[carbking]

Gloom and doom threads come up every so often.

I don't buy and sell cars, and have no idea of their value. I have all of the collector cars I need, so need to participate in that market.

But I am VERY active is the selling of parts. Carburetor kit sales (even with competition from those acquiring stuff out of country), are stronger than ever; and I turn down an average of 25 carburetor restorations weekly. With the demand for the kits, no time to restore carburetors.

Does that sound like gloom and doom?

Many younger folks are getting into the hobby, and while we sell muscle car kits (and carbs) like the thesis of this thread, right now our two largest sellers are kits for Caterpillar, and kits for 1915~1935 Buick. Doesn't sound like the market is dead for older vehicles.

Enjoy the hobby; the future will take care of itself.

Jon.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by carbking

Gloom and doom threads come up every so often.

I don't buy and sell cars, and have no idea of their value. I have all of the collector cars I need, so need to participate in that market.

But I am VERY active is the selling of parts. Carburetor kit sales (even with competition from those acquiring stuff out of country), are stronger than ever; and I turn down an average of 25 carburetor restorations weekly. With the demand for the kits, no time to restore carburetors.

Does that sound like gloom and doom?

Many younger folks are getting into the hobby, and while we sell muscle car kits (and carbs) like the thesis of this thread, right now our two largest sellers are kits for Caterpillar, and kits for 1915~1935 Buick. Doesn't sound like the market is dead for older vehicles.

Enjoy the hobby; the future will take care of itself.

Jon.

I don't feel this thread is a "gloom and doom thread" in any way. In fact, quite the opposite. For "REAL" car people who enjoy this hobby for the joy of muscle cars, this is a great opportunity to go out and buy, own, drive and enjoy one on a working mans income. The prices are attractive for real muscle cars in decent condition to drive or enjoy or a completely restored one for a fraction of what it would cost to bring a rust bucket back from the dead. The only possible "gloom and doom" might be a few who cashed-in their 401K's to buy and over-restore a few muscle cars thinking this was their retirement plan. I have a few friends who have successfully done this, but they study the market, stay on top of all the trends, and treat the "hobby" as a business. No attachment to the vehicles, they are just metal stock certificates.

[Interceptor]

Originally Posted by carbking

... right now our two largest sellers are kits for Caterpillar, and kits for 1915~1935 Buick.

WHAT the...?

[carbking]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

WHAT the...?

The comment was made to attempt to refute the "wisdom" that as the older generation dies off, the market for the cars of the youth of that generation dies as well.

For probably 20 years, our best seller as far as carburetor rebuilding kits has been Caterpillar. The 1915 to 1935 Buick kits seem to be gaining in popularity. We sell more of them each year.

Yes, we still sell a fair amount of kits for Pontiac, but the percentage is less than it used to be.

Yesterday, received a request for a kit for 1912 Ford Model T; one of the few carburetors from 1912 up that we do NOT offer a kit.

The market, at least for parts, varies greatly from year to year. As I stated earlier, I do not know the market for vehicles, but as the market for parts is steady, it would seem there is also a market for vehicles.

We have complete sales records since 1974 on our sales computer. After doing this for so many years, I can look at the sales data for a five year sequence, and tell you which years were years with Olympic games. If the previous year was a presidential election year, I can tell which party won the election.

As someone posted earlier, stocks are doing relatively well at this time. Should the stock market decline, historically car prices go up.

Enjoy the hobby for the sake of the hobby.

Jon.