (obviously not a possibility for everyone)

Jimmy V.

[JKZ27]

As the word "investment" gets used more and more in the place of "hobby" or "project", I would have to say the first gens are quickly becoming out of reach to the working class. I am VERY lucky I got my project Camaro when I did.

As for the redneck cars, I do remember a period of time when most of the first gens you saw were dressed in gray primer with Cragars and air shocks, and there was likely a mullet inside somewhere.

John

[68Zproject]

Two things:  In 1985 or 86, I went to a swap meet in Portland and there was a 67 Z28 for sale for $7 or $8K.  Even then we all knew 67zs were rare, but $7k was a little steep.  In high school, we went to a car lot on 82 ave. and saw a 65 Corvette, $4k.  It had new paint and looked like new.  We laughed, "Who would pay $4k for a Corvette?"  (I bought a 68 ss for $600).  But who knew?  Both cars would be doing better than my 401k.

[GaryL]

When I was 17 years old, I wanted to buy a '68 Z/28 that was 1 1/2 years old. At $2500 it was out of reach for me then. Most Ferarri's are out of reach for me now. I don't worry about it, I just buy what I can afford. Too bad we all can't buy first gens any more, but there are a lot of things I can't buy now. Just a fact of life.

[bob69]

I've alwise have had a 69 camaro in the garage for the last 30 yrs. I've had a rs z stolen and never got it back, sent a six banger to the bone yard because I didn't have title,( big mistake 27,000 car striped for parts ) sold a rs rag top a couple of years ago for 13,000 and paid twice that for the z I have now and its a driver,and I like it that way I beat the heck out of it like the one I had when I was 18. Just wiped a lobe on the cam. I'll be tearing it down again.It"s nice not worrying about a nick in the paint.When the time comes to sell it I hope it gets driven and not stored.It's mostly orginal in good shape and I bet it will not go for that much less than a show one. 2 years ago I had a chance to get a # pace car for 17,000 in show shape but didn't get it because I was looking for a stick ( another big mistake ) the next day i came to my sences and it was gone. Bob

[zdld17]

I've alwise have had a 69 camaro in the garage for the last 30 yrs. I've had a rs z stolen and never got it back, sent a six banger to the bone yard because I didn't have title,( big mistake 27,000 car striped for parts ) sold a rs rag top a couple of years ago for 13,000 and paid twice that for the z I have now and its a driver,and I like it that way I beat the heck out of it like the one I had when I was 18. Just wiped a lobe on the cam. I'll be tearing it down again.It"s nice not worrying about a nick in the paint.When the time comes to sell it I hope it gets driven and not stored.It's mostly orginal in good shape and I bet it will not go for that much less than a show one. 2 years ago I had a chance to get a # pace car for 17,000 in show shape but didn't get it because I was looking for a stick ( another big mistake ) the next day i came to my sences and it was gone. Bob

Bob, there is a current article posted under wiped cam lobes or something like that.   Good information to know when going back into it.