Spider value and respect

[MikeLee57]

Been a year since my last visit. Had.couple other cars to compete. 70 Fiat 500L wil be up for sale. Plan to drive the X/19 Bertone this summer and one of my spiders. An actual mid engine Italian coupe, and another built in Italy, designed by an Italian designer legend and one of them built later badged the Pinnafarina Azzura.
To the point of my post, why are these cars selling for the same price as a n 8 year old high milage US made minivan. I think the Mazda Miata is a car you buy your Daughter to drive to college. But compare reviews you might think they confused it with one of these Fiats. Appears the overall collector cAr market has been soft for the past eight years excluding the million dollar and up. There are large numbers of cars at the auctions that are not meeting reserve. Would expect most of these cars to return to previous values and move up. Are any other 124 Spider owners agree these cars should be worth much more and increasing every year. Will the new generations appreciate these cars and increase in demand. The supply isn’t increasing. Maybe they dont see or hear enough to appreciate the Italian sports car history of designers that started it all.

[chrisg]

That may be a persistent topic continuing for many more years. Some of us find it to be a double edged sword. One of the cool things about the cars is there so much to enjoy without a price tag either to make someone nervous or to draw people who are into it for prestige. The flip side is The vast neglect me a bar scene these cars receive because the owners decided economics didn't justify proper maintenance (or something like that). Indeed our used family minivan cost more than I would expect to pay for most of the really great Fiats I have seen bought & sold over the last few years. Then again, for me these cars are about the process & experience and I know that if I wanted to I could slip all sorts of less interesting cars and give away Fiats and I would be fine!

[RRoller123]

2 other cars make this list, and are on my personal Hooptie list. The Jaguar XJ6 (one of which I have) and the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky. Well under 5K for a really nice XJ6, and from 5-10K for a really nice Solstice. Good Hooptie company. Looking for the right Solstice now, but won't pull the trigger until after we move. Cargurus.com is a good place to search for these things. There are a few Porsches that fall into this category too, can be well under 10K.

[johndemar]

Sorry to get off subject, but funny that you mention the Soltice. I have a close friend that bought a new 2007 non-coupe, non-GPX, manual transmission model. They have it stored away with just 800 miles on it.

The husband of the couple has this delusion that it will skyrocket in value. I said drive it, or put it in the dining room.

[RRoller123]

Yep! "Skyrocket" is probably delusional, "underappreciated" is probably more accurate! Either way, always drive them, Jay Leno gets it right, they aren't meant to sit around like sculptures, collecting dust.

Pete

[FiatJim]

I just read an article (on my phone) that there have been a number (3+) car museums which have closed their doors n recent years. The author contends that the closure has caused a "flood" of classic cars in the market, thereby lowering prices. Maybe?

Jim

[njspider]

In the auction results in Hemmings, they indicate spider prices are on the rise. When I decided it was time to revisit my youth, I began looking at the MGs and Triumphs I owned in the good old days. I ended up finding a great running, clean 1982 spider for the same money as the rusty English project cars I looked at. I still can't believe what a value these Fiats are. I didn't buy this car as an investment, it's a driver and I plan to enjoy it. I do believe I'll be able to get back what I paid if I sell it and I'd be happy with that.

[joelittel]

Every spring I fall in love with mine all over again.

It shocks me that they aren’t selling for more than they do, but I fear the day the world catches on to our little secret.

When you consider the lineage behind Lampredi and Abarth I don’t see how anyone could choose an MG over the 124.

[MikeLee57]

I just read an article (on my phone) that there have been a number (3+) car museums which have closed their doors n recent years. The author contends that the closure has caused a "flood" of classic cars in the market, thereby lowering prices. Maybe?

Jim

It's hit and miss, but some cars are not desired by the upcoming generation. What one generation liked and one day purchased, or restored, has no connection with the next generation, or one following it. Have a 57 Bel-Air 2 dr hit, that has decreased in value over the past few years. It's a project car, Planned a restored, with quick engine, PS,PB etc. Now it's practically worth more to part it out to the who may have wrecked one ,etc. The repop steel is nothing like the OE.
Not many 25 year olds that get anything out of a slow 124 Spider. My Karmann Ghia Vert,is a car I will not sell. So many younger people see it and have no idea what it is. Doubt they would spend the money it's worth, and buy some 80's Crap car,they identify with.

[RRoller123]

I have been surprised at how much interest and compliments my '80 FI Spider gets at Cruises, out for ice cream, etc. Oh of course, I get the usual dose of "Fix It Again Tony" nonsense, but I say back to them: "Feline Italian And Topless", and that usually puts a quick end to it. Plus when they hear of the provenance of the engine designer and the body designer, their eyes light up in surprise, and a glimmer of respect as well.

[azruss]

It appears to me that the typical auction buyer is a guy that is either retired with a good nest egg, or the kids are out of the house and making good money that he has mad money looking for a home. What he wants in a car is what he dreamed about owning as a teenager. The exception being a cool car his dad or granddad owner. In my case, here, a 56 Packard Caribbean. This is a shifting demographic as we all get older. This means the sweet spot for car value is very specific with the exception of very rare exotics. This makes me think that cars of the 50s have reached their prime and this should be the sweet spot for late 60s and 70s car. (cars 50 to 55 years old). I have also observed that cars that were not "dreamed about" when they were new, will never achieve classic stardom. This is where 124s are. These cars are a well kept secret that we all understand. It keeps them rare (as in you never see them on the road) and affordable.....and that works for me. It amazes me how few people know what the car is, or assume the "f" on the side stands for Ferrari. They also think it's expensive. It also surprises me that the young kids ask me if it is a new car.

[Justice777]

Lol... I went to 2 cruise-ins over the weekend, received many complements, and no less than 6 people asked me, "What is it?"

Check my post today about a Craigslist find. I REALLY wish it were closer. It would probably be in my garage right now.

[TX82FIAT]

To me the question of value for my most recent spider is more tied to if and when I can no longer drive a manual transmission for fun. So....maybe 25 years left of enjoyment. It seems the value is more tied to those that appreciate these cars than any objective third party. The more history you have with them the more value you tend to put on them up until you want to buy one. Then, you obviously negotiate the other way.

In 84, I picked up a high mileage, neglected and ill tempered 79 carb spider for $500. Put a few hundred dollars into it to make it a solid runner and then sold when in college for $1,500. Not bad and dirt cheap for a drop top. In 1999, I picked up a sweet 83 spider for $3,400, put about $V500 into it over the next few years and sold it in 2004 for $10,800 on e-bay. In 2009 the bug struck again and I picked up an 82 for $6,400 on E-bay. I bid as a joke to harass my wife and actually won the car. Spent the next few years dumping money into the car to make it the way I like it. I'll never get that money back. This will be the fun car in retirement until it is not. Value on this one is unrelated to market conditions. The value to me is how much would some one offer me before I would entertain selling the car. So...... $20K opens the door.

[zachmac]

I've been watching values slowly creep up on BaT. I think they are appreciating, just slowly. On the other hand a pretty nice 82 only pulled $8100 there today so who knows? I say for now enjoy our "secret" on the cheap.