# Why bother with low interest savings..invest your money in antique cars



## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

As the saying goes.."one person's junk is another person's treasure".....

Just think of all the old cars out there in Canadiana, rusting away in junkyards, in farmer's fields and in old barns covered with years of dust and rust and pigeon debris. If you happen to find the right one, it could fetch a fortune on auto auctions depending on what it is. :biggrin:

Here is one such "treasure" in France....


> 1949 Talbot Lago T26 Grand Sport SWB par Saoutchik, a French sports car rebodied by a custom chassis maker. The Saoutchik family only built four bodies like this one, and used this car to advertise their talents at auto shows around Europe, giving it every special touch they had. After its show days ended, the car fell out of sight, and for most of the last four decades, auto historians considered it lost.


This car, found in an old barn last year..sold for $1.9 million. (Euros) Being only one of four made, it was "d'elegance of de arte"
at that time in post war France. Now it recently sold..UNRESTORED.for $1.9 million. Euros or USD, it really doesn't matter..these are "priceless" relics....and unrestored, but preserved, it could even double
it's value in the next 50 years. Definitely a conversation piece...and as they say.."they are not making
these anymore."









Imagine, IFyou had that kind of money and brought this beauty home.....

Car afficianado/savvy market investor: "Honey!..guess what I bought at the car auction today"
a custom made French sports car from 1949!"

Wife: Great! let me get ready and we can go for a ride to show it off to our neighbours"

Husband: Well..there is a small problem with it...uh...it won't start.

Wife: I'm sure our mechanic can figure out what's wrong with it.

Husband: I uh..can't take it to my mechanic.
Wife: Why not?

Husband: There is no service manual for it and no plug for the diagnostic computer!


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

Yes cars in barns seems like quite a sound strategy... to the tune of 20 million pounds on this 'investment'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11396783/Treasure-trove-of-classic-cars-sells-for-20-million.html


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

Here's another one...

"Have you heard about the Peter Max Corvette collection? It is a set of 36 Corvettes, one from each year starting with the model’s 1953 debut and continuing through 1989. This collection is not only famous because they were owned by Mr. Max, the Pop Art star who gained fame in the ’60s, but also because he stored the cars for years in publicly accessible parking garages without much thought for their upkeep." This was a VH-1 contest!









https://roadtrippers.com/blog/max-corvettes


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Reminds me of a story about the Kaiser - Frazer company told by author Richard Langworth. He was interviewing a company executive 15 years after the company folded. The way this executive told it, they wasted a lot of money and manpower building convertibles, sports cars, and low production models. Money and manpower that could have been invested to better advantage elsewhere.

Langworth protested, "but those cars are valuable collector's items today". To which the executive replied, "so is the ossified egg of a dodo bird".


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

I have a collapsing barn full of old bicycles and air cooled VW parts that I collected in the 80s. For sale for $1 million, but if you offer me $1000 I will take it.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

uptoolate said:


> Yes cars in barns seems like quite a sound strategy... to the tune of 20 million pounds on this 'investment'
> 
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11396783/Treasure-trove-of-classic-cars-sells-for-20-million.html


This is the same article I used for the Talbot Souchik.



*"I have to say that when we discovered the extent of the collection we found ourselves overcome with emotion.*



> "A collection like this can't fail to arouse the passions of those who love automobiles, as well as art and history enthusiasts. Never again, anywhere in the world, will such a treasure be unearthed."


Of course today the trick is to find an old barn with these rusting relics that hasn't been rifled for the last 50 odd years is indeed a "once in a lifetime dream" for anybody who likes these old relics. 








Years ago, I knew an old farmer dude with a 1929 era Ford Model A. 
I was just a boy then, but when he gave me rides in it..that Ah-ooga aH-ooga horn really impressed me. Hard to say how much these would be worth today..certainly not in the tens or hundreds of thousands.

Ford made millions of these in that period, so it's not a rare car by any stretch of the imagination...It's probably rusting in some shed..or maybe it's already gone to recycle heaven.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

uptoolate said:


> Here's another one...
> 
> "Have you heard about the Peter Max Corvette collection? It is a set of 36 Corvettes, one from each year starting with the model’s 1953 debut and continuing through 1989. This collection is not only famous because they were owned by Mr. Max, the Pop Art star who gained fame in the ’60s, but also because he stored the cars for years in publicly accessible parking garages without much thought for their upkeep." This was a VH-1 contest!


What a shame they are so filthy, not even covered with a drop cloth..but a lot of collectors are like that.\ Jay Leno OTOH, respects all his cars and I imagine when he passes on someday, his collection will be turned into a museum and worth millions because he looks after his collection. He has a working 1906 Stanley steamer. 

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-c1-jay-lenos-garage-20140714-story.html#page=1


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## uptoolate (Oct 9, 2011)

Sorry Carverman. The link wasn't live so I didn't follow it up. There was a story in the paper the other day about the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's Avenger torpedo bomber restoration. They said they scrounged parts from other planes sitting in fields around the continent. Similar to the stories of finding WW2 tanks at the bottom of bogs and recovering and restoring them. 

http://www.warplane.com/vintage-aircraft-collection/aircraft-history.aspx?aircraftId=39


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Then there was this warplane that was discovered in the bottom of a Muskoka lake with the remains of the pilots still inside.
It crashed in 1940. I can just imagine the cost of restoring a plane in that condition after 75 years in the water.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/remnan...hed-in-1940-retrieved-from-ont-lake-1.2083713


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I went through an old abandoned farmhouse in Saskatchewan, out of curiosity.

It was completely empty, except for some blue bottles under the kitchen sink, and 1 black man's suit hanging in a closet.

It was kind of eerie to see the suit on a hanger, looking like it was waiting to be put on.

I always wondered why the people took everything else, but left the one suit.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

carverman said:


> As the saying goes.."one person's junk is another person's treasure".....
> ...
> 
> Husband: I uh..can't take it to my mechanic.
> ...


 ... LOL! A Sunday special. And this, 



> .. Years ago, I knew an old farmer dude with a 1929 era Ford Model A.
> I was just a boy then, but when he gave me rides in it..*that Ah-ooga aH-ooga* horn really impressed me. ...


 ... your descript is so loud and clear here. I'm impressed too. :biggrin-new:


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

There are good, fully restored Model As for sale at $10000 $15000 $20000 depending on body style and condition, some good running cars that look shabby for even less.

The Model A generation of collectors is dying out and there is not the demand for cars of that age.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Rusty O'Toole said:


> There are good, fully restored Model As for sale at $10000 $15000 $20000 depending on body style and condition, some good running cars that look shabby for even less.
> 
> The Model A generation of collectors is dying out and there is not the demand for cars of that age.


Yes, you can still get fully restored cars of that era and get Vintage plates and insurance for them. 
They had electric starters thankfully, but a backup crank in case the battery went dead. No, electric accessories other than that, no seatbelts, no airbags, no stereo/CD, no signal lights, heaters were inadequate requiring passengers to have horse blankets to keep warm and of course no air cond...if you wanted air conditioning, you stick your head out the window, like the dogs do.

You had to use your hand signals OR if so inclined, retrofit with these funny upgrades of the 50s/60s that had a mechanical hand sticking up, down or out to let other drivers know you intend to turn.

These cars would last forever if maintained at least once a year with an oil change and making sure the rad had adequate antifreeze for the winter. They could sit in a barn or even outside for years and
start if the gas was good and the battery was replaced. No computer controlled ignition or sensors
to replace. They didn't come with a block heater, so in sub zero days, the owner had to put a smudge pot under the engine to warm it up to start it. The only levers on the steering column was the choke and the spark advance.

The gears were a three on the floor assisted by a clutch pedal. 
Insurance was cheap, and with the limited power, you wouldn't be breaking any speed limits on the highway either, so not traffic fines or demerit points..there were no demerit points and licencing
for drivers only came into Ontario in the 30s..no picture and it was cheap...ah the good ole days..Ah...oooga!


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

Shouldn't this be under the "What's Your Money Pit Hobby?" thread?

PS. The original collector died 10 years ago, so he never profited from his "investment."

His son died a year ago, so he never profited from it.

The collection passed down to "Baillon's grandchildren, who had no idea of the extent of the collection". This suggests the collection was never properly evaluated upon the death of either the grandfather or father. One suspects that by the time the grandchildren are finished paying estate taxes, capital gains, and auction house commissions, there won't be a whole lot of that 20M pounds left.


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