I just posted a single C8AE-6090-J cylinder head on Ebay starting at $9.99 with no reserve. This head was just found in the estate of a old rodder and has not seen the light of day in decades. It just came back from the machine shop after being cleaned, shot blasted, and magnafluxed. The head came back with a clean bill of health. Finding an orginal C8AE-J head is like finding a hen’s tooth. Don’t miss this awesome unported original head.
The latest precious metal that is now gaining value rapidly is ferrous oxide. Several years ago I probably overpaid for this 1934 Dodge Brothers suicide door wrecker at $1100. Did not last long at all when I posted it this summer for $5k on CL. Fad? Maybe… Two different customers called me on my J heads and seriously considered buying them just for an investment with no need of actually using them.
Maybe in the short term but I remember an episode of the Waltons where Jim-Bob worked his tail off to buy a Duesenberg horn from the local junk store for $6 by working after school for 2 weeks. His family called him a fool. At what point do you think he regretted that purchase, the next year? Probably… 1950? Probably not… 1960? 1970? 1990? That horn today is probably worth half (in depreciated dollars) what the car cost new!
I agree with you to some extent. But having been around all sorts of collectibles for 30 years, I can tell you with absolute certainty that everything is cyclical. The market has been pretty good for the last few years for a lot of reasons too numerous to get into. When people start talking about how well collector cars hold their value and “investing” in cars and parts that’s the first caution sign. They will drive the market even higher and price out the demand from the hobbyists and collectors. People who buy things because it’s their passion will always do just fine. They don’t pay that close attention to value and they stay for the long term. People who buy things because they think they’ll be worth more next year don’t tend to do so well.
