Skipping Pebble wasn't a big deal. I mean, it's pretty awesome to be surrounded by millionaires, billionaires, and their toys / investments but there is honestly so much happening in Monterey that weekend that you can pick and choose any number of events and still have a great time.
This year, I went to: Concorso Italiano, RM Auctions, Bonham Auctions, Gooding and Company Auctions (including a seminar on vintage car values), and saw some historic racing at Laguna Seca. I even crashed the tail end of the Quail Lodge event after Bonham's but they were getting mostly packed up at that point. At some point I think I need to make it to the McCall Motorwork Revival which combines planes and cars in one event.
If all you care about are the pictures, you can find my highlight album here:
I'll also try to post some more videos soon, but here is quickie of the Porshce 918 hybrid:
Here's what I learned:
- Cars can be an investment vehicle just like stocks, bonds, or artwork.
- Very few modern cars will ever appreciate in value. There are a couple of exceptions, and they are all extremely rare vehicles.
- The folks who take this seriously know the risk/return ratios for all the cars.
- 9 times out of 10, you'll be better off buying a car already restored by a reputable professional than having something restored (or restoring it yourself.)
- If you're serious about buying a car at auction, get there early, check it out, talk to lots of folks, and ask to drive it.
- The serious enthusiasts ship their cars all over the world for events like this.
- Be ready for opportunities but be patient. A down economy might present some once-in-a-lifetime chances to buy a car, property, etc at discount prices.
- Strike up conversations with random people. You never know what kind of interesting stories they might have. People are generally nice and happy to chat at these events, especially about cars.
- It's nice to capture these cars on camera, but sort of a pain in the ass to carry a camera around everywhere.
- There are very few "barn finds" left in the world and they are often more trouble than they're worth.
- If you want to buy a vintage car, buy something that you can park in a garage and drive when you want. Some of the massive old "gangster" style cars from the 1920s are totally ridiculous and I don't see how you could really enjoy them.
- It's great to see people still racing some of these old cars. Seeing them "battle tested" rather than restored to better than new condition is more interesting to me.
I also realized that I love the classic Gulf color scheme on just about any car. Perhaps a future look for my Elise?
eGarage.com and other sites have tons of good coverage and photos from the weekend if you're interested.
1 comments:
Nice post babe! But please leave your Elise the way it is:)
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