Is it me and my wishful thinking, or has anyone else noctied that collector car prices have started to come down? I mainly follow Packards on EBay and it seems that cars which were bid up to the 40s sometimes are now going for the low 30s to upper 20s. True, you still see postings from the occasional "EBay dreams can come true" type but those cars don't seem to get any bids any more.

26Pack,

At RM's Art Astor auction in L.A. last week, prices were still steady on the 250 cars that went thru. Classic Packards were strong, and a '41 Chrysler Town & Country Barrelback Sedan brought $303,000, versus $313,500 for a similar car in Scottsdale in January.

The craziest price was for a '59 Imperial Crown Convertible, which hit a record $270,000 passing its estimate of $200-250K. Fresh from a 5-year resto with mostly NOS parts, the black and tan car was phenominally done, but more than a quarter-million still seemed outrageous to those of us who watched it pass the block!

Personally, the most memorable Packard was a '39 Super Eight Transformable Town Car by Franay (est. $250-300K, finished in a striking black & ivory) that reached about $192K and was bought by RM for resale at Scottsdale next January.

Say what you will about auctions, they, too, should be considered as a barometer on prices, absurd as they may seem. If you want to track all the results (lotta nice Packards), they can be found on RM's website.

TG

I have noticed an increase in the number of cars not selling or not meeting reserves. But I have not seen any prices coming down. There does seem to be an increase in the number of car flippers buying cars, doing nothing to them, lying about condition, and selling them for double.

it depends on what the car is lately as well. Ive seen some still at crazy prices and then some with custom work over $100K or more going for nothing people arent really looking at the mods that were done.

I think its just in a bit of a downswing but nothing major.

I hope prices do come down as I am in the market for another car.

I haven't noticed a change in car prices. I mostly follow the 30s classics, and my sense is that their prices are higher than ever (in nominal dollars at least).