Original 58 on BAT

Over $200K already. The green-ish interior is interesting

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Son of original owner tells a great story in the video. Car was used as a daily driver and, after four years, already had 65,000 miles when the owner and his two kids did a 7000-mile cross country trip, averaging about 600 miles a day.

Video shows pages from the log of the trip. Gas stops - $4.00, stops for 'eats' - $3.50.

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And oh, further inspection of the travel log shows:

On the first day, they left from Carmel at 2:00 pm and made it to Reno, NV, 429 miles in six hours. So, counting two stops for gas and presumably some 'eats', they still averaged over 70 mph.

And that was three-up (and their bags on a luggage rack), with a 70-hp 'normal' engine through the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The log makes no mention of any encounters with the CHP.

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I just love that green interior. It is so different. I bet any original green interior cars got changed right after they changed hands. You don’t see that combo often. Love it. Anyone else?

Perfect balance of use and repair/resto. The Florida story & logbook is worth about $85,000 imho.

@Sacto Mitch wrote: "So, counting two stops for gas and presumably some 'eats', they still averaged over 70 mph."

You know, some of those long-time 356 owners really kept their foot in it when they drove.  Remember Norm Brust from the New England 356 club?

Well, unfortunately we lost Norm recently, not to Covid, but Norm was up over 90.  I did a few road trips with him and once he got onto an Interstate he would run it up around 85 and keep it there, never giving it a second thought.  He did that to a number of Porsche national events east of the Mississippi and, amazingly, never got a speeding ticket!  He might have talked himself out of a few, but that's ok, too, right?

One of the PCA members here has one of the rare Belgian built Roadsters with that color combination.

Norm Burst drove fast to get to the next pee stop..Im driving faster myself these days....

Sold for $375K US
-=theron

@Theron posted:

Sold for $375K US
-=theron

Wow. This is fascinating. A $3588 car in 1958 sells 62 years later for 104x. By comparison, a similar investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $755k ($661k after capital gains). Obviously this car is more than an investment, and it's hard to see the original owner wanting it any other way. But given the return, it's hard to see how car collecting makes sense as an investment strategy—even when it works out this well.

Is it fair to say car collecting isn't an investment strategy, but rather an entertaining diversification for those with the means?

My car is just fine. I hope the new owner drives it like the first.

Suddenly, my friend Jimmy's '58 356 restoration is making a whole lot of sense.

@Theron posted:

Sold for $375K US
-=theron

I got in this hobby in 2000. I wanted a car that didn't rust, and Mrs. Galat said, "anything but a Corvette". I landed on replica Speedsters, thinking they were a smart and economical choice. My first on cost about $10K, and was almost brand new. At the time, a decent original was about $40K.

I had JPS build on in 2002. I had what I felt was a completely unreasonable $30K in the car. Originals were about $60K.

I had Intermeccanica build me a "coach" (without running gear) in 2005-- my "all in" with my engine/transaxle/brakes, etc. was about $50K. That was many, many, many thousands of dollars ago. I could've bought an original for about $75K at the time.

My car is worth less than I paid for it. A lot less. An original is now about 10x what it was 20 years ago.

I care not.

You have to say that not chasing the rust bug is a sure saving

And, wait another 10 years and you will get your money back  

I would be tempted to have an appraisal done on your car from either IM or another as to cost to replace the car.  IM would be my preference.  That is something I have been contemplating as the years go by especially since I do not have a form 19A on my car and that way I can set the price of the car for replacement value so to speak and you know if something should happen we will be in a long discussion with the insurance boys since they love depreciation and we love appreciation of value.

I had a 1972 911T for about 5 years. It was a basket case, all in pieces. It needed floors, fenders, and rear quarters, along with lots of assembly and fettling, plus lots more parts. The motor needed bearings and seals, all machine work was done and parts were there. The engine was easily worth 25K assembled all by itself. In the end I sold it, I'm quite sure I'd still be working on it twelve years later. It killed me to sell it, it was a close friend's car who passed from pancreatic cancer.

But I sold it, in the end it's steel and chasing rust is not my bag. I'm quite happy with my plastic fantastic.

Picking the right car is somewhat like picking the right horse, right Secretariat.