<VV> The Rising Price of Corvairs

[airvair at earthlink.net]

Back in '71 I bought my third Corvair, a '67 convert with auto and air for
$1300. At the time that was slightly above book, but then the car (just
slightly less than 4 years old) had just 20,000 miles on it.

Today, it has 33,000 miles on it, still with the original top and rear
window (still pretty nice yet), AND I still own it. How much is it worth? I
have no idea, nor do I care (except for insurance purposes). I have no
desire to sell it, so the point is moot. BTW, I also wouldn't sell my '67
Monza 4dr hardtop, either. It has 56,000 miles on it, and both are loaded
with options, the latter maxed out. You simply can't replace either one of
them at any cost.

The point is, I'm sure the convert's appreciated quite a bit since I bought
it back in '71. Maybe I would have been better off putting that money in a
savings account or other investment, but I think not. I have had the
pleasure of putting those miles on it (few as that has been) and of simply
owning it. And THAT is priceless.

As the late Vincent Price (an avid art collector) once said, buy what you
like. If it goes up in value, great. But if it doesn't, you have at least
had the pleasure of owning it. And that beats owning something you hate any
day. Even if it has appreciated.

-Mark

P.S. I also bought 5999 from Hal Smith in 1981. When I heard Hal's stock in
trade was an investment broker, I knew I was in trouble. At the time, it's
market value was approximately $6,000. I ended up having to pay $8500 for
it, having had to outbid a Chicago ponycar collector for it. I donated it
three years later to the CPF museum, and received a tax credit for its
appraised value of $9,000. That yielded only about a third in real-world
tax savings. For sake of reference, Hal had bought it three years
previously from (original owner) Harold Boyer's estate for $2500. I lived
up to my motto, "buy high, sell low, and just try to figure out why I'm not
making any money." LOL

> [Original Message]
> From: Bill Elliott <corvair at fnader.com>
> Subject: Re: <VV> The Rising Price of Corvairs
>
> About 7 years ago, I bought an almost completely original '67 4sp 
> convertible... all records since new, 2 owners (both GM employees), 54k,
one 
> paint job circa 1976, maybe a carpet kit and a little repair to both the 
> front seat upholstery. Original everything else, including the top. I
paid 
> what I thought was a very reasonable price (over $5k but under $10k)
>
> At least I thought it was reasonable... until I found the cancelled check 
> where owner #2 had purchased it from owner #1 in 1976. So assuming the
worst 
> case, it needed paint, carpet, and the top corners of the front seats
were 
> split. It had to otherwise be in nearly perfect shape, was under 10 years 
> old, and I think had like 30k on it.
>
> The price? $125.00
>
> Ouch!
>
> Bill
>