Are Miatas now "collectible"?

There's a difference between a "real car" and one with a car payment. Think about the middle ground between 15-20 sub-$4000 cars and two new Toyota SUVs.

I never said that my cars were all sub $4000... just that not spending money on newer depreciating vehicles is what allowed me to own them...

Sounds like we're similar in what we have... my newest car is my tow vehicle (bought way down the depreciation curve at 7 years old with 90k on ) and I also have a "modern" decade old M Roadster. but other than my "ancient" truck, my sister would deny that I have a single 'real car'. ;-)

(The car used most like a "real car' is my wife's 1990 E30... which is likely still worth close to what I paid for it 80k ago.)

These are my newest cars... and not coincidentally, really the only ones still depreciating. But still nothing like a newer car plumments.

I want to know where to buy whatever this guy is smoking:

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ctd/1980550149.html

I assume this is a typo, but still

Well, it is a rare model. Not only does it have a tilt wheel, sunroof, passenger airbag, power leather seats, power mirrors cleverly stuffed into the manual housings, a rear window defroster, a child seat and side airbags - it's also a 1990 white that doesn't have the paint peeling off. Now THAT is rare. So I think the price is perfectly justified

Yeah, that is a very rare Miata that was never built in that configuration by the factory. Now if the Porsche buyer from the other thread had an ad that sounded like this one, I would give him a better chance to win(although the Seller is going to be able to argue that any knowledgeable Miata purchaser who does his due diligence would know that such a car never existed).

These things are all over the map. My cousin bought a 93 with under 20k last year from a widow for $5000. I paid $3000 for my clean 91 with 90k. Another friend got a rough but running 93 with 93k for free. Condition has a ton to do with it right now. Stock up while you can, I guess.

The guy who walks in to the dealer to look at a Porshe or Lotus, and drives away with that Miata, will be big money ahead no matter what he paid! If he is happy with the performance of the Miata, how can we say he came out second best. Chances are such aperson would not know where to go looking for such a clean car IF he was so disposed. Hard to believe, but there are people who have a lot more money than time or interest in shopping for a car!

As to "Is it worth it?" I do a lot of tin work for people who are restoring MGB and othr Brit cars. The cost to re-hab a shell to paint is 10k minimum and you struggle to keep the cost under 20k. When they are done, the cars are worth about 10-12k.

My advice to anyone who wants to DRIVE a collector car is to buy the best one they can find. If properly maintained, chances are that in five years they can sell it for what they paid. I suspect that this will apply to Miata just as well. That Miata, in five years with another 30k on the clock will sell for over 10k if maintained as a collector car. That will have made for very cheap driving compared to those of us who buy 5k cars and try to stay on top of the repairs only to junk the car when done.