Early Miata as future collectible?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271317496335

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What I find amazing is they are now eligible for vintage racing. My, how time flies.

From my experience, the story and the low number may someday give the car's value a slight bump, but not a huge one.

Though not a "pure" sports car, Camaro is a popular car with a long history and a dedicated following, similar to Miata.

In 1990, we owned the lowest serial number '67 Camaro surviving (first-day Van Nuys production #95). That is, none of the magazines, marque clubs or experts ever contested our claim (we asked far and wide) that #95 was the oldest Camaro outside GM's collection. When it came time to sell... nobody stepped up... it sold for mere used car money

I owned one of the first few X1/9's to reach the US, and it did nothing to the value. Granted it wasn't a pre-production model, but most cases, those cars aren't allowed to be sold anyway. We used to get them from the manufacturer to turn into race cars.

I think when all is said and done, years down the road, it may be worth a few bucks more, but not overly so. Just this morning though, I was thinking how few early Miatas you see on the road these days.

That's about $5500 too much...

In reply to 200mph:

My 1975 TR7 coupe was #516 off the Speke assembly line and could be one of the oldest still around, but I'm sure that doesn't make it valuable. At least not yet.

There too many NAs produced for it to ever really I matter I think.

Collectible, as in worth purchasing as an investment is not likely to happen soon. Vintage is where it is headed. It is a cool enthusiast's car to own. I enjoy mine.

I doubt it will ever be worth a mint, but I still have my original paint/original top '92 Miata.

200mph wrote: When it came time to sell... nobody stepped up... it sold for mere used car money

I think they would today. You sold too soon!

A friend of mine bought a solid driving '91 Miata with 135K on the clock the other day. It had good original red paint, no rust, & a two year old top. He paid $3,750. I think he did very well.

I bet it goes for about $5500.

The only downside I would see to owning it is; you fix it up, take it to shows with a big sign board you made, grin happily that you think you have the earliest Miata in a 500 mile radius, then stumble across the guy who has 000063. Doh!

NEVER ! Way too many built and all of them owned by hairdressers and secretaries.

It would be like collecting Pintos and Vegas . . . a dime will get you a dozen.

No, I think its going to be very much like collecting MGB's is today.

A whole generation now coming of driving age is going to want one because their mom or dad had one. There will be demand, but because Mazda sold so many, values won't rise for another 25 years !

What do you mean by collectible? It isn't the same as desirable to a core of enthusiasts. There were more VW Beetles around than any other car so they will never be rare (although they aren't seen much today as a result of tin worm), but there is a large group of enthusiasts out there that like owning them and spending money on them. Miatas can certainly attract that sort of following.

If by collectible you mean something you can restore and make money on, that only applies to a very small fraction of the old car market and Miatas aren't headed that way

In reply to wspohn:

I agree with you. How many Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, etc. were sold? People on these boards criticize Japanese cars as having sold too many to be collectable. However many of these same people don't hold high sales numbers against anything branded in North America or the United Kingdom.

Notice I said branded North American or the UK. My last two Ford products had less North American content than either of my Honda Accords bought the same year as the Fords.

What I don't understand is the fanatical people loving absolute failure rides. The Edsel, Fiero, Gremlin, Vega, Triumph Herald, Austin America etc. are collectables because they were financial disasters. They just happen to not be a Japanese brand.

Give me a PL-510 Datsun any day over an Austin anything. The same goes for a 240Z over a Vega or Fiero. And I'll certainly take a Accord over anything branded Edsel.

The mustang and falcon were dime a dozen cars in their time. As was the beetle and a host of others.

While all three are collectables now, and worth more than when new, none compete with the likes of an ac cobra or an Aston Martin of similar vintage. I would expect the same of an an miata, al least for the first century or so. Only when there are a few dozen left will their value skyrocket. All, IMO.

Cars that are quirky offer a lot of bang for the buck if you want to take it to a show. For example: I took a Lancia Flaminia to a an all Italian show and it garnered more interest than the group of Ferraris and Lambos with which it was grouped. The Flaminia was not inexpensive ($26K) but no where near its neighbors in value.

Rupert wrote: In reply to wspohn: I agree with you. How many Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, etc. were sold? People on these boards criticize Japanese cars as having sold too many to be collectable. However many of these same people don't hold high sales numbers against anything branded in North America or the United Kingdom. What I don't understand is the fanatical people loving absolute failure rides. The Edsel, Fiero, Gremlin, Vega, Triumph Herald, Austin America etc. are collectables because they were financial disasters. They just happen to not be a Japanese brand. Give me a PL-510 Datsun any day over an Austin anything. The same goes for a 240Z over a Vega or Fiero. And I'll certainly take a Accord over anything branded Edsel.

Minor quibble with your list. I have owned 1988 and pre 1988 Fieros at the same time and am therefor in a much better position top assess them than most people. The first Fieros (with the 4 cylinder 'Iron Puke' engines were garbage commuter cars that they had to make to get approval for the project. The V6 versions improved but the handling was still flawed. The 1988 had completely new suspension all round and was a real sports car with significant capabilities - I owned one I had tuned and turboed for more than 20 years.

And I agree about the Datsun 240Z - a watershed car from the styling point of view, that made the new Triumph TR6 (a rather brilliant restyle on an old platform job) look stodgy in comparison. Of course those early Japanese cars ARE pretty rare now due to poor to nonexistent rust proofing (but not as bad as the Italians - the Fiat 124s melted away in a couple of years in the winters in Eastern Canada).

In reply to wspohn:

wspohn,

My experience with Fieros was based on the two my good friend bought new in the day. The first was the "Iron Puke" model which was scary in many ways, especially the handling. She sold that one for one of the updated V6 models. It handled fairly well and had good power for its' size. Unfortunately it burned to the ground when the rear clip collapsed and dropped the back end on the pavement. I've heard that clip collapse happened to several other Fieros as well. But I was so disturbed by what happened to her that I never followed up to find out if that were true.

Rupert wrote: In reply to wspohn: wspohn, My experience with Fieros was based on the two my good friend bought new in the day. The first was the "Iron Puke" model which was scary in many ways, especially the handling. She sold that one for one of the updated V6 models. It handled fairly well and had good power for its' size. Unfortunately it burned to the ground when the rear clip collapsed and dropped the back end on the pavement. I've heard that clip collapse happened to several other Fieros as well. But I was so disturbed by what happened to her that I never followed up to find out if that were true.

Back in the '80's they were dubbed Pontiac "Infernos" for that very reason. More than one ended up setting fire to itself.