By Dean Sprague
As the Chinese apocryphal quote goes “we live in interesting times”. Indeed Covid-19 has had profound impacts on all of us, our car club activities and all other social or professional gatherings, well everything. This is my last article as your President since I am leaving for the summer and those that follow so I thought it might be a great time to talk about how we got here. Many of you may not know much about how our club began. Here is what little bit I know.
Our history is interesting we began as a spin-off group from the Piedmont British Motor Club created in Statesville, NC. We started with a modest 25 members in 1994. The club first called themselves the Valley Hills British Motor Club. Apparently, some folks thought the club needed a name that was more descriptive so after much deliberation in 1999 it was modified to the Catawba Valley British Motor Club. The name has remained, but the membership and functions have grown. Today we have between 75 and 85 memberships representing over 140 people with more than 125 classic cars (that’s my “guess-ta-mate”). The club’s initial focus was on classic British cars, but we have since broadened our membership to include folks that have interest in cars in general. All you have to be is a car enthusiast, enjoy spending time talking, sitting in or driving them and you are always welcome. We are now a club of classic car lovers where many of us have several cars from multiple countries, me included.
You may wonder what kind of collector cars are the most popular. Statistically, while most car collectors have broad interest classic American cars are still the majority favorite. They represent well over half of all cars collected in this country. However, running a respectable second is Euro/British cars. Over a third of America collects and covets these classics. Classic Japanese cars are now the up and coming and represent over 10 percent of all cars collected. The remaining 2 percent or so denote all others. My Volvo P 1800s is regarded as part of this category since it is considered Swedish, but it’s also British. Most British car show people put it in the “Other” class even though with the exception of the drivetrain like the Sunbeam Tiger, Cobra, Jensen Interceptor etc. the rest of the car is made with British parts. However, unlike these others the P 1800 is not considered a British car. Maybe because it is not a British company but are there any cars built in and with all resources from one country, oh well.
An interesting phenomenon is occurring in the car collection industry. The markets are beginning to shift as we Baby Boomers age out. Our love for the cars we grew up with are fading in popularity as we fade away. Our children and grandchildren are collecting the cars they grew up with, some domestic and lots of Japanese. I am beginning to see this reflected in the diminishing or stagnant values of some of the older British and American classics. Many earlier marks are no longer even keeping pace with infatuation. Also, early Japanese sports and “sporty” cars are increasing in value as younger collectors pursue them. I have actually thought about owning several of them. I have always liked the Datsun 240 Zs, of course the Toyota 2000 GT, and even the Acura Integra Type R or the Nissan Skyline, the Mazda RX7s or a Cosmo if you could find one and of course the Mazda Miata (MX5) (I had one of these). I know several of you club members own MX5s. They seem to serve as the “reliable British alternative Car”. The one you take on outings when we might have inclement weather or just want more creature comforts. Maybe you just want to be sure you actually get there or more importantly get back again. It is probably all the sports car you really need but is it all you want? Anyway, I am certain we will see a lot more Asian cars being restored and appearing on the show lawns. I am now certain some will be cars I predicted no one would want to restore. Actually, my prediction skills are about as accurate as the local weather forecasts. I strongly felt no one would want to restore any of the 70s and 80s American “boats” you know the 4 door land yachts with enough room in the boot to fill a small warehouse but I see them frequently at car shows. Some of them are so nice they are actually growing (no pun intended) on me.
We’ve talked about this before but now may be a great time to get that car you grew up with but never owned or want to own again. You can probably buy it restored for less than half of the parts and labor costs it took to get it in that condition. Frankly unless you are a DYI kind of person and just enjoy the process of restoration it’s almost always a money loser. Now with softening values; definitely not a money maker. I own a 1953 MGTD, that my Dad bought new. I spent a lot of money 20 plus years ago restoring it and a few thousand more in the last several years rebuilding the engine again and replacing the gearbox. Now it is time to revisit replacement of the canvas gear and other wear items. This will have to be a labor of love there isn’t much if any return on this. I was amazed how much the values have dropped on MGTDs (well Ts in general). Hagerty had an article titled “MGTD values are slipping like an old clutch”. They claim prices on the car have been dropping for 3 years from a peak 9 years ago. They stated you can easily find a good driver for $15,600 or less. Interestingly a complete MGTD project car still brings around 5K but a restored one maybe something in the low 20s. Conclusion: you can’t get there from here. It should be noted this is not an aberration but just part of the market shift. Again, most experts agree you should buy at least driver quality cars or as restored as you want it to ever be. The old adage has never been truer, “Buy the best car you can afford”. In addition, you will find increased selection as well. For example, there were 63 MGTDs alone in the marketplace at the time of this writing. Plus some real deals on depreciating American classics. 67-70 Mercury Cougars, 55-60 Ford Thunderbirds, 61-64 Chevy Impalas and 46-54 Hudson Super Hornets according to Hagerty are all dropping in value. Sadly, many of these treasures are in estate sales.
So, take heart I am sure our club will survive, remain very active and enriching for everyone even though it may change its complexion a bit. Plus, now we can make some lemonade, who hasn’t wanted a 56 or 57 (my favorite) Thunder Bird with a pothole in the hard top, well now is our chance!
Happy Holidays and I hope you have a wonderful New Year, see you in 2021.