I wonder if it will exceed it's window sticker price. I'm kinda glad my manual days are behind me (bad knee) or I'd be tempted to try.
.https://www.hemmings.com/auction/200...0Digest%20List

 

Verts don't seem as popular as coupes. If that was a T top it would be in the 40K range, maybe more.

 

Some incorrect data in the Hemmings listing:

They got 2 of 3 correct; T-top or convertible only for every Trans Am from 1998 forward, not just the CETA.

There was no "Ram Air" engine. Just the same LS1 that was found in any other 2002 V8 F-body.

Nope, no "stiffer spring rates" on a 2002 WS6, CETA or not. Same for the shocks.

Car looks nice though, fairly well detailed but I do see several areas that could use some additional attention to present better for the mileage.

 

By popular you mean more T-Tops were built and sold than 'verts, which is true. IMO, that doesn't mean that an equivalent T-Top is worth more in the used market than a 'vert. In fact, across model lines, manufacturers and decades, history indicates that 'verts tend to pull higher hammer prices than coupes. I propose that 'verts higher rarity and higher initial cost both contribute to higher desirability and resale prices.

It'll be interesting where this sale ends up.

 

Regarding the highest level of collectibles, I feel your line of thinking is, in fact, correct. But specific to 4th gen F-bodies, and more specific to #2 or #3 cars (meaning NOT the one in this ad), it does seem to be that the t-top examples are generally more desirable on the used market - at least in our Great Lakes/upper Midwest area. I've posted this same thing in many other value discussions on this site before, but every year I see a few really good deals on nice 4th gen convertibles in the Great Lakes region, and every year they seem to sit for months and months before getting sold - nice cars that would easily sell at their asking price if they were t-top (or even hard top) cars instead. I don't really watch the southern and coastal markets, so I'd guess that convertibles are probably more desirable there, but in my area they always seem to be a much harder sell then a comparable hard/T-top car. And it's even worse in the C5 market (convertible vs. Targa), and there are always a glut of C5 convertibles to choose from (it seems like folks never want to keep them long). Again, I don't really watch the nationwide market because I'm not one to travel very far to buy a car, so I can't speak for areas outside the Great Lakes region.

 

What do you guys think it will go for?

 

Agree in markets for "driver" cars, too short of a 'vert season in the north to make it worth it for many. However, I'm finding myself dropping the top mainly in the spring and fall as even in NE IN it gets hot enough during the summer to keep the top up and A/C on. That can't be helping 'vert values anywhere.

For this car particularly, I suspect that the M6 adds as much, if not more value than the 'vert top.

 

Just over 3 hrs left and current bid is $15K.

 

Yeah, the auction did not do well. He is now asking $34,900 and the top offer is $26,400 as I write this.

 

He should have driven the car and enjoyed it.

 

I am guessing this didn't sell. The highest bid is what I would expect to pay and actually just a bit more than I would like for a convertible (offset by low miles). In Texas we have a lot of "good" days but too many days that are just too hot for the top down. I think too many people with "special edition" models overvalue their cars and look at the insane concourse values and think their car is just a paint correction and detail away from them. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice clean car but it doesn't have the history or connection to anything "valuable" that I could find in the write up. At least it didn't have the relatively ugly Daytona 500 door stickers on it (thinking that would bring in an extra $2500). I think the top 3 offers are about what it is worth as the listing is still up.

 

Follow-up. It finally SOLD last week. $30,870 includes the buyers fees.

 

For a car that "theoretically" is the newest and most desirable of it's generation selling w/ negligible miles at this age for this amount doesn't bode well for the rest of our cars' future values, IMO. Glad I've put miles on mine.

Honestly, I'd pay more for an equivalently optioned and condition 30th than a CE.

 

I feel the same. The graphics, the color...the CETA is really a love-it-or-hate-it kind of car. I don't really use these as an overall barometer for 4th gen value as their sale price is more an indication of who is in the market at the time. I've met several diehard Pontiac collectors who have expressed distaste for the CETA in spite of its theoretical position as a car that should be at the top of desirability within this niche. If the car was a 30th, I think it would have sold for considerably more as those are universally more desirable. In fact, even if the car was just a triple black example that was otherwise identical, I could see it selling for more. There has to be a dedicated CETA lover who is actively in the market at the same time that a car like this comes up for sale in order for it to really bring big $$$, IMO.

Either way, I'd never buy any car for the express purpose of a growth investment. I keep the miles low and the condition excellent on mine only for my own personal enjoyment; whatever they are worth only matters at the moment when it's time to sell (if that moment ever comes). None of it has any bearing on my personal financial health, these are just toys to me.

 

This went pretty much between asking for and last offer so a decent compromise. Rarity will drive the prices and the more CETAs that get modded, wrecked, or molested will influence the market. This one was super low miles but seems those who were watching it were not willing to pay more for lower mileage. It is interesting to see what these are going for but the market ebbs and flows quite a bit and is more about mood and passion than much else.

 

As 5th and 6th gen prices drop, I wonder if there is a price range where they cross that the 4th gen becomes less desirable.

 

Possibly. But at this point people are paying for nostalgia more so than performance. So as long as people born in the 80’s are nostalgic for cars that were new when they were in high school the prices may stay up. We’re already at the point of faster for cheaper or close to the same price when it comes to new cars vs the old. Nostalgia what keeps them high.

 

I have to agree here. Especially regarding the super low mile #1 or #2 condition 4th gens, I don't think very many folks are cross-shopping them against a 6th gen Camaro. These cars (4th gens) are nearly all antiques now, so they don't broadly appeal to quite the same market segment as a 5-10 year old performance car.

 

^^^ Indeed. We have yet to experience a "malaise" era like we did in the '70s, so there are no performance advantages to an older car from the early '00s over current cars like there was for '60s cars from ~ '71 thru early '90s. Additionally, the engineering going into suspension design has progressed substantially from the 4th gens to today. The '87 GNs had the same basic suspension designs that had been in use since the mid '60s. There's a night-and-day difference between the 4th and 5th/6th gen suspensions (IRS primarily).

 

One consideration is the lack of variety in today's market. While everything else in modern society has multitudes of options, car guys are stuck with just 4 domestic platforms (Mustang, Charger, Corvette, CT4/5) or SUx type vehicles or non-American options for new or cars from 2020 and before for used. It might not be the malaise era of emissions choking out performance, now its just a handful of coupe/sedan being choked out by trucks. I can't see someone in 10 years getting all excited putting a LSX and T56 into a Trax/Equinox and headed to the strip to beat on the old 2010 Helcats, Camaros, and Mustangs.