I haven't been in the Mavericks and Comets scene too long, but within the last two years it seems the asking price for these unique vehicles has shot up. I just caught up with another Mav owner at the gas station driving a yellow '70 302. It had a "For Sale" sign (which is why I gave chase). We talked for a bit and I found out he is asking $5,600. Looked like it had new/outstanding paint job. Saw an "All original" (advertised) red '73 Gomet GT w/ black Halo Vinyl Roof with asking price of $5,500 at a local dealer. Striping/Decal didn't look original though, and was white, not black. Sharp car. Noticed a "visiting" '72 Maverick in the neighborhood with a "For Sale" sign in the window. Lots of surface rust, dull/scratched paint. Asking $3,800. I'm not a genius when it comes to what year vehicles came with what options; but the prices surprised me. Seems like only yesterday you could have your choice and pay somewhere under 3 grand. Thoughts? Good for the Mavericks and Comets community overall? -A
The price of most collectible cars has been steadily going up for the past 2 years. Most Mavericks/Comets have been going up in value according to NADA on the average of 10% per year. For example, the NADA Classic Appraisal Guide puts the high value of a '72 Grabber at $9250. Now, I know of few that would be willing to pay that much for one, but the that's what the "experts" are saying the car is worth in mint condition. The entire collector car market experienced a significant transition after 9/11 when the stock market took a big hit. Many investors with money to invest started looking for tangible assets to invest in that were safer investments. Classic & collector cars were suddenly more appealing than ever for this purpose and the auction houses like Mecum and Barrett-Jackson were happy to help. Many new dealerships specializing in classic cars sprung up nationwide and are thriving. This trend is doubtful going to change any time in the forseeable future. This phenomenon is a Catch 22. The up side is that cars like ours are finally being seen as we see them by a lot of others and their values are climbing. Another hopefully will be the availability of more reproduced parts as the cars get more popular. This is what happened to the Mustang and why you can get virtually everything for them many places. The increase in values for the most desirable cars have made the rest available more desirable for those that cannot afford the Mopars and Mustangs so more cars are being saved from destruction and restored than ever. The down side is that Mavs are going to be more expensive to buy and the parts market is seeing an increase in both demand and prices. Just pick up a magazine and look at any of the numerous auction reports or advertisements for collector cars and you'll see exactly what I mean. The most "desirable" collector cars have gone right off the hook price wise and keep going up. The drying-up of availability of small bumpers is just one example of what's happened to just the Mav/Comet marketplace. Who knows what tomorrow is going to bring, but I don't see the bottom falling out of the marketplace....ever.
I agree with you on the reason for the price increases, but as far as repro parts, well that may not happen. MOPAR guys are finding that out. 'Cuda's and Challengers are very desirable to collectors. Especially the big block cars, but repro parts are still almost non-existant. I have a friend in Vegas that does restorations and he just did 3 Challengers for a guy. It took 6 cars for parts to build the other 3. He had to do this and refurbish the old parts because new were not available and NOS were few and far between and off the chart expensive. Our cars are in some cases 30 years old and repro parts as simple as seat covers are still not available. The higher values may help, but the stigma of the Maverick just being an economy car will forever haunt it.
It all depends on the near future. Supply and demand means everything. The fact that companies like Autokrafters is getting into Mavericks is great and the companies that reproduce our stripe kits are a big help. These guys weren't doing this a few short years ago. I think as our group grows so will the amount of vendors and hard to find parts.
Hotrodbob is absolutely correct about the Mopar parts. They still aren't like Mustangs that virtually everything is available, despite the popularity of the cars and the increadable prices they're commanding. I'm finding this myself looking for parts for my '68 C-Body Plymouth. Reproducers make parts when they smell $$$. If they smell Mav $$$, then we may see more of what we need repoped. They have to know that there is a good market, however, or we may find ourselves really scraping for parts after long. Just ask the guys looking for small bumpers that don't need rechromed or the chrome rear side window trim pieces. They're doing that right now. I can't find them and I have parts contacts out the wazoo!
At a show this afternoon, and turned down $7500 for my Mav. Getting harder and harder to turn these folks down, but I really love my car. Maybe $10K, and I might give it some thought. Crazy, huh?
I wonder about those offers sometimes. One day I'm going to call their bluff and see if they really mean it. Of course, if they are serious, I'd have to back pedal.
I know what you mean, Dennis. If I was pressed, I would probably back out real fast. However, I could build a car a lot cheaper and better now that I know the where and how of parts and services.
