Z/28 values

[Shark72]

Any comments?
My $.02…hold on!

[void_kp]

as a general trend, cars drop in value for the first 20 years, then if they have some kind of collecting value they climb. I think it's too early for the z/28 to rise in value. now it's time to buy them

[el ess A]

As an even more general trend- cars are generally a bad investment. Not all, but most. Nameplates alone doesn't always mean it's valuable. Sure, one would expect a Z/28 to be worth more than most other Camaros in the same condition, but if you beat on yours and wrecked it, raced it, etc., you won't get what you think you will.

If you have an ultra-low mile original, then you have to keep it that way or value drops. You have to maintain it, or value drops. In order to baby it the way it needs to be to be worth $$ down the road, there needs to be demand, as well as paying for the insurance and upkeep and storage along the way. And unless you want a 1:1 scale model car to look at every now and then, as that's what you'll end up with, it may not be worth it. Can't enjoy it the way it was meant to be, so what's the point?

And the math is usually fuzzy when it comes to average costs to own a car for say, 20 years. I know some people say "I drove my car for 10 years and got the same price I paid when new, so I broke even when I sold it." Except they didn't include inflation. So technically, they lost value in reality.

This is to say those who pamper their cars shouldn't suffer as much at sale time as those that use their cars to store their used McDonald's coffee cups and other useless junk, etc. They'll do better, sure. But if you go down the "keeping it pristine" route, you can't just partially do it. Whole hog or nothing. Even if you keep it clean and well-cared for, driving it around periodically will hurt the value as miles rack up.

It just depends on what you're wanting to do. But unless the kids now grow into wanting a Z/28 as adults, the value may not hold as well as one would hope.

If you're 60+ and have a specialty car, then drive it. You likely won't live long enough to do much with the extra few bucks you get by poking it away for others to enjoy one day. If you want to pass it on to relatives, that's one thing, but thinking the car's going to be worth big bucks 20 years from now? That's a gamble I'm not going to take anymore. YMMV

[docwra]

If youre going to keep a car for 20 years while it appreciates you also need to factor in storage, insurance and maintenance costs, people often overlook this.

That said, if you make the right choice you can be pretty confident that you wont lose much, I actually made money owning a Ferrari F355 and Im pretty sure my MR-S and '08 135i coupe are worth more than I paid for them and Z28 fits right into this category for me - sought after, limited numbers, legendary name and dynamically awesome, ID get another one if I could

[highrevving]

Nope. Z is slept on by enthusiasts. It's not high on the list like Mustang GT350(R)/Ms/JDMs/P-GTs.

Maybe later on as suggested, similar to Mustang Cobra R?

I drive and enjoy my cars and hopefully it will not depreciate too much comes time to move on. I got my money back with cars like DC2ITR/M3/EVOMR, etc.

Kind of double edge sword since we tend to like the same cars for when time comes to buy and sell.

[el ess A]

Plus, unless the parts availability is even remotely available to fix anything that breaks, cars that still have aftermarket or corporate support to any degree will hold more value than the glass egg cars. Will it be worth $300K or more to make a custom part manufacturing cost worth it down the road? Only time will tell.

I still think the COPO cars will be the ones that draw the bigger bucks. But stranger things have happened. There's value in saving the car, someone with more money than brains, or a smart person that has of money will do so. And hopefully loan it to a museum so when we're all 90 years old we can see it and say I remember when you could buy one of these new...

[highrevving]

Yes, COPOs will be highly sought after.

[1970judge]

Im about to hit 50k miles of depreciation in mine today, and plan to keep going for as long as the car will let me.

[IdahoRob]

I don't believe modern COPOs will increase in value as they do not have a title or are street legal in any way like the 1960's models. They are only used on the drag strip.

As for the Z, i own mine for the pleasure of driving it. I didn't purchase it as an investment, a damn simple money market is returning 5% which is a better investment.

[el ess A]

Originally Posted by IdahoRob

I don't believe modern COPOs will increase in value as they do not have a title or are street legal in any way like the 1960's models. They are only used on the drag strip.

As for the Z, i own mine for the pleasure of driving it. I didn't purchase it as an investment, a damn simple money market is returning 5% which is a better investment.

Most of us here aren't into the drag racing scene predominately. To those folks, the modern COPO is a very desirable vehicle, street legal or not. But that's an ultra special niche that only a handful of people get to play in anyway.

The Z/28 isn't as rare. And if it weren't for the first gen Z/28's popularity, the modern Z/28 maybe wouldn't have even happened. My uncle had a 69 Z/28 he bought new and it was just a fast car to him. Bent every corner on that thing. By the time he got rid of it, it wasn't worth a whole lot. He didn't seem to care back then. Those cars were factory hot rods meant to be driven hard. But he did see the error of his ways years later when those cars did become highly sought after.

Don't get me wrong, a Z/28 is a desirable car. My pick is still the ZL1. But right now, it's not as desirable as most others. Time may change that, but the world is evolving into a place none of us know how the future muscle car landscape is going to play out.

[highrevving]

Glad the market serves both groups of people. Some like FI and some like NA. Nothing wrong in either.

I just prefer NA cars like Z06/GT3/DC2ITR and early days of F1 with NA V10/V8. Of course, the best of NASCAR with that glorious V8!