By the Numbers: Mechanical Investments

That actually makes a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow look like a good deal.
Once again, we see that it is hard to predict which cars will be worth a lot in 45 years, so just buy what you like and enjoy it.

My parents cashed out their 401K in some year like 2002 to buy a 350HP, 327, four speed, sidepiped '67 Corvette. It's all original and matching everything. Marlboro red. I thought they were idiots. They've tripled their investment since then. The S&P500 sure hasn't.

Sometimes, timing is everything.

"Most, though, didn't do as well as expected" This comment caught my attention. In 1970 few, if any, of the cars on the list were expected to do anything but lose their value after leaving the lot. This they did and most could be purchased for much less than the original inflation adjusted price 10 years ago. So the Alfa spider would be $7000 in 2004 and has done well in comparison to that benchmark.

Someone please find me a running Lotus Elan for $15K. The cars I've seen advertised lately are in the $50,000-$90,000 range.

FWIW, in May 1975 (as far back as Google Finance goes) the Dow Jones was ~$835. It outperformed everything on that list. The Ferrari came close though.

They are also not counting storage, insurance, maintenance, sales fees, registration. Nothing is really good investment. The crazy high dollar toys are just cash holds for the wealthy, the stuff underneath is so dependent on the weather that it makes no sense to compare them.

Just have fun, keep your cars up to date and don't call them investments.

It'd be interesting to see some traditional muscle cars from 1970 stacked up - from somewhat mundane small block cars to rarities like a GTO Judge or Hemi Charger.

Drive it! That's what it was built for.

In reply to nderwater:

Get an Europa twin cam instead.

If only I had a weaker gag reflex!