Are G-Bodies the "New" Classics?

[307 Regal]

I spent more fixing GM shortcuts in my Regal's body than anything else.

I never said the suspension problems can't be solved, but its expensive and labor intensive which is a turnoff considering you can buy newer used cars that (are) far better stock. Its not just tall ball joints but also redesigned arms that take advantage of tall ball joints. Plus your stated price quote is missing a zero. Any improvements in making the suspension stiffer simply makes the floppy frame and body flex more, requiring bracing and reinforcing. Tall ball joints and arms are just a drop in the bucket.

Look: I know TIE Pilot's never exactly been "the life of the party," but the guy technically always has a point.
Sure, you can do anything you want to a G body. But if you don't do anything then you're left with a rather sub-par product compared to what else is out there. Sure, they may increase in value. But there's also a reason why they're so cheap to begin with.
If a 1970 Skylark GS 350 is the Mona Lisa, then my 1987 Regal is me buying a canvas and paint and doing my best to copy it. And it's not hard to guess which one of those would go for more at an auction.

PS: I had to Google what the hell a Yugo even was.
This one looks kinda fun though...

 

[pagrunt]

PS: I had to Google what the hell a Yugo even was.
This one looks kinda fun though...

Best to call it the best joke the commies pulled on the American car market.

 

[UNGN]

Look: I know TIE Pilot's never exactly been "the life of the party," but the guy technically always has a point.
Sure, you can do anything you want to a G body. But if you don't do anything then you're left with a rather sub-par product compared to what else is out there. Sure, they may increase in value. But there's also a reason why they're so cheap to begin with.
If a 1970 Skylark GS 350 is the Mona Lisa, then my 1987 Regal is me buying a canvas and paint and doing my best to copy it. And it's not hard to guess which one of those would go for more at an auction.

PS: I had to Google what the hell a Yugo even was.
This one looks kinda fun though...

Muscle cars were cheap, too. In the 1980's I paid $6500 for a mint rust free 440-6 'Cuda with only 27K miles. A rust free 'Cuda 440-4 for $5K and I bought a rust free, mint SC360 for $2400.

The 231's won't bring much money for a while (unless they are a pro-touring or clone build), but mint MCSS's and 442's will bring money.

When the turbo regals are priced out of sight, the lesser cars will go up in value. Millions of people thought MCSS's and Olds Cutlasses were "fast" and they handled a lot better than "mom's boat". When I walk through a good guys event, THE MAJORITY of the cars today were cars we snubbed our noses at back in the 1980's because they weren't "Real Muscle Cars"... Base V8 Skylarks, Chevelles, Cutlasses, etc.

In the early 1980's, a large percentage of the 60's Hemi owners didn't want the E-body Hemicuda's to join their Hemi Owners club because they had hydraulic lifters and weren't REAL Hemi's. This type of short sighted logic is being displayed in this thread.

 

[307 Regal]

Muscle cars were cheap, too. etc

[puts on philosophical hat]
Yea, man, but like, I'm just thinking: How did they get so expensive again? Hype, right? I mean, yes they were getting rarer too. But there's a considerable amount of hype going on with them, to the point where they're almost "magical" to some people. Certainly "mythical." But why; how'd that happen? I ask this because I wonder if whatever we decide it was, could it even possibly happen again in 25 years when I'm 50 something? Will I be sitting there on my recliner watching Barret Jackson on cable thinking to myself, "Wow; I can't believe that bone-stock 9C1 Malibu just went for 40,000 dollars."(?) With all the changes in the world, let alone within the hobby, I just can't see lightning striking twice. Maybe I just need some Advil and a nap, but I feel like Classic Cars as we know them, as a hobby, are pretty much at their peak. Things may never be this good again.

 

[oldsofb]

Yea, man, but like, I'm just thinking: How did they get so expensive again? Hype, right? I mean, yes they were getting rarer too. But there's a considerable amount of hype going on with them, to the point where they're almost "magical" to some people. Certainly "mythical." But why; how'd that happen? I ask this because I wonder if whatever we decide it was, could it even possibly happen again in 25 years when I'm 50 something? Will I be sitting there on my recliner watching Barret Jackson on cable thinking to myself, "Wow; I can't believe that bone-stock 9C1 Malibu just went for 40,000 dollars."(?) With all the changes in the world, let alone within the hobby, I just can't see lightning striking twice. Maybe I just need some Advil and a nap, but I feel like Classic Cars as we know them, as a hobby, are pretty much at their peak. Things may never be this good again.

I may or may not have called this a while ago. When TobyP and GBodyParts were in the middle of the big replacement sheet metal push, I said that it was the lack of replacement sheet metal that was holding the line back. Restoration is a lot easier with all the parts now available. I think this makes our cars more appealing for non G-nuts that want to get an older rear wheel drive car. Just my 2 cents.

Hutch

 

[UNGN]

You can't touch a 25K mile '86-87 GN for less than $25K unless it has serious issues. '70 'Cuda's @ 30 years out (2000) were about the same for a 'Cuda440, but the small blocks were less. I sold my 440-6 in 2003 for $36K and by 2005 the value doubled. No way I would have sold it for $36K if I knew $70K was only two years away, but we have no way of knowing.

GN's are as no way as rare as 'Cuda's, but at the same point in their life cycle, they are worth MORE.

 

[MrSony]

All 3 that are still running?

And both that drive!

 

[UNGN]

Best to call it the best joke the commies pulled on the American car market.

I had a friend in south carolina that bought 2 of them new around 1989. They sat on the lot for a year and he bought them for less than $2,500 each, because the dealer finally wanted to get rid of them. My all option GN sold for $21.5K new a few years earlier in the same state only 50 miles away.

He had an HVAC repair company and they were his "company cars". When you do home repair, you never want to show up in a fancy car, because people think you are ripping them off.

He put over 100K miles on them and said they were some of the best cars he ever owned.

Of course he'd only owned classic Mopars so I completely understood.

 

[307 Regal]

You can't touch a 25K mile '86-87 GN for less than $25K unless it has serious issues. '70 'Cuda's @ 30 years out (2000) were about the same for a 'Cuda440, but the small blocks were less. I sold my 440-6 in 2003 for $36K and by 2005 the value doubled. No way I would have sold it for $36K if I knew $70K was only two years away, but we have no way of knowing.

GN's are as no way as rare as 'Cuda's, but at the same point in their life cycle, they are worth MORE.

Well I can certainly agree that GNs were able to make the jump, but I think that's because the Turbo Buicks were the only ones that had enough of a special appeal to them, especially in their moment in time. Just like the muscle cars before them, they were a new and unique experience to the general public that happened at just the right moment in history. But if you look at a Monte Carlo SS, it was just a good car for the time. A '98 Grand Prix GTP was a good car for its time too. But what sort of memorable splash did they make?

While I'm talking to you about Mopar E-bodies, and since I've realized that I technically don't have a meaningful point with all of this:
Just for curiosity's sake (because I like old Challengers), back in the '80s and '90s was there anything you could do to an E-body to make it handle better? Any readily available springs, shocks, bushings, etc? Was there a hot set of tires to have?

 

[307 Regal]

Also, what I believe I'm forgetting is that something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Regardless of what they end up being worth to the rest of the world, if two rich guys get into a bidding war then anything could happen. And that's how you get a Hemi 'Cuda convertible selling for one million dollars, sending a ripple through the whole car market.

Alright, I'm done now; I swear.