I'm with you on both counts-prices are ridiculous and the present cost of
the hobby is driving out the real
hobbyist. I haven't had my 55 on the road in three years now. Not
only are the parts unaffordable, the county has taxed old cars at an
artificially high rate, assuming they are all "no.1" cars belong to rich owners.
I too may sell my car, as I am unable to afford to even keep it going on a small
pension I receive .
I attended the Charlotte Auto Flea Market last week here in N.C., billed as
there largest in the South. It probably was, as in six hours of rapid walking I
had covered less than a fourth of the vendors. IO was amazed at the prices asked
for complete cars that had not been restored. The vast majority were junkers
that had been hauled out of the woods, slapped on trailers, and taken to the
show with high hopes the owners could retire on the sale.. Bodies were rotten
through, engines were missing, much trim had already been stripped. These were
crusher bait, yet the owners were asking 4K or better! Can you imagine what it
would cost to restore one of these junkyard escapees?
I came away with one "bargain" Spotted a weathered 56 Chrysler tail lite
assembly with unbroken lense.
The chrome was pitted severely, plastic lense had many cracks from
weathering. But it was intact. Vendor was away from his wares at the time, a
friend was watching the booth. I offered $15. for it, he sold it to me before
discovering the vendor wanted $50!! No way would I have paid the asking price,
but someone probably would. I didn't buy it to resell-the lense on my 56 has a
bb hole in it-
The problem is two-fold. Too much money in the pockets of some folks,
actual value means nothing, bidding or buying is a game they play AND greed
driven speculators who have no interest in the hobby save what they can milk it
for financially. When the bubble bursts, they will move on to something else.
Unfortunately, some of both types are probably members of this list.
Prices have reached such artificial highs that theft of parts has become
a real problem. Got the horn ring on your 55-56 chained to the steering
column?? Word here has it that the parts mgr. of a local Chrysler dealer makes a
good living out of "admiring" Mopar owners cars, and then returning in the dead
of night-
Didn't mean to turn this into a rant, but I'm now 70, have been a Chrysler
fan since high school, and have been all but forced out of the hobby. Same thing
happened years ago when I gave up my pilot's license, but that's another
story--
Ted
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