i_love_thirdgen, it`s too bad we don`t have a crystal ball to see into the future. An ex-friend/car dealer I knew for 30 years always said "everything has a price". A few years ago, someone stopped me as I was driving my `74 El Camino and offered me $10k cash on the spot, I had just finished the resto. on it and did`nt want to sell and now I wish I had taken it.

i hear ya man...i'm having problems selling my 78 el camino

yea, im having issues selling my old 67 camaro rs that needs restored.. I still think the cars will go up in value though.. its just time..

someday these cars will have value, not all of em, not most of em, but the true survivors I think will have value someday. If you think about it 3rd gens tend to get driven, torn apart, rebuilt, bastardized and so on. I truely think sometime in the future the survivors that are unhacked and origional, more so the rarer optioned cars and the "limited edition" (TTA's, Iroc's, heritage edition, verts, etc) cars will be worth money. Time will tell.

That is why I am worried about doing the ProCharger on mine. But.....my goal is to leave it totally stock "looking" on the outside, kind of a sleeper if you will. My plans are to never hack up anything, so I could always put the drivetrain back to stock if I wanted. I just don't see my car going up too much though, even though it is low mileage original.

Bottom line is that I would rather have fun with it, than let it sit in a garage and collect dust.

IMO and i have thought about this quite abit..I LOVE my vert even though right now it is in transition. I have been ttrying to decide whether to try and keep it stock for possible resale at a later date and decided I am going to do it the way I want & I really dont think customizing it or changing a few things will hurt the future value, because as has been stated these cars are the dream cars of our youth and I grew up at a time when an aftermarket radio was a BIG deal, custom touches to a car are as much a part of thew nostalgia as the car itself. They did not do those things in the '60's '70's hence people look for the cars they way they remember the one down the street. My street had quite a few cars with custom paint steroes and interior work. All that said i believe these cars will appreciate in time.

It seems these cars run counter to all logic. They are all the things that make a classic. They have style, performance the right pedigree etc. there are less and less of them on the road everyday. Yet the price has gone up very little. My friends often joke, when it gets down to the last 3rd gen it will sell for about 4 grand. I think they are not a good investment. They are a great car. Buy one mod it and enjoy it today!

Someday we'll all wake up, look around, and wonder . . . where did they all go?
Only at that time will the value start to significantly rise for the unmolested and unabused few that are left.
But, then the question is . . . how long do we wait?
As 89rsragtop said . . . enjoy it today!

I have two 89 Camaro verts one is an RS and one is an Iroc. I bought them 2 weeks apart in 2006 I paid $7000 for the Iroc and $4300 for the RS. I was shocked to learn that they made less RS verts than Iroc verts. In 1989 they made 3245 RS Verts and 3940 Iroc Verts. I always knew the Iroc would be worth more than the RS, But the RS is more Rare. So only time will tell on where these two cars will go in value. I did not buy them for an investment I bought them to drive and have fun in. The reason i bought 2 of them is when I brought home the Iroc the wife asked when would she get to drive it. So I quickly started looking for a 2nd one for her to drive. I graduated high school in 1984 and always wanted to buy a Camaro but could not afford one. In High school I drove a 1969 Dodge Charger I bought for $500 in 1982, If i still had that car today it would be worth minimum $15,000 When I was done with it I drove it to the junk yard and got $20 for it. The Camaro Verts are much funner to drive than that old Charger.

This discussion is interesting. Makes me glad I've got a very undesirable car. An L03 with no options, and after a couple of months the original motor will be gone, and I've hacked up enough things in it that it will never be stock enough for someone that cares about an original car to be interested anyway.

Im not cheating myself out of value in the future, though, because I doubt my car will ever be any more valuable. It makes me feel a lot better about all the work I'm doing to it. I know I'd think twice if this were a lower mileage car, a IROC/Z28, or some sort of limited run performance package. But it seems like whoever ordered my car could only afford the L03 upgrade over the V6 and left it at that!

It's all about production numbers and how many are left. If you have a "rare" model of course it will bring a collector value when sold. If you are wondering how long it will take for a convertible third gen to be worth more than it cost new, you have a while to wait. There are just too many available.

As an owner of a couple of 70' Chevelle Convertibles that I bought in the 80's for next to nothing, I can't believe what people are paying for these cars these days. My cars are just Malibus that came with 307 ci lumps from the factory, but if you restore them as decent clones the can bring over $30,000!

I owned an 82 Pace Car and was thinking about doing a restoration, but am glad my bodyman talked me out of it as I can still buy a low mile really nice pace car for less than it would have cost to clean up and paint that car.

The way I see it, the value will go up as the number of available cars goes down. Originality is not going to be as much of an issue as it is with muscle cars due to the fact that third gens where never meant to be true muscle cars.

The reason that an original, numbers matching LS6 70 Chevelle is worth so much is because most of these cars where bought to race and thus the motors and components where mostly discarded for high performance upgrades. Only a small amount of these where kept stock. The big number collectors want something that not many people have, but everyone wants. uniqueness is the key to value.

The big money is paid for cars that have a story attached. Most collectors talk about their prize vehicles much more than they drive them. This makes them seem much rarer than the actually are.

The third gens will have there time, but you would have to keep your car in time capsule to maintain its value. Stock muscle car do not drive well so the are not used much. Typical classic car insurance only allows 1500 to 2000 miles a year max. The valuable cars may see 200 miles a year or less.

In my opinion DRIVE YOUR CONVERTIBLE and enjoy it. Don't waste it waiting for the value to go up.

JP

Interesting comments. I agree with most of what your saying. I have a few thoughts regarding . . .
Production numbers are a huge factor, but as I quoted earlier, Of coarse when you have just 74 '86 Irocs made with the L69 engine or only 62 '90 Camaros with the 1LE package, production numbers will definitly play a huge role.
But, also despite only 1,707 '69 Camaro convertibles having the 230ci V6, the 15,866 built with the 327 V8 fetch much higher prices because buyers like that option better.
Or in the 3rd gen world, '86 Z28's that have the V8 are selling for quite a lot more $$$ than the '86 Berlinetta Coupe V6's despite their being FAR fewer of the Berlies. 88,132 vs only 4,479! Intersting note, they were both the same $$$ when new, $12,316.00!

And regarding having to wait a while for a convertible 3rd gen to be worth more than new, I think we're already almost there. My ride is appraised, documented and insured for just over $21,000. New it cost $18,945. I paid only a few thousand less than that 7 years ago. But as with all cars, it's not just the production numbers or what's hot in the market place, but it must be a pristine example to reach top dollar.

LOW Production ≠ High Value

However for the most part:
Performance + Low Production + Quality of car = High Value

What makes desirability:
Typically speaking there is a Supply VS a demand which drives the value of anything. Just because they made 1000 or less of something does not immediately make it desirable. For example from 1982 thru 1985 Both Pontiac and Chevrolet offered a 4 cyl engine in the F-body... By any standard the idea was a flop, they really did not make that many of them and the cars are in the lists for the most undesirable cars. One book is "CArs you love to hate" and there was another list made by I belive Time which also listed the 4 cyl camaro as "Why?" car. In the end the statement holds true that you just purchased a "Sprts Car" that at full throttle you get passed by a School bus in a blur of yellow while you tap your fingers on the steering wheel trying to get to 70... 20 second later you finally make it. The short of it is that although there were only a few made does not make it desirable, in this case the car would be more valuable with a good engine swap.

On the other end of the spectrum you have cars which tend to be desirable. In the 80's there really was not much to choose from. The cars from GM which will have the most potential will be the F-body and the G-body (Monte Carlo, Regal, Cutlass GN etc. cars.) For the most part the G-body did not come with nothing more than a L69 which on its best day in stock form MIGHT get to 200hp. Other contenders will be the Corvette (*obviously*) the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler GLH turbo series of cars (possibly) if you want to know more about the GLH & GLHS the acronym literally stands for "Goes Like HEII" and "GOES like HEII Somemore."

So what kind of line up do we have in the 80's
Camaro / Firebird
Monte Carlo / Regal / Cutlass / Grand Prix
Corvette
Mustang
Chrysler GLH series

The G-body as mentioned before is actually several hundred pounds heaveir than the F-body. The Fox platform (although resembeling a Chevette) is Much lighter. THe GLH was FWD, and the Corvette was produced in such numbers and for so long that they really do not hold value well either...

THe short of it is in my opinion that the F-body with a V8 MINIMUM coupled with the low production of the convertibles. really have the most potential out of any other series from the 80's. Less the TTA, Firehawk, GNX, Gran National etc.

I once thought that because GM technically did not make any 3rd gen F-body Convertibles that it might actually hurt the value in the long run... THen I discovered that ASC did almost ALL of the convertibles for GM.

The following CArs were all converted by ASC: Buick Riviera 82-85, Buick Reatta 91-92, CAdillac Eldorado 84-85, Chevy Camaro 87-02, Cavalier 83-99, Corvette 86-94, SSR 03-06, Pontiac Firebird 87-02, Sunfire/sunbird 83-97. I can think of only a few of the others like the Olds Cutlass in the 90's and the Baretta convertibles which were special done by C&C. Otherwize I cannot think of any other Offical convertibles made by GM which GM actually made up until more recently.

I could go on and on...

John

I think they will grow in value just like the Auto Forms cars of 1983-1986 which have gone absolutely crazy in price over the last 60 days.

I got my vert after I had started looking for a "project car" for my 16 year old. Looked at a 66 Mustang, needed lots of work. Just cruised the net, got looking at the third gens, and decided heck with the kid, I'm getting a vert for myself, cause I love the car. And the more I shopped for them, the faster they were selling, sellers telling me people were coming from several states away & Canada to look. I was particularly looking for an IROC, and after reading stuff, figured on an 88. Paid a premium for a Vegas car. Paid $4500 for it, 115K miles and needing some work, included the &750 shipping. Thought I overpaid given the miles and condition, but when I'm done it will be in great shape, doing a tranny swap for a T-5, doing some bolt-ons, subframe connectors, etc. I plan to keep it some years, figure they'll keep going up. I've only seen one vert IROC in my area, none in the boneyards, 1 RS vert. My mechanic has an 87 IROC, he said he read in Hemmings that the third gens were going to be the next collectible(heresay). But even needing body work, etc I'm the only guy around driving a vert, and people notice, ask me about it. Didn't buy it as an investment, but I firmly believe they are going up. Especially when I see prices people are asking and getting for the really nice ones. As much or more as some early Mustangs, at least in this area (Dayton, OH).

There was a V6 available in a 69 'maro? Never knew that.

I never would hve believed, even a few years ago, the prices that some cars fetch as they cross the stage at Barrett Jackson.

I Never would have imagined that C2 vette drivers that were getting $12k 5 years ago are now up in the $50K range and any old BBC Roadster is $120K w a engine bay steam new seats and clean paint.

I have recently seen Hot rodded IROC verts w 383s and 5 speeds SELLING on ebay at over $15k w 20+ bidders.

I'd say eventually, clean, stock verts and well done hot rod verts will be up in the $40K range also and eventually beyond.
It's one of the very few American muscle cars produced after the golden age of muscle and they are rare enough where a 40+ yo guy like me will drive one, (where I'd only have a 3rd or 4th gen hardtop as a track only car but a
C4 or C5 would be much prefered at the track and I'd drive it on the street too)

I'd sell the C5.
C4s are steadily (but slowly) going up in price while C5s are falling and as nice as the C5 is, it doesn't compare to the C6 and they are selling 2007 Dealer New C6s at under $40k on Craigslist.

I'd like to go with a 350, have some concerns about getting away from stock. Doing the tranny swap to the T-5 cause I want the 5 speed, but I'll keep the original transmission just in case. Modifications I'm making are bolt on, except maybe building up for the rear speakers. I bought some panels that were already built up with round holes for the round speakers. Not as good shape as mine, but I could pull mine & keep them unmodified, although the previous owner did enlarge the speaker holes some, but the magnets are too big, speakers don't sit well/flush in the holes. Overall, I'll stay fairly stock, except I want some more HP. Don't think I'll hurt myself too bad. Yeah, always plenty of corvettes in the classifieds around here, don't see them getting what I thought they might.

I'm sure it's been said but with petroleum prices hitting the roof and the future of fossil fuels looking bleak, it may mean that our cars will never been be worth anything. Hell, the government is already legislating our cars to the crusher here in CA. Plus with 4 dollar a gallon gasoline (I pay that for milk!!) I won't be able to afford driving it.

That said (right or wrong) enjoy your Third Gen while you can!!

it was an inline, i believe. i6

Bunch of Cry babies in CA, thats all I have to say. Not you but the Liberal activists who have not want no one to have anything. Personally this has come around before, and eventually they might win. When it does there will be a bunch of people very angry with the Government and it might cause a revolution if it does go that far. The Govt will be trampeling on Freedoms that we should fight for. The Far left has been trying to dismatle this country for years, most of the Press is a part of it too. Then you have the crooks who want into office so they take contributions from activists and special intrest groups, these people have nothing better to do with their time than to influence leftist extreemism.

In reality I think right now the best they could possibly do is limit the number of cars coming into that state before a certain year. I think Mexico has now outlawed cars before 1998. Which may happen in California first, they may also limit your driving of older cars to a particular milage. Kind of like they finally allowed the Porche 959 in 1999 after 15 years of its inital production but the owners are limited to 3000 miles a year. Another thing they could mandate that you could not have a parts car in your back yard...

One thing that you can really look at is I really doubt that the government would actually make it illegal to won old cars and have them all crushed as the impact on our country would be greater than a few million car owners. In fact it would effect business that make aftermarket parts, it would effect the Big Three, the amount of finincial damage would be so wide spread to have millions of people out of a job because the government decded to destroy old cars. Huge business like Summitt, Jegs, the Paddock, Classic Industries, Ames etc would cease to exist... I think and hope that they realize the impact that it would make.

I was told that in MO or IL where the govrnemnt gives salvage yards an extra insentive for crushing older cars.

John

What about 88 Notchback GTAs. Where do you all think they fit in on the value scale?

Last night I posted the following on the SE Regional board

"Came home from a stressful Monday at the office, fertilized my St. Augustine, built me a Knob Creek, enjoyed a fried pork chop dinner, put on shorts & a sweat, dropped my top, cranked up the Doobie Brothers, cruised the loop around Bayou Texar, opened her up down I-110, and breezed along Bayfront Parkway home. Thank the lord for 3rd gens!" (edited)

These rides are not an investment at this time; seize the day and enjoy!

You guys also have to consider the economy. Right now collectors are worth a bunch because there are a bunch of baby boomers running around with cash in their pocket after the kids move out. Now that the US economy is tanking and baby boomers are getting old the values are going to drop on all old cars. Obviously some day they will be worth something but not soon, gen three was a long generation compared to the first gens that are actually worth money. 20 years from now people can buy a v6 camaro and 'Iroc' it bringing down values of the real cars.
For economy just take Canada, our dollar is worth the same but our economy is good, 91/92 Z28 verts are going for $10-12k on average for a nice one. With the same dollar value in the US it seems they are only bringing $6-8k.

That's something I've noticed too. Like you say, good luck finding a nice one in Canada for less than $10K, yet our American friends often remark that that's too much in the US (dollar being equal).

I doubt the average American knows about our dollar.

Have you ever had your IROC to any car shows in AB? I have seen a red 5 speed one a few times. Want to sell?

I've been to a few. Mostly around Edmonton. I have been to Three Hills and Calgary about 4 years ago. The Calgary one being the local Camaro Club's car show. I'd like to do more this year. I really enjoy going to them and can spend all day there. So much so that ironically sometimes I feel that I take my car just so I can get a good parking spot (as opposed to far away like the visitors) and then I go and look at all the other cars.

As plans go, I hope to never sell it. My longterm plans are to pass it down to my son and he's only 4 months old. That's longterm!

I'm just bitchin' about the price of gas. At 4 bucks a gallon and 50 a tank for only 200 miles (roughly speaking, city driving) I can't afford to drive my car.

California "Cry babies" aside...

It warms my heart to see another down to earth conservative on these boards.

I have saved everything that i took out of my camaro see if it ever want to sell it for stock value. so i'm able to change what i want and just store the rest for safe keepings

I saw a 1982 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe at a show the guy pride this car. the car had be bought by his grandfather and put in to storage that day and was in there for years he was given it after his grantfather pasting and only takes it out to be put in to a crate and trucked to shows and then after put right back in. I got to say i about cried seeing a beautiful American car that was never free to ride the roads.

If you read my post I was excluding you, so please do not take offence to my comment. My second sentence states "Not you..."

At any rate.

I am pretty conservative, Unfortunately as a whole the US makes more problems than fixes them when they attempt to fix anything. The case in point, I cannot imagine the impact it would have on this country if they mandated that old cars will be crushed. However, someone I knew used to say that the government could do anything to us that they wanted, even take food out of our mouths, they have us in a corner, they know it and they are using it against us. My suggestion is that we all make our cars as nice as possible and you get appraisals, at least that way if they make us crush em then we can sue the living crap out of them. I think a nice $20,000 car, plus 50 years of mental distress & emotional baggage we would have because they stole our pride & joy I think a good 100K dollars a piece should cover it... good luck with that as you have to get permission by the government to sue the government.

I think someone hit a nerve.

If the government tries to take my car and crush it Ill tell you one thing I may not make it out of the situation alive but Ill be damned if I dont take whoever they send out with me!

They (the govt) may never actually "Take" your car, but they may offer to BUY it from you first... Its kind of I think what they call "immonent domain" basically the Government can offer you a sum for your property, if you counter too high or they they do not like your counter offer for any reasn they just take it from you. One of the guys I work with owns prpoerty in the Upper lower Penninsula here in MI, Detroit Edison (Power company) wanted to run some power lines across the front of it. The group he owns the property with said, "Sure, but you have to lock in all of our rates until the end of time." Edison went in and did it and called it "immonent Domain" (Sorry if I spelled it wrong.) and they did not get a red cent from it.

There has been a push to make it illegal for the State to actually take things from the Public, but it never goes too far as its kind of hard convincing the State that they should Pay for some of these things when they feel entitled to them or they are cheap Bastards. Its kind of unfortuante the people making the laws, upholding the laws and fighting for new laws are the same people, I think it gives them an unfair advantage, and I peronally believe that if you are a lawyer you shoould not be allowed to work in Politics.

I find it amazing the amount of money that some of these action groups have to be investing into this, If they were really that interested in the whole thing I say let THEM buy the cars and then they can do with them as they want. Crush them or whatever...

And How does this really relate to "Will these cars ever have Collector Value?" I do not know, but its kind of an education. I cant believe I have allowed it to go this far, but I have to admit I will probably get a wagging finger from Scott when he calls me next time.

John

My camaros are much like my guns.

They can have my guns when they pry them from my cold dead hands.. and it just so happens they can then have my cars once they pry my cold dead body out of them.

Either way, what's mine, is mine, regardless, and be it a good bad or ugly way to look at it, its how i feel. I work hard for what i have, and NO one can take that from me.... hell half the reason i got into the whole car thing is for investment.

eh oh well. im sure they'll be worth alot one day.. Its all based on the greater fool theory anyways, all you gotta do is find a greater fool than you to pay more than you did for it to you, and voila.

When/if they ever try to take my guns they can have them.....bullets first!

No offense taken. Hell, I'm from Georgia.

Good one Cad. I'm not worried about the government taking the cars or crushing them. Taxing the gas to oblivion may be another matter though. And I still think they'll go up and up. Plus think about it, even if they did start to "buy" the cars, or make it almost cost prohibitive to drive them, what might that do to the price of the remaining cars? Could make them go higher. What a great expression of conspicuous consumption, driving one of these. Hey, I had a thought...they outlaw them on the road, someone could make a killing...have a set up like for horses. Store peoples' 3rd gens for them, build a track, let the owners come over and drive, just like people do boarding their horses. Lotta good thoughts on this thread. Thanks for letting it go on.

I drove over 8 hrs away to buy my 92 T/A vert. I searched the internet for about 6 months for a worty vert to buy. Most were beat and worn, or in pristine shape..but on the other side of the country! And thats when you actually found one. You could search for weeks without turning up a single vert. Then the next week maybe 3 or 4. These cars have alot of "percieved value" to them. I am 30 yrs old, and only seen 2 verts on the street that i can remember, the last one about 7-8 yrs ago. 663 is not alot spread across the whole country, so i knew i had to have one!

hopefully I have a pretty good chance at having one that'll be worth a little bit later on..I have a '91 T/A,TPI,vert with a T-5..with only 555 verts and less than 200 of them having a TPI with a straight shift...

I hope so cuz I traded my 92 rs I loved for it...

I didn't know conservatives had hearts.......