YOU KNOW YOU NEED A NEW CAR WHEN....................

 

AGAIN WE QUOTE KEITH MARTIN, THIS TI ME FROM THE SUMMER EDITION OF LEMAY OPEN ROAD 2005 MILESTONES ANNUAL REPORT OF LEMAY --AMERICA'S CAR MUSEUM
(An orginization worthy of our support)

" The philosophy of Harold Lemay, and the Lemay Museum , is that cars were meant to be driven, not just seen in lifeless, static displays.

If that includes stuffing a broken lawnmower into the trunk of a Ferrari 330 America and driving to the repair shop.......or driving your daughter to school in and old Alfa and having her remark presciently that "everyone else is just driving somewhere. We're having an adventure."Harold would certainly agree. More so than watching a gaggle of judges crawl all over a restored better-than-new '63 Corvette roadster to make sure the ID tag under the dash has all the correct Hieroglyphics, I get more satisfaction out of seeing somebody take a slightly tatty version of the same car to the Home Depot, top down, to cart home a bunch of 2-by-4s that wouldn't fit into his sedan daily driver. I might be accused of not having the appropriate reverence for an irreplaceable historic automobile but in fact, it's just the opposite. I celebrate my old cars by using them.Feeling how easily a powerful car on skinny tires can be made to drift through a corner gives you a hint at the car's limitations and an apprecation for the skill that viruosos like HIll, Moss and Fangio must have possessed to get what they did out of old Ferraris, Maseratis and Astons. Set your mind's eye to grainy black and white 8mm, and your favorite twisty road becomes your own private rip in the space/time continuum.Of course, the best part of using an old car is the people you will meet and the friends you will make. Take an MGB GT to the Elks Club Christmas tree lot and you'll have all the help you need shoving your tree halfway into the hatch. You'll also find out how the guy itn the flannel shirt and Elmer Fudd hat was stranded in an MGB while on his first date with his future wife.

" While my own tastes lean more toward antiques and classics and less Martin's sports cars, I think we can all agree on the point he so well expresses. The most fun of all comes when we USE our cars. Some of my most memorable stories come from break downs, special places and people met when in an old car. There was a time driving a '32 Packard home from Hialeah Florida when my wife proved she is the worlds best wife........but that is just one of many tales.

INSURING YOUR COLLECTABLE VEHICLE (OR CLOSING THE BARN DOOR BEFORE THE COWS GET OUT)

So your 1949 Empire Motors Grand Poobah with rare double throwdown E flat overdrive (a one off) has been stolen or badly damaged. I hope you had the right insurance before the occasion because if you had just the usual coverage you are going to be unpleasently surprised. You're about to find out you could have had much better coverage for much less money. With the usual insurance the claims adjuster will tell you that your car isn't listed on his value guide. It's too old to have any residual value. "But we'll graciously settle with you for the car's salvage value, four hundred fifty dollars," he explains. "Of course we'll own the car then and sell it for scrap at a loss I'm sure," he says. You would have been much wiser to have bought a "Stated Value" or "Agreed Value" policy. Not only would you be paid what your car was actually worth, but amazingly, your premium cost would have been much less because the company figures you will be loving your hairy rarity, garaging it and not exposing it to the daily bumps and grinds of high mileage commuting. They see their potential loss as much less. Indeed, they will require photos and assurance from you of garaging, limited miles, etc. Note: There are differences between Stated and Agreed value policies and there can be differences between insurance companies coverage and demands. So shop around. Don't leave the barn door open.

 

AN OLD CAR GUY’S COMEUPANCE

While this story doesn’t directly involve an antique car, it does involve an antique car lover.

He bought a new car, an expensive one that has Homelink, the gizmo that allows you to do away with your garage door remote control by programming your car to do the job. He felt reasonably capable because he had been through this before with his wife’s car. It wasn’t easy because the opener was of a type that took some extra, complicated steps. After sweating in the garage for a while he was in a mood to start using language one doesn’t use around grandchildren. They were visiting with their parents and the beautiful, witty daughter-in-law bet she could do it. Doubting that this little mother would have the patience and savvy to accomplish what was a maddening chore, he said he would be most grateful to get the job done, even by her.

Not the most diplomatic way to say that.

Ok, it was me.

Yes. She did it and I may never hear the end of it. A girl. A woman who thinks the best car is always the light blue one, certainly not sophisticated in automotive technology. A competitive person though who is capable of gloating especially when she feels she’s bested a geezer who is prone to stereotyping.

But she cheated.

She read all the instructions.

From Peter Squire in Houston. This rings true to me.

Dear Bob,
I just clicked on your website and saw the letter from your customer. He is right, and you are right. As in almost everything in life, when something becomes "collectable" the price will tend to rise. As you said, the cars of the 1970's through the 1990's are very reasonable (to outright cheap) right now. There is, literally, something for everyone, I just bought a flawless fire-engine red 196 Mazda Miata MX5 with all the toys and both tops with only 43K miles (one previous owner-- books and records from day one and fully current on all services) on it at a very, attractive price—primarily because the selling dealer (new car franchise) could not sell the car and get it financed for a retail buyer (who could buy a new one for zero down and 72 "easy" monthly payments). Similar situation for a 1990 Cadillac Brougham that is equally flawless with only 61K miles and one previous owner with books and records since new and current on all services for an obscenely low price as the new-car dealer did not want it to even touch his inventory due to financial issues (can't floor plan it or finance it for a retail buyer).

I think that this is, truly, one of the ways our hobby is heading. For the alert and the able, getting to know a couple of people at a couple of good new-car dealerships ( I have a source at a Cadillac and a Chrysler/Jeep store, and a wholesaler as well) who will keep you posted on the "weird" stuff that always tends to come on the lot, then you can get some very great cars for little money. It works for me. Best--Peter

 

SINCE WE OLD CAR LOVERS DO, ONCE IN A WHILE, BUY A NEW CAR, WE REPRINT HERE A NOTE FROM "THE CAR CONNECTION","THE WEB'S AUTOMOTIVE AUTHORITY".

"Never, ever accept 'ADM' or other surcharges. 'Additional Dealer Markup' and other equally insulting surcharges get tacked onto hightly popular vehicles in short supply-and to other vehicles in a seemingly arbitrary fashion. In the early 1980s, Honda dealers would routinely charge over sticker for their hot-selling Accords, for example-and they got it, more often than not. The padding is legal, but whether it's legitimate or not is for your to decide. The only legitimate costs you really should pay beyond the price are taxes, where applicable, and destination/delivery charges, which you can look up easily beforehand. Be suspicious if the dealer refuses to show an invoice, or claims the D&D fee is above $800, and look for marketing and 'advertising fees' that brazenly expect you to pay the dealers' cost of doing business. It ought to go without saying that dealer-applied paint protection ( a teenager with a can of Turtle Wax and 20 minutes), rustproofing (unnecessary on modern cars, which are very thoroughly protected against rust at the factory) and soundproofing (another teenager spraying the underside and wheel wells of your car with tar) are complete wastes of money."

MORE OF WE AGREE
MILEAGE---DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
By Jeff Webster
Buyer Services Internationall LLC

"I believe a good rule of thumb would be, not to expect to get a genuine mileage reading from a car that is more than say 10-15 years old. By that time it's probably passed through two or even three owners and rarely can its full history be traced. The bottom line though must be, whether or not the odometer reading is truly important, remember that a genuine low mileage car can in many ways be a worse buy than a high mileage vehicle that has been correctly maintained or restored. Additionally, who decided that a car with 100,000 miles on its engine is shot? Take each vehicle on it's own merits, and when it comes to classics, mileage should often take a back seat to factors like original equipment and structural condition, and even these can become irrelevant if the asking price is realistic!"

 

MORE OF WE AGREE
Ideas expressed by Keith Martin
In Sports Car Market

Searching out and buying a collector car at a fair price is a great adventure. Keith cautioned us to use the prices quoted in value guides as just one of the tools to evaluate the vehicle you might want to buy.

"It’s important to understand that unlike stock certificates, each of which is identical to another, every used car is unique. For instance it’s not unusual that asking prices and auction reports show prices of a 58 Chevy Impala being $5000 or $50,000. Judging by price alone the buyer of the $5000 car was a genius, and the higher priced one the village idiot."

Not so of course, in the real world. In fact the $5000 buyer may be about to spend $50,000 if he wants a true #1 car while one for ten times as much may be ready to win a national prize. So when you see a 29 Packard advertised at Raders Relics for $125,000 and read about one sold at an auction for $25,000, stop and be sure you get, "the rest of the story."

 

Continued from last month
WE AGREE ON A MECHANIC'S THOUGHTS
Expressed in Car Connection by Douglas Flint

I had another customer who was perpetually restoring a 66 Mustang. He was a wealthy man and an extremely competent driver, even into his mid seventies. He had flown B-26s in WW II, so I knew he could take a dose of reality. After towing it in for the third time to get it started after two years of sitting I said, "Mr. Silman, neither you nor this car will live forever. You love her, so why don't you enjoy each other while you're still alive?" And that goes for all you people restoring a car and waiting until it's perfect before taking it out on the open road . It's never going to be perfect. Drive it anyway. Don't worry about accidents. Do you want it to have to be sold at an estate sale for it to see a little action? To those of you with cars kept lovingly garaged because they are the last reminder of a husband or wife - I'm sure your loved one would have wanted you to drive it. And if you just can't bring yourself to drive it a anymore, find some deserving young person who can make memories of his own, and make him an offer he can't refuse.

 

WE AGREE ON A MECHANIC'S THOUGHTS HERE

Expressed in The Car Connection by Douglas Flint A sad case is when someone believes they have a classic of great value but in reality they just have a nice old car. I have a customer with a Mercury Cougar. I have been doing business with her for about ten years. Even ten years ago she was getting too old and frail to drive (especially such a big old clunker), and recognized that she should probably sell the car. This Cougar was not in tip condition. The paint was nice abut the underside was rusting and it was worn out mechanically. It was probably worth $3500 tops. It would have been a nice car for a teenage boy to drive to high school. But the magazine she was reading had her believing that it was worth $8000 to a collector, so she wouldn't accept any reasonable offer. She's in a nursing home now and will probably never drive again. Last month I did $450 worth of work to the power steering so that it could pass safety inspection and spend another year sitting outside her now-vacant condo. As faded as the car looks now, I doubt she cold get $500 for it. I am sure that the car would rather be driven -even abused -by an adolescent driver than sit in a parking lot waiting for Godot.

-- To be continued next month--

 

THE FUTURE OF DRIVING COLLECTOR CARS

In a column by Keith Martin in "Sports Car Market", he speaks of a discussion with Miles Collier. "I think this era will be known as the golden age of car collecting," said Collier. "There are few restrictions on our ability to drive these old cars, and there are still enough mechanics around who really know to keep them running properly." In 100 years it's not impossible that combustion engines may be illegal to operate on public highways. Like horses, with their trailers and regulations for riding only on designated trails, vintage cars will have to be transported to special areas and then driven on specifically set-aside roads. When your driving time is done, no more putting up the top and heading down the interstate-it will be back in the car hauler for the trip home. Today you can go to the local collector car dealer, plunk down the cash and just start driving. No permits, no special permission required.

(You are already pre-permitted here at Raders Relics)