How Rare Fintail?

[ScooterABC]

I think a few ads on Craigslist linking to this thread might be in the best interests of humanity.

[cooljjay]

I think, that little old lady whom was the original owner....May be haunting this car, specially when it is being flipped......I LOVE when people jar a person down to pennies on something, with the intent that the item is going to a loving home, a person who will never sell and will cherish the ride till he end of days.....Just to see it 3 months later being flipped....Ah how I miss the California resale market...

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by cooljjay

I think, that little old lady whom was the original owner....May be haunting this car, specially when it is being flipped......I LOVE when people jar a person down to pennies on something, with the intent that the item is going to a loving home, a person who will never sell and will cherish the ride till he end of days.....Just to see it 3 months later being flipped....

Well said.

[Idle]

Cars with the VIN starting 111.012 were built between 8/59 to 7/65.

A total of 116,119 were produced.

But the questions is: How many are left? And in this condition?

[cooljjay]

Originally Posted by Idle

But the questions is: How many are left? And in this condition?

But the real question is, What is the demand like for these cars?

The baby boomers, who dreamed of these cars and/or who's grandmother owned one....Are kicking that bucket....

My generation(1980's), and the next generation(1990's) aren't demanding these cars by any means and most dealers/sellers will tell you that they aren't flying off the shelves...

The same thing goes with antiques, Victorian furniture can be had for pennies on the dollar. Where as a mid century teak "what not" will be fought to the death over....

[joshhol]

I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one annoyed by this post. Saw it early this morning but didn't want to get into it. Aside from the reasons already elaborated above, I wonder what kind of vetting process he used to proclaim this is the last fintail in a white/green color combo in a 7 condition.

I hope this fin finds a true loving owner rather than this guy who can't see past his own greed.

[ScooterABC]

I think we should vote him off the Island.

[joshhol]

Like.

[Shortsguy1]

Originally Posted by ScooterABC

I think we should vote him off the Island.

For all intents and purposes, we have. I cannot imagine him coming back to spend a lot of time with us low lifes.

[Project Grandslam]

Thanks for the support guys! I fixed all problems and sold the car to my good friend. Cheerio

[joshhol]

Yeah right. Track record of truth here.

[Idle]

Originally Posted by cooljjay

But the real question is, What is the demand like for these cars?

The baby boomers, who dreamed of these cars and/or who's grandmother owned one....Are kicking that bucket....

My generation(1980's), and the next generation(1990's) aren't demanding these cars by any means and most dealers/sellers will tell you that they aren't flying off the shelves...

The same thing goes with antiques, Victorian furniture can be had for pennies on the dollar. Where as a mid century teak "what not" will be fought to the death over....

I could not agree more.

I can remember when the hot ticket was a Dusenburg. Or a v-16 Caddy. Not that these have nosedived in value from 40 years ago but you don't see them burning up he auction charts.

And it's because outside of true car nuts like Leno not that many people understand what they are getting.

I am expecting 1957 Chevys to be the next thing to tail off in value but that will still be another ten years or so. All those who aspired to such a car when they were young are soon to be gone and these cars will become interesting but not gold mines.

Currently 113's are doing very well, but how much longer will someone be around who can deal with the mechanical fuel injection? As far as that goes who can deal with a D-Jet system when they know they don't need to?

[ScooterABC]

Originally Posted by Idle

I am expecting 1957 Chevys to be the next thing to tail off in value but that will still be another ten years or so. All those who aspired to such a car when they were young are soon to be gone and these cars will become interesting but not gold mines.

Currently 113's are doing very well, but how much longer will someone be around who can deal with the mechanical fuel injection? As far as that goes who can deal with a D-Jet system when they know they don't need to?

I think the 57 Chevy, the Woodie, etc have all been aged out by those desiring the cars passing on to the next generation. If you want to talk about people dealing with mechanical fuel injection, how long do you think people will deal with carburetors... And as long as Bosch diesel pumps still exist there are people who can work on the gas injection pumps. Sure, not that many, but it isn't over yet. I think that there is a fundamental difference though that will help the older cars be desirable. New cars are disposable and not maintainable. The electronics are way more of an issue than the mechanical fuel injection of a 60s Mercedes. Mechanical devices, vacuum devices, hydraulic devices all can be maintained. But complicated and unique electronics to me have a more finite life than those that can be "fixed". I think the 60s and to some extent 70s and 80s Mercedes represent some of the last cars that can really be driven for 50 to 100 years.

In our community we think nothing of a 50 year old Mercedes being on the road, but in 20 years I think we may see more 70 year old Mercedes on the road than present-day Mercedes cars.

Cars have grown increasingly more complex to fix both electronically and structurally. I don't see a 50 year old W140 as being relevant in the future for collectible car people. The great features of our best new cars are the technology that becomes obsolete in 10 years. Is anyone _really_ going to use non-touch screen navigation in a car (i.e., Mecedes COMAND circa 2002)?

Even some of the more interesting cars, like maybe a VW Phaeton, while exceptional for it's time, wouldn't it just be easier to buy or lease a new Audi A8L?

Maybe leasing has something to do with it too. How many new Mercedes are actually sold vs. leased? (I don't know the answer to this but I'm assuming more are leased than sold). Where did all the BMW Z3's go???? They used to be everywhere, they were wonderful, and yet you seldom see them on the road today. I see a W123 as often as I see a Z3...

To me the difference is a W123 can be made to last forever, and there will always be those who admire the mechanical engineering behind a car like that and will able to still fix a car like that. (Not that a Z3 is a particular nightmare).

So maybe our cars will crash in value in 20 years, or maybe they will keep living on. I don't know. But I think it is different then the aging out of the 50s Chevys. There is just less choice of cars that can "age in" and still be maintained.

[atypicalguy]

The tri five Chevrolet group is iconic enough that it is enshrined in popular media eg many films. That alone will keep it relevant.

I agree about mechanical cars being more usable over the long haul. I think the w124 with an om606 swapped to mechanical injection may be the last car that fits the bill, in a mercedes anyway.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[Idle]

Originally Posted by ScooterABC

I think the 57 Chevy, the Woodie, etc have all been aged out by those desiring the cars passing on to the next generation. If you want to talk about people dealing with mechanical fuel injection, how long do you think people will deal with carburetors... And as long as Bosch diesel pumps still exist there are people who can work on the gas injection pumps. Sure, not that many, but it isn't over yet. I think that there is a fundamental difference though that will help the older cars be desirable. New cars are disposable and not maintainable. The electronics are way more of an issue than the mechanical fuel injection of a 60s Mercedes. Mechanical devices, vacuum devices, hydraulic devices all can be maintained. But complicated and unique electronics to me have a more finite life than those that can be "fixed". I think the 60s and to some extent 70s and 80s Mercedes represent some of the last cars that can really be driven for 50 to 100 years.

In our community we think nothing of a 50 year old Mercedes being on the road, but in 20 years I think we may see more 70 year old Mercedes on the road than present-day Mercedes cars.

Cars have grown increasingly more complex to fix both electronically and structurally. I don't see a 50 year old W140 as being relevant in the future for collectible car people. The great features of our best new cars are the technology that becomes obsolete in 10 years. Is anyone _really_ going to use non-touch screen navigation in a car (i.e., Mecedes COMAND circa 2002)?

Even some of the more interesting cars, like maybe a VW Phaeton, while exceptional for it's time, wouldn't it just be easier to buy or lease a new Audi A8L?

Maybe leasing has something to do with it too. How many new Mercedes are actually sold vs. leased? (I don't know the answer to this but I'm assuming more are leased than sold). Where did all the BMW Z3's go???? They used to be everywhere, they were wonderful, and yet you seldom see them on the road today. I see a W123 as often as I see a Z3...

To me the difference is a W123 can be made to last forever, and there will always be those who admire the mechanical engineering behind a car like that and will able to still fix a car like that. (Not that a Z3 is a particular nightmare).

So maybe our cars will crash in value in 20 years, or maybe they will keep living on. I don't know. But I think it is different then the aging out of the 50s Chevys. There is just less choice of cars that can "age in" and still be maintained.

Those are all some very good points. I can remember looking at a Cord during the late 60's that was about $3,000. It was only 30 years old but the transmission was shot and they were impossible to repair.

Then Cords went up in value and then way up and I thought perhaps I should have bought it anyway. And then the value leveled off and now, if I had been paying storage and insurance for all these years, I would have been in the hole from an investment standpoint.

Because who, besides us old guys, understands what a Cord is?