NE Boat Show

Correct, I was referring to cars. To be fair, I am sure people look at us boaters and think the same thing. Ditto for RVs, bikes, etc.

Back to cars, I'd rather drive a modern day 911 for $250k, than a 1960s "insert American muscle car here". Now, if we are talking about picking up a nice, drivable "classic" for <$50k, that's a different story. It's funny, I will look at listings and be like, hmmm..this is nice, then I see the old dash, old suspension design, outdated this & outdated that, and then completely lose interest. It could very well just be me.;)
It's ok, classic cars aren't for everyone... :D
 
I don't get the boat prices and I REALLY don't get the muscle car prices. Virtually every muscle car rides and drives like a box of rocks.

Every now and then I will watch an auction on TV and I just can't believe what people pay for "collector cars". I sort of get the true classics (pre-WW2 Ferraris, Jags, Duesenbergs, etc. ), but not $200k for a tri-5 Chevy, $300k for a'69 GTO (I don't care if it was 1 of Judges in blue), $400k for a big block Vette with A/C, etc.

..and for what it's worth, I used to be a car guy. Now, just give me my F150.
JJF:

Not to wander into the muscle car world on a boating forum, but while your correct in your assessment of how they drive vs new ones, you are missing one key ingredient: Emotion.
People will pay North of 150-200K to get a Ride that makes them feel like a Kid again. A car that takes them back to admittedly a Happier Era. Maybe the same model car they had their first date in. That smell. The Vibe. it's worth a lot. It's not so much the quality, (New Vs Old,) but what they do for your soul.

To me, it's Perception. I wouldn't pay anything for a Jag or Duesenburg, but I'd mortgage something to get my hands on a 1970 Challenger T/A or R/T. That doesn't mean the Jag's are lesser cars, but they don't move me emotionally, and that's everything.

When I sell my Marlin, I'm gonna buy one. I'm a (somewhat) mature adult, so my chances of wrapping it around a tree are markedly less these days.
 
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Hi,

I don't disagree with the emotion & perception and like I said, a nice classic around $50k, sure, I get that.

As far as going back in time, I get that, but the reality (for me) is "that feeling" will last about two rides. :)

Now, if I can be my 18 year old self with a my 17 year old GF fogging up the windows; no we're talking.
 
Hi,

I don't disagree with the emotion & perception and like I said, a nice classic around $50k, sure, I get that.

As far as going back in time, I get that, but the reality (for me) is "that feeling" will last about two rides. :)

Now, if I can be my 18 year old self with a my 17 year old GF fogging up the windows; no we're talking.
Wholeheartedly Agree!
 
I bought my 2017 Fisherman 236 in 2018 with 40 hours on it For 107k. I just stopped at the boatyard (which is a Grady dealer) and a new Fisherman 236 is between 145k and 160k. With the demand in South Jersey I don’t know how much of a discount you could get.
 
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I bought my 2017 Fisherman 236 in 2018 with 40 hours on it For 107k. I just stopped at the boatyard (which is a Grady dealer) and a new Fisherman 236 is between 145k and 160k. With the demand in South Jersey I don’t know how much of a discount you could get.

The 2017 238 is a really nice boat!
 
I would disagree about the whole "old cars drive like a box of rocks" argument. I'm not sure about other cars, but for classic mustangs you can spend $5k-$10k on front and rear coilover suspension that will get rid of the old leaf springs and make it feel like a new car. For the $250k you'd spend on a Porsche, you could build a classic car for probably half that price or less that will outperform one. I'd spend the money and do that on my car but I don't take it to the track or anything really and it's pretty much only a street car, so I think it wouldn't really be worth the money to do that.
 
Those car auctions that you see on tv like Barrett Jackson or Mecum and typically always bring above top dollar because the restorations are usually much better than just your average classic car restoration and imo aren't really indicative of the current classic car market. I will say though that classic cars, as well as boats, are oftentimes all about location with regards to the purchase or asking price. Other things like buying in the off season buying vs peak season buying, being patient and looking for what you want throughout the entire country can also save you a ton of money. I bought my Grady back in October of 2021 on the east coast for $26.5k and have seen the same boat sell out here in Seattle last summer for $65k.

The same goes for classic cars, if you want one then be patient and look in the off season, elsewhere throughout the country or you'll even see them just sitting in people's driveways. You can still find tons of classic cars for less than $50k, even mustang coupes are generally always in the $20k range or less. Though I will say, v8 fastback mustangs are getting rather difficult to find anymore for under $60k, unless it's just a basket case, which my dad and I bought my car for $6k back in 2002. Would've been nice knowing back then what they're worth today as we could've made a good deal of money off of cars now.
I think the TV auctions don't really bring top dollar and are a total scam. Can't think of any reason other than brain damage as to why a person would deliberately pay an inflated price in front of witnesses. Those auctions have never had any real credibility for me and they totally lost me when I saw gas monkey garage selling cars at one of them. That tells you all you need to know as that show is 100% scripted BS. If you could get a look at how the sausage is really made, I bet you'd find out that a lot of those sales don't actually get completed, chicanery with paperwork, and all that bad stuff.

With that said, I look at ebay completed listings, marketplace, and CL and at the very least, the asking prices are insane. I have a 68 charger and it's pretty good... If I hadn't planned on getting buried in it, I could get some serious money for it right now.
 
I think the TV auctions don't really bring top dollar and are a total scam. Can't think of any reason other than brain damage as to why a person would deliberately pay an inflated price in front of witnesses. Those auctions have never had any real credibility for me and they totally lost me when I saw gas monkey garage selling cars at one of them. That tells you all you need to know as that show is 100% scripted BS. If you could get a look at how the sausage is really made, I bet you'd find out that a lot of those sales don't actually get completed, chicanery with paperwork, and all that bad stuff.

With that said, I look at ebay completed listings, marketplace, and CL and at the very least, the asking prices are insane. I have a 68 charger and it's pretty good... If I hadn't planned on getting buried in it, I could get some serious money for it right now.
A few of the cars that they sell at Barrett Jackson, Mecum and other auction events are cars that are being sold and have the profits going towards a charity, which tends to drive prices even higher than normal. I agree though that the auction companies prices are vastly overinflated, which is why in my above comment I said that they aren't indicative of your everyday collector car prices. And yes, I've all but stopped watching classic car restoration shows because they're scripted and just packed with drama, which I'll gladly pass on. I used to like Overhaulin' as the show, besides the bit about how they typically "steal" the car to do the restoration, usually doesn't have much drama in it, and it actually focuses a bit more on the car as opposed to the workers and their drama.

My old man used to be a Mopar guy of which he had a 1969 roadrunner for the longest time, and had a different one brand new back in high school, so I tried to get into the show Graveyard Carz. I didn't even make it through one episode before I had to turn the channel to something else as they were arguing and bickering more than something like the real housewives. I think one of the best sources for figuring out what current classic car values are would be the website Bring a Trailer as it is an auction site but you can also look up previous auction prices, which comes in handy.
 
A few of the cars that they sell at Barrett Jackson, Mecum and other auction events are cars that are being sold and have the profits going towards a charity, which tends to drive prices even higher than normal. I agree though that the auction companies prices are vastly overinflated, which is why in my above comment I said that they aren't indicative of your everyday collector car prices. And yes, I've all but stopped watching classic car restoration shows because they're scripted and just packed with drama, which I'll gladly pass on. I used to like Overhaulin' as the show, besides the bit about how they typically "steal" the car to do the restoration, usually doesn't have much drama in it, and it actually focuses a bit more on the car as opposed to the workers and their drama.

My old man used to be a Mopar guy of which he had a 1969 roadrunner for the longest time, and had a different one brand new back in high school, so I tried to get into the show Graveyard Carz. I didn't even make it through one episode before I had to turn the channel to something else as they were arguing and bickering more than something like the real housewives. I think one of the best sources for figuring out what current classic car values are would be the website Bring a Trailer as it is an auction site but you can also look up previous auction prices, which comes in handy.
Graveyard cars bothers me more than any of them because I love mopars and they have such cool cars yet feel the need to ruin it when that Borman opens his mouth. I’d rather go watch YouTube guys drag junk out of the woods and get it to run. They don’t make it home most of the time which what would happen if I tried it lol
 
Graveyard cars bothers me more than any of them because I love mopars and they have such cool cars yet feel the need to ruin it when that Borman opens his mouth. I’d rather go watch YouTube guys drag junk out of the woods and get it to run. They don’t make it home most of the time which what would happen if I tried it lol
Indeed... the episode that I tried to watch was about them working on a Dodge Daytona but goodness, there was so much drama and bickering back and forth that I just simply couldn't...
 
I must agree about Graveyard Cars;

My son and I have to fast-forward thru the stupid attempts at jokes & drama to find anything useful about cars. Sometimes we skip complete episodes.
 
You'd think that a show based on old cars featuring old guys working on those old cars wouldn't be dramatic in any sort of way at all and would be focused on just the cars. Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth with a show like Graveyard Carz and that's why if it's on tv, I'll skip right past it. I still do enjoy Overhaulin' with Chip Foose as they focus a bit more on the design and actually working on the cars as opposed to the drama and everything else. And they tend to have a few pretty cool cars on the show, though admittedly nothing compared to a Dodge Daytona or similar...
 
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I looked and looked at older classic cars and was always concerned corners were cut or the price was too high. Heard too many horror stories about having to really know the car you are focused on very well as there are many that are not quite what they are represented to be. I kept coming back to a new muscle car and getting the handling and features or today's cars versus the go fast straight cars of the past. Have to say the 2023 Mustang Mach 1 fit the build. We did some weekend trips confidently and will do a lot more in the future.
 
I looked and looked at older classic cars and was always concerned corners were cut or the price was too high. Heard too many horror stories about having to really know the car you are focused on very well as there are many that are not quite what they are represented to be. I kept coming back to a new muscle car and getting the handling and features or today's cars versus the go fast straight cars of the past. Have to say the 2023 Mustang Mach 1 fit the build. We did some weekend trips confidently and will do a lot more in the future.
As is the case with boats, houses and any other higher dollar purchase, I recommend anyone have a surveyor come out and look at any potential classic you're looking at potentially buying if you or a buddy doesn't know what to look for. There are definitely things to look for with classic mustangs like the cowl vent design where if it rusts out then any water will drain down onto the floorboards and it can be a pretty costly/extensive thing to have fixed if you can't do it yourself. I'm assuming there are several other models of cars that are similar, but yes old cars can and do have their quirks. Buying this last boat of mine is the only time that I haven't had a surveyor go out and look at it for me. The other two times I've purchased boats I paid someone to go out and look at it for me since it was an east coast purchase and I'm in Seattle.

Fortunately/unfortunately this boat has been great and without any issues, everything works on it, although it would've been nice to have a surveyor inspect it for me. At the time I purchased it, surveyors were about two weeks out and I didn't want to wait that long for a survey. One of the forum members on here Italian Angler came out and looked at the boat with me as I guess he lives about 15-20 minutes away from where the boat was listed for sale. And the business selling the boat is also a Grady White dealer, so that definitely helped a bit with the peace of mind. But yes, unless you're getting a steal of a deal on something, I always recommend getting a survey done on any purchase over $5k-$10k, especially if you don't know what to look for yourself. That way you don't spend top dollar on something that could be a basket case and be upside down on it on day one.
 
Back to the Boat Show, the biggest head scratcher to me was the 271 Canyon at $300K+ while the 306 Canyon was $345K. Not much of a difference in price for much more boat.
 
Back to the Boat Show, the biggest head scratcher to me was the 271 Canyon at $300K+ while the 306 Canyon was $345K. Not much of a difference in price for much more boat.
By any chance, were they optioned much differently (electronics, trailer, other options)?
 
Reflecting on the show experience, it really isn't fun for me anymore. I pay to park, I pay to enter, I'm shocked by the prices and I drink a beer or two.... The one thing I will say, is it would make me much more inclined to buy used and would really do my work to get a decent deal.