Absent and Off The Rails

Despite the larger size in appearance, the 1971 Mustang only gained 1 inch in it’s wheelbase.  While looking much bulkier than it’s previous incarnation, it was Ford’s attempt to bring the Mustang into the actual “Muscle” class and out of the “Pony Car” class that was named for it.  Length went up slightly more than 2 and a half inches as well and width gained just over 3 inches.  All this added 50 pounds of weight as well compared to the 1970 version.  Base price went up only $4.  The catch was that the 351 Windsor with it’s 2 barrel carb as the base engine was now replaced by the 302 with a 2 barrel.  This meant a loss of 40 horsepower in base model configuration.  Horsepower was down slightly on most engine options but the former Boss 429 engine with its 375 horsepower was now an engine option instead of a special model vehicle.  While not named as a “Boss 429” it still carried the formers 375 horsepower when optioned with the Ram Air option.  The base 429 without Ram Air chimed in at 370 horsepower as well.  The trick model for 1971 was the Boss 351 which due to gearing changes and lower weight was actually the quickest Mustang to date….with only a claimed 330 hp.  The Boss 351 was a much better handling car for the street as well without all the added weight over the front wheels creating push when attempting to turn around corners.

The other “news” for Ford for 1971 was the Falcon/Fairlane/Torino conglomeration was now cleaned up into the Torino model.  Sales dropped to only a few hundred less than the Chevrolet Chevelle model but would rebound for 1972 and outsell the Chevelle by over 100,000 units.  The Torino offered most of the Mustangs engine choices and with it’s longer wheelbase was a true midsize vehicle at the time and therefore a full fledged “Muscle Car” when properly equipped.

I realize it has been a while since writing for the blog here but time has been scarce for me and other business ventures have taken priority.  I hope to get things sorted out and return to more timely contributions in the future.  In the meantime, keep the faith and most of all…. enjoy life.

daveyboy

Ready for Sale

After enjoying this Woodie Wagon for about the last 5 years and during that time doing the previously neglected maintenance to bring it back to daily driver reliability: my friend Jim is finally putting his car up for sale.  It is a 1946 Pontiac Streamliner 4 door Woodie Wagon.  It has its original Straight 8 cylinder flathead engine with its original 3 speed manual trans (column mount shift of course), and its original 6 volt electrical system.  The vehicle is 100% solid with no rust through now or ever in its body panels. The stainless trim is in great shape and chrome is really good condition.  It has a new starter, carburetor, generator, front shocks, bushings, pins and arms.  New professionally done vinyl roof and interior carpets.  The wood is all original NOT replaced – and in very decent shape.  If it was ever repainted it was long ago and the paint is decent with a couple of rock chips and minor blemishes, but no HOLES.

I realize this is NOT a Muscle Car and only put these pictures on here so you understand where a lot of my time has gone lately.  It has been to help get the Pontiac ready for market.  Any one looking for a really nice Woodie let me know.  By the way the 1946 models were the first year car production resumed after WWII. There were no cars made during the war.

Davey Boy

Thanksgiving 2012

  No matter what make or model of “Muscle Car” you may personally prefer there are what most consider “Icons” of the genre.  One of the milestone vehicles would be this model year 1968 code 138 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396.  Being an intermediate or “mid-size” vehicle and having a big block V8 makes it officially a “Muscle Car”.

If you are a collector or have a collection, then odds are one of these is in said collection.  While some prefer the look of the single headlight 1971 and later models, you need a dual lamp 67-68-69-70 to call it a “Collection”.  That is of course my opinion.  I actually know several collectors who have a single manufacturer collection and that in itself does not diminish their enjoyment in the least.  And bottom line is that how someone spends their money or how they enjoy the hobby is ultimately their decision.

When I refer to the hobby, I do so in terms of appealing to the widest segment and do not try to interject my personal bias.  Key word in that sentence is “TRY”.

The internet “Shows” I have personally been on or involved with may think I am a “dinosaur” in terms of what I consider collectible or valuable, but I remain true to the consensus that “Muscle Cars” were made and marketed from 1064 to 1971 inclusive.  The few that survived beyond 1971 are continuation models and while receiving refinement to handling and suspension are not the power monsters of their predecessors.  And for clarity, there are no Muscle Cars being produced today.

  This 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400 is another example of the genre, although because of its size it is actually a subclass termed “Pony Cars”.

While there are current vehicles being produced and marketed as Muscle Cars and they include the current Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger and Charger, these are NOT true Muscle Cars.  The problem with them is that the average person cannot work on them or tune them and without an advanced degree or computer training.  I give full credit that these cars put out more power and greater refinement and even the fact that they can hold a tune up for thousands of miles of use without spending an extra dime.  That is something none of the true “Muscle Cars” can say.  But the hobby counts on people with rudimentary mechanical skills being able to pull and rebuild an engine without needing $100,000 worth of computer equipment to do the job.  Add the smog requirements that 90% of the country has to meet for a road vehicle and proper factory maintenance is what dooms currently produced vehicles from achieving collector status.

For 2013 I plan on coming out with more information on what every collection should include as far as specific models.  These are vehicles that for some reason made a milestone in the evolution of the “True Muscle Car”, or at least an indelible mark on their own manufacturer or model line.

Davey Boy

1967- Dodge and Plymouth

  The introduction of the Dodge Charger in 1966 was a success for Dodge, so in 1967 it received minor improvements.  The most obvious was the elimination of its full length interior console that gave it seating for only 4 people.  Getting in and out of the rear seat was the “big” complaint that Dodge chose to deal with.  With the optional front seat flip down armrest the Charger could actually seat 6 now.  The exterior now received the Coronets new side indents as well and front fender indicators for the turn signals mounted on the leading edge of the fenders.  The 426 Hemi was added to the option list during the “66” run and continued to be an option.  It added $712 to the Chargers base price of $3128.  Due to the steep price only 117 were ordered with the Hemi.

The 361 was eliminated and in its place the 383 was offered and new to the engine choices as well was the new 440.  Having sold 37,300 Chargers in 1966, the 1967 model was a disappointment as far as sales and only 15,788 were produced.  Clearly the similarity with the AMC Marlin as well as the Chargers overall “puffed up styling” was not winning over the “Performance Crowd”.  Restyling was in order for 1968.

  The Coronet continued with minor changes including the aforementioned side indents.  The executives at Chrysler decided that other than the Charger they would limit the availability of the “Street Hemi 426”.  The official stance was the Hemi would only be available in the “Letter-Series” vehicles.  That meant the R/T series package for the Coronet.  Despite this there were several Coronet Deluxe built with the factory installed Hemi engine as well as at least 1 Coronet 440, 1 Coronet 500 and 55 Super Stock Drag vehicles known as WO23 models.  The 440 and 500 designation were merely trim level packages and had nothing to do with engine choices.  Some people believe since the 440 was an available engine choice that 440 models came with that engine but such was not the case.  The top engine for Coronet was to be the 383 unless the R/T package was ordered, but this was ignored in most cases and many Coronets received the larger engine.  An interesting fact on Dodge and Plymouth vehicles was their use of “fender tags” to indicate options used on their vehicles.  While Ford and GM only listed basic info on theirs Mopar would routinely use 2 or 3 added tags for “loaded” vehicles that help make them the easiest to authenticate even today.

The styling department did a total makeover for the Dodge Dart for 1967.  Now its 4th makeover since the model first came into being, the Dart had gone from Full-size to compact and now into the Pony Car segment.  Standard engine was the 170 slant 6 or optional 225 slant 6 engine.

V8 choices were the 273 small block or if you ordered the GT or GTS you could get the 340 or even the 383 in the model.  The Dart saw an increase in production from 112,900 in 1966 to 154,500 for 1967.

  At Plymouth they had the same engine restrictions on their Belvedere model as Dodge did on the Coronet.  Their Valiant was restyled since it was the “corporate clone” to the Dart.

Sales for the Belvedere/Satellite fell from 189,752 in 1966 to 148,080 in 1967.  Similar to the Coronets fall from 250,900 in 1966 to 184,200 in 1967.  Plymouth still managed to outsell Dodge as far as cars by over 210,000 vehicles.  636,893 compared to 410,088.

  The Plymouth Barracuda got restyled and sales went from 38,029 in 1966 to 62,534 in 1967.  The Barracuda was standard with a slant 6 cylinder engine but options included the 273 as well as the 340 and even the 383 with the right option package.  The “Fish” was clearly trying to take aim at the Mustang but by 1967 there was no way any “Pony Car” was taking the top seller title from the Mustang.  After all Mustang alone counted for 472,121 units built and sold for Ford in 1967.

Davey Boy

1967 – Ford Makes a Statement

 When Ford created the 1965 Mustang, they were building a car to compete with the emerging import market.  It was to be a compact vehicle with seating for 4 or 5 people and with its 6 cylinder engine it was aimed at being an economy car as well.  The small block V8 was to make it competitive as being a sporty vehicle to appeal to the younger buyer.  What they did not count on was the fact that they created the most successful new car to come along since their own Model A in the 1920’s.  While Plymouth actually got the jump on them a few weeks earlier with the Barracuda, it was the Mustang that set the pace and the market segment now known as the “Pony Cars”.  These were vehicles smaller in size and less powerful than the midsize vehicles touted as “Muscle Cars”.

For 1967 Ford made the Mustang wider and longer than before.  This was in part to make the vehicle now capable of installing a “big-block” engine under the hood.  With the addition of the 390 cubic inch motor they had a performer capable of taking on the Muscle Cars and in a smaller package.  While Shelby was creating their “350” and “500” versions of the Mustang, these were not Factory vehicles and in fact Shelby was classified as an Automobile Manufacturer at the time.  Ford learned a trick or two on styling from the Marlin from AMC/Rambler and the Dodge Charger and made the fastback model smoother and wider to where it no longer looked like they just added a chunk of metal and glass to the coupe.

During this time Ford also grew jealous of Shelby getting all the credit for “Performance Mustangs” and was deeply involved in improving their image as such with the addition of special models.  There was the “High Country”, “California Special” and “Hertz” Mustangs plus now the GT and GTA factory models.  Various trim pieces and engine choices designated the respective packages but the top factory option for 1967 was the GT and GTA- both carried the 390 with the later being an automatic transmission hence the “A”.

  The Fairlane continued with minor revisions for 1967 and the GT and GTA versions as well.  Ford was going to change its look to separate it from the full size Fords but that was due for 1968, so 1967 saw minor change.

  The Ranchero was now solidly based on the Fairlane for both its sheet metal and engine choices.  While few people saw the Ranchero or its rival the Chevrolet El Camino as real trucks, they did appeal to the market for people who wanted a vehicle capable of hauling things but without the harsh ride of pickup trucks from the era.  The added benefit was they had a vehicle with some style and with the right equipment checked on the order form – a vehicle capable of serious performance as well.

  Mercury still had its Comet based Cyclone model and the 427 was available as an option although the main engine choice was now the 390.  Some Fairlane GT and GTA models also left the factory with the 427.

 But the big news was that Mercury finally got into the “Pony Car” market with the introduction of the Cougar.  Once again it was Lee Iacocca behind another hit for the Ford Corporation.  Based on the Mustang with a stretched frame and sharing no sheet metal similarity it was to be Mercury’s shot at the market.  The downside was the bigger vehicle meant it needed more power than the Mustang to achieve the same performance and all motors used for the Cougar could be also had in the smaller and more nimble Mustang.  Mercury instead figured their market was a more upscale buyer and while offering “Dan Guerney Specials” they instead went to the luxury models for their focus.

Ground Zero and Time To Start Back Over

Greetings and salutations to all who may stumble upon this blog.  I realize I have been absent from this for a rather extended time.  The short explanation is that my business venture has taken all my free time that I formerly used for this endeavor and left me no time for research and trying to keep this going.  That may seem like a “cop-out” to some if not most of you, but this blog actually requires major investment of time and research.  I know you thought it was easy being me, but in fact it is major work and commitment to be this disorganized and confused.  The “Detail Shop” I opened in April 2011, sad to say is no more.  The economy is simply no longer there to make a living washing and waxing cars.  This is my astute observation only after wasting $65,000 of my money trying to prove otherwise.  Back to the drawing board.  Or, rather….. Ground Zero.

Every year on my birthday, I evaluate where I am at and what goals can be set for the following year.  This year is no exception to that routine.  Having been born in 1957 means I have hit the age of 55 now.  Time is running out to get where I want to be.  Should anyone reading this be interested in contacting me involving a business endeavor involving “Muscle Cars”, please do so.

Hopefully someone has the needed funds and lacks the expertise to make a financial business out of what is undoubtably my strongest asset.  That being my knowledge of where the market is and anticipating where it is headed.  My knowledge of the vehicles is also a plus.

While almost everyone knows a 1957 Chevrolet when they see one, there are many details to know if you want to make money on one.  Things such as is it a Bel Air or a 210….. 2 door or 4 door…..original engine or not….all things that greatly vary the value of the car in question.  Is it worth $20,000 or in excess of $100,000 ?

While there are literally thousands of serious “Car Collectors” out there making money on this so-called hobby, there are hundreds of thousands of people doing it as a hobby.  While this blog lends itself towards the actual hobby, the goal I have is to be one of the minority who actually make a living doing it.

I do not mean to offend anyone but the guys like Jay Leno who buy cars just to have them and preserve them for future generations are very rare.  It does help when the individual has somewhere in the neighborhood of about 100 million dollars to play with.  The area where I live has a few guys who make their living buying, selling and restoring cars, and they all have their market niche’s to fill.  There is always new ways and new ideas to move into the market for more dealerships or collectors.  And as the economy turns around the market will grow massively in the future.

 Just as the 1957 Ford Fairlane was the competitor to the Chevy that year there will be different markets to fill and different needs for those markets.  I do not claim to be the expert on all cars, but I also do not shun any one model over another.  While the hobbyists prefer a Chevelle, Camaro, Mustang, Charger, or another model for whatever reason; I also know there is a market for a Maverick Grabber and Mercury Cyclone and even the Nova SS has a following.  Being limited by the Manufacturer such as Pontiac, Ford, Buick, Chevrolet, Dodge, Plymouth and Mercury means you leave out the AMC Marlins and Rebels and even the “lowly” Gremlin X.  It means you also miss out on the Studebaker Avanti, and the Oldsmobile Cutlass and 4-4-2.

There were dozens of models from every manufacturer in America during the Muscle Car years and every one of them had a following because they had a story and a legacy to tell.  Some literally sold millions over time and some sold only a few hundred copies, but every one of them deserves to be mentioned for the mere fact that someone thought they were special enough to buy when they were sold new.  Now it is time for me to get back to the blog and let you know what their story was.

Davey Boy

Farewell to 2011 and Looking Forward

This past year has been rather extraordinary, to put it mildly.  For most of us it has been a nearly constant struggle to just stay even or try not to fall too far behind.  I would be in that group.  I know there are some who still scratch their heads and say “What Recession”, but they are the minority for sure.

I opened a new Detail Shop back in April of this past year and while I knew the economy was down, I reasonable expected it to start turning around by late summer.  That was the overall prediction of the so-called economic genius’.  It wasn’t untill around May or June that most revised their outlooks.  Too late for me to back out.  Having sunk everything into my shop, it was only the option of scraping along that was available.  The good news is that I am still going.  Bad news is the economy is going to wait untill the end of 2012 to make its decision on better or worse…. or so those genius’ now predict.

 Currently sitting in my shop are a couple of vehicles waiting to be picked up.  A 1977 Pontiac Trans Am.  These are fondly called the “Bandit” model from the Burt Reynolds movies.  My kids think they are very cool and I would agree.  My attitude is these are great cars to actually drive and enjoy.  This particular one has its original 400 CID engine and automatic transmission.  Dollar for dollar, these are better than the Corvette from 1977.  My opinion is based on the fact thaT only a 350 small block could be ordered in the Vette, while T/A owners could get actual big block engines.  Add the fact that a family of 4 or even 5 if the kids are small enough, and a weekend cruise is possible.  With the Vette, you need to hook up a trailer to haul any kids along.  Maybe the point of the Vette is to leave them home?

 

The other vehicle sitting in my shop has a rather interesting heritage.  It was on display at the Guiness World Record Museum down in Tennessee until recently.  It was the vehicle driven by John Candy’s character in the movie “Delirious”.

While intended to be a Ferrari GTO, it is actually a Datsun 280Z, with custom bodywork to appear as the famed GTO.  Untill November or this year, the GTO had the Guinness title of being the “Worlds Most Expensive Automobile” as the few out there have been selling for anywhere from $6 Million up to an estimated $20 Million each.  This is just beyond comprehension how anything could be so expensive… much less a car.

The point I am getting to in my usual meandering way is that while business is slow for my shop and the general economy…..there are signs that something could change soon.

So Merry Christmas to everyone, and Happy New Year.

Davey Boy

Getting Back Into The Groove

  The Mecum Auction is over for St. Charles and while prices are somewhat depressed still, there were some very nice high-end cars that drew big money.  I am not going into those here since that isn’t what I deal in – nor is it what impresses me.  If you gotta haul your car on a trailer for a show, then what’s the use having it?

  I prefer nice “driver” quality cars and there are plenty of them available.  I admit to being old.  Physically I am 53….almost 54.  Mentally sometimes I am either 14 or 80.  Rarely anything in between.  While I promote the Muscle Cars as investment tools, there are also other cars that someone can purchase to either enjoy or sell and make a decent profit.  While I promote Muscle Cars, there are many Collector Vehicles that would make nice driver or investment vehicles.  The 4 speed Beetle pictured here is a 1974 and sold for a mere $3100.  If you ever owned an original Beetle with its “jingle-jingle” engine rattle then you would understand the slow but steady charm of tooling around in one of these reliable air-cooled boxer 4 cylinder marvels.

 

  Then if the Beetle doesn’t turn you misty-eyed we also have the Type 2 Wagon pictured here.  The ever traveled “Hippie” van, this one being a 1970 version.  The Westfalia version had a complete kitchen and bed in it, while this wagon is your basic passenger hauler.  Again, very slow compared to my normal preference for a livery, but when you go nostalgic not everything was built to do 90-100 mph in the 1/4 mile.  The other side of the “slow” equation is that Volkswagen’s were from Europe, not Detroit so they couldn’t be Muscle Cars even if they did have big V8 engines.  This vehicle sold for $5500.

  For the Pony Car people there were several Mustangs that sold for decent money.  Someone bought this 1967 with its original 289 and automatic transmission for just $6000.

  Mustangs are usually very nice entry-level cars for someone who wants a fun, sporty car without breaking into their 401K to buy it.  This is because for much of the early models they were a really big seller and from 1964 through 1970 they produced literally millions of them in all body configurations.  From coupes to convertibles to fastbacks.  From straight 6 cylinder engines to small V8’s and even massive big block V8 engines.  You could buy them as economy cars all the way to full-bore factory prepped race track cars.  Mustang was the only car during the Muscle Car years that was marketed and designed to fill almost every niche in the automotive consumer marketplace.  The only missing piece would have been if Ford had actually built Mustang Station Wagons as well.  If you have been reading my blog, you realize I have actually had a photo of a Mustang Station Wagon before that sold at an auction in the past, but it was a custom conversion unit.

 While we are dealing with Ford vehicles, we need to touch on trucks a bit as well.  This is a 1970 Ford Bronco with its original 170 cubic inch engine and 3 speed manual trans.  These could be ordered with the 289/302 or upgraded further to a 351.  This was the most capable off-road vehicle of its time. Surpassed only by the Jeep CJ so far as rock climbing ability.  Properly equipped I have seen these Bronco’s go places no other off-roader would even think about.  They were small and built to take a beating.  They are still very popular with the off-road racing crowd.  This beauty went for $8500.

  Then we have this 1972 Ford Ranchero.  While the Ranchero did not have the following of the Chevrolet El Camino, it was a very nice looking vehicle for being a “quasi-truck”.  That is a truck that is built as a car….or is it a car that is built as a truck?  Most people do not like the big grille years such as this is, but for me the “fish-mouth” grill is what I like most about the styling.  I am also one of those who find the 2 head light El Camino sleeker and more stylish that the 4 head light versions.  I prefer the Chevelle with 4 headlights, don’t ask why…it’s the way my brain is wired I guess.

  The 351 Cleveland engined Ranchero went for $6700.  While the value is less for a 1972 compared to a 1970 or 1971, that’s due to the fact engine compression and therefore power was down significantly thanks to Federal regulations.  But they were still pre-Catalitic Converter so if you have basic engine skills it is relatively easy and cheap to bump the horsepower numbers back up on these.  And the ease of just swapping the motor for a serious big block such as the 428 or 429 is just icing on the cake.

  While talking about 1972 vehicles we turn to this 1972 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with its 402 big block V8 engine that sold for $8750.  While rated at a meager 240 horsepower, that is very easy to change to closer to a rating of 350-400 horses since the 402 is actually the venerable 396 engine that Chevy used for many years in some of their grandest performance vehicles.  The Chevelle just a year prior with this same 402 engine was still being marketed as the SS396 because the Bowtie fans knew what a 396 was and Chevy did not want to have their fans think it was a new engine.  After all it wasn’t.  It came about because a group of blocks came through with scratches in the cylinders that Chevrolet had to hone out to be able to use them rather than junk the entire batch.  The increased bore is why it became a 402.  Once they had increased the bore size and pistons to fit they did not want to shrink the engine size back and admit that it was a “manufacturing flaw”.

  The final couple to review are both Oldsmobiles.  This is a 1969 Cutlass convertible with it’s “Rocket 350” engine and a 4-speed trans.  Not as good as a 400 cubic inch 442 from 1969, but definitely a nice driver for summer fun.  This baby sold for $10,500.  Nice.

   Then we come to a true Oldsmobile 442.

  For the very reasonable price of $13,750 someone drove this green beauty home to their very own garage.  With its white vinyl roof and white stripes it was a nice looking vehicle.  The only thing I would change would be to put a Ram Air Hood on it instead of the base hood.  Aftermarket fiberglass would run about $450 while a steel NOS can fetch up to $1200 depending how authentic you want to get.  As you can see from both pictures, they used pretty much the same steel “Ralleye Wheels” for several years on the Cutlass and 442 lines.

Davey Boy

Ten Years and What I have Learned

 The date of 9-11-2001 is burned into the memory of everyone in America.  There will be literally millions of posts and retrospectives and endless rehashing of the events of that day and no doubt it will be to the point where our minds turn numb from thinking about the horrific events of New York City and Washington D.C. and even the Pennsylvania wooded crash site and what was perhaps the one shining event of the day, if you can take anything out of the day and say it was a “good” thing.  The passengers and their bravery to determine from what they knew from earlier events decided their fates and ended what was to be an even worse outcome and they brought their plane down before their attackers could harm countless thousands more.

  I was working as a “Handyman” at the time and as luck would have it I was off that day and at home.  I had the CNN news in the background on the television while I went through my morning e-mails looking for job leads and prospective projects.  Then they broke in with what was described as a small engine airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  When they cut to live video of the scene, the first impression was that there was a large amount of damage area for being a Cessna.  It turned out to be much worse than the first report.  By the time the second plane flew into the second tower on live TV, everybody watching knew we were under attack.  There was no “accident” in the events we witnessed.  This was an open and shut attack on America.

  To say the date changed my life is only to say the date changed the lives of every single person in the United States and quite possibly… the lives of nearly everyone around the world.  We in America know how our lives were effected, but as we put together our “coalition” of nations to wage war in Afghanistan and then further to invade Iraq, we effectively made our problems those of the world as well.  The chain of events caused by our “War on Terror” are now part of history and I am not going to debate whether good-bad-or indifferent.  They are done and we still are going to be paying the bills for what has happened for the next 20 to 50 years.  We basically borrowed the entire funding for the war and we have yet to start the payment plan.

  I do not get into politics here on my blog and I am not going to now either.  The point is, the events of 9-11 made changes not just to our government but to our citizens as well.  Personally, I decided life was short and the events proved to me that nobody has any guarantee for a future.  Most of America decided the same thing because as a whole… America went on a spending binge.  We went out and bought bigger houses and more cars and boats and RV’s and ran up the credit card debts to the point where when things started getting tight, everything came tumbling down.

  We went from under 5% unemployment to almost 10% in the past 3 years.  Literally millions of Americans have not only lost their jobs, but also their homes.  Real Estate in no longer “Money-In-The-Bank” as it has been since I was born in 1957.  The value of your home was a savings account for anyone who owned their home.  Those days are behind us as values are often half of what they were 3 or 4 years ago.  I live in a subdivision that was built about 7 years ago and just on my cul-de-sac of about a dozen homes there are 3 repossessed homes sitting empty.  It was 4 but after 2 years one was finally bought by the people who defaulted in the first place.  Apparently after 2 years of no mortgage payments they saved enough to not only buy their house at its new reduced price but also to put another $20,000 into landscaping and privacy fencing, new patio and a new car.

Anyway, even in a bad economy there are ways to make steps forward is the point I guess.  The Classic Car hobby has also changed in the past few years.  The million dollar “Muscle Cars” have tapered off and unless the vehicle in question has a substantial pedigree it certainly will not draw a million dollar bid these days.  That’s not to say new records for price are not being set…. they are…. but it has to be a historical piece, not just a low production hemi powered Plymouth convertible these days. 

  The current situation for what I see at the major auctions is more of a thinning of the herd in collector circles.  With the overhead associated with larger collections, they seem to be selling the lesser value cars for reduced prices in order to buy higher value cars at equally reduced prices.  In other words they are selling a 25,000 dollar Mustang for 12,000 in order to buy a $60,000 Chevelle for $30,000.  In their minds they are not losing $13,000…. they are saving $30,000.  Actually a gain of 17,000 when you consider the loss.  But the downside is they are using cash out-of-pocket to do it and will not see that gain for a few years in all likelihood.

  For the guys like me, this is good news because there are more cars available at what is considered entry-level prices that come already restored or at a minimum in very good “driver” condition.  Even my beloved 1971 Plymouth GTX with it’s 440 engine and 4 barrel carb can be found for half of its previous $60,000 value.  Patience is all you need and of course….cash.

  Anyway, I guess the point I am trying to make is that despite the current bad economy, and all we have been through in the last 10 years, there are bright spots for all of us.  And the brightest thing of all….. is that we are still here 10 years later.

  Davey Boy

Is The American Dream Dead ?

What a million bucks looks like.

It has always been said that the “American Dream” is to be your own boss and be the owner of a successful business, most likely doing something you love doing.  The old adage of the best way to make a small fortune…. is to start with a big fortune and open your own business… also comes to mind right now.

I would not say the “American Dream” is dead, but I would say it is in intensive care.  The bad news is that it is also under a HMO for its care.  Anyone in business knows that the current economy “sucks”.  Just totally sucks.  I chose to start my own business a few months back and while I am fortunate enough to still be in business after 4 months, it has not gotten any better.  The future looks bleak, but not without a few glimmers of hope.

I have been working in the “Automotive Detailing” field since the early 1980″s.  The first shop I worked for was an established company that I helped expand and grow from a few thousand dollars a year into one of the largest in the Chicago area at the time.  The second was a Marina on the Chain of Lakes that I did their “In-House” detailing for the boats they sold and their Marina customers as well.  I was a one man operation there.  The third was a tunnel car wash in Northbrook, Illinois that needed to be expanded into a full service Detail Center to expand their car wash business.

Each time the result was the same…. grow the business into a good cash flow and then I was shown the door when the owner decided to keep the cash himself.  There is nothing wrong with that, since it was their money on the line and I was well paid each time.

1967 Riviera

When I decided to go back into the Detail Business this time it was for a shop of my own.  Build something for me and my families security.  Of course, my thought was that with the economy down, it would be starting at the bottom with nowhere to go but up.  Nothing I read or saw prepared me for the fact the economy would run along the bottom in basically a “flat-line” for any length of time.  Normally you would expect to see either an upswing or even further dropping.

With my basic “Business model” now broken, it is time to either reinvent the plan or to expand into additional avenues for income.  So it is that now has become what will be either a colossal financial failure….. or a truly genius move on my part.

1976 Eldorado Convertible

Only time will tell which this will be, but as I said at the start…. The American Dream is not dead…. just in intensive care.

davey boy