Originally Posted by Vegaslegal
I'm already doing the collector/restoration thing ('66 Sunbeam Tiger MK1a, '73 Jensen Healey, and 70 MB 300 SEL). I've bought and sold at auction and direct. Looking at these, one is a desired collectable (Tiger), one is a low end collectable or not a collectable (JH), and the MB is in the middle. There are so many factors to what makes something desirable.
My Sunbeam should pull north of $45k were I to sell it while the JH would top out at $5k. There are twice as many Sunbeam survivors as the JH, and the latter weighs a half-ton less, has 15 more ponies, a leather interior, the Healey connection, and two world championships under its belt. Why the difference? IMHO the heaviest weighted factor is the "God I want one of those" when the car was marketed. No one particularly wanted a JH, while the wow I wish I had one factor of the Tiger (and likewise Mustangs, Vettes, and Camaros) was through the roof. The Crossfire does not do very well in this category.
The second most important consideration is the "I (or someone close to me) had one of those and I loved it" factor. Falling under this category would be cars like the Ford Falcon, '55-57 Chevy, Nova, Duster, and Charger. All command respectable prices, but absent fuel injection or a Hemi, are only moderately collectable. Note that this factor eschews any reliance on scarcity. The Crossfire doesn't do it here either.
A third path to collectability could be through the iconic nature of the car. A '59 Cadillac, a Toronado, an Avanti, a Beatle, etc., fit this bill. While the Crossfire may touch on this, it does not reach the pinnacle needed.
Obviously all of this turns on supply and demand, and the above factors all go to the later demand. It doesn't look too good for the Crossfire. The one possible saving factor is that everyone who owns this car seems to love this car, and as mentioned above, the price is getting many into the hands of young people today. There also appears to be a great deal of attrition due to the totalling of cars suffering minor damage. Unlike todays collector cars, nonetheless, the attrition is set off by greater longevity of today's vehicles.
It pains me to say this, but there is not a lot going for our cars other than driving them and enjoying them. But that is still more than most people get out of their vehicles.
You are dead on!!!! As I said in my earlier post---cars that do not sell well the first time RARELY, if ever, sell well the second time around, and you nailed it with your example. They NEVER gave away big block Chevys---well until the gas crunch---but 10 plus years had pasted with crazy sales---they were special order for crying out loud. The Mustang sold 41,000 it's first DAY!!!!! They are all over the place and people STILL want them.
The list is long ---with a BIG, I want that factor comes collectivity---not wow that was a great deal because they had to mark them down to sell them---and that is what happened. SRTs sat for a year or more before many were sold. Mine was not sold the first time until Feb of 2007---TWO years after it was built---wow!!! That is not a---I have got to have it car! You can STILL get a NEW 2008 with less than 100 miles---2011 are now out. Now, I love my car, but drive them and enjoy the fact that are the best "deal" on the road.