A lot of 356 for sale

[Bruce Edge]

I just received my Panorama magazine. I am use to normally seeing
About three or four 356’s for sale, this issue has 14 listed.
I thinking wow, does mean anything. Anyone else find that surprising?

Bruce Edge

[Adam Wright]

I just received my Panorama magazine. I am use to normally seeing
About three or four 356’s for sale, this issue has 14 listed.
I thinking wow, does mean anything. Anyone else find that surprising?

Bruce Edge

The market has softened and slowed some, so you are seeing both pile-up of inventory and seeing people trying different avenues for advertising. Selling in a market like this still do-able you just have to be more realistic in your pricing, but buying is very hard for guys like me. Everyone quotes you last year's prices, and unless their car comes with a time machine or they get Cher to sing, no one can afford to pay last year's prices.

[Dan Epperly]

I just received my Panorama magazine. I am use to normally seeing
About three or four 356’s for sale, this issue has 14 listed.
I thinking wow, does mean anything. Anyone else find that surprising?

Bruce Edge

The market has softened and slowed some, so you are seeing both pile-up of inventory and seeing people trying different avenues for advertising. Selling in a market like this still do-able you just have to be more realistic in your pricing, but buying is very hard for guys like me. Everyone quotes you last year's prices, and unless their car comes with a time machine or they get Cher to sing, no one can afford to pay last year's prices.

Same thing is happening to the split bus market. Prices down, taking longer to sell...probably the market got inundated by hacks buying up and doing quickly restorations to make a buck before the market was saturated.

[Adam Wright]

It is a good time if you're buying a Porsche for yourself. You actually have some negotiating room and have time to do things like a PPI. Unlike the last couple of years where your first question was
1. Is the car still available?
2. How do you want payment?

The same thing is going on with Ferrari's, my brother just bought a 308gt4, and is very happy.

[Adam Wright]

I checked my mailbox and Pano was there. Looking at the listings I saw at least 3 356's that have been for sale all summer, at too high prices on other platforms like ebay. Some people don't understand that you can overprice anything, even something very desirable.

[Bruce Edge]

Thanks Adam,
Now that I know my cars are not worth as much as last year, I will start driving them more.

Bruce Edge
56 A coupe
62 B Karman notchback

[C J Murray]

Hi Bruce, who are you kidding, you never stopped driving them!

I can't make heads or tails out of the 356 prices. Restorations are still expensive no matter what level you are going for. Really nice cars are still valuable. Special cars keep going up.

I am always amazed at the prices paid for common cars in poor non-running condition. If you can buy a super nice car for $80k why would you pay $25k for the same model in horrible condition? DIY project? The parts alone will cost $40k. Is math really that hard?

So if you can buy a top level driver for $80k why would somebody pay $143k for that same model at a Monterey auction?

I have a car for sale right now so I am keeping a close eye on what I can see of the market. It appears that very nice cars still sell at a good price but there are only so many people with the ability or desire to write the check.

The majority of buyers are not experienced enough to understand the difficulties involved in making a bad car good. Dreamers always dream....until frustration has them walk away from the restoration project.

You could say that really nice expensive cars are actually cheap where cheap cars are actually expensive.

I agree that there are some very rough cars listed for sale by dealers for prices that only apply to much nicer cars and they have been sitting unsold. Maybe the previously stupid buyers have learned the difference between condition 1 and condition 3?

[Adam Wright]

I am always amazed at the prices paid for common cars in poor non-running condition. If you can buy a super nice car for $80k why would you pay $25k for the same model in horrible condition? DIY project? The parts alone will cost $40k. Is math really that hard?

It is simple math. I have many buyers who have good income, but don't necessarily have $80,000-100,000 in cash they can drop on a sports car. But they do have $25,000, and have good income to fund a restoration over time, farming out some work and doing some themselves.
There is also the guys who enjoy the journey far more than the destination, they would rather restore a car, no matter how rough, than buy a restored one. I've bought many a car from a guy who spent 5 years restoring it, drove it for one season and then got the itch for a new project. I know guys who many never finish their car, but they don't care, they will much more enjoy banging on it in their garage, then taking it to the next cars and coffee.

[Harold Singh]

I am always amazed at the prices paid for common cars in poor non-running condition. If you can buy a super nice car for $80k why would you pay $25k for the same model in horrible condition? DIY project? The parts alone will cost $40k. Is math really that hard?

It is simple math. I have many buyers who have good income, but don't necessarily have $80,000-100,000 in cash they can drop on a sports car. But they do have $25,000, and have good income to fund a restoration over time, farming out some work and doing some themselves.
There is also the guys who enjoy the journey far more than the destination, they would rather restore a car, no matter how rough, than buy a restored one. I've bought many a car from a guy who spent 5 years restoring it, drove it for one season and then got the itch for a new project. I know guys who many never finish their car, but they don't care, they will much more enjoy banging on it in their garage, then taking it to the next cars and coffee.

This makes sense to me! It’ll be perfect when I sell it!

[JohnLiles]

I agree with a lot of what C J Murray says .

I am in UK so will usually look at UK prices for sale , and the classic car market in general is down on what it was 2 years ago ( the probable peak ) and 1 year ago .

So joining the dots suggests that if you are holding stock you should be selling now .

Looking at it from buyer's side , UK has a soft currency right now , 2 years ago I might have got $1.6 to £1 , now it is around $1.3 to £1 , which slows down buyers exporting cars from US to UK . The pound is also weak against the Euro so exporting cars from Europe to UK is also adversely affected.

These are general trends on classic cars and not 356 specific . The 356 is seen as an old mans car over here , which is OK as old men have most of the money . You can buy a couple of 911's ( of 996 variety ) for one average 356 , so why would a young person prefer a 356 ?

[C J Murray]

Full disclosure... 4 of the 5 cars in my signature were bought as projects. But, none of them were horrible projects like most of what I see sold on eBay. Three of my 5 still have original floors whereas many people are now buying projects that have no metal left to attach new floors to. When you have to replace the three inches above the floor I don't see how you can justify paying $25k but the math is what your mind says it is I guess.

I think that project cars are for people who understand the expense and are able to keep up with the negative cash flow involved. Ask any restoration shop about maintaining cash flow as customers periodically run short of funds. When your car expense starts to eat into your family budget the enthusiasm for your project begins to wane. I am rebuilding an engine right now for a man who has owned his car for nearly 20 years of restoration and driven it a total of 1 mile. That sounds like torture.

Conversely if you buy a really nice car that you can drive right now the expense is known up front and can be evaluated by you to see what impact it has on you and your family. Also if your circumstances change you have a marketable asset to sell.

[Jim Liberty]

C.J. hits most of the points. I'm trimming my collection, and have my '63 S - 90 coming on BAT in a few days. It is one of my restorations, and has been Tiff's and my touring car for some years. A show car when restored, and could be again with a little "Scrubbing". Numbers matching, correct colors, but a lot of my touches that might not be appreciated by many. ………...We shall see.

……………………………………..Jim.

P.S. I have a couple of cars in the works - '54 Coupe and '56 EUROPEAN Coupe.

[C J Murray]

Hi Jim, I hear that BaT is tough(low) on reserve prices. How do you feel about the reserve amount that they suggested? Obviously I do not expect you to disclose the number. Thanks.

[Jim Liberty]

I set the reserve where I wanted it. Howard Swig knows me, and my cars, and hopefully the buyers will too. I'd sell it to my mother. …………..Jim.

[Doug McDonnell]

Looking forward to seeing yours on BAT Jim. Tired of looking at the severe case of "Gaposis" on the 60 they have now.