Living with history

[navmaxlp]

Originally Posted by Axe

I worked at a customers house who had 3 (!) of those retro T-birds Ford put out in the 90s..I remember distinctly thinking - "Who cares?". He had one driver and two as "investments". What a maroon.

HAHAHA "What a maroon" I haven't heard that since the last time I watched Bugs Bunny. Classic.

Rogue, you make some very valid points here that I hadn't thought of, however, I still feel like the car will be of increased value years down the road. It really depends on so many factors that it would be almost impossible to predict. Just think, even the cars that are so valuable now were not so valuable even ten years ago. It's almost like a fad. No matter what happens, I've told my wife that when I finally get one, I don't ever intend to let it go. It will be handed down to my children and hopefully to my childrens children. And I hope that when they turn on Mecum, regardless of what they sell for, they'll feel like their old man left them something special. I'm sure they will. The car is that special now.

[5thGenOwner]

1st... Enjoy the car.
2nd... Take good care (yourself and the car).
3rd... Invest in GOLD!

[Rallysport]

Many good points here. I can't say for sure this gen 5 Camaro will ever be "worth" big bucks in the future. Seriously, no one can, really. I just think the older classics from the 30s-late 60s cars had substance, style, and people have fond memories of them. Not that the new Camaro lacks style, it doesn't. It just seems to me that today's cars aren't as different from one another as the old cars. Look at the many options, trim levels, engine/trans combos, and color choices (inside and out) of the older cars. These are things that make them unique. Today we get 10 or 12 exterior colors, and maybe gray or tan or a black interior...BORING. I think the new Camaro will be a car sought after in the future, but I can't really say that a run-of-the-mill Camaro from 2010 is going to bring big bucks at Barret-Jackson in 2045. Heck, cars might be extinct by then...who knows. I will make one bold prediction, though....a stupid toyota prius isn't going to be worth crap. Period.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by navmaxlp

HAHAHA "What a maroon" I haven't heard that since the last time I watched Bugs Bunny. Classic.

Rogue, you make some very valid points here that I hadn't thought of, however, I still feel like the car will be of increased value years down the road. It really depends on so many factors that it would be almost impossible to predict. Just think, even the cars that are so valuable now were not so valuable even ten years ago. It's almost like a fad. No matter what happens, I've told my wife that when I finally get one, I don't ever intend to let it go. It will be handed down to my children and hopefully to my childrens children. And I hope that when they turn on Mecum, regardless of what they sell for, they'll feel like their old man left them something special. I'm sure they will. The car is that special now.

I agree you don't know what will happen. A meteor could strike the Camaro plant and GM could say eh screw it it was a good run.

In the end you and me just need to enjoy the car. I plan on putting every mile I possibly can on it, heck they will probably bury me in the thing... cause its MINE!

[v6sonoma]

There's a lot of truth in saying these cars will probably not be $400k cars someday, but to be honest I will say that they most certainly will be desirable cars in 30 years. Look around they are just like the 69 camaro. The last big ha rah before the auto market changes forever. Emissions killed cars back then and mileage will kill them again soon. It doesn't matter if it's a 2010 camaro, mustang, or challenger. They will be desirable because the V8 car wont exist much longer. I know I want it to be around forever. I have great memories of classic car shows with my father looking at what once was. We are finally at that point, but with CAFE and other reasons the bubble will soon burst. Like then there will always be the Lambos and Ferraris but who could ever afford them. This is why I bought mine. I'm 29 on Dec 5th and in 25 years I will look back at this time and smile as I tell my grand children of the time when I got my Camaro, the great site on the web, and the wonderful people I've come to know. They will then drive away in their fathers new Tesla or moms new Volt. Hopefully I'll still have mine and it wont matter how much it's worth to the market, because right now and then it will be worth more to me and thats all that matters.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by v6sonoma

There's a lot of truth in saying these cars will probably not be $400k cars someday, but to be honest I will say that they most certainly will be desirable cars in 30 years. Look around they are just like the 69 camaro. The last big ha rah before the auto market changes forever. Emissions killed cars back then and mileage will kill them again soon. It doesn't matter if it's a 2010 camaro, mustang, or challenger. They will be desirable because the V8 car wont exist much longer. I know I want it to be around forever. I have great memories of classic car shows with my father looking at what once was. We are finally at that point, but with CAFE and other reasons the bubble will soon burst. Like then there will always be the Lambos and Ferraris but who could ever afford them. This is why I bought mine. I'm 29 on Dec 5th and in 25 years I will look back at this time and smile as I tell my grand children of the time when I got my Camaro, the great site on the web, and the wonderful people I've come to know. They will then drive away in their fathers new Tesla or moms new Volt. Hopefully I'll still have mine and it wont matter how much it's worth to the market, because right now and then it will be worth more to me and thats all that matters.

I don't agree with that at all. Engine technology these days is so far advanced and the companies are diligently working ahead to cope with these new rules. Unlike the first time around when it was more of a "surprise emissions!"

I have no fear that this will be the end of an era at all, if anything its just the beginning of cars that will have V8 power and be more technologically advanced than our fathers and grandfathers could ever have imagined.

[v6sonoma]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

I don't agree with that at all. Engine technology these days is so far advanced and the companies are diligently working ahead to cope with these new rules. Unlike the first time around when it was more of a "surprise emissions!"

I have no fear that this will be the end of an era at all, if anything its just the beginning of cars that will have V8 power and be more technologically advanced than our fathers and grandfathers could ever have imagined.

I disagree with your disagreement. lol Tech will keep performance cars living on but the V8 internal combustion engine is not long for this world. Unless people accept alternatives to gas (diesel, ethanol, etc.) we just wont be able to support the fuel demands. Not many people will be able to afford to drive them if gas gets up to $5-$6 a gallon let alone what they pay in europe. They might be able to squeak some more life out of the V8 but don't be surprised if the gen 6 camaro packs a 6 cyl turbo hybrid as it's top performer.

[HDDAN]

"And what enthusiast will be able to let a camaro sit there in a garage and not drive it every so often. In 40 years, if a car doesn't have almost 100k miles on it, it will be very rare"

navpaklp, My neighbor is one of the garage ornament people. he has lots of money and is not in any way a Camaro enthusiast. He bought his 2SS to save to sell for a big profit down the road. I ordered mine on 10/13/08 day one, he ordered his a month and a half later and got his first. I drive mine and have been to the strip for some street nights. his is in his garage with a couple of hundred miles on it. Good luck to him in his quest to profiteer on his SS because the dealerships around Boston are full of Super Sport Camaros.

[HDDAN]

Originally Posted by Darth_Emma

I'm planning to keep my 2SS RS until I die. So, I d on't really care what it will be worth.

Amen. That is why I bought mine. Had Chevrolet never built a gen 5, I would have kept my 2002 SS until I died. My 2002 SS that I bought new in 2002 was built in May of 2002 near the end of production. I love Camaros!

[tradosaurus]

Originally Posted by 5thGenOwner

1st... Enjoy the car.
2nd... Take good care (yourself and the car).
3rd... Invest in GOLD!

Forget gold.

I'm buying and hoarding cigarettes. There will always be a demand.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by v6sonoma

I disagree with your disagreement. lol Tech will keep performance cars living on but the V8 internal combustion engine is not long for this world. Unless people accept alternatives to gas (diesel, ethanol, etc.) we just wont be able to support the fuel demands. Not many people will be able to afford to drive them if gas gets up to $5-$6 a gallon let alone what they pay in europe. They might be able to squeak some more life out of the V8 but don't be surprised if the gen 6 camaro packs a 6 cyl turbo hybrid as it's top performer.

I just see the V8 as going smaller, small displacement V8 with turbos, hybrid drive, even some sort of kinetic energy recovery. There will always be a demand for V8 power. HOWEVER things like V8s may end up going upmarket as the cost associated with the technology would be pushed down to the consumer. Maybe in the future the SS would be a Turbo 6 while the top dog would be a V8 of some sort.

Don't even get me started on gasoline, long story but I ended up doing a lot of research on it and the information out there is BS and sensationalized towards the tree hugging side. In short, I have no concerns that in our lifetimes we will have any super serious fuel issues.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by HDDAN

"And what enthusiast will be able to let a camaro sit there in a garage and not drive it every so often. In 40 years, if a car doesn't have almost 100k miles on it, it will be very rare"

navpaklp, My neighbor is one of the garage ornament people. he has lots of money and is not in any way a Camaro enthusiast. He bought his 2SS to save to sell for a big profit down the road. I ordered mine on 10/13/08 day one, he ordered his a month and a half later and got his first. I drive mine and have been to the strip for some street nights. his is in his garage with a couple of hundred miles on it. Good luck to him in his quest to profiteer on his SS because the dealerships around Boston are full of Super Sport Camaros.

It always amazes me how many people do that. I mean its $40,000 SITTING in your garage! These same people wouldn't play the stock market where you can much more quickly and easily make money on it and you don't have to wait 40 years nor take up half your garage!

Personally I'm also looking forward to laughing at said people who end up having to sell the car in around 15-20 years before it appreciates (which as I said won't happen anyway) so they will have it up on ebay for $39,995 and think that price is reasonable because its the "!!!1111!!!!FIRST CAMARO!!!11111!!!!!"

[CyberGreg]

I agree with Sonoma. Reason I bought my SS is bec of the dang greenies. They want to phase out gas engines eventually I'm sure of it. It is such a shame bec we are sitting on more oil than they even realize. They need to bow down to their Creator and stop worshipping the creation. That's my 2 cents anyway.

[ROD1]

In 25 yrs, gasoline will prolly be limited to the military and possibly industry. We are runnin out. Whats that do to its value!?