Will the 2008+ Challengers (and other current Pony Cars) ever be classics?

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I have a feeling it'll be more like the Grand Prixs of the late 60's, the Chevy Vegas, the Corvairs, Mavericks, the misc. wagons, etc. are today; It will be cool cuz it's old, but it's still no '71 Hemi 'Cuda or '69 Camaro SS or 60-something BOSS/Shelby Mustang, etc...

I've noticed a few stages in car eras:

1. Conception, sale, first owners get them when they're brand spankin' new and create memories for themselves and us (through racing, modding, show, or just simply "ya I knew a guy who had one back in HS 30 years ago," etc...)

2. About 8-10 years later, mostly just enthusiasts and original owners who don't want to let go just yet, the car is effectively replaced by a newer, sleeker, faster model...

3. 10-20 years, they are a 15 year-old pizza boy's first car. Most do not survive. Also, enthusiasts and original owners who just don't want to let go yet are still driving them...

4. 20-30 years, they are the retro-cool type, and people going through mid-life crises who had one in HS usually buy them to try and fix-up, usually end-up doing more harm than good. You don't see them on the streets, but they still have their little corner at the car shows.

5. 30-40 years, they are what I'd consider collector's cars, but are only just fresh on the block. Most collectors have their hearts set on the 1843 Maserati Impala with the V9.2, but settle with the type in question just as a starting point, or the fact that it was available and in good shape...

6. 40+ Officially a "collector's car," people are actively searching for them to restore or collect...

7. 60+ Getting quite rare, these things are the ones people stumble across and cannot resist! Everyone dreams of opening up some nearly-collapsing out building and finding one of these in cherry condition...

8. 80+ Those that still exist in the wild aren't much more than shells, usually have a 60-70 year-old tree growing through it, and nearly every last inch is rust... The few lucky ones are kept locked away in collectors' garages, having been restored and highly maintained for the past 20-40 years, maybe more...

9. 100+ Museum piece, most likely the only one of its model year left in existence, probably doesn't run.


- CK
 
My take on it, is that cars last longer, and people take better care of them, how many pickups today have over 100,000 miles and still look like new, and are always garaged, compare that to the 60's and 70's when pickups where a work vehicle and were well used and abused. It's my opinion that there won't be any shortage as a lot of the sought after cars of today(new Camaros, Challengers, Mustangs, etc.) are garaged and only taken out in good weather. I don't think values will ever go up to the point of hemi cars, etc.
 
I have a friend who is in His early 50s who restores model A and model T fords. The aftermarket is still going strong for these. his '27 phonebooth T is restored to original down to the wooden spoked wheels. He drives em, as much as he can. This car is closing on 100 years soon. The way to keep this stuff running is to instill a love of it to our sons and daughters. If your kids are willing to learn about working on this stuff your knowledge passes to another generation. I agree the kids today are more computer oriented. I cant imagine how hopped up the V8s of today will be once todays generation of hot rodders gets their hands on em.

The only reason a 71 hemicuda will be worth more than lets say an SRT challenger with a stick shift is right now its exclusive. Not too many of em around anymore. let me ask you one question, whens the last time you saw a 1971 challenger or cuda sitting in a parking lot of the grocery store and not at a car show, or driving down the street. tho its hard for some of you to believe, this stuff was everywhere at one time when it was new, just like the new challengers, camaros, and mustangs. horror of horrors some people actually drove this stuff to work, and the grocery store. The new challengers of all types are all over the place right now just like the originals were at one time because they are new. When they hit 40 plus years the sought after SRT models will demand high prices too, a bit less for the R/T classic models. stick shift cars will be worth more, as theres less of them than the automatics.

When the shelby gt 350s And gt 500s were new in 67 they were hard to sell, high priced muscle car. they are worth a lot now because so few were made. Of the 1800 some odd 1970 superbirds made, many sat on dealers lots till late 1971 because people didnt want them. Many dealers removed the wings, and put conventional noses on them just to get rid of them.

In the 70s during the gas crisis you almost couldent give away a hemi car. Most of em sat on the back rows of dealers lots. The carbs were hard to tune, the rockers needed periodic adjustment. Most people then didnt want a high maintenance gas guzzler. Lets face it, thats what people referred to them as in 1974. at about this point in time a lot of hemi cars met their demise because of drag racing, that was until the keith black aluminum blocks and heads hit the scene. Lots of these cars were bought cheap off used car lots, stripped of their engines to be used in dragsters, then the rest of them were sent to the junkyard. 1500 HP under a load of nitro and a blower most of these iron blocks didnt last very long, and were trashed with cracked main saddles from this kind of abuse

I suspect people wanting a newer 392 hemi and 5 speed in a project car will destroy some of these, kids racing, wrecks, cars rusting out up north with salted roads, demo derbies, etc. there will be an attrition rate, and as another list member said people who remembered them back then, maybe had one as a used first car etc etc, will wax nostalgic for them again, and ressurect them, or look for a good clean well kept example (survivor car). the attrition will take their toll, then the oddball optioned hemi new challenger may end up being worth something. only time will tell.

if theres enough interest in them the aftermarket will respond to it. when i restored my first charger a 1968 back in 1985/1986 i could only get NOS parts if i hunted hard enough, swap meets, dealers etc, or get crappy repop carpets from cheezy whitney, then little by little year one started repopping damn near everything. if somebody told me back in 1985 i would be able to get most of the stuff i hunted swap meets and junkyards for as new reproduction in a catalog i would have laughed and told em they were dreaming.

i bought my current 67 cuda notchback because i had a 68 fastback in 1988, and loved it. the car was rusted beyond what could have been fixed at the time. nobody made repop sheetmetal for it yet, and i lived in the rustbelt. if i had this car today with the rust frozen in time for 25 years it could have been fixed, but not then. 68/69 chargers are too pricey for a shell otherwise i would have looked for one of these. i am waxing nostalgic too. thank god i can get some of the parts i need to fix this car up. if there was no interest in it there would be no aftermarket for it. i suspect with the new ones there will be enough of an interest for the aftermarket to respond to it.
 
Sully1190 said:
That's actually a point I hadn't considered before. Many people love the restoration aspect just as much as owning a finished old car. That's not going to be feasible for the average tinkerer 30 years from now. Depressing.
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I would have to disagree. As the cars get older it seems a lot of the mechanical and electrical parts get a bit cheaper. It becomes old technology, is no longer proprietary knowledge of the OEM manufacturer. They have moved on to bigger and better things. This is where the aftermarket steps in. Back in the 70s my dad drove a 1973 dodge polara. It had electronic ignition. Of course we know this was new tech in 1973. The brain on it blew after the car was out of warranty. It cost nearly $100 for a new one, dealer item only. Thats a lot of money for the late 70s. How much are the spark boxes today? Not a performance one, a stock one? A lot cheaper, even with inflation.

Just bought a factory ac delco rebuild kit for fuel pump on wifes 1999 suburban. Pump assembly with fuel sender attached used to cost $350. Now ac delco sells just the pump and pickup screen along with the hardware to rebuild the assembly $59.
 
I think the fault with the newer models is in the production numbers, too many of them.
Special and limited builds might someday be worth more than they cost new.
 
Your prob right with the production numbers, but there is still the attrition rate, and there will be people always wanting the good low mileage examples as a collectible.
 
I am not sure if this has been mentioned before but I have spent a lot of times talking about this with car guys. I believe that in 40 years these cars are not going to be as valued as many of us would like to believe. I think that your 60's and 70's muscle cars are so sought after because they were completely ground breaking. Until the mid sixties there was muscle cars. It was a completely new concept that the youth of the nation fell in love with. Today's muscle cars are more of a tribute to something that has already been done ....yes a damn good tribute but it is nothing groundbreaking. As much as it hurts me to say this I believe that in order to see which cars are going to be collectors items and the most sought after cars you have to look at the my generation and what kind of cars they are buying and upgrading...thats right ricers. The new "muscle" cars are selling pretty well but not many kids are buyying them, mostly older men. so in 30 or 40 years when these kids are all grown up and wanting to feel like they are in high school again they are going to be looking for honda civics and celicas.:banghead:
 
I think it's going to cost a lot more to restore the new cars, as besides all the sensors and controllers, the engines are manufactured with special coatings that make machining them for a rebuild impossible. So you'll have to buy a new block or crate motor. Old contacts for airbag sensors, wheel speed sensors, electronically controlled transmissions, etc. will make it nearly impossible for most backyard mechanics to fix their own cars. Hell, I need to do most diagnosing for factory mechanics now if I want to ensure they don't hose me. I once had an engine replaced by Toyota under warranty and afterward it had the same trouble (no code set). Turned out it was the O2 sensor, while the dealer mechanics wanted to change out all the injectors for $2,500! Thank God I was able to trouble shoot that one myself.

Kids today do love our cars, but they usually don't even try to buy them. They stick with the Hondas and Toyotas. When they blow an engine, they just buy a used one in the wrecking yards because Honda and Toyota made billions of them. There won't be even millions of the 3G Hemis in the salvage yards when these need to be replaced. Plus when todays kids grow up and can afford it, they be nostalgic for the Civics and Celicas they had when they were wild and crazy kids.

I guess this is all part of the life cycle of these things.
 
Yes they will be a collectible, but there are too many being squirreled away to be worth the money the 60s and 70 muscle cars

Many of them were used as drivers when new. Most special cars are stored Sunday cars today.

Buddy with a 68 Shelby GT 500 drove his to Arizona when it was a few years old. 428, 4 speed and 4:10 gears, turned down 40,000 for it in mid 90s

Have a friend with 4 SRT Challengers, one a driver for a while till something took its place, so very low mile cars sitting. Oh they are spoken for, grandson and 2 granddaughters get the 3 HURST PREPPED CARS

Hope that someone wants the new Ponys maybe my mustang will be worth something. 2007 convertible with 112,000 miles and adding daily.

View attachment image.jpg

How in the hell did that happen?
 
Wow 112K on your pony. You really drive yours. I bought mine new as a divorce gift to me. Its an 07 GT. Has currently 8,125 on the clock. I keep it on a battery maintainer, and take it for drives on nice days.my pony has never gotten its hooves wet in the rain yet. Lol.
 
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