Revitalizing the "Classic Car" Board!

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

Dear Classic Car Board Loyalists:

A number of you have expressed some concern over the dwindling topic list in Classic Cars and also that we don't seem to be getting too many new visitors.

Of course, the Classics Board never had the activity level of say SUVs, for obvious reasons. We are, after all, connoisseurs of the unusual, and as we do not run with the pack (or take breaks from it to come here), it is understandable that we live in a smaller world here.

I have TWO suggestions for revitalizing the Board. One I will do and the other hopefully I can ask you to do.

First, I will ask Edmunds Management if we can disable Auto Archive, so as to keep our topics active even if there isn't any posting for a while. In addition, I will re-activate some of the once-popular Archived topics.

YOUR PART:

If you meet anyone online here in other parts of Town Hall, or if you know of someone already who is interested in Classics, please invite them over AND....AND..remind them to add the Classics Board to their Subscription lists. In this way they will be more likely to visit us periodically. Just e-mail them and invite them in if you think they have the "right stuff".

The Classics Board is a very friendly and interesting place and I'd like to see it continue.

Thanks!

Yours for a better Town Hall,

Shifty

(comments welcome)

parm · October 2002

When you say "Subscription lists", are you referring to bookmarks/favorites?

speedshift · October 2002

The Classics board isn't small, it's cozy. Real estate agent humor.

This board will never have the broad appeal of the other boards. That's both its downside and its upside. The other boards are more lively and you can learn a lot but often it's about the falibility of human nature--always entertaining in a train wreck sort of way.

We need a guy like vero (be careful what you wish for ;-) or ndance, someone with lots of opinions and a compulsion to post, but I guess those guys burn out quickly.

carnut4 · October 2002

I'll do what I can. I have some carnut friends, none of which even know about Town Hall.
I think we could pull in a lot of carguys out there from other message boards, if we could pull them away from agitating about Hyundais and Daewoos-well-maybe not.
I think I started over in News and Views around 4 years ago, and somehow didn't visit Classic Cars for months after, because I was caught up in exchanges over there and only had limited time.
Now, though, I always come here first, and rarely post over there.
I think we just need some recruiting. There are LOTS of car guys out there who just need to be jumpstarted to Classics. But first they need to either buy or get interested in an old car.
They're out there. I see them everyday.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

Folks like often get gunned down in the street, though. It's easy to come on a board and rile everyone up and take cheap shots, but the BEST boards have continuity and develop real friendships.

All noise and no substance gets old after a bit. I'm sure you've all experienced this.

parm · October 2002

Perhaps Edmunds (we?) could foster mutually beneficial relationships with some car clubs or sites that cater to car clubs (ie. Hemmings, Collector Car Trader Online.com, etc.).

And, we as individuals could ask webmasters of some car club websites to put a link to the Edmunds Classic Car Townhall on their website.

Just a thought.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

We can link to anything except other message boards directly.

Also car clubs are often volunteer - built but Edmunds has to pay the rent, so I don't think we could offer them a two-way link. Of course, we could devote a topic just to car club links, that would be okay I think.

isellhondas · October 2002

As you know, Shifty, I know a few guys that can definatly brighten up a room!

Andre?

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

Easiest way maybe is if you are on one of the other boards and you see someone talking about old cars, send them an e-mail (don't butt in online and try to "steal" them, okay?).

I'll do the same.

We did turn off the Auto Archive, so our topics won't disappear if there are no posts for a while. That should help, too.

Shifty

carnut4 · October 2002

than I've seen for a long, long time. So, something must be working. Maybe just getting the word out helps. Some of us here don't post when we could, just because of time, or maybe we don't think what we have to say is significant. So, I say when in doubt, Post!
I recognize some names from other forums today too. That's good.
No Smokin' Olds 442 though....

lancerfixer · October 2002

Funny, I thought Edmunds shut down boards such as those. :-P

isellhondas · October 2002

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

Ah, your are confusing friendships with the primitive franternal zealotry of subversion, mayhem and revolutionary violence. Naturally he who lives by the sword, etc etc.

The poor Classics Board is so modest, it couldn't stand controversy. It needs a benevolent membership.

isellhondas · October 2002

Does this mean no liquor cabinet?

Nevermind...we know one that's well stocked!

lancerfixer · October 2002

Oh, puleeze.
Just because you didn't make any friends there doesn't mean others didn't. Don't presume to tell me what I did and did not get out of that discussion thread. Anyway, no sense, I guess, beating a dead horse. We've moved on.

dgraves1 · October 2002

Hey, Shifty. Can topics be still be linked across more than one forum? Maybe linking some of these topics into some of the other forums would invite more participation.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

dgraves -- good idea, I'll bring that up to management!

Lance -- ah, yeah painful subject. But don't speak for me either please. I thought I had friends there but not all proved to be so. Still, if there's a burr under your saddle about it, you can e-mail, I'd be glad to talk to you about it. I'm done with it myself, no hard feelings, none whatsoever, to anyone.

lancerfixer · October 2002

A snide comment has already blown up. I'm done.

tarik · October 2002

Is what I'm hearing here the palpable and mutual attraction between classic car nuts?

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

Yep, Band of Brothers!

I like the linking idea. Can you guys suggest (in your wanderings around TH) topics we might link to this Board. I was thinking the one in News and Views on "Cars That Wouldn't Die" might attract interesting comments on cars that, if not classic, are at least old.

Any others come to mind that you've actually read and perhaps posted in? (good to know who you are associating with

andys120 · October 2002

I wonder if "Classic Cars" is making some people out there think we only talk about Duesenbergs and other pre-war classics. Not many are into those (I am!) perhaps we should try "Collectibles and Special Interest Cars"

speedshift · October 2002

I guess I'm a minority opinion but I kind of like this board the way it is.

The right crowd and no crowding.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

And it would be tough to change the name of a Board at this point.

But Andy is probably right. Some people might think we are snooty over here, but we're not.

dgraves1 · October 2002

Let's see
You could link Alfa Romeo to the Sports Car board.
One of the two "Interesting cars I saw today" topics to just about any other vehicle boards (except SUVs, those guys are a little nuts

).

rea98d · October 2002

Hm... Maybe it shows how unedukated I am, but when I think of classics, the first thnig that comes to mind are the likes of '57 Bel Airs, '55 Thunderbirds, '49 Mercurys, '63 Vettes, and the like. Prewar cars of any serious value (ie Dusenbergs), are so rare and hideously expensive I think of them as more of museum exhibits than I do cars. Dusie lovers had better pray I never get the money to buy one of those things, because I'm the kind of person who thinks cars are for driving and enjoying! My idea of a classic is something old & cool I can take for a cruise with a cute redhead riding shotgun. What the official "list" says is a classic is too limited. What the car guy market says is what impresses me. Just because more than 500 of them were made, and it was built after 1939 doesn't mean its not a cool car. It's what normal guys will give up their weekends and $$$ restoring or modifying that I'm interested in, and your average car guy isn't going to have some rare prewar vehicles from a European company that went belly up under Chancellor Bismark in his garage. I guess this is all a long way of saying the name "Classic Car" will be just fine. 95% of people don't even know there is an official "list" of classic cars, and probably don't care. They consider their '64 Mustang or Hemi Cuda a classic, and rightly so, IMO.

wishnhigh1 · October 2002

"My idea of a classic is something old & cool I can take for a cruise with a cute redhead riding shotgun."

Hey...I got one of those! Its an old toyota pickup truck, with a whole bunch of cool stickers plastered all over it, and my redhead girlfriend rides shotgun all the time!!

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

I think you need definitions otherwise Toyota Echos quickly become "sportcars" and then we are all renting rooms in the Tower of Babel.

So I personally have no problem with assigning the word Classic to extremely noteworthy, uncommon, special, spectacular cars. I do have a problem with calling everyday mass production cars "classics", and would rather use the word "collectible" or "special interest". Surely it's not a put-down.

If you don't, then Deusenbergs, Ferrari GTOs, Cadillac V-16s and an '81 Camaro are called "Classics" and that's just silly.

If we allowed everybody to make up their own definitions we are sort of doomed about making any sense.

Truth may indeed be "relative", but there are DEGREES of truth, we know that much.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

Well, do y'all feel a bit revitalized? How do you think it's going in here last few days? Better or?????

speedshift · October 2002

Yeah. This could be okay.

isellhondas · October 2002

I just hope the trolls don't start showing up!

Mr_Shiftright · October 2002

You WOULD have to say that!

Nope. I have a can of "Troll No More" right here on my desk.

carnut4 · October 2002

for awhile there, I was a little worried. Get on the board and only a handful of posts. Now there's a bunch of 'em. Looks like a lot of people from the other boards have come over. Hey, all you have to do is be interested in old cars, and have a few stories.
But yeah-do keep that can on your desk...

carnut4 · October 2002

and/or the World series today. I guess that includes me.
No posts.

isellhondas · October 2002

The power of friends!

tarik · November 2002

Do you remember...?

speedshift · November 2002

I can't make out the car but, judging from the caption, it's a Maserati Biturbo.

Mr_Shiftright · November 2002

Must be in for its weekly cylinder head replacement

tarik · November 2002

...in top shape...

speedshift · November 2002

'67-9 Barracuda hardtop (not the fastback).

tarik · November 2002

...you're such a show-off... ;-P

In deed, a '67 Barracuda Coupe or "Notchback". I bought this one for a friend in Germany, and took it to Charleston, SC harbor for shipping last Friday. Hopefully he will have it under the Christmas tree with a red bow (or does red not go well with the magenta...?).

It is a 273 car with a 340 implant, and original (and functional) a/c! Cool, fast, and loud (!) ride, a lot more responsive than my '70 'Cuda with the same engine, wonder why...

Anyway, here's the entire car:

Tarik

andys120 · November 2002

Are they Cragars?

speedshift · November 2002

There's probably a 400 lb. weight difference between the '67 and '70 Cudas. The '70 is a shortened midsize. You probably know all this.

andre1969 · November 2002

...the '67-69 Barracuda! Hey Tarik, can you find me one too? ;-)

Just out of curiosity, what's it cost to ship one of those overseas?

speedshift · November 2002

Andre, talk to me. I live in rust-free California. I feel the juices flowing again. :-)

dgraves1 · November 2002

andre - I know a guy with one but it's the hatchback. He has also had it since he was in high school so it's probably not for sale. It's also not in anywhere near as good shape as that one. But he uses it as a daily driver.

tarik · November 2002

andy, those are the one and only American Racing Torque Thrust "D". First choice for their authenticity.

speedshift, yup, the growing body mass and all these convenience features kill my performance. Recently, I got to ride in a '68 Dart with a 440 - that thing should be outlawed right away...

andré, shipping costs have become ridiculous, I paid $1,300 from port Charleston to Bremerhaven, Germany (that's Roll-on/Roll-off, the container would have been $2,300!). This is still 500 miles from my friend's (Southern!!!) home. We'll probably pick up together while I'm there for the Christmas holidays. If my wife lets me. Maybe not...

Actually, there are two more of this kind, but in lesser shape. Projects the best.

don, that guy should hold on to the hatch, it's still cool...

Tarik

isellhondas · January 2003

And run like a thief in the night!

Some sense of humor those Mercury dealers have!

Mr_Shiftright · January 2003

Well, now that is an interesting story.

Basically, it's not really the factory or an expert or a book that determines if a car is a "collectible".

It is determined first by the exceptional nature of the car itself (if it has anything exceptional going for it)and then by the supply and the demand, which then drives the price up. A car is worth what a majority of shoppers are willing to pay for it. The rarity of a car has nothing to do with value "on its own". There are many rare cars that are worth very little, because---nobody cares about them. They are "rare" because nobody bought them originally.

If, truly, someone offered you $5,000 for this car, they are being spectacularly generous and I would accept the offer immediately, no question. If they want more of these cars for $5,000, please post their names here!

Probably the car is worth what you paid for it, and the chances of it becoming collectible or a classic are unfortunately practically hopeless. This is due to a number of factors: a) it is a sedan, b) it is a Mercury, c) it isn't old enough anyway and d) there is little demand for the car.

Until one or more of those factors change, there's no reason to suggest it will be a collectible car.

Best to just drive it and enjoy it and not listen to people who are telling you fairytales. They do you no service because then you might make bad decisions based on their bad advice.

isellhondas · January 2003

Someone was having fun. The poster should have asked him to pull out his checkbook.

The story would have quickly changed!

argent · January 2003

With all collectible items, be they cars or comic books, something is "worth" exactly how much somebody's willing to pay for it. That's going to depend on both rarity and demand -- a rare object that nobody particularly wants is a historical curiosity, not an investment.

If simple rarity was the main factor, car collectors would be a lot more mad for stuff like Kaiser Manhattans and Studebaker Hawks. But while there are certainly people interested in those cars, they don't command the kind of mania -- and prices -- of Chevy Impalas and Ford Mustangs, of which there are hundreds of thousands.

If you like it and enjoy it, mazel tov, and you can take solace in knowing that because your interest is relatively rarified you didn't pay the kind of ridiculous inflated premiums that some hotter items command.

andys120 · January 2003

'86 Mustang 5.0 'vert would become a classic. If Saddam had gotten control of world oil prices in 1990, I would have been right. ?;^)

Revitalizing the "Classic Car" Board!

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