Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing for the price of C4 Corvette - BEST and WORST Classic Car Investments

A Volkswagen Golf had the same value as a BMW 3.0 CSL, a Ford Model T Tourer had the same value as a Ferrari Dino 246 GT and a C4 Corvette had the same value as Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing... this is the story of the best and worst classic car investments in the last 30 years...
Music / Instrumental by Aries Beats:
/ @ariesbeats
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[@jdiii7105]

About five years ago I had a choice for almost the same price: (Mid 25K dollars) Acura NSX (the old version), S2000, or a C5 Corvette. I went with the Corvette. The other two choices skyrocketed in value. Did love driving the Vette though. Supercar performance for very inexpensive maintenance cost. As the sports cars hit 20 - 30 years in age, the people who dreamed about them as children now have money and continue to drive the prices up. That is why suddenly Ferrari Testarossa's from the Miami Vice era that were dormant and flat for a long time suddenly became expensive. Next up: I think the BMW 8 series (the original 8 series) and the Mercedes 560 SEC's are going to start going up in value over the next 5 years or so.

[@CubeofCars]

There are still some undervalued cars around which - I think - will go up in value. But electronics can cause lots of troubles and the BMW 8 Series is a dangerous choice in terms of electronic problems...

[@laurentmx5444]

Merci depuis la France :)

[@CubeofCars]

Greetings to France :)

[@Unirule]

It's a bit conspicuous how you say all this in front of a esprit. While they were $20k about a year ago, SE's are now nearing $30k.
Makes me wonder what will be sought after 10 years from now considering how classics such as 928's, 850i e31's, w126 560sec's and e24 635csi's (even grey import euro spec), 300zx/350z's, saab 900 aero, grand nationals, and all 3rd/4th gen gm f-bodies are under in $10k the us market.
The most ridiculous car price rise I've seen recently is us spec 944 turbos going from $4k to $14k over the course of the last 2 years.

[@CubeofCars]

The Esprit really has gone up in value recently and I don't think $30k are the end already. I would expect $50k in 2 or 3 years time from now. The new Lotus Evija could add prestige to the Lotus brand which could also push Esprit prices up maybe.
I might do a video on cars which I expect to be good investments in the course of the next couple of years... Any proposals are wecome :)

[@Unirule]

@@CubeofCars Amazing, the idea of them rising to $50 would put them at odds with things such as a first gen nsx, 996 turbo, or factory fresh corvette c8 if you are in the states. I'm not sure if it would go there on appreciation alone.
Then again they are getting rarer by the day both through hard to replace parts (like the transmission) and through the prince of darkness electronics if one has a s1-s3. They are still mid engined 80s poster cars at a fraction of the price of a 348 or countache.

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

29 Likes is absolutely shocking and totally unrepresentative of the quality of content in this video! Horribly unfair as a return on your effort! Anyway, at least one person loved it!!🥰

[@CubeofCars]

I had much fun researching for this video... and indeed expected some more views. So thanks for watching ;)

[@DiscoFang]

Stunning stuff, but when you compare putting around €7,000 into property it makes even the best car investments pale in comparison. My first house was bought in 1988 for 15,000 New Zealand dollars (€8,500) deposit. The full price of $129,000 would have been fully paid off by 2008 by renting it out. It has a current market value of $1.15 Million and would be now earning $40,000 every year in rent. So €8,500 Euro to €650,000 in 40 years. Cars are NEVER the best investment, even the top top examples.

[@DiscoFang]

I tell myself this whenever I think about a BMW 2002 turbo replica I was offered but didn't buy 4 years ago for NZ$10,000. (Currently worth about NZ$35,000 here now.)

[@CubeofCars]

Cars are rarely the best investment. Even if the price goes up, we usually ignore the costs of ownership, repairs, maintenance, storage... In an honest calculation of ROI, all of that should be included. But then you have the fun of ownership which is impossible to calculate in $$$...
In terms of ROI it was probably a better investment to put your money into real estate or stocks.... or currently maybe into crypto ;)

[@kass9722]

doesn't tell the whole story though, really the reason for the insane price rise in most cases is due to the internet opening up the cars to the whole world, in 1985 a buyer read a newspaper & traveled maybe 10-15 miles, now a buyer clicks his phone & either he or his new car travel thousands of miles.
the idea of a guy from the UK traveling to the US to purchase an old jaguar 30 years ago was unheard of... now...well. buyers are whizzing all over the world, from every country.
also the vintage/veteran cars never really rise, as most are not really useable, an austin 7 with rod brakes & a top speed of around 35 mph... these cars tend to be purchased by the "ecentrics".
finally, a buyer who could see in to the future 35 years ago would only need spend around £25,000 & purchase 100,000 used low mileage fords + the strorage building, even base models sell for over £5000 now, such an individual would be a multi millionare 65yo..lol.

[@CubeofCars]

You are right, but there is another important driver for classic car prices: Years of low interest rates and investors buying high end clssic cars just to lock them away. The ridiculous prices for high end classic cars have trickled down on normal classic cars. Also there are much more people out there now who are interested in classic and collector cars, not in the older ones, but 70s to 90s and especially sports cars.
It will be interesting what the future brings. There could be 2 very different scenarios: 1) As new cars go more and more electric and autonomous, car guys might treasure the analog and manual cars of the 70s to 90s and prices will further rise, or... 2) Governments start banning cumbustion engines and cars without electronic "safety" gadgets and our classic cars can only be trailered to events and end up in museums.... that would kill prices. What is more likely to happen?