Financial Collapse and the Collector Car Market -- Revised Thoughts.

 

As of this morning, the banking underpinnings of our capitalist economy are wobbling in an unprecedented manner. What it means for the collector car market remains unclear. But this stress on economic stability has the potential to radically change the nature of the hobby, and I think it might be about time. There is simply too much money in the classic car market -- too many buyers fueled by years of low interest rates, too many cars purchased on loans, too many so-called "restorers," too many cars that are hardly considered collectible now included in the mix,  too many events that serve as social opportunities for would be social climbers. 

Promoted by the insurance company Haggerty and a large cast of followers, this hobby has taken  automobile collectibles to price heights that exclude the average American. What was once a pursuit of the dedicated few has been overpopulated by speculators,  shady exploiters, bullshitters, and bondo restorers and half-assers posing as master mechanics.  Car collections are of such a large size that they serve no useful social purpose except become shrines to self and wealth. How many of the cars in these warehouse museums are routinely driven and appreciated? Many enthusiasts who are members of the Porsche and Mercedes Clubs have no idea about the technology associated with their cars, and not the complex and rich history behind them. They bring girl friends and trophy wives attired in Louis Vuitton to sip wine and discourse in small talk. Automobiles are just an acceptable and socially useful thing to do -- and until recently with a red-hot market -- profitable.

The age of excess -- in so many areas of American life -- needs to be tempered with a questioning of what are proper strong values to embrace. There needs to  a departure from an individualism that is tearing apart this once great nation. All this printed money has corrupted us to a point of no return. Think more of one's neighbor rather than the ceramic coating to be applied to your old cars.