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Re: T-Bird Prices
some great discussions here....
Some things I noticed: Just now, when checking ebay, I see 13 listings for T-birds vs the usual 30-something Iused to see even a year ago. So that rash of sales from garage queen thinking that the car ws going to appreciate seems to have subsided.
the issue with the computers in our cars in 2025.. ;D I think by then there will be module that you put into yoru car that will either replicate or emulate its original programming. heck you may see an improvement...
On the issue of fuels.. thats a wild card: what will be the situation with petrolium fuels in 2025. There are so many varialbe with this: politically, environmentally, economy... jeez we should hire those futurist authors that nasa does from time to time to speculate!!
On the issue of classic cars... ithink the sheet metal 50 and 60's classic cars will always hold their title. Their simplicity as well as their flamboyant styling have become iconic and timeless. I'm curious if we do move on to alternative fuels it "petrol" cars will be seen as some sort of classics.. or just as old.. like tube radios..
I think to determine what vaule our cars have.. I'll just say this: the car still turns heads.. including mine.. which means its timeless and classic stying cues can only be an asset. thank God that Ford when with a proper V8 instead of doing a V6 like plymouth prowler. That along with the fact that its an uncompromising 2 seater... I think that on the merit of styling and design, it has alot going for it.
So the real question is: what automotive asset does a "turn of the century" car have down the road? Using the current clasics as an example: i think their assets are styling and mechanical simplicity.. mechanically they can be made to run forever with the proper spare parts. Styling, and this is important, we will never see cars so flamboyant ever again. the chrome, vinyl, sheet metal, fins, wheels, heck just the sheer size.. there is not a single new car in the market today that can match the aethetics and flamboyance of a classic car. period.
A 57 corvette. A '62 Tbird. A 55 chevy. There's nothing onthe market that can compare to the scale, elegance, and just plain materials of those cars. The presence and sytling of those cars. I think with every decade, cars have lost a piece of their soul, while gaining an extra sense of disposability.
For example: the cars from the 20's and 40's still had the appearance of the old stage coaches they were based upon... there was wood and fabric.. the interiors looked like funriture. the wheels had the spokes in them still and in some cases had wooden frames I think,
then came the 50's and 60's.. and metal and vinyl replaced wood and fabric. However here, cars gained an identity of their own... they borrowed from the futurist of their time: rocket and atomic themes.. so in many ways, these cars looked into the future.. a future that didn't happen (i.e. our home's aren't atomic powered and we don't have personal rockets). so in many ways, almost by coincidence, these cars captured the future we dreamed about, and now nostalgically we still do. I think that since these cars captured such a romatacised visionof the future, that they hold a special place in our hearts and history that no other era can. Also, I think these cars represent america during her peak of optimism and greatness.
I don't think I can so clearly sum up the 70's.. perhaps one flattering way is to mention the muscle car era, and how to me, they represent the masculinity of cars in an era where femenism was growing. However thats almost a "niche" viewpoint. It seemed, too, peppered with the luxury notion of cars, however stying of that era I cant quite pinpoint. Both the '70's and the '80's do share a squared look to cars the way the 50's and 60's show's the curves. the cynic in me will point out that the rather "blanding" of the car styling kinda coicides with lack of imagination in general for the american car manufatuers. When the fuel crisis hit, it seemed that american ingeniuty was caught with its pants down, enjoying its 20 year old laurels.
So to sum of that era, i'd say that lack of american ingenuity, along with some hubris, as well as the real, tangible economic impact of the fuel crisis, helped contribute to more the car's soul being lost. the passion from 20 years earlier subsided to the business of car manufacturing, the need for a practical transportation with skyrocketing fuel prices.... With the exception of the muscle cars, there seemed to be very little fire int he automotive world.
Now the '80's seemed to contribute to that trend.. and with I believe the advent of CAD design going into cars, the '90's brough that horrendous notion of "areo styling" to cars. that was anything but styling. To me this was the polar opposite of the '50's and 60's.. and perhaps contributed to my lack of interest in cars in my youth. lets not forget that american cars were at an all time high in suckfest, with foreign cars enjoying their contiued growth. Oh and then came the cars like the family van.. with those interiors made out of plastic.. I mean these cars berely lasted three years.. trannies falling apart.. what a debacle...
With the recent retro styling in cars, I think we have at least undertstood that the wind tunnel isn't the final stop in the car styling phase. the new beetle, prowler, pt cruiser, T-bird, etc.. these cars have started to bring some soul back to cars. More important are the new styling cars: the audi TT, the jaguar and the like are now really displaying a style that makes one actualy stop and admire the car, as opposed to just "settling".
But like I asked earlier.. what stands out in a car today that we would want 25, 50 years from now.. Like for me, the cars from the 50's and 60's have their size, simplicity, lack of cumbersome safety features, actual chrome and metal materials that you just CAN'T have in a modern car today.. its illegal!! So what do our cars have today that we would really want 50 years from!!! I think thats where we can pinpoint any value or sense of "classic".
with my "futurist" cap on, I predict cars will be made in a more "disposable" or "recylcable" manner in the future. the idea hit me when I saw the film "minority report" when they showed the lexus car being asssembled. It was made completely robotically, and it looked like many of the components were synthetics and composite plastics. So I believe the cars will have a sense of "reusability" rather than a finished product that feel like an heirloom, but is quite difficult to recycle.
Under the hood, they will probably look really simplisitc, with interchangealbe components that are sealed and not user serviceable. Think of TV's today vs 40 years ago: today they are in these plastic boxes and they just work.. when your TV dies, you get a new one. Versus the furniture wood cabinet that TV's used to come in and the novelty of a TV repair man... I think that the mechanical complexities of cars will peak and then decrease assuming we get some major changes in materials and engineering (think flexing metals, motors built into wheels that funtion as their own accelerating, braking and abs and traction contol, and variable, adaptive suspension). So while these cars will be mavels of simplicity, efficenty, reliability and enviromentally responsibility, we'll kinda miss that ability to open the hood and mess with things ourselves.
So I think in that regard, we can try to derive what we deem unique to our era in cars and try to extrapolate what value they will have in 50 years...
some great discussions here....
Some things I noticed: Just now, when checking ebay, I see 13 listings for T-birds vs the usual 30-something Iused to see even a year ago. So that rash of sales from garage queen thinking that the car ws going to appreciate seems to have subsided.
the issue with the computers in our cars in 2025.. ;D I think by then there will be module that you put into yoru car that will either replicate or emulate its original programming. heck you may see an improvement...
On the issue of fuels.. thats a wild card: what will be the situation with petrolium fuels in 2025. There are so many varialbe with this: politically, environmentally, economy... jeez we should hire those futurist authors that nasa does from time to time to speculate!!
On the issue of classic cars... ithink the sheet metal 50 and 60's classic cars will always hold their title. Their simplicity as well as their flamboyant styling have become iconic and timeless. I'm curious if we do move on to alternative fuels it "petrol" cars will be seen as some sort of classics.. or just as old.. like tube radios..
I think to determine what vaule our cars have.. I'll just say this: the car still turns heads.. including mine.. which means its timeless and classic stying cues can only be an asset. thank God that Ford when with a proper V8 instead of doing a V6 like plymouth prowler. That along with the fact that its an uncompromising 2 seater... I think that on the merit of styling and design, it has alot going for it.
So the real question is: what automotive asset does a "turn of the century" car have down the road? Using the current clasics as an example: i think their assets are styling and mechanical simplicity.. mechanically they can be made to run forever with the proper spare parts. Styling, and this is important, we will never see cars so flamboyant ever again. the chrome, vinyl, sheet metal, fins, wheels, heck just the sheer size.. there is not a single new car in the market today that can match the aethetics and flamboyance of a classic car. period.
A 57 corvette. A '62 Tbird. A 55 chevy. There's nothing onthe market that can compare to the scale, elegance, and just plain materials of those cars. The presence and sytling of those cars. I think with every decade, cars have lost a piece of their soul, while gaining an extra sense of disposability.
For example: the cars from the 20's and 40's still had the appearance of the old stage coaches they were based upon... there was wood and fabric.. the interiors looked like funriture. the wheels had the spokes in them still and in some cases had wooden frames I think,
then came the 50's and 60's.. and metal and vinyl replaced wood and fabric. However here, cars gained an identity of their own... they borrowed from the futurist of their time: rocket and atomic themes.. so in many ways, these cars looked into the future.. a future that didn't happen (i.e. our home's aren't atomic powered and we don't have personal rockets). so in many ways, almost by coincidence, these cars captured the future we dreamed about, and now nostalgically we still do. I think that since these cars captured such a romatacised visionof the future, that they hold a special place in our hearts and history that no other era can. Also, I think these cars represent america during her peak of optimism and greatness.
I don't think I can so clearly sum up the 70's.. perhaps one flattering way is to mention the muscle car era, and how to me, they represent the masculinity of cars in an era where femenism was growing. However thats almost a "niche" viewpoint. It seemed, too, peppered with the luxury notion of cars, however stying of that era I cant quite pinpoint. Both the '70's and the '80's do share a squared look to cars the way the 50's and 60's show's the curves. the cynic in me will point out that the rather "blanding" of the car styling kinda coicides with lack of imagination in general for the american car manufatuers. When the fuel crisis hit, it seemed that american ingeniuty was caught with its pants down, enjoying its 20 year old laurels.
So to sum of that era, i'd say that lack of american ingenuity, along with some hubris, as well as the real, tangible economic impact of the fuel crisis, helped contribute to more the car's soul being lost. the passion from 20 years earlier subsided to the business of car manufacturing, the need for a practical transportation with skyrocketing fuel prices.... With the exception of the muscle cars, there seemed to be very little fire int he automotive world.
Now the '80's seemed to contribute to that trend.. and with I believe the advent of CAD design going into cars, the '90's brough that horrendous notion of "areo styling" to cars. that was anything but styling. To me this was the polar opposite of the '50's and 60's.. and perhaps contributed to my lack of interest in cars in my youth. lets not forget that american cars were at an all time high in suckfest, with foreign cars enjoying their contiued growth. Oh and then came the cars like the family van.. with those interiors made out of plastic.. I mean these cars berely lasted three years.. trannies falling apart.. what a debacle...
With the recent retro styling in cars, I think we have at least undertstood that the wind tunnel isn't the final stop in the car styling phase. the new beetle, prowler, pt cruiser, T-bird, etc.. these cars have started to bring some soul back to cars. More important are the new styling cars: the audi TT, the jaguar and the like are now really displaying a style that makes one actualy stop and admire the car, as opposed to just "settling".
But like I asked earlier.. what stands out in a car today that we would want 25, 50 years from now.. Like for me, the cars from the 50's and 60's have their size, simplicity, lack of cumbersome safety features, actual chrome and metal materials that you just CAN'T have in a modern car today.. its illegal!! So what do our cars have today that we would really want 50 years from!!! I think thats where we can pinpoint any value or sense of "classic".
with my "futurist" cap on, I predict cars will be made in a more "disposable" or "recylcable" manner in the future. the idea hit me when I saw the film "minority report" when they showed the lexus car being asssembled. It was made completely robotically, and it looked like many of the components were synthetics and composite plastics. So I believe the cars will have a sense of "reusability" rather than a finished product that feel like an heirloom, but is quite difficult to recycle.
Under the hood, they will probably look really simplisitc, with interchangealbe components that are sealed and not user serviceable. Think of TV's today vs 40 years ago: today they are in these plastic boxes and they just work.. when your TV dies, you get a new one. Versus the furniture wood cabinet that TV's used to come in and the novelty of a TV repair man... I think that the mechanical complexities of cars will peak and then decrease assuming we get some major changes in materials and engineering (think flexing metals, motors built into wheels that funtion as their own accelerating, braking and abs and traction contol, and variable, adaptive suspension). So while these cars will be mavels of simplicity, efficenty, reliability and enviromentally responsibility, we'll kinda miss that ability to open the hood and mess with things ourselves.
So I think in that regard, we can try to derive what we deem unique to our era in cars and try to extrapolate what value they will have in 50 years...
Select Shifting all the way!!
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