Supply and Demand

In my opinion, we seen a price dip a few years back once they hit 7ish years old and banks wouldn't loan on them. The target buyer at that time would of been in their late 20s(high school dream car) and not able to pay cash or put a decent down payment which drove prices down. Now that the target buyer is in their mid 30s, paying cash is much less of a problem.

Again, just my opinion since I fit in this category.

Here’s my take (I’m probably somewhat biased as I own an original, documented, pristine ‘04 Terminator Vert with just under 1,400 miles on the odo)....

Let’s consider the top tier muscle cars that came out of Detroit in the late 60’s...Boss 429, Shelby Mustang, COPO Camaro, LS6 Chevelle, Ram Air GTO, 442 W30, Hemi Mopar, etc. They all sold in $5 -$6k range when new. Unfortunately, Many if not most of these were used, abused, modded, raced, crashed, rusted, parted, and/or junked by the time they were 15 years old. In the mid to late 70’s there was little demand for these cars and prices were relatively cheap. However, by the mid to late 80’s, demand started to increase pushing the market up. Here we are 50 years later and although there have been a couple of “market corrections” over the years, the market for original, low mileage, documented examples of these late ‘60’s top tier muscle cars is still very strong.

Just like the late 60’s top tier muscle cars, 03/04 Terminators were produced in fairly low numbers and came from the factory with amazing (for the time) power and performance, and were sold new in the $35k-$40k range. 16-17 years later, and pristine examples are now selling for near $40k.

IMO, as demand for original, low mileage, documented Terminators is already on the rise, the market will continue to strengthen, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see pristine examples commanding $50k within the next 2-3 years, and $75k -$100k 5-10 years from now....provided we don’t experience any drastic/permanent changes in the availability/cost of gasoline.

FL.-Frank said:

Here’s my take (I’m probably somewhat biased as I own an original, documented, pristine ‘04 Terminator Vert with just under 1,400 miles on the odo)….

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I agree with you 100% FL-Frank. The only thing I would add to your availability/cost of gasoline is if the government implements some form of policy that makes it harder to operate gasoline powered vehicles in an attempt to push a switch from gasoline powered vehicles to electric powered vehicles.

I hope not, but it already seems California is making it difficult just to pass inspection...……..

07 and up Z06's are still commanding $30k+ just as a for instance

these are just the high performance cars that everyone wants because they've proven themselves for all these years

my take. The low mileage high desirability color Cobra will rise in price. My feeling is the young 18-22 year old that was drooling over the Cobra when it first came out, can now afford to have their Cobra. Even Cobra's with higher mileage but in clean condition will probably rise. Fox bodies that were built in way larger numbers than Cobra are climbing in prices.

Palacios289 said:

my take. The low mileage high desirability color Cobra will rise in price. My feeling is the young 18-22 year old that was drooling over the Cobra when it first came out, can now afford to have their Cobra. Even Cobra's with higher mileage but in clean condition will probably rise. Fox bodies that were built in way larger numbers than Cobra are climbing in prices.

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As the old saying goes, high tides raise all ships.

Just like not all classic cars are mega buck limited rare bigblock/hemi manuals...

Even those lovely Inline-6 base rides increased in value as people built tributes, pro-touring, projects and just wanted to have a vintage ride.

I foresee as Fox's and Cobras enter collectable only pricing, we will eventually see SN95/NE cars climb as well. A S187 and S550 is just nothing like those old Fox-Chassis cars.

Definitely an interesting read. I remember the first video of a Terminator street racing against an LS1 Camaro. I believe I was 17. Bought my car when I was 25. Threads like these make me glad I never let it go.

interesting discussion about what generations of young people like what cars and how it affects supply and demand. i thought i once read that your love of cars gets imprinted on you when you are under 10 years old, and that ends up being generation of cars you lust after when you become old enough to buy one.

while that might not true for everyone, it definitely was true for me. i was born in '63 and was a moparhead when i became old enough to drive. to this day, my single favorite car is the '69 1/2 dodge super bee with the a12 6-bbl package.

the gas crisis happened in the early 70s, so by the time i was in high school no one wanted the newer cars because the 70s were the absolute most lame time for car enthusiasts, and 60s musclecars were still plentiful enough to find (although affordable ones were probably a little ragged out by then). around 1980 i can remember seeing a rough '70 440 superbird for sale for about $800! un-freakin-believable... then, as FL-Frank said, after that prices started shooting up like crazy, and the days of cheap 60's detroit iron (ANY mileage or condition) were long gone. for example, there is a welder/fabricator on youtube (i think he goes by #junkerup or something like that) and pretty much all he does is collect and repair 68-70 dodge chargers. you should check out the condition of the cars he buys - they're absolute basket cases and he pays more for them than i would have ever believed. but when he finishes a car, he doesn't even list the sale price lol.

i can definitely see the terminator being the dream car for a whole generation of young people. however, the difference between the 60's cars and the terminator is that there has been no horsepower drought in 17 years since the terminator. horsepower only continues to increase year after year (unlike the 70's). but as has been mentioned, since the sn95 was the last platform built at dap, it's the last one with the visceral rawness and early musclecar feel before the onlslaught of all the current electronics and nanny controls.

truth be told i only went over to ford because chrysler was literally absent from the musclecar game for 40 straight years. they had no rwd v8 musclecar offerings when i was in the market for new cars. but, had i waited until the current era of hellcats and demons, i sure would have missed out on all the fun i've had with this car.

About 6 months ago I got a call from a guy who bought my old MC. It still only had 300 miles. He paid $56k for it. Highest price I know of one being sold for.


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I guess I’ll keep mine...

I guess I’ll keep mine...

Stupid site.

FL.-Frank said:

Here’s my take (I’m probably somewhat biased as I own an original, documented, pristine ‘04 Terminator Vert with just under 1,400 miles on the odo)....

Let’s consider the top tier muscle cars that came out of Detroit in the late 60’s...Boss 429, Shelby Mustang, COPO Camaro, LS6 Chevelle, Ram Air GTO, 442 W30, Hemi Mopar, etc. They all sold in $5 -$6k range when new. Unfortunately, Many if not most of these were used, abused, modded, raced, crashed, rusted, parted, and/or junked by the time they were 15 years old. In the mid to late 70’s there was little demand for these cars and prices were relatively cheap. However, by the mid to late 80’s, demand started to increase pushing the market up. Here we are 50 years later and although there have been a couple of “market corrections” over the years, the market for original, low mileage, documented examples of these late ‘60’s top tier muscle cars is still very strong.

Just like the late 60’s top tier muscle cars, 03/04 Terminators were produced in fairly low numbers and came from the factory with amazing (for the time) power and performance, and were sold new in the $35k-$40k range. 16-17 years later, and pristine examples are now selling for near $40k.

IMO, as demand for original, low mileage, documented Terminators is already on the rise, the market will continue to strengthen, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see pristine examples commanding $50k within the next 2-3 years, and $75k -$100k 5-10 years from now....provided we don’t experience any drastic/permanent changes in the availability/cost of gasoline.

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I agree with basically everything you said, but your numbers are a bit high.

I mostly keep an eye on Mystichrome cars... prices have been strong for low-mile unmodded cars. I’ve seen high 30s and well into the 40s for quite a few with a couple of 50k cars. Demand is strong and the number of low mile virgin examples is low. I don’t see $75k-$100k in 5-10 years though.

gasyone said:

About 6 months ago I got a call from a guy who bought my old MC. It still only had 300 miles. He paid $56k for it. Highest price I know of one being sold for.


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I think I saw him on Facebook looking to sell it. He was asking $65K or so for it. He changed his mind later and decided to keep the car. I think his name was Wayne Sewell.


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HPLouis said:

I think I saw him on Facebook looking to sell it. He was asking $65K or so for it. He changed his mind later and decided to keep the car. I think his name was Wayne Sewell.


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That’s him....


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03cobra#694 said:

Stupid site.

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LMAO!!!!

Goose17 said:

I agree with basically everything you said, but your numbers are a bit high.

I mostly keep an eye on Mystichrome cars... prices have been strong for low-mile unmodded cars. I’ve seen high 30s and well into the 40s for quite a few with a couple of 50k cars. Demand is strong and the number of low mile virgin examples is low. I don’t see $75k-$100k in 5-10 years though.

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Come on Goose. Gasyone sold his 300 mile MC coupe for 56K a couple years ago. You of all people should believe that in 10 years a 300 mile MC coupe could go up in value $19K and command at least 75K if not more...……

I hope the high-end Cobra's go for $100k and the lower level cars go for $75K in 10 years. I would be "real" happy with that LOL...……...

Black Gold 380R said:

I hope the high-end Cobra's go for $100k and the lower level cars go for $75K in 10 years. I would be "real" happy with that LOL...……...

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hahaha I'm right there with ya brother!

Black Gold 380R said:

Come on Goose. Gasyone sold his 300 mile MC coupe for 56K a couple years ago. You of all people should believe that in 10 years a 300 mile MC coupe could go up in value $19K and command at least 75K if not more...……

I hope the high-end Cobra's go for $100k and the lower level cars go for $75K in 10 years. I would be "real" happy with that LOL...……...

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Sounds lovely, but I just don’t see that aggressive of a value increase. Out of all of my cars, my 11k mile Teal 93 Cobra has risen the quickest. It is approaching double what I paid for it in 2014. I don’t see the Terminators on the same value curve (yet).

I think the only way the Terminators hit that curve is if there is a movie or something to push the car's image. In the grand scheme of things from what I have seen most people don't know what a Terminator is outside of mustang people. I have been to many many car shows over the years and people just see it as a new edge and move on or ask "is that the new body style?" I will get maybe one person every few times that will know what it is.

Goose17 said:

Sounds lovely, but I just don’t see that aggressive of a value increase. Out of all of my cars, my 11k mile Teal 93 Cobra has risen the quickest. It is approaching double what I paid for it in 2014. I don’t see the Terminators on the same value curve (yet).

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