IML: Price guides

There is no such thing as a definitive, last word guide to the value of an old car. If I were going shopping, I'd prefer the CPI guide to use as ammunition in my negotiations with the seller. Why? Obviously I'd rather pay the lower values they show vs the Old Car Price Guide. Even OCPG is in many instances low on the values of many of our beloved and rare Mopars. Sure, they have access to all the auction results and probably a fair sampling of private sales, but they still use a lot of the SWAG method of assigning values. That's Sophisticated Wild-A** Guess..... Do you think for a minute that I will believe that my 1960 New Yorker Town and Country is worth only $500 more than my '65 New Yorker Town and Country??

The bottom line is that a car is worth what someone will pay for it. That value "should" reflect the reality of what it costs to bring a project car to presentable or show condition, or the value of a car that is restored should reflect what money doesn't need to be spent. Of course the costs of a restoration are very similar whether you're doing a Valiant or an Imperial convertible, and those costs are historically high.