MARKET ANALYSIS: Hot collector cars for a cool economy PART I

Let’s face it: This isn’t the most sensible time to be spending discretionary funds on an expanding collection of toys.

Or is it?

Just about any market tracker will show that, as a rule, cars that has appreciated considerably within the last two to five years has plummeted to only modest gains. Case in point: Ferrari F40, Cobras, Corvettes; not to mention nearly every muscle car that’s rolled across the blocks or webpages of an auction house. Now pundits may say that it’s a reflection of our tough economy and that these types of frivolities are being sold at well below their value to cope—and often survive—these conditions. Bull. It’s more of a reality check against those cars which have exceeded what the market could bear. In other words, prices were inflated well beyond what those cars should have been worth and current economic conditions are forcing a correction, much like stocks.

That being said, the old rule of strong cars bring strong money does and always will apply. The most recent Bonham’s Gstaad Christmas Sale is case in point. This might appear to create a chasm between cars that are falling back to earth and cars that are sailing out of reach. True enough, but that doesn’t mean investment opportunities have fallen into that void. Far from it. There are some excellent cars that continue to appreciate and have enormous growth potential. Better yet, they do so without jeopardizing your nest egg. At under $25,000, they are safe buys that can be liquidated if necessary with no loss or even some gain. Here then are ten hot collector cars for a cool economy:

1974-1980 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4
I’m ready to admit it now: The day has finally come for the 308 GT4. This was a car whose early promise was slighted due largely in part to the success of its sibling that came shortly after, the Pininfarina-designed 308 GTB/GTS. Nevertheless, it always had the makings of an excellent collector car:
1.) It remains the only Ferrari penned by Bertone (some would say there’s a reason it’s the only one); 2.) It represents some groundbreaking for Ferrari (albeit safely under the Dino brand for its first two years): It’s the first mid-engine V8 that would in ensuing years become Ferrari’s bread and butter; 3.) It shares the underpinnings with the GTB but adds two (sorta) seats; and 4.) It is, ultimately, a Ferrari and with it, the owner becomes part of the subculture. Sure, there are still a handful of Ferrari purists who will turn their noses at any Ferrari with four seats and no V12 to boot. But therein lies part of the GT4’s appeal: They are much more approachable and so too are most of their owners. They are meant to be driven. Forza Magazine called the GT4 the best driving of the 308 series. Many, in fact, were driven into the ground and without question—more than any other Ferrari—weathered, neglected and decayed 308 GT4s are routinely on the market in the low teens or even under $10K. These are classic cases of the most expensive Ferrari is a cheap Ferrari and should be avoided. Restoration and repair costs can well exceed their value. There are however well cared for examples that have seen relatively low miles (under 50K) with proper maintainance for $20-25K that require only minor detail work, if any. Prices have bottomed out and current asking price indeces track the 308 GT4 at about 5% growth. That number will surely rise through the natural course of time combined with stablized economic conditions.

GREAT FINDS: Miura No. 001 will be restored

Sometime next summer, Lamborghini Miura #1 will be reborn.

In 1977, Cypriot Lamborghini importer Marios Kritikos was visiting Sant’Agata,and spotted the 1965 Turin Salon Lamborghini Miura chassis, designed by chassis genius Gian Paolo Dallara.

Kritikos apparently fell in love with it, and in April of ‘78, showed up with his Range Rover and a trailer, and hauled it back to Cyprus. The original invoice for the chassis survives, along with unpublished period photographs of the chassis under construction in 1965; on display at the December 1965 Turin Salon; at the Lamborghini factory in July 1966; and being picked up by Kritikos on April 7, 1978.

Recently, negotiations involving Los Angeles-area Miura specialists Joe Sackey and Gary Bobileff came to fruition, and earlier this month, the chassis arrived at Gary’s shop.

We can’t think of a better place for it: I saw the ‘71 Miura Jota prototype he restored at Russo & Steele this summer, and thought the $2 million top bid (rejected) was reasonable for a car of that quality, as it was literally a flawless restoration.

More details on the restoration and next summer’s debut are promised soon; we’ll keep our ears on, and see if Koch can get the restoration story for Sports & Exotic Car.

Source: Hemmings

STUDY: Proof that cars have personality

A study co-authored by a Florida State University researcher has confirmed through a complex statistical analysis that many people see human facial features in the front end of automobiles and ascribe various personality traits to cars -- a modern experience driven by our prehistoric psyches. Researchers, product designers and, of course, filmmakers have long toyed with the idea that cars have faces, but this study is the first to investigate the phenomenon systematically.

“The study confirmed with some rigor what many people have already felt -- that cars seem to have consistent personality traits associated with them, and that this is similar to the way people perceive facial expressions,” said Dennis Slice, an associate professor in Florida State’s Department of Scientific Computing. “The most unique aspect of the study was that we were able to quantitatively link the perception of cars to aspects of their physical structure in a way that allows us to generate a car that would project, say, aggression, anger or masculinity or the opposite traits.”

As a guest professor at the University of Vienna, Slice collaborated with doctoral student Sonja Windhager, the study’s lead author, and several colleagues to explore the link between perception and the geometry of a car front and its parts. The researchers asked 40 people to view high-resolution, 3-D computer reconstructions and printed images of 38 actual 2004-06 car models, representing 26 manufacturers from Ford to Mercedes.

One-third (32.5 percent) of those participating in the experiment associated a human or an animal face with at least 90 percent of the cars. Generally, the headlights were marked as eyes; the nose tended to be the grill or emblem; the additional air intake slots, the mouth. Each participant in the experiment also was asked to rate each model on 19 traits, including dominance, maturity, gender and friendliness, and if they liked the car.
“In our study, people generally agreed in their ratings,” Slice said, noting that 96 percent agreed on whether a car was dominant or submissive. “Thus, there must be some kind of consistent message that is being perceived in car fronts.”

For example, cars scoring high in the so-called power traits had horizontally elongated hoods, pronounced lower car bodies relative to the windshields and more angular headlights that seemed to suggest a frown. Conversely, cars on the other end of the power scale—that is, those perceived as childlike, submissive, female and friendly—had headlights with their upper edge relatively close to the midline and had an upward shift of the car's lateral-most points. (“In this way, the car gives us a big smile,” Slice said.)

In a finding that suggests perhaps there is a hidden road warrior in all of us, study participants liked power vehicles best—the most mature, masculine, arrogant and angry-looking ones. Although people do not necessarily buy the kind of car they say they like, Slice said the finding spurs some interesting questions for future studies about pedestrian and driver behavior. For example, do people extend the perception of the car to the person behind the wheel? And does that affect how drivers interact with other cars on the road?

In addition, the study provides a check into the rearview mirror of our prehistoric psyches, Slice said. The researchers theorized that, through biological evolution, our brains have been designed to infer a great deal of information about another person — age, sex, attitudes, personality traits and emotions — from just a glance at their face. The ability to “read” faces in order to identify people, detect possible kin relationships and assess potential danger has been so important to human development that people have adapted a hypersensitivity to detecting facial features even if they are presented in rather abstract ways. As a result, we are tempted to see faces everywhere, even in clouds, stones and, yes, cars.

“The fact that we can so easily see faces in inanimate objects may tell us something about the evolutionary environment in which this capacity arose,” Slice said. “Seeing too many faces, even in mountains or toast, has little or no penalty, but missing or misinterpreting the face of a predator or attacker could be fatal.”

Journal reference:
Windhager S, Slice DE, Schaefer K, Oberzaucher E, Thorstensen T, Grammer K. Face to face: The Perception of Automotive Designs. Human Nature, December 2008 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-008-9047-z
Adapted from materials provided by Florida State University.

Florida State University (2008, December 1). Life Is A Highway: Study Confirms Cars Have Personality. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/11/081125161542.htm