$16,740 Corona!!!

[toyotageek]

I just received this news from a friend and it is a few weeks old, but, can you believe it?!

It seems a 1966/67 Toyota Corona in near mint condition with only 8,500 miles on the odometer sold at the Silver Auctions in Arizona for the nice sum of...$16,740!! What did they go for when new?! That's got to be over 4 to 5 times it's 'new' value!!

Full story and pix are on the Hemmings Auto Blog - link to the complete story HERE .


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Michael - Collector of Toyotamobilia ~ http://www.toyotageek.com

[ben]

Great find, toyotageek! After a horrible day dealing with ice and snow this news totally made my day. After reading your post I checked an old mag I had laying around and... are you sitting down?

The as-tested price for a 1968 Corona was $2130, with the only option being a $59 radio!

This seller made nearly EIGHT times the car's original value and even got 8700 miles out of it too Lucky! (or not, depending on how you look at it, I suppose.) How many of us could endure driving around with plastic sheeting on the interior? Not me. Thanks for posting this!!

[Stickerman]

Yes, but $2130 in 1967 dollars is about $12,800 in 2007 Dollars.

Also, if you bought a 2% bond for $2130 in 1967, it would be worth $32,802 now.
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Mark
Maryland

[toyotageek]

That definately puts it into perspective!

But really, who would have ever thought an early Japanese econo box would see those prices. A couple of years ago, my friend sold his completely restored Stout for just under $10,000. Maybe it just goes to show that the time of the Japanese Nostalgic Cars has come of age!
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Michael - Collector of Toyotamobilia ~ http://www.toyotageek.com

[ben]

Ah, so true Stickerman. Actually, I personally think car collecting should be more about the love of the machine than investment, but it's still impressive when a 40 year old car sells for almost 8 times its new value, no? And like toyotageek pointed out, and econobox nonetheless!

[Koich]

I think if it's really clean, some people will dish out big bucks for sentimental value....

If I was rich and saw a car I wanted when I was a teenager, in pristine condition at a auction, I'd jump on it and bid over it like there was no tomorrow. Money is not the issue in a lot of cases.



Just wish I can reach that "rich" status first. lol

[Stickerman]

I have been involved with Datsun Roadsters for 20+ years. The interest in older Japanese stuff has grown more in the last 2 years, then the last 15 years. The interestng part is, most of us are interested in all Japanese shows, not brand specific ones.
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Mark
Maryland

[Koich]

[1977ra29]

I think it's definitely a movement in its infancy. Whether someone will pay 80k for a nice fully restored Z vs a nice fully restored 1970 Mach I w/ a Cobrajet shaker scoop is still yet to be seen.

But if you're just in it for the money, you're missing the whole point. I know for myself and many others, these cars were a big part of our growing up(do we really ever grow up?). So there's a nastalgia about them. Whether we owned one or wish we owned one back in the day is kinda the emotional link. Since most of us are now in those mid-life crisis days and have a little extra cash, we can now indulge ourselves a little bit and have some fun.
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It is better to close your mouth and appear to be an idiot, than open it and remove all doubt. - Fortune Cookie

[ben]

[1977ra29]

It think old car enthusiasm tends to run in 25-30 year cycles. The big difference in this round is that import cars were the big thing starting in the 70's, not the US manufacturers. Some of the greatest American cars peaked in the late 60's early 70's and unfotunately, never returned to that same level of cutting edge design and engineering excellence. Funny, I think that was the same timeframe when US universities started the MBA program. BAHAHA
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It is better to close your mouth and appear to be an idiot, than open it and remove all doubt. - Fortune Cookie

[RA25]

Nice to hear all the classic cars are going up in value...

[Stickerman]

My guess is this, in collector car circles, the value shifts as the people who wanted the cars when they were young, get old enough to afford them, hence the 25-30 year cycle. A perfect example of this is the 68-82 Corvette, these have been the stepchild corvettes for years, and not worth much. These are now going up in value. If you look at auction reports from the last 10 years you see American Muscle going up while early 60's British goes down. Since Japanese cars have really only been around 40 years and only popular for about 25-30 it is reasonable to assume they will start to rise.

That being said, my main observation is there are a lot of Vintage Japanese fans that can afford the high dollar stuff, but just don't want to. I personally find it funny that I get more looks and comments on my 67 Datsun 1600 than I did on a 64 289 Cobra. Most people thought the Cobra was a Kit car, and have never seen a Datsun Roadster.
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Mark
Maryland

[RT112]

I think it's also party due to a new generation of collectors.

The cars in my family in the 70's and 80's were mostly Japanese. I guess that's why I'm interested in them now. People tend to gravitate towards the cars they grew up with, or were desirable when they were a kid.

I searched for years for a mid-70's Corona hardtop because a neighbour had one in the 80's and I wanted one like it.
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Brett Nicholson
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
75 Corona RT112 JDM Coupe 18RG
80 Corona RT132 Lifback 18RC
88 Corolla Seca 4AGE
71 Mini Moke
65 Mini Traveller
09 Nissan Pathfinder