I wasn't thinking of this from an investment point of view. More lamenting that many of the cars I love are no longer affordable and wondering what will replace them as affordable dream machines.
I wasn't thinking of this from an investment point of view. More lamenting that many of the cars I love are no longer affordable and wondering what will replace them as affordable dream machines.
I really wonder what the Alfa Romeo 4C will do. I don't get the feeling that they're meeting demand well enough for it to really depreciate.
Mike wrote: I really wonder what the Alfa Romeo 4C will do. I don't get the feeling that they're meeting demand well enough for it to really depreciate.
Let's stay dreaming, OK? In seven years, maybe we'll have a "Which Alfa 4C on the Atlanta Craigslist for $5K?" thread.
tuna55 wrote: Let's stay dreaming, OK? In seven years, maybe we'll have a "Which Alfa 4C on the Atlanta Craigslist for $5K?" thread.
That's a nice dream, but I think they are going to need to start delivering a lot more of them for that to happen.
Back to the original topic: With the run up in Ferrari 308 prices, the Mondial, and even the 348 are starting to look like bargains. On another note, you can get a clean early '00s AMG SL55 or Maserati (coupe or spyder) for low $20Ks these days. VERY tempting. I think these will be future classics and doubt they will stay cheap forever. Upkeep costs are a legitimate concern though. The Aston Martin DB7 is also tempting if you can find a v12 with a manual for around $30K. I've seen them, but they usually have a story... Still, if it checks out and you are buying the car you love, how do you loose?
I'm waiting for the prices to drop some more on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. They seem to have sold quite a few of them. Great look and a great sound. I would love to own one but I am afraid they may never be "affordable" due to their great beauty.
tuna55 wrote:Mike wrote: I really wonder what the Alfa Romeo 4C will do. I don't get the feeling that they're meeting demand well enough for it to really depreciate.Let's stay dreaming, OK? In seven years, maybe we'll have a "Which Alfa 4C on the Atlanta Craigslist for $5K?" thread.
Even if you are 75% off and it's a which 4C for $20K then I'm in no questions asked. As I said when the 4C first came out and was comparing it to the Cayman, it's a question of what do you prefer to be slapped about and abused by this:
or this
Even more so now you can get a 4C Spider Vs a Boxster.
I think the 4C and or the Porsche will both have lower maintenance costs than either of those "models" and may appreciate more!
maseratiguy wrote: I think the 4C and or the Porsche will both have lower maintenance costs than either of those "models" and may appreciate more!
I'll bet they look better in 30 years too 
Suzuki X-90s should be fairly attainable by now. It's been about 20 years.
I submit to you the Noble M400. One hell of a car that can be had for under $50K, or to put it into perspective, about what it would cost to put together a decent Cobra replica, and way less than that 818. Mot have been modified to give somewhere around 500 HP per ton. The 400 represents that they came with 400 per ton. I like the early ones with the boy racer wings. Utube is littered with videos of these things besting much more expensive rides. If you don't know what they are, I suggest you go there and meet your new love.
Semi Exotic... Hmm I'm almost to the point were I don't really think there's many of those left whose prices haven't already sky rocketed or never depreciated enough for mere mortals to attain.
I have the Lotus Esprit on my short list, and if you want to slum it I think the 944 Turbo is gonna go up. I also think an under the radar car right now is the SW20 MR2. A very nice Turbo example will just go up and up. I'm not sold on the Maserati GS becoming a good investment.
These are just my thoughts.
I think you will remember the day you could buy an early Viper for $25,000-30,000. I am not that big of a fan, but this is the 427 Cobra of the Nineties.
The Esprit keep coming up so I wandered off to the Googly-Moogly to look for old road tests to wet my appetite. I found this one from C&D back in 1983. Before C&D went to the E36 M3ter early this century it was known for its excellent writing. This must not have been one of those pieces that earned that reputation. It is good, but in a 'they are trying so hard to be good it's comedicly bad' sense of the word.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/1983-lotus-esprit-turbo-road-test-review
'The furry wallops are at your disposal on any narrow little back road'
'England's cloistered, raveling lanes'
'streaking of soft grasses, tussocks puffing their fringes over the pavement, a constant buffer brush that whishes your tires'
'turbo instantly wallops your backside with each cue of the throttle, pow-in-the-back whoop! pow-in-the-back whoop! pow! gearing up, whoosh the furry grass, brake grunt, whoosh, pow! pow! big lateral wallops under blinks of shade at the corners'
‘a slam-home wedge to be driven into a perceived gap’
‘all-time packaging, quality civility, and performance king ‘
There is more, you have to read it.
It's freeking comedic gold in the worst 8th grade trying to sound grown up way. You have to read it.
Tim Suddard wrote: I think you will remember the day you could buy an early Viper for $25,000-30,000. I am not that big of a fan, but this is the 427 Cobra of the Nineties.
I've driven four Vipers that I can recall. Great fun, but as you say in a 427 Cobra kind of way. Fun for 30 minutes, but exotic it's not. Every generation is a big crude sledge hammer of fun that makes Mjölnir look like a debutante in a prom dress. Not a car on my want list except as a pure toy to take to the track, and at the price point of even the cheapest ones I'd buy a historic single seater instead.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: The Esprit keep coming up so I wandered off to the Googly-Moogly to look for old road tests to wet my appetite. I found this one from C&D back in 1983. Before C&D went to the E36 M3ter early this century it was known for its excellent writing. This must not have been one of those pieces that earned that reputation. It is good, but in a 'they are trying so hard to be good it's comedicly bad' sense of the word. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/1983-lotus-esprit-turbo-road-test-review There is more, you have to read it. It's freeking comedic gold in the worst 8th grade trying to sound grown up way. You have to read it.
Wow.. just wow. It was like a Mr. Regular from Regular Car Review wrote that back in 83.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:maseratiguy wrote: I think the 4C and or the Porsche will both have lower maintenance costs than either of those "models" and may appreciate more!I'll bet they look better in 30 years too
Doubt they will do anything but go down for a good long while. They are stacking up at the dealers according to a buddy who works for Fiat.
OK, I've been poking around for fun. Just how bad are Esprit turbo's? The Peter Stevens redesign versions seem stupid cheap.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: OK, I've been poking around for fun. Just how bad are Esprit turbo's? The Peter Stevens redesign versions seem stupid cheap.
Gawwwwwd I want an Esprit Turbo so bad.
corsepervita wrote:Adrian_Thompson wrote: OK, I've been poking around for fun. Just how bad are Esprit turbo's? The Peter Stevens redesign versions seem stupid cheap.Gawwwwwd I want an Esprit Turbo so bad.
Says the man with a Lamborghini Jalpa.
Dude. Save some for the rest of us! :)
I almost bought an '87 Esprit Turbo that was overheating for about 7k this past year. I probably should have jumped on it, but I had too much money tied up into other projects at the time. I'm probably going to kick myself for that. Though I really want a Julian Thomson redesign model though, you can blame that on Need for Speed 2 on the PC back in the day.
Affordable exotics? The Ferrari 348 and 360 Modena are pretty much at the bottom of their depreciation curves. Same for E46 M3s, Porsche 996, and early Maserati Coupes.
Prices for the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 have just started to climb now that the E30 M3 has shot up in price. People have finally caught on.
While on the subject of Group A homologation specials: It's too late to pick up a cheap Ford Escort RS Cosworth, but you can find affordable Lancer Evo 4, 5, and 6 models abroad. I'm sure an Evo 6.5 TME will go up in value one day, especially if you can find an RS version. The early Evos are now approaching 25 years-old and will be OK to import soon enough. Also, I'm sure the Peugeot 205 GTI will always have a following. They're now import legal.
Finally, I strongly suspect the Honda S2000 and Z3 M-Coupe/M-Roadster will be popular at classic car shows in 30 years. I have a buddy with an S54-powered M-Coupe in a rare color for that model (Laguna Seca Blue); he's already been getting offers approaching $30k for it.
t25torx wrote: I almost bought an '87 Esprit Turbo that was overheating for about 7k this past year. I probably should have jumped on it, but I had too much money tied up into other projects at the time. I'm probably going to kick myself for that. Though I really want a Julian Thomson redesign model though, you can blame that on Need for Speed 2 on the PC back in the day.
Damn you must be a whippersnapper! Being born in 69 the 87 Peter Stevens redesign really looked good to me as I was 18 at the time. To me it immediately looked modern and cool, how a super car should look. At that age the original Giugiaro designed looked dates and as if it had a break over the front wheel. By the time the Julian Thomson design had come along it too looked fresh and modern, but not anywhere near as much of a leap forward as the Stevens design had a few years later. Now with the benefit of taste and wisdom that age brings 
I look at it int he exact opposite order. Giugiaro got it right, Stevens out it though the wash, rounded it off and sort or ruined it then Thomson left the soap in a pool of water and finished it for good OK, just joking, but to me the original is just right and the redesigns get more and more bland, generic and derivative. That's not to say I would chuck any of them out of bed, err the garage!
PS, depending on the condition of the rest of the car that could have been a steal at $7K, it would have given you the chance to make the engine 100% with some slight upgrades and still come out ahead.
LanEvo wrote: Affordable exotics? The Ferrari 348 and 360 Modena are pretty much at the bottom of their depreciation curves. Same for E46 M3s, Porsche 996, and early Maserati Coupes.
I think 348’s and 360’s probably have further to go. 430’s are still coming down which will drive down the 360 further, then the 355 and thus the 348. I think once people start to appreciate the 355 as the last good looking Ferrari it will then level out and start to increase brining the 355 with it. The 360, while a better car in every way than it’s predecessors was built in greater numbers than any Ferrari before and that will hold values down for a long long time.
E46’s are great cars, better and faster than many 80’s super cars, but not in any way an exotic. We’ve already seen E30 M3’s go through the roof and un molested E36 M3’s start to command a premium, E46’s will follow in short order I bet. I don’t think any of them will go up like the E30 M3 as that was a real homologation special, it was raced and rallied like no BMW since. After the group A era the rules allowed you to do much more to base cars so the M3’s became hot road cars, not a means to an end.
996’s and 986’s will languish in the doldrums for decades I bet. This is not to say I don’t like them, I plan on getting a 986 S next year, but they are not exotic my any means. Maserati coups are an interesting option, while GT’s cars and not exotic, they do have a derivative of the Ferrari 360/430 engine and we’ve seen what happened to Fiat Dino’s with the Ferrari V6 in. After decades of languishing they’ve shot up. I bet a clean Maserati will be a great investment in 30 years. But no exotic.
LanEvo wrote: Prices for the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 have just started to climb now that the E30 M3 has shot up in price. People have finally caught on.
Agreed, like the E30 M3 it was a real homologation special, but again not an exotic
While on the subject of Group A homologation specials: It's too late to pick up a cheap Ford Escort RS Cosworth, but you can find affordable Lancer Evo 4, 5, and 6 models abroad. I'm sure an Evo 6.5 TME will go up in value one day, especially if you can find an RS version. The early Evos are now approaching 25 years-old and will be OK to import soon enough. Also, I'm sure the Peugeot 205 GTI will always have a following. They're now import legal.
Finally, I strongly suspect the Honda S2000 and Z3 M-Coupe/M-Roadster will be popular at classic car shows in 30 years. I have a buddy with an S54-powered M-Coupe in a rare color for that model (Laguna Seca Blue); he's already been getting offers approaching $30k for it.
It’s not just Escort Cossies, the earlier Sierra Cosworth and especially the RS500 derivative are long out of reach for what they are. The last reasonably priced one is the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth both in RWD and 4x4 versions. The Sapphire saloon was never as attractive or special looking as the hatch.
Long term I bet early Evo’s will go up as like the E30 M3 and Cosworth W124 they were real homologation specials that rallied. Post 97 when they went to the World Rally Car rules (a6 cars) the homologation specials died away and loose relevance. You’ll need an Evo 4 or earlier.
S2K’s have never hit my buttons, great cars, awesome driving position, wonderful engine, lousy lazy styling that puts me to sleep.
E36/7 and E36/8’s with S54’s are already on the up and up, I love me some flying shoe box.
Lots of great cars, but not since your first sentence is there anything I count as exotic.
I wonder what Gallardo's will do over the next decade? They made over 8,000 of the gen I cars which for Lambo is like Ford making 1,000,000 Focii. I bet they will drop massively.
Ditto Audi A8's, I bet they become affordable in five years.
Mercedes E500/500E...baby Hammers.
Mercedes W116 6.9
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 MR.
I think the current GTR will end up as a classic exotic in 30yrs. I feel like Nissan is going to berkeley up and stop producing them soon. It's the only appealing thing they make.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:Tim Suddard wrote: I think you will remember the day you could buy an early Viper for $25,000-30,000. I am not that big of a fan, but this is the 427 Cobra of the Nineties.I've driven four Vipers that I can recall. Great fun, but as you say in a 427 Cobra kind of way. Fun for 30 minutes, but exotic it's not. Every generation is a big crude sledge hammer of fun that makes Mjölnir look like a debutante in a prom dress. Not a car on my want list except as a pure toy to take to the track, and at the price point of even the cheapest ones I'd buy a historic single seater instead.
It's not only the price point of the car itself - the last time I had my Evo serviced before I sold it, I got talking to the manager of the dealership where my (friend of a friend) mechanic worked. He knew I was/am into track driving and told me he'd be tracking a Viper for a few years but eventually bought something that didn't require the equivalent of a small country's GDP to run on the track. He did mention that it was a hoot to drive on the track, but it applied a vacuum to the wallet at the same time.
So yes, historic single seater FTW.
You'll need to log in to post.
