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Many of these cars are now going overseas in large numbers, as Europeans are bargain shopping and don't much care about authenticity, or don't care as much.
For instance, you know that they made 16,927 V8 convertibles, and you know that they made 167, 251 V8 coupes. So you have roughly a 1 to 10 ratio of convertibles to coupes.
Then you know that they made 2, 579 L34 SSs, so you could guessimate that about 10% of those were convertibles.
RSs they made tons of, so no help there (although you'll see claims of "knowing"). One could presume that not all convertible SS were RS. I'd guess maybe 1/4th of them were.
As for the TH400 M40, they made 5,466 of those and over 46,000 4-speeds. Here's a case of where rarity works against you---the 4 speeds, though more common, are worth more than the TH400. So I guess you could estimate total # of Camaros built and divide by 5, 466 and then extrapolate rarity of your car from these ratios.
As for color, I don' think there are any records on # of cars done in each color.
You have to be careful about "rarity of options". Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn't matter at all.
Supply and demand dictates market, not rarity of options by themselves.
There are tons of good books and lots of internet info on production numbers. With some effort you could probably find out a great deal about your car.
As for value, here again, one has to see the car to really know. Personally I can't see a #3 car selling for $75K.
The appraiser doesn't work on one sale one time. The appraiser's job is to find the real market, and discount the "steals" who got one cheap from the widow, and the drunks who might have overbid at Barrett Jackson.
My attitude about old cars is the same as Carl Sagan's, that "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", so, without seeing a car, I tend to be conservative in value estimates since it is so difficult for the owner to be impartial and objective (nor am I about my own cars--LOL!).
Even an appraisal isn't the fair market value sometimes---some appraisers get rather carried away....the soundness of their value is built upon the soundness of the evidence they include in the appraisal. What they "think" isn't the point.
But really original cars are fairly tasty meat for buyers---the only downside of buying an original car is that you can't compete in shows with restored cars and you don't want to mess up the originality with a restoration.
This is being addressed to some extent by car shows that now have a separate "survivor" class for judging.
The little scratches, imperfect chrome, interiors that show wear and engine compartments that look like the did when I was a kid in high school etc.
They are only original once.
How much will that Chip Foose resto-rod with the two-tone paint and the 20" wheels be worth in 10 years? Not so much...
I know most of the others don't agree with me here but I think a 1956 Chevy should be a 1956 Chevy. It sould have drum brakes and a 265 engine. It shouldn't have a 383 "Stroker" engine or even "vintage air".
Please don't hang a hokey continental kit on it or fender skirts.
I never saw "blue dot" tailights on one as a kid and they do nothing for me now.
I don't care if all of the numbers match and I think modern seat belts and a battery disconnect are a good thing and I don't care if it has a "tar top" battery or the spring type hose clamps etc.
I just want it to look like they did in my youth.
I also don't have a problem with some modern driveability updates such as modern tires (they can look old) and electronic ignitions.
The car doesn't need a modern electronic ignition syster or yellow spark pug wires either. Points and condenser still work fine. besides, I can "load" the old condensor and hand it to someone.
Our host knows what I'm talking about.
Oh, and if it's an old Chevy with a 6 cylinder, it's just fine if it has a split manifold and a sweet set of Smittys on it.
Some 50s domestic cars are truly awful to drive in stock form. And on the freeway, you'll never stop in time to avoid rear-ending someone.
So if you plan to motor in it any distance, you have to do something. The foreign jobbies are actually pretty competent (most of them) for most modern roads, unless you get into the big heavy lumps like Jaguar Mark VIIs and other blivets like that.
60s American cars handle "ok". They're just huge is the problem and weigh a lot, so you can't be too frisky.
My view is that unless the car is rare--it's your car, do what you want to it. A '54 Chevy 4-door is not going to be a piece of history.
And I leave lots of room between me and the car ahead of me. I would stay in the right hand lane and not exceed the speed limit.
I know it would never be a peice of history, but a 54 Chevy just seems to represent all that was America in those years.
I would get personalized plates.." IKE'S ERA"
They just don't appeal to me.
I agree with you about driving the '54 Chevy. Do it wisely, don't exceed the car's capabilities, and you will be fine.
Sure, as long as the modifications are not irreversible, I'd have no problem modifying any car, rare or not. You can always change them back.
You can't save everything. Most old cars are not worth saving in their original form. We have all the cars in all the museums we will ever need so as to remember what a '54 Chevy looked like. As well as all the stagecoaches, buggies, farm equipment and suits of armor we need.
If a person wants to spend $50,000 restoring a '51 Packard 4-door sedan, that's their business---go have fun---but don't act hurt and disappointed when a) nobody notices it and b) you are offered $6,000 for it. You can't have it both ways.
The biggest problem - brakes. Sure, a '55 can stop as well as it ever did, but now everyone around you has vastly superior brakes, and are used to it. The car in front nails his, you can't, uh-oh :sick:
So true! There is no question or argument - thank God we have come a long way. Remember vacuum operated windshield wipers! The faster you went the slower they moved! Brakes were horrible - but the worst car I ever drove for braking was my father's 1967 Eldorado - front wheel drive, DRUM brakes, 5500 pounds EMPTY. Want a real thrill - try stopping that thing in an emergency stop! The '68 had front discs. GM engineering never made sense to me - they put the '65 Chevelle brakes (reversed front/rear) in the Corvair giving it pretty decent stopping power for its time, 4 wheel discs in the Corvette in '65, but put a 5500 pound front wheel drive Cadillac(!?) on the street without discs???!!!! Why??? :confuse: That car, with a Pinto in front of it, would be a recipe for disaster!
Also brake fade is treacherous when you forget to "nurse" them, say in the hills of San Francisco. You can lose brakes on a 50s car (snap!) just like that and go cruisin' right through an intersection.
But if you can nurse 'em through the turns and really soft-pedal the brakes, you can get by all right in a 50s car.
It's best to drive them in convoy on tours, on less-traveled roads and with a support vehicle.
There's no reason why you can't take a well-maintained 50s car all across the country--it's just going to take you a while.
This is why (to sorta get back on topic) the interest in old cars has shifted to a) the 60s cars and b) modifying the 50s cars.
People nowadays want to DRIVE and ENJOY their cars, and the 50s just doesn't cut it in stock form.
Once when I was at an Army Summer Camp at Fort Chronkhite, a bunch of us piled in a 1959 Chevy Station Wagon and drove all through San Francisco.
After decending several STEEP hills, the brakes overheated and faded to the point that we slid through a red light. Luckilly the coast was clear but it scared the hell out of us.
For those who don't know, San Francisco has some hills so steep that the sidewalks have stairs and railings!
Today, I would know better and I wouldn't have pushed that old Chevy past it's limits. as long as you don't do that, you'll be fine.
Stopped at a stop sign in Pacific Heights in our 1998 Mercury Marquis rental 4 door sedan. The hill was so steep and the hood so long, I could not see over it whether the way was clear! You have to experience it to believe it, though the race scense and camera work in Bullitt do a pretty good job. Coudn't even see over the hood of that Mustang sometimes! Could not imagine drum brakes there.
I have experienced disc brake fade with only one car - the '68 Camaro. Was in a rally and got lost - had to make up time and really worked the car hard - even those dual piston front brakes heated up enough to fade on me. At least they did not get flooded with water the way the old drum brakes did when you went through a deep enough puddle.
As I started to decend this hill, I realized this was the Mother Superior of all hills!
This was a HILL like I had never seen in my life!
Maybe the same hill you went down? I can't remember where in The City that hill was but it was something else!
Another time, I was driving up a very steep hill in my brand new Toyota Celica when I noticed there were street car tracks! I hoped I didn't run into one going down the hill but, sure enough, I heard the familiar bells!
In case anyone doesn't know, those things can't stop!
I had to throw the Celica in reverse and get out of there FAST!
Try backing down a steep, narrow hill with cars on both sides!
Luckilly, there was a small alley I was able to back into before the trolly clanged past me! I was sweating!
Actually the cable cars CAN stop really well, but that usually dumps all the passengers into the street, so they don't do that.
I once had to drive an old Bugatti through San Francisco with CABLE brakes. Luckily I knew the city well and went only on the flats.
I wonder how they managed in the days of the Model A's?
Well, back to subject. We got way off!
You might be surprised at what some of those old cars could handle - rutted, rough roads were often the only roads, and they had pretty low gearing to deal with it.
Totally original and unrestored.
Mine actually stopped fairly well. If I slammed on the brakes one or two of the wheels would actually lock up and skid. Of course, 40 MPH was about it.
They were geared very low. I have no isea what the rear end ratio was.
I suppose people just put them in low gear and creeped down those steep hills.
In a Model A, it doesn't take much of an accident to get the occupants killed.
I'm partial to the 4-door Town Sedan because it's the only one with a decent amount of room for the driver. Americans must have been a lot smaller in 1928.
It was a 1930.
Mine was just a 2 door coupe witout a rumble seat. Beige with yellow wire wheels.
So, Calif rust free car that I bought from the second owner in about 1972. I remember he bought it from the first owner in 1948.
It ran good, and MAN could it ever backfire when I wanted to get rid of dogs that would chase it!
Help me here...when I was a kid working in a gas station, we let a guy park his Model A on our lot with a For Sale sign in it. It was totally stock and it had a top that looked like a convertable top but I don't think it actually went down.
Am I right? It had a rumble seat,it ran OK and he wanted 250.00 for it if I recall correctly.
We also had a customer who traded his 1955 Chevy Bel Air for a 1931 Model A Victoria. Ever see one of those?
The victoria was a fairly elegant body for that car.
You have to remember, they made a LOT of them, and the aftermarket for Model As is probably the largest (or was) aftermarket in the world at one time.
My brother bought a Model A for $35, in 1964 I think it was, he told me (he's older than me, as you might gather).
I once won a '59 Chevy in a poker game, in lieu of $75 debt. I used it for a while when I taught high school in Brooklyn New York. It was a car they could not further destroy to get even with me. :P
A family member inherited one recently. It's a Model A Pickup truck.
Do it yourself restoration done years ago, then it was parked. It hasn't been started fior probably ten years. For many years, it was on display at a plumbing store in Portland Oregon. It had been the service truck for years before being restored and retired.
It is rust free and straight. The engine looks like it has just been overhauled and it turns over freely. The fenders are fiberglass but the originals are with the truck and they look so good I don't know why they were even replaced.
The family that owns it now has no interest in doing anything to it and it is stored in a garage and ignored.
The truck is totally original and nothing has been modified.
Are trucks worth more or less than cars? Shifty? Want to take a stab at it's value?
I'll bet I could get it running in an hour!
Model As are great fun and you can buy any part you need---ANY part, shipped right to your door. And of course, easy to fix except for a few items that take GRUNT like the rear leaf spring. The engine has about as many moving parts as a Vermont wood stove.
Biggest issue is fitting yourself behind the steering wheel. As are *very* tight in there. Not sure why Henry built 'em like that, but I'm sure he had a rational for it---he always did, even if it was totally wrong.
I just love flipping the advance lever and idle speed lever on the steering wheel and stromping down on the starter pedal and listening to that WHIRR....WHIRR....GASP....pocketa-pocketa......
I remember once when one of our cars was in the shop, I had to press the Model A into daily service. Luckilly, my commute was only about five miles each way.
After work one day, the battery had run down and it wouldn't start.
I got out the crank but after hearing many scary stories, I was afraid to use it! I stuck it in the hole and gently turned it.
Then, this "old guy" he was probably 65, yelled at me...
" Hey there! do ya know what you're doing"
" Ah...not really"
He walked over..." Let me start that son of a &%$# for ya"
He adjusted the spark and throttle levers and walked to the front of the car.
" Now, if you advance the spark too much, the SOB will backfire and break your arm if you're not holding it right...here's how ya hold it!"
And he vigorously cranked it over and over until it gasped and started!
The, he jumped behind the wheel and expertly adjusted spark and throttle until it just purred!
" Does the horn still work? "
"Sure, try it"
Ah....oooooooga!
I got home just before dark which was a good thing. It still had the original headlights and the reflectors needed to be "resilvered"