Since I wasn’t smart enough to take photos of my Cameo White, red/orange/yellow-striped W50 Formula Appearance Package-equipped 1979 Formula at the time, these press photos from the dealer brochure (color) and the press kit (black and white) will have to suffice.
Setting aside economic conditions, market trends and fluctuating collector car values, my kneejerk reaction has been to answer, “No!” That stance, however, has led to me keeping most of the ones I’ve collected over the years, some perhaps too long for their own good, and to the detriment of the others. But that’s my situation.
If someone were to ask me that question regarding their vintage car, I’d probably ask, “Do you still enjoy it and can you still afford it?” If you answered “yes,” to both of those questions then keep it.
However, if you haven’t touched your collectible cruiser more than a couple of times in the last few years, and haven’t thought about it much more, and you have no plans to change that pattern anytime soon, you may want to consider selling it to someone who will enjoy it for its intended purpose.
I’ve wrestled with this question quite a lot over the years given the limited time and disposable income I had to keep my projects going. When they graduated to weekend rides from “I have-to-get-to-work-no-matter-what daily drivers,” they began to get less attention from me. As you may have read in my previous blogs, some sat for more than few years and of course deteriorated. Nevertheless, I kept them with the hope of restoring them to at least driver condition—someday.
Having gotten a year-long taste of seller’s remorse after letting my 1967 Chevelle SS go, I became gun shy anytime I had to consider selling one of my cars. Two further examples are my 1979 Formula Firebird and my 1969 Judge. Both tested my decision to part with them by resurfacing years later, once again for sale.
I previously blogged about my Carousel Red, four-speed Judge (I just found my 1969 GTO Judge 23 years after I sold it ), which went across the block at Barrett Jackson in Scottsdale in January of 2014. When I saw its condition and sale price, I didn’t regret trading it away back in the early 1990s. Why? It’s now restored and it sold for $77,000. I didn’t have the cash to restore it to its current state back then, and I don’t have $77,000 to buy it now, so what’s left to regret?
Hopefully, the Judge’s successive owners enjoyed it while they had it. And as of last year, a new owner had been afforded that same opportunity. It’s a better alternative than the possibility of it sinking into the ground in my backyard for the last two decades.
Regarding my 301-powered, T-top, 1979 Formula, I had seller’s remorse when I first sold it in the late 1980s. Having been my daily driver, some great memories were made in it. Then a few years later, it resurfaced, literally less than a mile from where I lived with “For Sale” signs on it and an asking price that was $100 less than what I sold it for. I checked it out of course, but I didn’t buy it back. It proved, at least to me, that I had made the right decision when I sold it the first time.
It’s important to note that I owned these cars back when I was much younger and my responsibilities were much less than they are today. Marriage, two children, a mortgage and a procession of late-model daily drivers each with its own multiyear loan have come since. In other words, over the years, my situation has changed, as I’m sure it has for most of you. Typically, cars like mine have become a hobby rather than a daily need. As such, they can be viewed by some non-car people as “unnecessary” expenses.
How much has your life changed since you bought the car your considering selling? How does your current situation relate to your current collector car needs? Are you still pleased with it or have you become bored with it? Are you selling it to buy another collector car? Are you selling it to finance finishing another languishing project? Are you selling it due to lack of space? Are you selling it to pay other bills? These are just a few valid points to consider.
Sometimes, generated by a sense of family responsibility, we sell our vintage cars to help finance a wedding, the purchase of a house, the birth of a child or a college education. If you are facing one or more of life’s big-ticket items, only you can decide if the car’s monetary value outweighs its emotional value for your particular situation.
I didn’t delve into car values in this blog because all cars are different in that respect, but the decision making process discussed here is applicable to various circumstances.
Please share your story and advice pertaining to a vintage car you have loved but later sold. Why did you sell it? Did you regret it afterward or was it ultimately for the best? Or did you decide to keep the car? How did that work out for you?
from Hemmings Daily - News for the collector car enthusiast http://ift.tt/15I0X6B
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