5th gear feature on cars to make money on

Did anyone else watch this week's "5th Gear"? They had a special featuring cars they thought would appreciate (financially) more than gold.

Their choices: Spitfire, e30 cabriolet, and the 1980s Rolls Silver Spur.

They had some predictions on percentage increases in value over the next few years to go with each car.

I did what any other 30-something who hasn't made squat on his IRA: I checked to see if I could buy an e30 with the money in there! As it turns out, the IRS frowns upon "collectibles" and will tax/penalize accordingly. I also found a "fund" that you can buy into which invests in collector cars, but its a grey area...

The next thought of course is to pick up a toy that will appreciate to fund the next toy. What is the GRM thought on cars other than the e30 that are going to be worth more after a few years of play?

My thoughts: 944/968 cabriolet, 3rd gen camaro/firebird, early VW GTI.

There was a thread pseudo-related a few weeks ago, both here (about flipping for profit) and CMS (about cars as an investment).

The consensus from both was that unless you get really really lucky you are either a) going to end up with returns far worse than a balanced investment portfolio, or b) lose every time.

I am a car dealer and I can testify that it's way harder than it looks. Even with wholesale connections, it's not easy to make money on this business.

All that said, my crystal ball says FOx body Mustangs will go up soon (lots of people like them & they've been too cheap for too long, so good ones are hard to find).

The crystal ball also suggests 1961-3 Thinderbirds will gain some traction. These cars are a whole lot of cool for very little coin, and that never lasts.

can money be made in this fashion? yes it can...are there loop holes around the IRS yes there is. i dont the think the E30 will be worth a ton of money in 10 years sure it will go up but not like other cars have or will. the spitfire will never hit the status of say the the TR6... a lot of people say the FOX body is the next great collectable i dont see it happening way to many out there and a lot of nice examples in garages already......nothing really jumps out at me that was built from 1976 on i mean you have things like the Grand National and a couple that might make 30k to 50k sometime way down the road. i just dont see anything made in the last 40 years that i would consider a true collectable car. i think you will see cars from the 40's 50's and 60's that were overlooked as a collectable being a better investment than anything later

GARAGE COSTS! Honestly, look at how much a garage costs you to own. Building maintenance, land taxes, heating/cooling, and very soon you are left with very very little else. Please don't tell me you plan on keeping a collector car outside...

The E30 might make it. Production wise the 318is is 2x as common as the M3 with 41,234 world-wide, vs 21221 for all flavors of M3. And I bet you the 318is's haven't been taken care of as well! So that's kind of interesting. It's still no M3 though.

I've done well with cars. Everything from Blue chip Italians to original domestic land barges. My pick is the Alfa GTV. IMO, way undervalued. My little GTV provides 5/6ths of the driving/aesthetic experience of my vintage Ferrari at a tiny fraction of the cost. Remember, you heard it here first.

M030 wrote: All that said, my crystal ball says FOx body Mustangs will go up soon (lots of people like them & they've been too cheap for too long, so good ones are hard to find).

I bought one back in 03, a 91 hatch, all stock, only 12k or 13k on it. I paid $11500 and couldn't get more than $8500 on ebay 5 years later.

I too am looking at different ways to save for retirement. With the stock market at all time highs, my IRA is flat. Someone is making money off my money and it's not me. Cars can be tricky. IMO, you need a car that people with money will be able to buy in x amount of years. The 240Z is a classic example of a car that should be worth more but the fan base not being wealthy enough to carry the price up. 100% stock, rust free cars are very rare yet lucky to get $20-25k.