['ol Pinion head]

70,600 seems like strong $$$, but can't say I've consistently tracked what low mile regular GN's have brought in private sales & recent auctions. GNX's, on the other hand, are much more exclusive a vehicle, & extremely low mile well maintained GNX's are priced WELL above that mark.

Personally, the intercooled GN's, Regal T-Types, and the GNX's are the only GM vehicles of the 80's that I've ever appreciated & continue to appreciate. 3rd Gen F-bodys, the anemic '80's Vettes, & wheezer engined Monte SS's & Olds 442's, no thanks.... Have driven quite a few GN's, but having ownied one GM 80's performance car which retained its original crappy water based black factory paint for barely 3 years, it's not been til recently that I would even consider owning one.

[1965gp]

NADA and Hagarty (I think) have listed the top values of these cars at 50k for a while. It seems this car is a special circumstance and would probably be worth more than the best restoration.

As was discussed about investing.... my theory is that I am a horrible money guy, don’t know stocks, don’t know property- but I do know cars. The chance of me getting burned on an old car is pretty slim. May not make a ton of $$ but I don’t think I will lose any. Maybe refer to it as a savings account vs an investment?

[Interceptor]

Terrible investments. If the GN was bought at sticker that's less than 6% ROI, less than 5% after cost of climate controlled storage. And with only 757 miles, obviously never driven/enjoyed. What's the point?

The GNX is harder to figure cause you couldn't buy one for sticker price, but I bet it's similar and enjoyed even less. What a waste of a GREAT car.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

The GNX is harder to figure cause you couldn't buy one for sticker price, but I bet it's similar and enjoyed even less. What a waste of a GREAT car.

Yeah - I've always thought so, too. I remember watching a show on the Pebble Beach car show at least 20 years ago. Some guy had a fantastic split window Vette that had 22 miles on it. The presenter asked him (half-sarcastically), "So, I bet you'll enjoy taking this car on the 17-mile drive?" "His answer was 'No way!'" Why would he ever think of enjoying it?

[SRR]

Co-worker of mine bought a really nice GN for $10,000 a couple of years ago. It had a bigger turbo on it and non-stock wheels but was in very nice condition. I myself can't get over that ugly ass dash layout, so 80's.

[1965gp]

It was mentioned earlier that this was a terrible investment if bought new and I 100% agree. My goal is usually to find the opportunity - in case of my GN I paid $20k for a 1 owner car that I had known well since about 1995. I feel that I paid retail (at the time ....2 years ago) but felt confident that these cars would continue to go up in value. My target for that car would be for it to hit about $35k which I think is obtainable for a car with documentation back to mile 1. I still have two of the original tires off the car. It has 60k miles on it now (I think) but presents itself as if it had about 20k miles on it. I have no illusions of it ever being with $60-70k but I think I will make money if I am ever put in a position where I need to sell and that’s all I really expect.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by 1965gp

It was mentioned earlier that this was a terrible investment if bought new and I 100% agree. My goal is usually to find the opportunity - in case of my GN I paid $20k for a 1 owner car that I had known well since about 1995. I feel that I paid retail (at the time ....2 years ago) but felt confident that these cars would continue to go up in value. My target for that car would be for it to hit about $35k which I think is obtainable for a car with documentation back to mile 1. I still have two of the original tires off the car. It has 60k miles on it now (I think) but presents itself as if it had about 20k miles on it. I have no illusions of it ever being with $60-70k but I think I will make money if I am ever put in a position where I need to sell and that’s all I really expect.

I think those are very realistic targets and make sense. With 60K on the car, I assume you get it out and have some fun with it from time to time and enjoy driving it. That has value. Your not going to retire off the profits and have no delusions of that. People who buy new production cars like a GN and really believe they will be worth a fortune in 30 years would do better in other forms of investments. There are a very few rare exceptions, like an AC Cobra, or a 63 split window Vette. But of the thousands of interesting cars built and sold, what are your chances? Most of these cars, even if never driven are lucky to keep pace with inflation not including the cost of storing and caring for the car for 30+ years. As mentioned several times above, from a pure investment standpoint, not a good one.

[64speed]

Whatever happened to that 86 Iroc Z that was found in the tractor trailer all sealed up that still had the plastic on the seats and hadn’t even been dealer prepped?

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by 64speed

Whatever happened to that 86 Iroc Z that was found in the tractor trailer all sealed up that still had the plastic on the seats and hadn’t even been dealer prepped?

IDK if we are talking about the same one but I remember seeing a third gen that had been in like a literal bubble sell for a lot on Ebay in the early 2000s. At the time I owned a IROC and it was all on the third gen forums.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by 64speed

Whatever happened to that 86 Iroc Z that was found in the tractor trailer all sealed up that still had the plastic on the seats and hadn’t even been dealer prepped?

A couple videos about that car:

From 10 years ago when it was first pulled out of the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCK7N2SgJjE

From 3 years ago, it's in a Camaro collection outside of Nashville: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy8lSv35iEQ

[red1975pacer]

How come nobody mentions the 99 30th trans Am/ with only 503? made in convertibles,? The value is close to what they were new, with low, low ,miles. I imagine they will become more valuable then they were new, just like the low mileage Grand Nationals did, when they surpassed the original sticker price of 16500 or so around 2010, at 23 years old

[mgarblik]

Again, I think you are looking at a similar situation. As much as I like those cars, they did make 503 of them as you mentioned. They have a high survival rate because they were expensive originally and many were purchased as "investments" new. So if you bought one new, carefully stored it, got no enjoyment whatsoever from it, and now 20 years later it's worth 50% more than you paid for it, was that a good investment? Better than buying a Gremlin new
and storing it 40 years I suppose. But a great retirement plan? Probably not. Now if you bought it new, drove and enjoyed it, took great care of it and 20 years later could sell it for a small profit, it may have been a decent "investment" based on the value you put into the enjoyment factor.

[1965gp]

I agree that the 30th anniversary is a good investment. I paid $12k for mine in excellent condition with NOS seat covers about 8 years ago. I think it’s probably worth $20k as it sits now. Only issue is I scratched the sail panel pulling it under a low lift which will be fixed.

Again, I think the key is to NOT buy them new and buy them when they are used cars.