NYT article about the Pebble Beach Auction - not Healey specific but relevant...

[nevets]

Interesting NYT article about the Pebble Beach Auction. $22,500,000 for an Aston!!!

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/...-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

This quote caught my attention...

"For those inclined to worry, plenty of concerns remain on the horizon for the collector car market. It is an actuarial certainty that car collections amassed by baby boomers will come to market in increasing numbers, and probably relatively soon. It is unclear whether Gen Xers and millennials will have the money or the interest to absorb such an abundant supply of collectible cars."

 

[Healey 100]

This compulsive auction lurker can see the growing flow of big car collections being auctioned by 70 somethings. No doubt age and sickness are taking their toll and that trend is unlikely to change. These collections are usually packed with the usual muscle cars from the mid to late 60's, but now and then a Healey will sneak in there. Haven't seen much reduction in prices at this point, but with the shrinking population of folks interested in that era and more collections coming on line, the prices are probably going to fall eventually.

Meanwhile, the auction companies will feast on their commissions and entertain us with their TV shows.

 

[DerekJ]

The key comment in the article for me is that the boomers are/will be selling. That is also the market segment where Healeys sit. I've been saying to my Healey friends that prices will fall as the next generations do not have the same connection to cars of the 50s and 60s. Rising interest rates will also dampen the market. I'm keeping mine though as its not treated as an investment as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Jack T]

The best way to get the most value out of our cars is to spend as much time as possible driving them. Numbers on a balance sheet can't give the same level of enjoyment.

 

[RestoreThemAll]

My son and granddaughter both love my Healey. They have a connection worth more than money. Yes, drive them but let the next generations borrow the car or ride with them. My car won't go to an auction. It'll stay in the family.

 

[turtle]

I can only report from the limited sample of my group of childhood friends… We’re now 40-45 years old and many have recovered from ’08 but are still very cautious about spending cash. Worries of expensive living costs (hello from lovely San Francisco Bay Area!), work uncertainty, wage stagnation, college costs, funding non-pension based retirements etc. so less income directed towards "collections" of any kind. In ten years when we are in our mid 50s things will hopefully look better and we might splurge for that dream car. However, as mentioned, that car might be a refection of our memories.

I don’t know if it’s true for other members of my age group but collector grade cars are not my thing. I want to have fun and drive and not be worries about reducing value. My Healey has a V8 crammed in front. It is driven and money is spent in furtherance of me driving it.


I like the odd, unusual and unloved. Amongst my friends, the beater VW Rabbit pickup truck will get more attention than the restored muscle car. Our formative years were dominated by old VW Beetles, imports and 1980’s future classics.


That being said there are cars that are timeless and I put the Healey (Big and Bug-eye) in that category. The Bug-Eye Sprite will always be cute and cheap enough to get into. It might not bring big money but I’d love to find room for one. The Big Healey is a classic design that will always attract admirers. At my local Hot Rod show (400+ cars), my Healey get much love from all ages but ask them if they want to pay $125K for a concours car version of my car… maybe not. Then again who’d ever think someone would pay $127K for 1963 Avanti!


As for me… I’m keeping my Healey until I can’t climb into (or out of it) and will buy my neighbor’s Bug Eye if he ever sells it (he’s had and raced it since the 1960’s).