Mecum car prices

[427king]

[ QUOTE ]
Remember when ZL1's were 200 K ? Not so long ago.


[/ QUOTE ] And now we are saying the sky is falling because they are ONLY doing 800K ?? The market is fine, that auction did better prices than alot of people thought . You can always point to a few cars and ask what happened. No one said the market was soft when the green copo camaro did 85K at BJ a few years ago.

[Charley Lillard]

I was sure that the owner of Reliable transport was going to buy Old Reliable and park it next to Little Hoss but he didn't. I was so sure of myself, I bet Jerry it would happen. Jerry didn't sell his car but he did get 20.00 from me.

[TimG]

I keep thinking of that black W30 at $80,000. What a car.
But as mentioned earlier, who knows how high the buyer was willing to go on that one.

[Vintageracer]

Anyone know that the Red 70 Buick GS Stage 1 Convertible brought?

[Mr70]

It sold for $115,000.00.
http://www.mecumauction.com/auctions...D=SC0508-65956

[olredalert]

-----Wow!!! Automatic for $115,000. Either crazy or a visionary. The two are close, I think.......Bill S

[Les Quam]

There are ZL-1s and then there are ZL-1s. This unrestored blue ZL-1 with the low miles and original paint and original interior not to mention the original engine was one of the two or three most historically significant muscle cars in existence. IMHO far more valuable then any of the HEMI Cuda convertibles that sold for two or three times as much.

We all agree a car can only be original once and original cars command a justifiable premium. This car had no stories attached to it , no one was going around claiming it was a re-body or a repaint or had tape marks etc. It has always been a well known car with tons of media coverage.

Many considered it to be the holy grail of muscle cars. The ZL-1 in the Camaro is widely considered to be the pinnacle of muscle car performance and this car was a documented low mile unmolested one of two RS ZL-1.

So today's market is evidently saying the holy grail is worth 800K. That is good or bad depending on which side of the fence your on I guess? Buyer or seller?

[sixtiesmuscle]

Sorry you couldn't make it Les. I think you would have a totally different opinion on the venue if you could have made it. The sale was very well run, and, I think very successful. I haven't heard the final numbers, but, I think they will be great. Yes, the market has "stabilized" a bit, but, I think that is exactly what we needed, and, I'm speaking as one who has a pretty good sized dog in the fight. It was a pretty simple equation as far as the values on the cars. The rarity of the car plus the condition of the car, times the documentation on the car = the price. Maybe simplified, but, you get the picture. Even a rare car, in #3 condition with no docs did NOT set a world record like they used to, LOL.

As far as ZL1 prices, it was not that long ago that I called Dave C telling him he was crazy for spending 200 & then 275 on the two cars that sold this weekend. I have graciously eaten several meals of crow since that time. The guy who bought the blue car buys with a "money is no object" philosophy, so, if another serious collector like Les had been bidding, I also believe it would have cracked the million dollar mark. And, the last time I looked, $800,000. was a lot of money for a Camaro of ANY type.

[sixtiesmuscle]

As far as the "holy grail" status of the blue car, that may be the opinion of many people, but, I can assure you, not all people. I have cars that are worth less than half of that car that I would personally rather keep than trade for it. That is without regard to value of course. I might be dumb, but, I'm not stupid. I think.

Anyway, the crazy run up of prices for hemi Cuda converts dragged everything else up with them. That was a lot of blue sky IMO, and, the leaders on the way up have also led the pack on the correction. I think this sale has established a base for buyers to feel comfortable to start buying again. A good healthy market with reasonable increases in values is good for buyers, sellers, AND keepers in the long run.

[sixtiesmuscle]

One more thing. In the weeks leading up to the Mecum sale, I had heard about several high end collectors who planned to bid on the ZL1s. The rumors that they were going to buy those cars may very well have scared off some viable bidders. I think that happens more than we want to admit. The thought that "I want that car, but, I'm not even going to go because [insert name of rich guy] is going to pay whatever it takes to own it". Then "rich guy" doesn't show up, or, is able to steal something because nobody else with the wherewithal shows up.