What do you guys think about our cars becoming a collectible one day. I am not talking about high values... Just wondering if there will ever be a colt following years from now. People buying trashed out cars and spending time and money restoring them... Think there will be a place to get parts?

A saw a karmann Gia today on the road in pretty good shape. Made me start to wonder if our cars may follow in the footsteps like so many other cars throughout history. There are some people out there that would love to restore and drive some of these old cars... Just wondering how history would look at the crossfire. If people would actually go out of their way to purchase a crossfire or spend the money to bring one back to life.

 

In my opinion, definitely. Asking if it will ever be a car that commands high prices in the future, that is hard to say.

I have seen a number of "rare" cars come across the auction block over the last few years and with few exceptions they don't command high bucks. I think the best our cars will do is reach around $30K 15-20 years from now...but who knows!

 

I have to take the other side. If a car does not sell the first time, it usually does not do well the second time around---there are exceptions but not many. With over 70,000 made they were not THAT rare either. The SRT6 will have a better chance, but the parts cost and availability will kill it, I am afraid. GREAT car---GREAT deal---I have owned two personally an NA and a SRT plus have sold 4 others. I am a fan, but just drive the car and enjoy it. That Karmann that you saw---by the time you consider the cost of money and inflation plus the restoration---no money was made. But only time will tell.

 

i think the srt-6 is already becoming a cult car. of course, which i hope morphs into a collectable. however, i don't think there will develop an after-market and parts availability scenario. my opinion is that mint original srt-6's will be desirable 10-20 years from now. so, i drive one and put the other in a wrapper. i've owned over 50 cars in my life, from the mundane to special interest to collectable and the srt-6 is my favorite. it's a niche car, like an alfa romeo montreal on steroids. but with teutonic engineering and quality.

 

Cult car, yes. Already is a cult car.

Collector car, not likely;

Too many for a Gull wing status
Too tame for a AMX status
Not funky like a Beetle
Not impossible like Delorean
Not exotic like a Lamboginni

So I kinda think there wlll be a bunch of lame old fools who take a weird liking to this deviant Benz with a Chrysler badge on the bumper.

And a support group for those trying to recover.

 

I have already been offered 30K for my SRT6 roadster. Would not sell because of supply and demand. What would I replace it with? Gary

 

You'll find that one day, people will want these cars. Will they be offering as much for them as people pay for original Shelby Cobras, not a chance. This car will always find a niche because of its looks though.

Some random guy, cart-pusher from what it seemed like, wanted to buy mine when I stopped at the local grocery store. Asked if $30K would do it. I told him $100k. I don't plan on ever selling the car.

 

You should have taken it and bought two more......

 

LOL! Ditto that! I'd have sold mine in a heartbeat, no matter how much I love this car.

 

I would have taken 15K and been happy!

 

I doubt a hybrid car (M/B chassis/power + Chrysler Body) is ever going to be a true collectible. A novelty car - yes; but I doubt it will ever see collectible prices or demand...

Collectible cars are usually demanded (and purchased) by old men who want to go back in time (nostalgia) and drive the cars of their yonger days or the car dad used to drive them around in. Those days are long gone.....

To many fat old men already own Crossfires. They'll all be dead and gone before the Crossfire has time to become rare and collectible. And I doubt the kids of today will be aching to own a Crossfire 30-40 years from now...

 

I see you have not priced SRT6 roadsters lately. If you can find them for sale. Gary

 

I don't know, I'm of mixed emotions on this, while I don't think they'll ever be the 63/67 Corvettes, seen the prices at auction on these jobs? In 1970 I bought a 66 327/300 4 spd for $2300 I see some going at Barrett Jackson for 60 to 80 K and the exotic ones, 67/427 tripower jobs for near 100K. Don't even get me started on the 53 MG TD that I sold for 900. I have this urge to find a nice tree to bang my head on, ya know?

Anyway I digress, I think at best these cars will be similar to the 55/57 T-Birds, there's interest of ownership and some collectability but not a hot demand, and I'm thinking about another 20 or 30 years down the road.

 

Where is that grocery store ??????????? lol

 

Correct me if I am wrong... but this is how I look at it.

The Crossfire has more of a chance to become collectible than a 2005 Corvette. Today there are too many vettes sitting in the garage with people hoping they will become collectibles. They will still be in mint condition 30 years from now.

The Crossfire will be more unique than a 2005 Porsche or a Mercedes. Plenty of Boxsters and SLK's sitting in garages. The best thing that ever happened to the Crossfire was they stopped making them and they went through a period of extremely low prices. It allowed the younger people to buy and they are usually the people to crash them up. They are usually the people to modify them. The older people that take care of cars are buying the high dollar Corvettes, Porsche and Mercedes and turning them into garage queens. There will always be plenty of mint condition Porsches for collectors to find.

 

Yeah I'd like to find that grocery store as well. Or give him my number so I can sell it. These cars will never be worth more than they were new. Maybe eventually they might go up in value but I'm not willing to wait for that

 

I am not talking about price... I don't expect the value to be high.

However, price is usually determined by supply and demand. The Crossfire does have some of the key elements. A sports car 2 seater, Lower than usual production numbers, short production time, a flop in sales and a sudden drop in value. I think most collectibles from the past are cars that the manufacturer couldn't give away. The crossfire was also considered under powered by some which is another similarity.

Some of the most expensive collectibles today seem to mirror the crossfire back in their day. Cars that came and went and were hardly seen on the streets. Cars that you see on the road and never knew were made. Mostly because the manufacturer did a terrible job advertising them. Sports cars that took a risk to be a little different and failed.... but nobody really knew the exact reason why they would fail. The car should have been a success and only the people who owned them can understand them and appreciate the car. But the people that didn't own them couldn't understand it until 20 years later after they did a little research. Now they are willing to pay a premium price for one and become part of the group of owners because there are so few around.

I see potential in high values but I don't expect it. It is difficult to predict.

 

I think you make a lot of sense. A guy at the local bank (when I went in to see if the OTHER bank screwed me on financing -which this guy assured me, they didn't) generally said the same thing you did about the XF.

He said to look for an upturn in value earlier than normal with the XF - well under 20 years, according to him.

But like even he said, "You never know, Mark. But look at some of the prized cars today ... they were almost un-noticed in their day".

 

Well, I don't expect it to go up much and I doubt I'll still have mine by the time it does but you never know. The Crossfire is Chrysler's Edsel and look at the prices for those cars.

 

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.