will our cars be worthless?

[65DartGT]

heck if gas actually hits $4 a gallon like they say it might i will be ready to sell everything i have alot sooner then 10 years...

I just got gas yesterday and it was $2.95 a gallon for regular unleaded cost me $62.50 to fill my truck tank up-21 gallons (tank is a 22 gallon tank) it is a 1999 f-150 I know it's a turd

I'll take $2.95 We are up to $3.15 here.

[eldubb440]

i never really viewed my cars as money makers. ive owned some of them for over 20 years. as the value of these cars rose, it made more sense to start pumping money and time into them. i never dreamed they would be worth todays prices. id just like to think ill get something back when i am older.   till  then its more of  and  and hopefully a whole lot of 

[gocirino]

Just ride the wave while you can. When it's over...it's over!!!

[signet]

i might just upgrade to a motor.

a nice DC super cooled armature or something,yea maybe a lithium super cell for power.

[chryco]

Just remember..there actually IS plenty of oil, its just caught in a power game.  Once we shake loose of HAVING to buy so much (ie, more domestic renewables).....guess what...the market will go flat and gas will be plentiful.  Whether we will be allowed to burn it will be the question!

That being said, remember history.   Whenever fuel goes high and people look for alternatives, they lower the price to keep us hooked.  There is WAY too much money to be made, mostly by conglomerates and politicians to give up oil yet.

 

Look what they buried with that poor old Plymouth in Tulsa fifty years ago .....gas...... incase there is no more !!!!!!!!!
  There`ll be plenty of gas and our hobby will be fine , let them try and regulate motorsports accross the board . Why,  the South would rise again for sure,  just over Nascar alone  !
    No Worries !
       Chryco
http://www.b2hemi.com/cars.php

[Poison_Dart]

i love these cars too.. but there comes a point where i can't afford to drive it anymore...  and if i can't drive it i'll go nuts and rather sell then have it just sit here...

...............................
 My way of thinking , Thats why I already have sold the '71 6 months ago, their is an Old saying we use down south.
 Better get while the gettins Good, otherwise if you hold out for more, then you'll wind up getting less,
 In todays economy if you have a buyer then you better be ready to sale,  I love Old classic cars just as much as anyone, Although with the outlook of the future to come and High fuel cost, I can see where things are going,,
  and Old Gas hog cars are just Not an asset worth holding on to, why do you think a lot of these old classic Mopars are still around today? Because Back in these days when gas went over 1 buck a gal. everyone one freeked and sold there cars off,  the folks that didn't sale wound up parking them in some old shed or barns accross the country awating for price of gas to come down, (never did) ...Then Old car enthusiast  people like ourselves would seek out these cars buy them up cheap sink a ton of cash into them only to watch fuel cost rise even more,Now we are the ones with the same cars either selling them off or parking them hoping fuel cost will get better, Yeah right!  so the cycle starts over over once again,   Moma didn't raise no fool...

[sr71mopar]

When I bought my 68 Dart Sports Special 13 years ago, I paid $100 and felt like I was getting screwed. Now in the last couple years it appears as if I could sell most any single part off the car and recover my money.
I hope this thing about the oil scares off all the poeple that got into it for financial gain.
Personally, I could care less if my headlight bezels are a little dinged up, or my quarter panel has a slight wave in it. It's a Dodge Dart, not a Duesenberg.

[chryco]

When I bought my 68 Dart Sports Special 13 years ago, I paid $100 and felt like I was getting screwed. Now in the last couple years it appears as if I could sell most any single part off the car and recover my money.
I hope this thing about the oil scares off all the poeple that got into it for financial gain.
Personally, I could care less if my headlight bezels are a little dinged up, or my quarter panel has a slight wave in it. It's a Dodge Dart, not a Duesenberg.

 
 

[DartKnight]

I hope this thing about the oil scares off all the poeple that got into it for financial gain.

This is what I'm counting on. I've been looking for a replacement Dart for almost a year now, but I'm not paying a few thousand for a 73-76 four-door with a slant six (no offense to anyone who has one, of course).

[Adam]

You guys have it made for insurance. I'm 20, have a pretty clean record, and pay $250 a month Canadian for full coverage on my--------------------93 Tempo.

I had a '84 BMW 325E (about as quick as the tempo but handled better). I was quoted $4400/year for that. With multi vehicle discounts, home owners policy discount because I still live with my parents and they have the homeowners policy, etc......

Even gas isn't *that* bad. Think of it this way, If gas costs $3/gal and your car gets 10 miles per gallon....that's 30 cents per mile. In your hot rod? Not bad. Try taking a taxi for that price and having 1/4 as much fun.

As for emissions, in many states don't they not even have emissions tests? In Ontario, we have e-tests but cars made before 1987 are exempt. So no complaints there from me.

It's a hobby that always has and always will cost money. It sucks, but hey, what can you do.

Adam

[CudaSRT8]

I just don't see the current situation as that much different than the 70's.   Gas and insurance will continue to go up.  A lot of people will freak and will bail out of their cars, which will drive the values down.  Fuel will stabilize at some point (higher of course) and the true blue enthusiasts will still own their prized pets and will drive them. 

When all of that has shaken out, there will be new owners of the cars that people bailed out on and the new owners will have gotten a great deal.  Unfortunately, I don't buy other people's work, I build my own (except when I buy new of course).   Well, maybe when the time comes I'll buy one of the "great deals" just to flip it later... 

[illfish]

Cuda the problem is that there is less oil out there.  With China eating up alot more or the crude, we will pay more, probably 6 a gallon in the next 2 years.  Muscle cars will still be there, just for the upper class to run. 

[MyCreation68]

Cuda the problem is that there is less oil out there.  With China eating up alot more or the crude, we will pay more, probably 6 a gallon in the next 2 years.  Muscle cars will still be there, just for the upper class to run. 

theres oil out there honestly we have no problem on supply. The middle east has tons, russia has tons and their finally getting it, even where I live we have tons. I doubt theirs a huge problem of how much it's how do we get it.

[Jim_Lusk]

Actually there is a lot more oil that we haven't even touched. Some of that is due to the cost to get it. As long as oil out of the middle east was cheap this stuff (shale oil, etc.) was not worth the effort. Now it is. There's also processes that most of you have not even heard of because it is so far below the radar it never gets any news. They're turning natural gas into liquid fuel that, as I understand it, could be run in our cars.

[MyCreation68]

Actually there is a lot more oil that we haven't even touched. Some of that is due to the cost to get it. As long as oil out of the middle east was cheap this stuff (shale oil, etc.) was not worth the effort. Now it is. There's also processes that most of you have not even heard of because it is so far below the radar it never gets any news. They're turning natural gas into liquid fuel that, as I understand it, could be run in our cars.

yep and that is exactly why it would never get to the news. Because as long as people think that oil is in a shortage people will pay the high gas prices.

[Stroked GT]

ill go to LPG before i stop driving my car. my friend converted his Dart to that, but hasnt finished it up. that stuff is under 2 bucks a gallon, and a lot of gas stations have those propane towers too.

[Poison_Dart]

Folks,
the high cost of fuel is just one aspect of the fall of BigBlock muscle cars, while the economy continues to hurt
people start to prioritize things in their lifes, Fuel for their Gas hog cars? / Fuel to heat their homes ? Hmmm...
Now Down here in Ga we all have had a awakening, Something we all never think of, a shortage of "Water" a very important commodity, we are now on the tightest restrictions ever, word is that portions of Ga, will be out of water by the end of the year, now you ask! what does this have to do with cars and cost of fuel ?  well for now we are forbidden to even wash our cars,  Carwash businesses are having to convert to using recycle water or close down.
so I for one drive dirty cars trying to help conserve water, although it is going to be before long not! a voluntary thing anymore, it will soon be mandated the ammount of water usage per person / family...................
Their will be a chain reaction, Energy plants will start by closing to half capacity, Businesses cut back or shut down, ultemaetly all this will effect transportation, People will have to make choises of keeping things of necessity, But for the folks that think all this will pass over they will continue to wait things out hoping for the best and finding out the worst, I am not afraid of the future to come I am simply getting prepared, and having an old gas guzzler car is not a priority for me at this time.  Although I do still have the small block ford that I'm playing around with, but even this is on the back burner for now, as I have said before " I wish I had kept the Ol-225" in the Dart, maybe then I could had atleast kept driving it.

[thebankerstoy]

   This type of thing is EXACTLY the kind of issues that I was referring to when I said it's impossible to compare the 70's to the 2000's. There are just MANY more things to consider in our lives today than just the cost of a gallon of gas. Anybody who feels that this is a situation that's going to blow over in a short time frame has a RUDE awakening coming their way. I agree with those that think that our cars won't go away totally, but those who think that the large horepower big block engines will still rule the streets of America for years to come, will need to get a grip on reality pretty soon. Maybe we SHOULD start looking around for those small block ans /6 engines while their still pretty cheap 

Richard

[Mopartist]

In the early 70s I was "pushing" my girlfriends Ford Pinto for a quarter mile in the "even day" gas line (odd and even according to your plate); while my 68 Roadrunner stayed parked. We got through that.....we'll get through this as well.
What I don't understand is why we don't take Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil at a much reduced price since we saved their asses from Saddaam twice now. Shouldn't we be compensated?

[jamesdart]

man this is depressing. if i worked in an office and read this while i was at work i probably would have pulled over on a bridge and jumped. maybe the site will go from bigblockdart to srt-4 powerd darts.

[thebankerstoy]

Some times chane is good, like Bill's front end parts, some times it's bad, like removing zinc and other critical additives from our oils without giving us ample warnings, but sooner or later you have to face the fact that the ONLY thing that stays the same, is change. I for one REALLY hate to see some of the things that are going on in our hobby, cause I've been into big block cars from the early 60's as a kid dreaming about building them and then driving them since the early 70's, so NOBODY hates to see the "hand writing on the wall" more than I do, but you just can't stop "change" from happening and like most everything else, nothing last forever. Once again, just my two cents worth of opinion.

Richard

[Jim_Lusk]

We had the same "water shortage" here in central California in the mid-70s. We will be going throug it again if we don't build more storage (i.e. dams). We got through it then and we will get through it again.

[Mopartist]

Along the same lines of change; last years Indy 500 was all Ethanol. So it is possible to produce high horsepower with ethanol. (I wouldn't yet invest in PEIX stock though until they figure out an economical  way to process and transport it.)

[chryco]

Actually there is a lot more oil that we haven't even touched. Some of that is due to the cost to get it. As long as oil out of the middle east was cheap this stuff (shale oil, etc.) was not worth the effort. Now it is. There's also processes that most of you have not even heard of because it is so far below the radar it never gets any news. They're turning natural gas into liquid fuel that, as I understand it, could be run in our cars.

yep and that is exactly why it would never get to the news. Because as long as people think that oil is in a shortage people will pay the high gas prices.

And don`t let them B.S. you either , oil is a renewable resource !!!!!!
  It`s not just from dead dinos .
     Chryco

[GT_convert.]

The problem is not crude oil....
It is getting enough refined product in the USA!!
No new refinerys built in the USA for over 20 years. The only way we have kept up is by streamlining the process and more efficent controls.

Drill more 'holes' in this country. Open up the 85% of the offshore areas that are now closed.   
everyone says "not in my back yard"...no refinery's, no power transmission lines, no gas lines, no prisons,
NO,NO,NO.... .
I GUESS THIS COUNTRY WILL JUST SHRIVEL UP AND DIE!!!

Not on my watch    

[CudaSRT8]

Hey Jim L., you remember that drought of the late 70's too?   It reminds me of what's happening in Georgia right now.   I remember mandatory rationing in some areas and all kinds of dooms day theories.   I left for a week on a business trip to New York.   When I got back, the drought was over.   It had suddenly rained for most the time I was gone and all the reservoirs were FULL.  My friends and I all went water skiing that weekend and all was fine and back to normal. 

With the fuel situation, things will get back to normal.  It's just that the new "norm" will be about $4 per gallon!

[fourspeed]

I once looked into propane. I'm not planning on that route anymore, but in the future - if need be - it wouldn't be all bad. You can up the compression to help offset the lower power with propane. And I would LOVE to have a five or six speed trans. Someday...

[Poison_Dart]

Hey Jim L., you remember that drought of the late 70's too?   I reminds me of what's happening in Georgia right now.   I remember mandatory rationing in some areas and all kinds of dooms day theories.   I left for a week on a business trip to New York.   When I got back, the drought was over.   It had suddenly rained for most the time I was gone and all the reservoirs were FULL.  My friends and I all went water skiing that weekend and all was fine and back to normal. 

With the fuel situation, things will get back to normal.  It's just that the new "norm" will be about $4 per gallon!

 

 Yeah! I have No doubt that Ga. will recover from the drout, I was  sugesting how something like this alone could and does effect things such as the economy and things in our hobbies even the effect on recreation, I for one have not had my boat in the water for 2 months simply because of the risk of dammage to the boat. and before the lake water levels drop me and many others had already cut back on using their boats because of the high cost of fuel, so! it is getting to the point where the High cost of fuel is efecting every hobby, Heck even to fuel motorcyles on the average 12 bucks to fill, not that this is a large ammount, but when cycles no longer a form of recreation but a primary
sorce of transportaion because of high fuel cost, then the price of cycles go up because of demand, I have watch the cycle market over the past couple years  become rediculously priced,... My work truck has a V-10
only 16 mpg, I paid a rather large ammount for this truck new so that I would have what I need to do the job in my work and of towing trailers, Now if I were to try and sale this truck  I would have to take a tremendous beating simply because who wants a gas guzzler?  no one cares that its a nice truck with a strong pulling v-10 been taken very good care of etc,etc,..  same with the Ol-muscle cars
 all this because the high cost of Fuel, yes there is fuel to be had, but the Gov. is showing us if you want it you are going to pay high for it... and it is deffentitly Not! coming down, even though though play with our brains having us think that if they go up 10 cent per gal this week and come down 5 cents next week that we are getting a deal.
 this game has  been going on for over a decade, Just like taxes......................................................................

[abodyjoe]

Heck even to fuel motorcyles on the average 12 bucks to fill, not that this is a large ammount, but when cycles no longer a form of recreation but a primary
sorce of transportaion because of high fuel cost,

  yea man..  it used to cost $5 to fill my bike now it has doubled.  my car gets the same mileage as my bike so its not like riding the bike helps me any...

[CheapStreet Duster]

we are all forgetting about the free enterprise system
where there is a demand ....someone will create the supply....
for one thing Methanol is a thinner used in many chemical situations..
so Alcohol will always be avail...converting these cars to run on that wouldnt
but that hard.......worst case sinario..but again..where there is a market
some one will come up with a solution...
besides once the world see's how china is taking all the gas..and raw matierials..
and how this country is being taken for fool.....things will change....
and dont be surprised if the climate goes into some deep sliding cool off.