Are FMJ cars really selling for these inflated prices?

Poly

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Surprised was the only way to describe looking over a couple of recent J body "sold" listings on eBay. One for 6K and one for I think it was 4.5K. They were super nice eye candy though.
 

JohnRogers

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We're in interesting times but frankly I think we missed the boat. Also from a collectability point not all F, M, J cars are the same. Even among Mopar faithful the F can't escape the stink of the original quality problems, they are POS to many people. Fortunately for the 2 dr owners there are people who remember them fondly, the stripes, spoilers, T-Tops. Those people also know they make good muscle cars with a few hours of wrenching and choice parts. The hope was as even the A bodies get out of reach the F was the next hot thing. Yet the muscle market is starting its downward slide. The F will probably never get it's day. The youth want old trucks or the SUV/trucks from their 90's childhood. Then there are M body cop cars, a smaller crowd that isn't growing. There is a wagon culture but their numbers aren't growing. Bread and butter 4 doors sedans are loved by even fewer. Sold cars are the real metric. I think the inflated prices we're seeing is people testing the water before its really too late. Really nice Road Runners, R/T and SC/Kit cars have become rare. Parted out and crushed, so if you have one now is the time to test the market. The F bodies at 15K and north don't sell quickly.

I bought mine to enjoy and drive. I'll spend what I can to enjoy the road. I fully expect to take a loss someday but I won't care. I'll have the memories of the good times.
 

old yellow 78

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I bought mine to enjoy and drive. I'll spend what I can to enjoy the road. I fully expect to take a loss someday but I won't care. I'll have the memories of the good times.
I agree. I posted the response below in another thread a while back:
My car’s value.
but it is still applicable for this thread too:

"I think people get hung up on what a car is "worth" far too often. I don't care what OY is worth because I have no intention of selling it, and I already know it's a lousy "investment" anyway. Not everything appreciates in value, and everything eventually wears out - it's called entropy. I have very likely WAY more into OY than I could sell it for, but it doesn't matter, because it's purpose is not to give me a return for my dollar. If I want something that will bring me enjoyment/relaxation, and I can afford it, I'll buy it. Is it any different from spending a ton of money on a vacation cruise? Plenty of people spend money on things like that, but don't expect to be able to recoup any of it. If my goal is to make money, I certainly wouldn't look to cars. And if my goal is to have some fun, I'm not going to call up my accountant. Two completely different things. I think this is where some of the Mopar "snobbery" comes from. Too much focus on how rare/valuable/fast/etc. a car is, rather than simply having a good time with it because you like it."

I tend to believe that cars in general may likely go down in monetary value as time goes by, because for one thing, it is clear that the world is moving away from gas powered vehicles, and I can't even imagine how transportation in general might change in the next 50 years due to self-driving vehicles and other tech improvements which may actually change the structure of roads. Now, this is likely beyond the time that I will have to worry about it personally, but again, the idea of a standard car, - any car - including our beloved F,M,& J's, as a "good" long term investment? Nope.
Other than sitting in a museum somewhere in the future, where do people think these "antiques" are going to be useful? It is likely that gas alone will become more difficult to obtain, just like leaded gas virtually disappeared within a few years in the '70's. It's also notable how relatively quickly electric vehicles are becoming mainstream now. And then, who would have ever thought that Ford would decide to stop producing ALL cars except the Mustang - who's days I am sure are numbered. GM is surely soon to follow, and the poor old Frankensteined remains of Chrysler Corp. - I don't know what they are going to do. Like it or not, the world keeps chugging (or in this case, humming) along, and we will go along for the ride. There is no choice.
So, I watch the Barrett Jackson Circus with smug amusement sometimes wondering at the hysteria and money flying around. Clearly the focus is money and investment there. It seems almost crass and vulgar. I think it also has the effect of making everyone hope that their own piece of automotive history is worth big bucks. It's understandable, but rarely true.
So, I just try to avoid all the focus on money and accept that OY is simply a toy for me, and not an investment in anything other than my enjoyment.
 

Aspen500

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OY, you read my mind exactly. :cool:

I only hope I'm able to drive my Aspen for another 30 years at least. Will I live another 30 years? Who knows. Will I be able to fuel it up in 30 years? Probably, gasoline isn't going anywhere soon, despite what the so called "news" outlets would have you believe. Will I be able to physically drive the care when I'm 84 (if I make it that long), I sure hope so.

I always tell everyone, I'm the second owner of the car and there won't be a 3rd owner until I'm laying on my back in an underground box. What it's (the Aspen) "worth" is of no concern to me. To me it's worth is priceless.
 

Oldiron440

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OY I agree with most of what your saying, my Volare was built for me, my likes with little to no concern about financial recovery. I've tried things that have worked as well as few that didn't, I don't listen to the naysayers and do what I want. That's part of the enjoyment of ownership.
I will add that I apply this to every vehicle I own, nothing is left completely stock very long.
 

Duke5A

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I always tell everyone, I'm the second owner of the car and there won't be a 3rd owner until I'm laying on my back in an underground box. What it's (the Aspen) "worth" is of no concern to me. To me it's worth is priceless.

Same here. My car was my high school cruiser and has a great deal of sentimental value. I've got such a stupid amount of money into it I stopped keeping receipts because I don't want to know anymore, lol. I did slip up and leave a receipt for the Dana 60 on the kitchen table though and the wife found it....oops.
 

Aspen500

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One advantage of being single is, there's nobody to get upset about what I spend on the car (except myself, lol). I do have a "wife" of 15 years except we don't live together plus, she's one of the people that helped make the car what it is today and wouldn't be mad even if she was my lawful wife and we lived in the same house. Great woman, never gets mad, never complains about anything or says a bad word about anybody, looking better at 52 than she did at 36, and my favorite, she's a redhead! To this day, I don't know how someone like me could get so lucky.:cool:

The make and model of cars we, here on this site, have shows that we don't just follow the crowd. We have a car we want and build it the way we want. If nobody else likes it, too bad. We didn't build it for them, right?:)
 

Oldiron440

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You have a wife but don't live together?

That sounds like my sister she divorced her husband so they could live together. Makes no sence to me but it works for them.
 

Dr Lebaron

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I have fun with people loving my $352 car with a 21yr old paint.
I have way more money into 21 yrs of winter storage than any other money into it.
071718.jpg
 

Aspen500

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No Old Iron, she isn't my wife, she's my "wife". We're not married and never have been,,,,,,to anybody. It's basically like going steady for 15 years, if that makes sense. We talked about living together but decided not to risk ruining a good thing.:eek:

Paid $700 for mine in 1987 with 72,000 miles. Some disturbed individual traded it in on a new Taurus at the Ford dealer I was a tech at. The first 10 years it didn't get a ton of money spent on it. Mainly because I didn't have any money to spend on it even if I wanted to (yes, I wanted to), lol. As it sat in 1996 (when the trans fried) probably had $2,000 (including the cost of the car) in non-maintenance stuff. It would have been more I suppose if you added up the price of things I traded or did labor in exchange for (like the 440, trans and 8 3/4" for example). You do what you have to do. Honestly, I didn't go looking for an Aspen Sunrise, or an Aspen anything, it just caught my eye and never would have imagined I'd still own the car 32 years later when I bought it off the back lot at the dealership looking like this when I hadn't put the louvers back on (they were in the trunk when I bought the car, with broken clips). I think the car aged better than it's owner has. Was I ever that young?:eek:
DSCF0023.JPG
 
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old yellow 78

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Some disturbed individual traded it in on a new Taurus
AGGH! The absolutely WORST car I ever owned was a 1993 Ford Taurus! I still have nightmares! EVERYTHING went wrong with it. I'm surprised that even the carpet didn't break. I pity that poor person that traded that nice Aspen Sunrise for a rolling piece of pure evil. :eek:
 

Motorhead80R/T

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LOL,,Well Its new stock of old parts to them,,,I wonder how many that list FMJ`s for an off the wall price,, Just don`t want to sale it,, just show it,,Like, Hey see what I`ve got. A year ago I tried for a few months to buy a black 80 F body from a guy over in Darien Lake,, He wanted 8,500 for a 6 cly car with a 360 crammed in it, and omni seats,, Today I see it listed on Facebook for 10k. So I guess he doesn`t really wanna sale it
 

Oldiron440

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AGGH! The absolutely WORST car I ever owned was a 1993 Ford Taurus! I still have nightmares! EVERYTHING went wrong with it. I'm surprised that even the carpet didn't break. I pity that poor person that traded that nice Aspen Sunrise for a rolling piece of pure evil. :eek:
I new a guy that had a Taurus with a 4 cylinder and manual transmission, I think Ford only made them for a year or two. He thought it was the greatest thing? I didn't even like the sound of it.
 

shadango

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I always fall back on one thing. A car (or anything else for that matter) is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it and how bad they want it. There's paintings that sell for $4.5M but to me, they aren't worth $5 because I have no interest in them.

As I mentioned in a thread on A&V, I've WAY more in my car than I could ever hope to sell it for (it's NOT for sale anyways) but I don't care. That's not why I built it. It was built as my hobby for me to enjoy.

Well said.

I have probably $25k into my 72 Barracuda....(dont tell the wife)....its a driver , non matching car......and I love it dearly. Its worth twice that to ME. paid $9500 for it as a roller with fresh paint, good interior wiring and dash but otherwise needing lots of attention, pig-in-a-poke 318 sitting in the engine bay, no idea if it ran...no trans or shaft.....not even a radiator or battery tray.

I would do it all over again.

I have been told I am nuts.

I just paid $4000 without haggling for the 81 Dippy Sport.....

Why?

Because
a) very few "sports" around
b) very few in good shape around
c) gorgeous shape
d) fulfilled my specific wants/needs -- low mileage slant 6 car with PB, PS and in overall very nice shape with no mechanical or body issues (crossing fingers it stays that way)

Well worth it to ME.....meanwhile a non-Mopar, non-slant 6 type person would say "You are nuts for paying that!"

To each their own.
 
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