Rare Car Drive it or not?
02-09-2006, 04:58 PM
#21
Originally Posted by bbfirebird
If there is a truly rare car, for instance the LT4 Firehawk with 27 miles on it thats for sale on ebay, I'd drive it occasionally on weekends to get some enjoyment out of it, and take very good care of it- keeping it stock. I wouldn't daily drive it though.
02-09-2006, 05:16 PM
#22
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some cars i would keep as a collectors item, and only drive them like once a year just to keep everything moving. however id normally drive a car as its ment to be driven. that LT4 hawk IMO is worth keepin in its current condition of plastic and perfect. cars can be rebuilt and restored tho. with enough money basically any car can be restored to factory
02-09-2006, 10:00 PM
#26
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I auto-x my Tom Henry SS.
Originally Posted by mypoorLS1
I'm sorry, I see so many people talk about rare cars and what they would do with it. Maybe I just don't get it. An LT4 SS or Firehawk. What was this car made to do? Haul ***. That's it. I understand wanting to keep things nice, I just don't see the point in having a car that sits in a garage under a cover. If SLP made one just one SS with a couple of turbo's, don't think I wouldn't drive the wheels off of it. Maybe I'm just an idiot but I want some other opinions on this too.
02-10-2006, 01:11 AM
#27
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My 1994 cobra sits so much, my GF yells at me for not driving it. I just dont like puttin miles on my car for some odd reason, think i have OCD with the odometer or something. 5k a year is pushing it for me really like the whole "collector aspect" of the cars. I know its nothing REALLY rare even if it was an LS1, but it pisses me off to see anything above 60k on a car thats in my babying hands. you figure at 20 years old id be restless.
02-10-2006, 09:11 AM
#28
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Im 50/50. I have a few low mileage ones, and I am happy letting them collect dust in the garage. (Actually they are covered) They get out once or twice a year. (And are always maintained, they dont just sit and rot) And that is what makes me happy. The Anniversary car and Comp T/A are for shows and sunny days.
On the other hand...Ive got a few daily drivers.
Different people enjoy cars in different ways
It is nice knowing that as I am driving through the snow I have two at home that are still clean and shiney.
On the other hand...Ive got a few daily drivers.
Different people enjoy cars in different ways
It is nice knowing that as I am driving through the snow I have two at home that are still clean and shiney.
02-10-2006, 09:29 AM
#29
i dont think i'd sell my car ever even if it were worth something unless i was broke and homeless so there is no need to let it sit. if i cant have it nobody can. the only time it does sit is when its broke or waiting for parts.
if there was only one, then it'd probably be in a bubble. what year was it in the 80s that less than 10 vettes were made? they never a mass produced a production model and i think they all ended up in the corette museum....it was 83 or 84 something like that. "bubble cars".
if there was only one, then it'd probably be in a bubble. what year was it in the 80s that less than 10 vettes were made? they never a mass produced a production model and i think they all ended up in the corette museum....it was 83 or 84 something like that. "bubble cars".
02-10-2006, 10:00 AM
#30
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Originally Posted by hrsspwr
...We could all be dead tomorrow! 
02-10-2006, 04:19 PM
#32
Although I don't think it will be worth a whole lot in the future I don't drive the Hawk much. I catch alot of flack for it from alot of people. I get alot of pleasure just looking at it, detailing it, and cruising in it a few times a year. Thats the kind of enjoyment I get out of it.
I make sure to tell people that they can tell me how to use my car as soon as they want to start making the payments on it.
I might have only put 600 miles on it last year, but they where 600 miles the way I wanted to do them!
Can't tell people how to use their car..if they want to stare at it in the garage instead of beating on it, and thats fun to them..more power to ya.
I make sure to tell people that they can tell me how to use my car as soon as they want to start making the payments on it.
I might have only put 600 miles on it last year, but they where 600 miles the way I wanted to do them!
Can't tell people how to use their car..if they want to stare at it in the garage instead of beating on it, and thats fun to them..more power to ya.
02-10-2006, 04:42 PM
#33
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Yeah, I get pleasure just staring at mine. 
Flawlessly sitting there under the light protected from the raging rainstorm outside. Then when I take it out on perfect days with the tops off it's more "special" than if I daily drove it. I run the hell out of it when I do drive it though. 
If you guzzle things like it's cheap beer, I think you lose respect for the little things in life. Like when a rich snob whose been given everything since birth shows no respect for fine machinery.
If I ran my car through the rain and beat it up all the time, it wouldn't look the way it does today, it goes against my character.
Flawlessly sitting there under the light protected from the raging rainstorm outside. Then when I take it out on perfect days with the tops off it's more "special" than if I daily drove it. I run the hell out of it when I do drive it though. If you guzzle things like it's cheap beer, I think you lose respect for the little things in life. Like when a rich snob whose been given everything since birth shows no respect for fine machinery.
If I ran my car through the rain and beat it up all the time, it wouldn't look the way it does today, it goes against my character.
02-12-2006, 07:54 AM
#34
I took the time to read all of the prior post. God has blessed me with the oppotunity of owning and having owned many so-called collector cars. I have serveral covered with a car cover in the garage now. I drive/race them all when I want to.
I agree with the statements made if you had to drive them all the time it would take the special feeling out of owning the car. The ownership of a collector car is what you make it. I noticed some guys that responded have 1998 Formula's for example. Those cars in time will be worth as much money as a Trans AM. Most people wont agree with this statement but the rare Pontiac is a LS1 conv. 6 spd, non WS6 car.
When Pontiac stopped making the Trans AM in 2002 everyone of the dealers ordered WS6 cars and sold them. This made the last year the highest production year for WS6 cars. Does this mean they want be worth as much as the low production 1998 WS6 Formulas only time will tell.
I don't think we should let shows like Barret Jackson keep all of us fooled. These cars are not like what rolls across that stage. As a matter of fact the big issue is when most of those cars were made the cars that were made after them suck!!!!! and that is why most of them are sold for the big money. I believe as most here that the LS1 cars that I own are worth to me as much as the two 1969 Pontiacs that I own. Only time will tell.
Bottomline I really don't care how much the car is worth 20 years from now. We enjoy the hobby as a family and that is what makes being a part of the automobile sport so much fun.
I agree with the statements made if you had to drive them all the time it would take the special feeling out of owning the car. The ownership of a collector car is what you make it. I noticed some guys that responded have 1998 Formula's for example. Those cars in time will be worth as much money as a Trans AM. Most people wont agree with this statement but the rare Pontiac is a LS1 conv. 6 spd, non WS6 car.
When Pontiac stopped making the Trans AM in 2002 everyone of the dealers ordered WS6 cars and sold them. This made the last year the highest production year for WS6 cars. Does this mean they want be worth as much as the low production 1998 WS6 Formulas only time will tell.
I don't think we should let shows like Barret Jackson keep all of us fooled. These cars are not like what rolls across that stage. As a matter of fact the big issue is when most of those cars were made the cars that were made after them suck!!!!! and that is why most of them are sold for the big money. I believe as most here that the LS1 cars that I own are worth to me as much as the two 1969 Pontiacs that I own. Only time will tell.
Bottomline I really don't care how much the car is worth 20 years from now. We enjoy the hobby as a family and that is what makes being a part of the automobile sport so much fun.
02-23-2006, 07:31 PM
#37
Barret-Jackson is more of a power trip than anything. These ultra rich fellows just enjoy pouring that kind of money for the fun of it. I will never understand how a car can be an investment though. Its not like your buying a piece of land or anything. A lot of these rare cars became rare at times by pure chance, specially in the days when they were a lot of options offered. At times this resulted in only a very few of these with certain combination of options becoming rare 30 years after. It was impossible at the time to know if they would become rare or collectible.
Limited or special editions are another story. Some of these were so highly priced that only a few could get them. If you had the dough to get them in the first place did you got them as an investment? Probably not.
Limited or special editions are another story. Some of these were so highly priced that only a few could get them. If you had the dough to get them in the first place did you got them as an investment? Probably not.
02-24-2006, 06:55 AM
#38
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According to SLPs numbers, mine is the only 01 white T/A Firehawk with 1LE, M6 and Auburn Rear. To me that makes it pretty rare. When I first picked it up, I planned on just using it on the weekends and getting a hoopty to get around during the week. But, after I thought about it, it didn't make financial sense to have another car that I have to insure and tag just to save the miles on the Hawk. As it stands now, it has 42K miles on it. I think I'll keep driving it until I get bored with it.
02-24-2006, 07:27 AM
#39
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Originally Posted by FIREHAWK#608
Yeah, I get pleasure just staring at mine. Flawlessly sitting there under the light protected from the raging rainstorm outside. Then when I take it out on perfect days with the tops off it's more "special" than if I daily drove it. I run the hell out of it when I do drive it though.
If you guzzle things like it's cheap beer, I think you lose respect for the little things in life. Like when a rich snob whose been given everything since birth shows no respect for fine machinery.
If I ran my car through the rain and beat it up all the time, it wouldn't look the way it does today, it goes against my character.
Flawlessly sitting there under the light protected from the raging rainstorm outside. Then when I take it out on perfect days with the tops off it's more "special" than if I daily drove it. I run the hell out of it when I do drive it though. If you guzzle things like it's cheap beer, I think you lose respect for the little things in life. Like when a rich snob whose been given everything since birth shows no respect for fine machinery.
If I ran my car through the rain and beat it up all the time, it wouldn't look the way it does today, it goes against my character.
Having grown up in a family that collects cars i know what a car is in 20 years. I'd be one of those people to take out a loan to buy a pristine unraped car. There is nothing like that feeling that brings you back to your younger days. My dad has a lot of cool cars including a 69 firebird vert. but his favorite is his 63 Buick LeSabre, ya it seems real boring but nothing brings him back to the "good" times like that car. An altered, pigged out Buick isn't the same as a show room original car. It is sometimes real easy to mod a car but often times much harder to bring it back. I’ve always had that mentality that stock is boring and sometimes it is, but with my collector car its different I can’t bring myself to do it.
Last edited by BanditTA; 02-24-2006 at 07:38 AM.
03-10-2006, 06:45 AM
#40
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Might as well drive it that is why you bought it right? That is how I feel enjoy the car why look at it? It will continue to exist even after you die so by god I am gonna enjoy myself.