I remember when these were approaching $40k...
Keep in mind that was a 7K mile car. (museum piece) The very best examples of the ND RX-7, and Turbo Supras will reach these kind of prices, but don't expect an 100K mile car to approach them. It's sort of like the nicest early Datsun 240z in the world may now be a $60K car, but you can still find decent examples for $15K or less.
Personally, I'd rather have the 100K mile driver.
I believe you could still hoard some Japanese sports cars like the 1st gen RX-7 and MKIII Supra because they haven't taken off yet but likely will when their more popular versions are priced out of control.
Someone really wanted that one. A 5K mile one solid on BAT for 56K in June. I think it's a crazy price personally but I also never though too much of the Supra.
loosecannon said:I believe you could still hoard some Japanese sports cars like the 1st gen RX-7 and MKIII Supra because they haven't taken off yet but likely will when their more popular versions are priced out of control.
About those RX-7s.... Hagerty is telling people that clean examples are worth at least $8k, and are a good place to buy in.
New problem: There are probably as many stock 1st-gen RX-7s around as there are 4th-gen Supras, and collectors don't give a crap about modified cars.
One of my friends bought an Esprit Turbo after one of his friends pointed out that they are the last of the 80s supercars to experience massive appreciation. If he was right, then my friend has a nice 4 wheeled investment. If he was wrong, then he merely gets to enjoy the kind of car we all drooled over as kids reading Car & Driver. Failing to see the downside.
Sure makes me wish I kept my mkiv.
I have really mixed feelings about this phenomenon. 90s Japanese cars are what turns me on. I really enjoyed that they were affordable and reliable. Now the market feels like its running away from the true enthusiast. I Need to grab a second gen mr2 and another 1st gen celica before they're out of reach too.
In reply to Carbon :
A common sentiment of long time followers of a particular car or brand. Personally, I see that a lot in the classic Mini world: "I remember when you could get a Mini for 100 quid and drive it for ages and then send it to the scrap yard..." and grumble about how project cars have asking prices in the thousands now... ...because so many were sent ot the scrap yard.
As far as Japanese cars... the market is definitely doing something... a few days ago on a Facebook group for "obscure cars" I follow, someone posted a CL ad for a '78 Datsun F10 non-running project: $2200. To me, having grown up with one of those POS cars, that's a crack-pipe price. But who knows...
For what seems like forever, a really clean 91-92 MR2 Turbo was $6500, a 93 was $7500, and 94-95s were $10-12k.
Yesterday, this not-so-clean 91T sold for $8200 and people were surprised by the reasonable reserve.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-toyota-mr2-12/
And this 92T Supra that needed a lot of work went for $9200
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1992-toyota-supra-3/
I can't afford to hoarde...I'm just trying to buy another clean one. People have said this stuff was going to go up in value for a couple decades, and turns out they were right. Grab the 90's car you always wanted now.
Supra Turbo joke -- What do a 450hp, 650hp and 850hp Supra all have in common? A 12 second quarter mile.
You can only make money if you sell. My MR2s, S2000, etc are all staying. Thus like CA property , my “gains” are only in paper
I prefer to keep them, drive them, enjoy them instead of worrying about their values
Carbon said:Sure makes me wish I kept my mkiv.
I have really mixed feelings about this phenomenon. 90s Japanese cars are what turns me on. I really enjoyed that they were affordable and reliable. Now the market feels like its running away from the true enthusiast. I Need to grab a second gen mr2 and another 1st gen celica before they're out of reach too.
Used I guess they were, for a very short while, wasn't the MSRP on a '94 Turbo Supra in the mid-40s back then? That's the equivalent of mid-upper 70s now.
In reply to z31maniac :
Yes - the Supra wasn't a cheap car when new, which is the main reason they didn't sell very well. Doug Demuro reviewed a Mk IV Supra recently, possibly adding a bit to the hype of them being the next big thing - assuming the car is original and stock.
It does make one wonder if there might be a budding industry for restoring modified cars back to original. Prices will likely need to get a bit higher and stay there for awhile before that happens.
Why though? The entire driving force behind the popularity of the 90's bubble cars was that people modified the crap out of them. If you're buying a low mile completely stock one you ovbiously have no idea why these where popular in the first place and are just jumping on the band wagon.
Plus you can't drive it anyway because it's now an investment.
I'll take an uncrashed modified one any day of the week over a garage queen.
The JDM market for the supra's is about to split wide open and there seem to be a bunch of decently clean examples there. So for anyone not in a CARB/SMOG area. There are still MkIV Supra's to be had for not insane prices.
https://shinkuclassics.com/inventory/1993-toyota-supra-sz-2/
spacecadet said:The JDM market for the supra's is about to split wide open and there seem to be a bunch of decently clean examples there. So for anyone not in a CARB/SMOG area. There are still MkIV Supra's to be had for not insane prices.
https://shinkuclassics.com/inventory/1993-toyota-supra-sz-2/
No 2JZ, fanboi no care is why.
That looks to be the engine from the previous gen Supra, no?
Thus like CA property , my “gains” are only in paper
What do you mean, just reverse mortgage your CA house and use the money to buy three in Texas! Now you own 4 homes, 3 of them free and clear!
In reply to z31maniac :
Looks like a 2JZGE to me.
What you mean to say is no 2JZGTE no care. Because, without the legendary turbo engine and 6 speed transmission, the supra isn't really special.
So being in my late 30s I've been around long enough to see the classics appreciate (60s-70s) out of my price range before I had the $, and now the stuff I grew up with is going up in value (80s-90's) and will soon be out of my price range.
I wonder when the stuff later in the curve actually starts to go down? Like, will 60's collector cars/trucks actually start going down with a dwindling audience? I would guess 40s and 50s cars don't have a huge audience at this point, but have no idea if their values have dropped at all...
TGMF said:In reply to z31maniac :
Looks like a 2JZGE to me.
What you mean to say is no 2JZGTE no care. Because, without the legendary turbo engine and 6 speed transmission, the supra isn't really special.
Correct. I found a bunch of mislabeled pictures. Who would have though?
The0retical said:Why though? The entire driving force behind the popularity of the 90's bubble cars was that people modified the crap out of them. If you're buying a low mile completely stock one you ovbiously have no idea why these where popular in the first place and are just jumping on the band wagon.
Plus you can't drive it anyway because it's now an investment.
I'll take an uncrashed modified one any day of the week over a garage queen.
I totally agree with this. The appeal (to me) was the availability of performance parts for these cars, they were cars that were light weight, fast, and could handle decent right out of the box vs. a lot of the domestic market, at the time, was still being the "4000 lbs car with 3/4 race cam, 750 double pumper and double-hump heads" crowd (not to say there weren't exceptions). Plus late 80's/early 90's japanese cars were arguably some of the best looking cars on the market at the time.
If i ever got my hands on an unmolested supra/rx7/300zx/3000gt/skyline/NSX/etc. i would end up 'molesting' it pretty hard.
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