Re: {Chrysler 300} Are We Jaded?

Pete Fitch

On Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 6:31 AM, Heath Towson <towsonhe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Although I have only been a member of the club a short time, I have had an incredibly positive experience since I joined. I am also involved with four other marques of clubs and this one feels like one of the most passion driven clubs I have been a part of.

I also have a differing opinion on younger people not being interested in these cars. I am a millennial and have a 56 300, which was a dream of mine for years. I have another friend who is also a millennial named Austin Swanger, who has a YouTube channel dedicated to saving vintage Mopars and has some very neat Forward Look cars. We recently had a Gen Z kid of 18 years old reach out to both of us about helping him find a Forward Look car of his own. Whenever I drive the B, it gets reactions from people of all ages and demographics. To be fair, there aren’t many 1950s cars in Asheville.

As to a comparison of our cars being like others, I feel like there is something so special about a letter car compared to Ford/Chevrolet/Packard Etc etc. Not scientific but my 300 feels tighter and more substantial than the tri five Chevys or vintage Fords I have driven. Many of my friends who have driven the 300 are amazed by how “modern” it feels and the performance. I think if something is good, it is always good.

It’s not about the value - that really takes the fun out of it.
Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 4, 2024, at 4:58 PM, Dyke Ridgley <ridgleyracing65@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Richard: I am a member of about 15 car marque clubs. Many members in ALL of them are value focused. I have actually found this group to be not as interested in the values of their cars as most clubs I interact with. In fact, one of the things that appeals to me about the 300 Club is the shear number of members who are actively restoring and returning these cars to the road. Many clubs have few members who are still turning wrenches and fixing the cars to run again. However, all the clubs have a pretty good interest in the value of their cars.

Dyke Ridgley

On Friday, October 4, 2024 at 2:08:58 PM UTC-5 torg66 wrote:
I agree, things change all the time.

On Fri, Oct 4, 2024 at 11:57 AM richard murino <richard...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I’m sure this email is going to be met with a huge spectrum of responses ranging from acceptance to undeniable anger from the club members but it is reality not opinion. The facts back up these words.

The 300 letter series ownership community is finally waking up to a simple fact;
The community has overvalued the letter series prices for at least a generation, or longer. This observation is based on fact not opinion. Here are those facts:

For years many collector car values have been driven up by misconceptions based on production numbers, TV auction prices, stated insurance company values, restoration costs, overhyped public misperceptions, folk-lore and even mythology.
The 300 letter cars, among many other makes and models, are among a group that has been overinflated by “owner hype” as have any other car ever made.

Yes, their styling is incredible, their horsepower leading edge for the time period, their technology world renowned. However, here is the simple truth:

“MANY OTHER CARS HAVE THE SAME ATTRIBUTES”
or better.

Those cars can be had for a fraction of the price of the 300 letter series car. We are a jaded bunch.

Fact: As a 300 owner I may think my letter car’s styling is the second coming of the Mona Lisa but that is only my opinion. Automotive beauty is like all things beautiful; It’s in the eye of the beholder.

Having said all of this. The reason a car never sells for the sellers asking price is that the market demand is lower than the market value. ECON 101 is at play here

Fact: Few other ownership groups stroke each other’s car values(egos) to be at higher price points than that of our 300 letter car community.

We all agree that the younger generation doesn’t even know that the 50’s to 70’s 300 was ever produced .
If I had a nickel for every time I heard “I never knew they existed” I’d have a huge mansion on the French Riviera.
As an owner of a 300 for over 40 years I realized early on that I bought it for my enjoyment not as an investment.

Let’s be honest here, the Mustang, Corvette, Challenger and Camaro are coveted by millennials, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z’s because they are driven, can be seen daily on the road and are still in production(ok say goodbye to Camaro).

Furthermore, most elderly people agree that the 300 of the 21st century shouldn’t have been called a 300 at all. The marketing division at Chrysler didn’t do the 1950 to 1970 cars any favors. They tried to capitalize on a legend in name only.
And people wonder why the Chrysler division(dare I say Stellantis) is on the verge of bankruptcy altogether.

The point being: people sink thousands of dollars and hours into these cars thinking they can recoup their “investment”. Yes after Black Monday in 1987 classic cars became an overnight investment sensation. People ran from stocks. The car market return on investment was high in the years following that Monday in 1987. No one invested in the classic car industry before October 19th 1987. No one!
Cars suddenly became a post 70’s hedge against inflation. A place holder for personal wealth.
Then along came speculators with no passion at all for beautiful cars.

They capitalized on the moment( it happened in other markets as well, think baseball cards and coin collecting as examples).
To this day the collector car market values have been “Ponzied up” by unscrupulous fund manager with no love of all things cars.
Today, who knows what the future holds.

There is some good news here though.
Through it all, driving a 300 of any year is a joyful experience. There is nothing quite like it. But then if we close our eyes the same can be said for driving any big V8, small V8, 4 cylinder or even a four door whatever. You choose the make and model. Driving is freedom, period. End stop!
But we sure are a jaded bunch. But freedom of _expression_ is a god given right not a concept. Being jaded is a right.

Just because I ask $387,000,000 for my unrestored 300 doesn’t mean I’m a nut job. The free market talks to us in ways that we can’t talk to ourselves.
At the end of the day we can all agree on one and only one genuinely true fact. That fact is this:

All cars were meant to be driven. Driving is a freedom and freedom is worth dying for. Please let us never forget that.

Enjoy the drive

--
For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chrysler 300 Club International" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chrysler-300-club-int...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/chrysler-300-club-international/SA1PR19MB706493DACF857A7A0177BF17C7722%40SA1PR19MB7064.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

--
For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chrysler 300 Club International" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chrysler-300-club-international+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/chrysler-300-club-international/35eba642-14c3-4c74-9325-90ce3612a726n%40googlegroups.com.

--
For archives go to http://www.forwardlook.net/300-archive/search.htm#querylang
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chrysler 300 Club International" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to chrysler-300-club-international+unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/chrysler-300-club-international/4E44991A-5AC6-4352-9518-38B8A095752B%40gmail.com.