I just picked up three perfect, NOS flashlights for the Firebird roof consoles. Any idea what their value might be? I don't intend to sell them (at least I don't think I will), but I'm curious.

 

Putting a dollar value on parts, NOS or otherwise, comes down to what a potential customer is willing to pay (watch Barett-Jackson).

JamesC

 

I would think you could get at least $40 each.

John

 

Okfoz may be right. I once sold a flashlight, which was intact and functioned, for $25. The piece is rare, so....

JamesC

 

Yeah, I know that value comes down to what someone is willing to pay. However, I ask the question to see if any of the hundreds of members of this board have bought/sold any of these particular pieces NOS so that I can get an idea for what the ballpark is.

 

I paid $30 for my NOS FIrebird one about 5 years ago

 

hold on to them..nos parts will bring in top dollar years from now

 

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking, too. Thanks, man.

 

YAY, I finally found one for $20 shipped now here is a ? I have. It is missing the lightbulb, and who knows about the battery, are these items I can purchase from any auto parts store or are they hard to find. While I am asking, do the dials on the over head console turn with a motor or what is their purpose?
Thanks,

 

Glad you found a good deal. Was it NOS?

As far as I know, those dials are manually operated, and you can use them to keep track of your mileage, dates, and things like that. Nothing too fancy.

 

No it's used but I couldn't find one anywhere so I grabbed it, I need it to fill a hole. Do you knok if the battery and lamp are over the counter items? I was wondering if have you seen my interior swap yet? You were one of the people who helped me out on parts
Whats new with you these days?

 

I found the lamp at a hardware store. The batteries are standard and can be purchased anywhere. Clean the guts and use some dielectic grease on them or the @#!@%@ piece of engineering disaster won't work a month.

JamesC

 

James

 

Tricky to gauge that theory.... The more people start to restore or fix their thirdgens the more likely that Year One, National Parts Depot, etc, etc will start to reproduce them. Just take a look at what 1A Auto sells for thirdgens. Their inventory keeps growing. This will make the value of the NOS parts for thirdgens questionable. (However, I know that options like the flashlight, are not usually reproduced)
My argument is that the third gens won't be in the same league as the 1rst or 2nd gen cars, corvettes, early stangs, 455SD Pontiacs and Olds 442's etc. Will there be the demand for NOS thirgen parts as there is for let's say NOS vette 63-66 knock-off wheels or teak steering wheels, mopar '69 tri-power manifords - maybe - BUT, as we have discussed within this board many times will the value of the common thirdgen (excluding say, 1LE's, R7U's, B4C's TTA's) ever be AS high as a vintage muscle car? I personally don't think so.... So to hord all NOS thirdgen parts even rare ones for the sake of a future profit is a gamble. PBR front calipers?, 1LE knuckles?, A/C delete pullies? firebird flashlights? I guess we will have to wait and see a few more years. Parts that wear out might be a better gamble.
I liked what JamesC mentioned - the BJ auction. How many 'regular' thirdgens have come across the block? B4C's, 1LE's - yes, but your regular 350cid, auto hardtop? All these issues will determine the future value of thirdgen parts. The way I see it, thirdgen owner's will be waiting (and hoping) a bit longer yet. Just recently late 2nd gen Camaro's and T.A's ('75-82) have started to go up, but 1. they are a lot older and now less common to the general public than thirdgens and 2. at least the pontiac's still had a 400cid in them until '79, 3. The 2nd gen car's are now pushing 30+ years in age.....
Just my 2cents.
-Andrew

 

Yeah, you are right, this argument surfaces a lot.

The fact of the matter is that thirdgen prices in general, and NOS parts prices in particular, WILL go up in the future. Whether that future will be reached in single digit years or decades, it will still happen.

"Regular" muscecars, like non-RA GTOs and basic Chargers command high prices, not just the ultra-low production models. My "regular" '69 GTO was purchased by me for $5k in '94, and today is absolutely worth four to five times that amount.

And as for reproduction parts, they do not drive down NOS prices. You can buy new repro fenders for '68-'69 Goats, sure, but people will still pay astronomical prices for NOS GM pieces because the quality and the authenticity cannot be duplicated.

Only time will tell, but I believe I am correct

 

Bull,
I hear ya about the prices about the regular car's of the '60's like the 318 chargers, and the base GTO,
but I am going to disagree with you about the issue of repro vrs NOS...
The current trend for full out 100 point NOS resto's is in decline - you see a pile of resto-mods now as made popular by shows like Rides and Overhal'n (sp?)- they do not rely on NOS parts, but repro parts. Year One sponsors most of these guys - Remember Dream Car Garage's '69 bigblock corvette that Peter brought back to life to turn into a race car? Year One gave him a pile of support. This is why run-of the mill GTO's even Tempest are pulling big bucks - resto rides - big rims, lowered etc. The trend for Numbers matching is not as strong except for a smaller percentage of hobbists (who have a lot of money - the Jay Leno's as I call then, heck even Leno's re-built Riv is far from stock). And although arguable, the big dollars spent on the rare cars are by invesotrs - investments can take a turn and all of a sudden the value of that million dollar 426 hemi Rag is no longer the same! These comodities are being traded like stocks. B.J auction car's are awesome resto's, but how many cars go across the block with claiming to be fully restored using NOS parts - the cars that I see maiking such claims are the 426mopars, bigblock vettes, bigblock Chevelles and Camaro etc... the really really rare cars. The other big dollar cars are the resto-rides - far from numbers matching.
People who pay the astronomically high prices for NOS fenders are a small majority. Sure this supports your argument that the prices are high and thus NOS is the way to go, but you are going to be selling such NOS parts to a very small market - the majority of hobbists buy repro parts - they are cheaper (and in some cases) identical in quality and for most, this is all that matters. The quality of off-shore parts has improved a lot over time (even though I hate to admit it and it sounds like you would too). Hording NOS and hoping that you will cash in - especially on thirdgen parts is risky business. Although I won't disagree that having NOS is a good thing - I too like having the genuine article - Paying a premium isn't something that I look foward to. If I can get them, great, but to go around and collect the stuff, clutter my basement, etc hoping/wishing.....
Hot rod magazine had a good editorial a few issues back bringing up the issue of investors and the car hobby. The short of the argument was that the car hobby had/has is roots with the grass roots type of individual. These investors are making it harder for the grass roots guy to participate. What happens if/when the investment trend changes or the market takes a turn for the worst. Economics 101 - the cycle is at it's peak and we all know what happens after - I think you will agree that a large majority of the "grass roots guy" does not spend the money that is currently being paid for NOS - they have families to feed, and bills to pay....
Again just my 2cents.... The debate continues
-Andrew

 

Hey Andrew,

Great points. And let me assure you, you don't get more "grass roots" or "average Joe" than me! A teacher with a car obsession = not a rich man!

Much of what you wrote I won't disagree with, except the fundamental point regarding the value of NOS parts. Wether they are any longer necssary on a restored car to bring top dollar, they still, on their own and for whatever reason, command big bucks. Those repro fenders I mentioned for GTOs fit poorly when compared to original GM parts, and that is an important consideration to someone restoring a car. Original factory quality is hard to beat, even if the Asian parts are getting somewhat better.

As a grass roots guy, I can't pay for NOS most of the time since the prices are already too high. I'd like to avoid that with thirdgens, since I am getting into them early enough that they and their parts are not in the stratosphere yet. I resent the fact that collectors make it impossible for regular schmoes like me to buy original factory parts, so I plan to amass a collection of NOS and good used thirdgen stuff so that in twenty years, I won't ave to compete with Richy Rich dudes in Lexuses scooping up cars and parts as investments and trophies. Maybe I'll be able to sell a few extra parts and make a few bucks, too, but my primary concern is not getting edged out of my own hobby. I'm too scared to even drive my Goat much anymore since if someone hit it and I needed a new Endura nose, I'd be screwed. But, I'll collect enough '92 Bird noses that I won't ever have to worry about needing a spare! lol

Do you get what I am trying to say?

As a historian, I appreciate authenticity, and repro parts can never match the benchmark established by the company that produced parts originally. Others must agree...just type in "GTO NOS" into eBay and see what kind of numbers you are looking at! That's the destination of thirdgen stuff, ultimately.

 

Bull,
Great points. And let me assure you, you don't get more "grass roots" or "average Joe" than me! A teacher with a car obsession = not a rich man!

- I teach too.
I get your point and see where you are comming from. From what you are saying tho - the thirdgen bug has hit you hard enough that you will stick with that brand for a long time and thus may use some of the parts that you are collecting. Like you (based on your sig) I have a few car's and so does my dad - even though we are quite loyal to GM, my father for example, over the years has owned different 'brands' of cars - both domestic and European. It is only after thirty years of tripping over parts that he had collected over the years; has he started to sell his NOS stuff - some easily and some, he sits on, tripping over and complaining about not having enough space! ( For example, he has a set of Pantera doors and a perfect windsheild now collecting dust in the garage- both hard to find pieces - rare car, expensive cars now, and still NOS parts are hard to sell)
I would say that a lot of guys start to collect stuff for one make of car, and in 5, maybe less years switch for the sake of change - all of a sudden the car of your dreams is gone, there is a new 'car that I have to have' sitting on you drive and now you are sitting on parts with no use to you anylonger, but perhaps you might sell to someone who needs them - in the case of thirdgens (who knows?) At least the flashligh is rare and SMALL!

Your last point -
As a historian, I appreciate authenticity, and repro parts can never match the benchmark established by the company that produced parts originally. Others must agree...just type in "GTO NOS" into eBay and see what kind of numbers you are looking at! That's the destination of thirdgen stuff, ultimately.
- I won't argue with you if you are talking about 1LE, R7U B4C and TTA's but for the rest - I'm not so convinced - at least not yet.
Great discussion
-Andrew