By David993S - Fri May 07, 2021 8:47 am
- Fri May 07, 2021 8:47 am
#78481
The 911 pricing thread got me thinking about the cars I've owned that were good investments. I've never bought a car with the intent of making money, although some have been good (lucky) investments. I won't list actual $ amounts, but these are cars that I made money on even after spending to keep it running, maintained, restored, etc. . What have you made money on?
I'll start:
1985 Ferrari 308 GTSi. I bought the car in 1988 about 6 months before Enzo passed away. Once he passed, Ferraris values started a meteoric rise (and subsequent fall, then rise again). When I sold it two years later, I doubled my money.
1973 Lotus Europa JPS. I didn't own it long - about a year. But when I sold it, I made about 50%. Not because they went up in value, but because I bought it at a good price.
1958 Jaguar XK150. I bought it to refurbish and enjoy. It was in reasonably good condition when I bought it, but I spent a fair chunk of change bringing it up to Concours level. It won a couple of Best in Show awards, and was judged a 98.5 in a Jaguar Club of America full Concours show. It was so nice I didn't want to drive it. After a drive I would obsess on cleaning it......like spending an hour on each chrome wire wheel. Since I wasn't driving it, which was my original intent, I sold it to some collector in Mexico (that's another story) for a little more than I had in it. Today it's worth about double what I sold it for. But I should have just kept it, drove and enjoyed it occasionally and not worried about keeping it perfect. It's at the top of the list of cars I wish I'd kept.
Reynard Formula Continental race car. What!....you made money on a race car ?? One of my many SCCA race cars I owned over 20 years of SCCA racing. Hard to believe, but I actually sold it for more than I paid for it after two years of racing it. OK........I know the math doesn't actually work - you spend a lot of money to keep a race car on the track. Hey -when you race you rationalize lots of expenditures. But purchase price vs. selling price? I made money
.
1972 911T. We probably all have those stories. My first 911. Drove it for several years and sold it for about what I paid for it, so I guess that counts.
Enclosed 22ft. trailer. It was the trailer I used for my Formula Ford (my avatar). Once the FF was gone, I sold for more than I paid. Just luck, I guess.
1997 993S. My 7th 911. We'll see what ultimately happens if/when I sell it. For the last few years it seems to be worth a little more than I paid in 1999. But I have spend a fair amount over the years maintaining it.
Cars I've "lost" money on? That's a much longer, uninteresting list (consisting of mostly British sports cars), and for another thread.
Cheers.
I'll start:
1985 Ferrari 308 GTSi. I bought the car in 1988 about 6 months before Enzo passed away. Once he passed, Ferraris values started a meteoric rise (and subsequent fall, then rise again). When I sold it two years later, I doubled my money.
1973 Lotus Europa JPS. I didn't own it long - about a year. But when I sold it, I made about 50%. Not because they went up in value, but because I bought it at a good price.
1958 Jaguar XK150. I bought it to refurbish and enjoy. It was in reasonably good condition when I bought it, but I spent a fair chunk of change bringing it up to Concours level. It won a couple of Best in Show awards, and was judged a 98.5 in a Jaguar Club of America full Concours show. It was so nice I didn't want to drive it. After a drive I would obsess on cleaning it......like spending an hour on each chrome wire wheel. Since I wasn't driving it, which was my original intent, I sold it to some collector in Mexico (that's another story) for a little more than I had in it. Today it's worth about double what I sold it for. But I should have just kept it, drove and enjoyed it occasionally and not worried about keeping it perfect. It's at the top of the list of cars I wish I'd kept.
Reynard Formula Continental race car. What!....you made money on a race car ?? One of my many SCCA race cars I owned over 20 years of SCCA racing. Hard to believe, but I actually sold it for more than I paid for it after two years of racing it. OK........I know the math doesn't actually work - you spend a lot of money to keep a race car on the track. Hey -when you race you rationalize lots of expenditures. But purchase price vs. selling price? I made money
. 1972 911T. We probably all have those stories. My first 911. Drove it for several years and sold it for about what I paid for it, so I guess that counts.
Enclosed 22ft. trailer. It was the trailer I used for my Formula Ford (my avatar). Once the FF was gone, I sold for more than I paid. Just luck, I guess.
1997 993S. My 7th 911. We'll see what ultimately happens if/when I sell it. For the last few years it seems to be worth a little more than I paid in 1999. But I have spend a fair amount over the years maintaining it.
Cars I've "lost" money on? That's a much longer, uninteresting list (consisting of mostly British sports cars), and for another thread.
Cheers.
Generally speaking, rally suspension has to be robust. The dampers, in particular, need to take a beating. Spring rates are usually not much higher than stock. In fact I used stock springs in the Talon, with GAB rally dampers. Made for a good compromise.
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