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| Joined: | 03-22-2005 |
| Location: | Huntington Beach , California USA |
| Posts: | 95 |
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I was surprised to see an Austin Healey sell for $110,000 at a collectable car auction on TV. Link: http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/lotdetails.aspx?ln=641.1&aid=284&pop=1#
If link doesn’t work, try goggle: Barrett-Jackson Lot: 641.1 - 1960 AUSTIN-HEALEY 3000 BN7 ROADSTER
For years I have seen AHs sell in th $15-20K range. So it got me to thinking (usually a dicey proposition) about the future collectable value of JHs.
First, I do think JHs will increase in value due to inflation as they have over the last 20 years. But will they increase in value because of increased JHs popularity with collectors?
I discussed this several years ago with a collector who restored a JH with the intent of selling later for a profit.
My belief is that the JH will not become highly collectable and experience an big jump in resale value. I base this on several observations:
Cars become collectable when people who were 15 when the car was new become 40 and finally have the money to buy their dream car.
Cars that are popular, admired and unusual when new become collectable . The JH was underdeveloped when new because the Jensen company was in bankruptcy. It was also way overpriced because of English government policies at the time.
If the JH hasn’t broken into the A list yet, it never will.
Of course there are advantages to not being a sought after collectable: parts are more plentiful and cheaper, owners are unique personalities and don’t have to be wealthy, there is not much to lose in a collectable market crash.
The arguments made for the JH include rarity, the Donald Healey heritage and its good drivability and performance.
So whadayathink?