Volumex

[Jimb]

Are these rare enough and desireable enough that they would become collectors?
Jim

[So Cal Mark]

I would say so

[Leesfer]

In most countries they already have

[Spiddy]

Without a shadow of a doubt!! Why, have you found one?

[Jimb]

yes, I found one...but it is pretty expensive.
I't's absolutely pristine, but will cost me close to $30k by the time I got it home to Canada.
Jim

[Darsella1]

I would say so. $30k is a pretty common/standard price to pay for one. I'm a huge fan and I would love to own one someday. Hopefully one day Chuck Storry would be willing to part with his

[kristoj]

They only made 1000 and you know there will be fewer of them on the road as time passes. So the supply side of the equation is definitely in your favor. Hopefully, demand will only continue to increase, driving up the price over time. That said, $30k is a serious chunk of change. I wouldn't expect to make a profit in the near term. Just depends on how long you plan to keep it.

[bradartigue]

Are these rare enough and desireable enough that they would become collectors?
Jim

Rare, yes.

Desirable...no. $30k ? No. Desireable are the old race cars, the CSA Spiders, and rare, and worth $. A real works car might fetch $30k. A FIAT owner might desire a Volumex; but can't think of anyone else, the cars still don't get any respect.

[rlux4]

Brad, there are so many times I agree with your opinion. Not this time though. I wouldn't say these cars get no respect. They may only get respect from those of us who own them, but that is a high degree of respect. How may times do we hear that some of us let one go in our youth and then spent years wanting another one? If the only market is Fiat owners, that's called a niche in marketing. A lot of companies exist and do well serving a niche market. $30,000, I don't know.
There have been Fiats that have sold in that neighborhood though.
So, speaking about respect, I respectfully disagree.
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

the whole televised Barrett-Jackson scene has so deluded car owners into over-paying for cars it's ridiculous. Speculating on cars has pretty much ruined car collecting for the love of the car. Now it's all about how much can be made on it.
Only buy the car if it's worth it to you at that price. If the price of gas keeps going up, there's no guarantee the volumex will bring half that price in a year or two.
I remember about 30 yrs ago when any Ferrari fetched a price of 1mil. then the recession hit along with a gas crisis and the bottom dropped out of that market. The speculators, who were only it to make a killing, lost a ton of money

[Spiddy]

They only made 1000 .

Actually, they made 500. One was advertised here in Spain recently for the equivilent of $44k. By the time I got round to enquiring about it , it had sold

[stefhahn]

As most of the Volumex got sold to Germany you can find them round here rather often.
Actually, they are nice cars and mostly in better condition than the average 84/85 Pinins, as the original owners did buy them as something special. But the prices have not gone through the roof compared to the 84/75 Pinins in good shape. I know where I'd get my (black) '85 Volumex .... no, I won't tell, I will own this car one day

Today it is different with the CSAs - but the same effect could come for the VX. When I started to dig into Spiders 20 years ago the CSA was rather cheap to get round here (for around 10-15k) and had a bit of an "oversporty" and therefore impractical attitude (no comfort, no softtop, hard to ride etc.etc,) to most of the Spider lovers (and their wifes...). It was not a car accepted by the Abarth community at that point of time. The last 5-10 years this did change extremely - they are now seen as a rare and nice classic Abarth sportscar - with even more collection potential.

Time will tell.

ciao,
Stefan

[kristoj]

I think what Brad was trying to say is that the Fiat 124 doesn't get much respect in the car collector world -- which is pretty much true. However, neither did the Fiat Jolly 10-15 years ago and now some are selling for $50k. The point is you should always buy what you really love. And if you love the 124 Spider, as most of us do, you can increase your chances of future value appreciation by purchasing the rarest, most powerful 124 Spider. I believe the Volumex meets that description. $30k is a lot of money. But I am certain that will seem cheap some day. It's just a matter of how far off into the future that day is.

[Darsella1]

They only made 500.

Well... I also have to disagree. I know several people (longtime Fiat owners) who would love to get their hands on one (including myself) if they were less expensive. So I would say they are very desirable because It's difficult to even get one. Chuck Storry finally flew over there and bought one from a Volumex club member and shipped it over himself. I'm sure that was not a cheap trip! I have been watching Volumex sales for quite some time and the are advertised generally around the $30K USD for the last couple of years. And they are selling.

There are two for sale in Europe currently for around the $40K USD range, probably because of the very low american dollar. Here's one:

http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/cla ... arno/33970

[bradartigue]

Well, disagree all you want, but FIATs are not well respected cars, at least not here in the USA. If you think otherwise then I only wish I could have such an unblemished view! Of course we respect them, why else would I spend so many hours of my life on these cars? I love 'em, but I also realize the reality of the whole situation.

The truth is that the popularity of ther 124 Spider increases every day. Folks hanging on for the heyday of the X1/9 or 850 Spider will likely be disappointed throughout their lifetime - but the 124 Spider is considered a true classic, and these days it is transcending the (awful) title of "affordable classic." I NEVER thought we'd see Spider 2000's going for 10k. The only thing backwards is the late Spiders are worth more in most cases...the reverse of most marques. I expect this will reverse in the next couple of years as well, or at least equalize.

Is a Volumex worth $30k? Absolutely, positively maybe. Watch a Barrett Jackson auction and you'll see people get duped by the minute - but to them they got what they wanted maybe at a good price. Money is only one factor of satisfaction.

The following opinions most of you will disagree with. When produced it was by then a 30+ year old style and wasn't even sold by a "real" manufacturer. Hard to swallow and damn expensive for the time considering brand new (styled) and more powerful convertibles were being produced. In other words, like today, you had to love a FIAT Spider to love the VX Spider - and it was an old design. Consider going today and dumping 1.5x on a 30 year old design that was still in production. Your $42,000 BMW 318 that's really just a $30,000 318 that was really just the same as the $8,000 318 from twenty years ago. Oh, the bumpers and hood are different and the seats are now made of thinner metal. Its the same situation. The rarity of the car will one day make it valuable to some people. But to most its just a 1985 Pininfarina Spider with a pseudo-works motor.

Now, all that being said, I'd gladly dump $30k on it if I had endless funds.