Is investing in retro safer than banks?

[legrandefromage]

I tried to cash a cheque but found the bank had bounced...

What's the capital of Iceland? About £23.87


etc etc...

Original early Zaskars is where its at.

 

[dyna-ti]

With all the financial doom and gloom and banks collapsing left right and centre wonder if it's time to close my one and only savings account (C&G paddington bear junior savers) and invest the money in a couple of new rides.

Not seen retro pricing plummet as yet and even if it does at least you'll have something to show for it. Could vintage, retro, classic be the one economic rock in these troubled times.

I think Johns right ,retro is a good investment ,but only when expendable cash is high,in a recession there is no or very little expendable cash
So if you intend to keep it long term and hope the general market improves then it is an excellent investment
But these retro or classic items cannot be used for their intended purpose as this may cause wear or damage and therefore lower its sale able value

I spent about 1200 building up my clockwork[ th green one]I had it about ten years ,from start of the build to when i sold it,i got £400 back, not a very good investment there
I decided to build a bike that would hold its value better Starting with a Ti frame,try finding 1 for for less than the £200 i paid for it
Then using components that were made in the precision field or at the very least unusual and hard to come by,Chris king appears to hold its value and as the company has stood the test of time and gained a reputation for quality ,their products will become sought after in the years to come.
So i bough a pair of the early Bontrager racelites laced to said kings,again these seem hard to find[i keep an eye on the auction watch section but i've yet to see even a single one come up]
Forks ,i chose the Amp f4 because of its looks and rarity ,then [inc original cost] spent about £150 renovating them,i recon at the moment they're worth about £100,but they're design and rarity i think they will rise in price.
The anodized cook cranks are i believe a good investment as ,early cook bmx bikes and frames go for crazy money sometimes ,i see no reason that their components won't increase in value given time
Eventually i will fit proshift mechs, paul components brakes and levers,as these company's have also gained reputation for quality
Hopefully if in ten or fifteen years if i decide to sell, the total value should have lost no more than about £100 or even increased by quite a few hundred
And its a ride bike to look at and [gently] ride about on

 

[JeRkY]

some one else bid X-£1 and missed out, there fore worst case I can always sell for a £1 loss

i wonder about that. my nerdy analysis:

sometimes we see an ebay item that sells at price X then someone else immediately list a matching item with a buy-it-now that equals or approximates X. guess what ... sometimes it doesn't sell anywhere near the price X.

if the original winner is no longer in the market for a second similar item, the key price is the high bid, Y, of the third bidder since that would be the amount the second bidder would win it at, Y+1, assuming both parties are still in the market and no new parties enter it and everyone bids the same.

so, worse case can be a LOT more than £1.

/me puts fingers in ears and walks in circles making loud "la la la" noises to block out holdens words!

I didnt say it works, just that its my theory...its how I tell my self its OK to buy silly things at silly prices.

 

[Dr S]

Don't know what all the fuss is about- business is booming and as I have most of my money tied up in nice old motors, if it does go tits up at least I have something nice to look at!
Its all media hype- would Ferrari Daytona's still be rising by £5,000 a month if we were really in the shit? Get your pennies out of shifty ISA's and pension funds and put it in a couple of nice motors. I'm off to buy a 911 next week whilst they are still affordable. Do the same and you'll be quids in this time next year.

Si

 

[cannondale king]

dr s wat the hell is a 911 and how much/ big are they being a non car person

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

dr s wat the hell is a 911 and how much/ big are they being a non car person

a 1970 example.

 

[Dr S]

Thats the boy. Go out and buy good late 80's early 90's models now. 70's cars have gone through the roof over the last few years. Example..
1972 2.4S, 5 years ago £17-19K would have bought a very tidy car- that same car is now £35-40K.
A 1972 2.7 RS would have cost about £35-45K now the very best ones are touching £200K :shock:

When property prices start to dive and the banks get twitchy investors look for something else to spend on, it happened in the early 90's and classic car prices went through the roof. Its starting to look the same again now. Just be carefull and know your market- condition is everything!

Si

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

Thats the boy. Go out and buy good late 80's early 90's models now. 70's cars have gone through the roof over the last few years. Example..
1972 2.4S, 5 years ago £17-19K would have bought a very tidy car- that same car is now £35-40K.
A 1972 2.7 RS would have cost about £35-45K now the very best ones are touching £200K :shock:

When property prices start to dive and the banks get twitchy investors look for something else to spend on, it happened in the early 90's and classic car prices went through the roof. Its starting to look the same again now. Just be carefull and know your market- condition is everything!

Si

Well stated and the bold type is especially true.

 

[Flasher]

There are two comments in this thread that seem to be blaming the media for all the current financial problems, can someone please explain that to me?

Is it not the bankers that are at fault for chasing easy profits and not the 'media' for reporting their greed?

In a downturn I wouldn't be investing in anything other than essentials, food, heating, housing, bikes................................

When property prices start to dive and the banks get twitchy investors look for something else to spend on, it happened in the early 90's and classic car prices went through the roof. Its starting to look the same again now. Just be carefull and know your market- condition is everything!

Really, anyone with a decent amount of wedge in times like these buy into the stock market. How many lost fortunes on E-types and Astons in the early 90's?

Only a year ago the FTSE 100 was trading at over 6500 and yesterday finished at just over 3900, even with my basic level economics I reckon (if your in it for a medium/long term) that money invested across the board today will be worth considerably more in a couple of years time!

 

[Dr S]

Really, anyone with a decent amount of wedge in times like these buy into the stock market. How many lost fortunes on E-types and Astons in the early 90's?

These are the people who got on the band wagon too late and did not know the market, they bought too late and hung on for too long. They were ill informed, knew nothing about the market, buying trends or the cars they were buying, simply bought the wrong cars at the wrong time. I know a bloke with a lightweight E type that is now rotting away in a garage- he paid over £400k for it and cannot bear to even look at it now. On the other hand I also know many more people who made fortunes out of Astons and E-Types than people who made losses. One chap i know made £80,000 in a month on just 1 car!

You have to know what you are doing, last time round I made a small fortune, hell I've lived off it the last 10 years, after the boom I spent six months sat on my arse in a rented Greek villa and did sweet FA, just soaking up the sun, tooling round the hills on an old Triumph scrambler and eating too much. Still had enough left to buy a house when I got back. My wife lost a fortune on stocks and shares last time it crashed, yes they crept back up and luckily she cashed them in a few years ago, but she won't do it again. She ended up just about evens.
Classic cars are a very safe investment if you are clued up and sensible.

Si