Poll Will our trucks get priced out of the common folks affordability?

[70cst]

Recently there has been a lot of discussion on where are trucks prices are heading as far as being able to afford them. I for one feel these will always (at least for now) be within the price range of the common folk. Oh yes there are some very high dollar trucks out there in the market place yet at the same time there still are plenty of affordable trucks available. It comes down to what type of truck one wants. Prices...they are all over the place. Board members here for the most part are offering parts at very reasonable prices. Even most of our vendors are keeping prices within an acceptable range. EBay...that's another story. I wonder how many people who purchase on ebay have no idea this board exist? Better yet have no idea that WESS...GMCPaul, or Tim C. and others are out there supplying our needs at affordable prices. So the question is...will are trucks stay affordable or will they price themselves out of our affordability...to soon to tell. Let the board speak!!!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I for one feel these will always (at least for now) be within the price range of the common folk

Isn't that an oxymoron?

I already can't afford mine...

[BigSky71]

IMO, there are too many of these trucks around for them to become '69 Z28s.

Sure the high optioned short fleet with a BB and no rust is rare, but any truck from the six year run can become new again with relatively cheap parts. I would guess that in a dozen years or so a '67 C-10 will be worth, about what a nice '55 pickup goes for now, which is not muscle car dollars...

[KFreddy]

70CST,
your post/ question had me thinking some...

In the summer 1987 I was 16 years old. While my friends had summertime jobs and fishing, surfing, football, baseball and Moroso. I had a summertime job and summer school. I clearly remember having to retake algebra and Spanish. Two subjects that I had the clear distinction of receiving a D and an F grade respectively. I also clearly remember wanting to be able to work on and drive a 1955 2 door Chevy. Not a 210 not a Del Ray, not a Bel Air but a simple 2 door '55 Chevy. My dad as a kid had a '55 Ford Mainline with a transplanted Lincoln supercharged 312 and I had dreams of such a sleeper for myself.

The deal with summer school went something like this if I earned two "B" grades in my classes my folks would lend me the $1000.00 I would need to afford said '55 2 door. I had about $700.00 saved up and figured that by the end of the summer I could earn another $300.00 with my $4.55 an hour youth minimum wage job. With that dream of $2000.00 I had quite the selection of '55s to choose from in the local auto trader. 283 or a transplanted 305 or 350 it really didn't matter I just wanted my 2door '55 Chevy and they were all in good condition, priced between $1100.00 and $2500.00 In the end I received a B and C grade, Mom and Dad held firm at the "nines" and the deal was off.

I wound up buying a 1968 2 door Nova for $700.00, albeit with enough cash left over to install a Crane fireball cam a Weiland intake, a carter 4 bbl and duel exhaust with glass packs. The car ran 13's in the quarter mile and in my part of Miami became a bit of a legend. I finally sold the car when I graduated college for $3000.00 <sigh> But legend or not it never was the '55 2 door Chevy that I dreamed of.

Now I have had a 1972 C10 for about 3 years, with a ZZ454 that spins the tires at 75 MPH, this truck is awesome and one of my great enjoyments in life. But the reason I have a C10 as a hot rod is the same reason that 20 years ago I bought that Nova. Though it speaks nothing of what will be affordable 5, 10 or 20 years from now. The C10 is what I could afford now.

[LockDoc]

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The prices do seem to be rising but I think It's too soon to tell where they will go. I think I will start buying up all of the good, reasonably priced, 73 up short fleet boxes and tailgates that I come across. They look to be the next in line when the 67-72 trucks get too expensive for the masses....

LockDoc

[67ChevyRedneck]

I also think the 73 to 87 are "next up" but also the 88-98's are starting to become pretty popular with customizers and can be "realistic" daily drivers for the average guy (cheap insurance, overdrive, good fuel mileage, etc.)

Hard to tell. Doubt the truck will ever get as high as musclecars because as the truck increase in value, they do to... they've got a long way to go to catch up!

[Chevy454]

While the price range of "common folks" is a whole other debate, I will say this...

The trucks will never catch the cars in terms of price, but the cars will drag the prices of the trucks up with them...simple(!) economics says it will! As more and more folks are priced out of muscle cars, they're turning to more affordable classics...but as more folks look to trucks, the demand grows, and the price follows.

Like it or not, they ain't building any more of 'em, and they ain't gettin' any cheaper...!

[special-K]

The good ones already are too much for the average guy.There`s no shortage of trucks.Just fewer good solid rustfree optioned trucks.If they`re nice now,they are quite expensive.

[redneckgirl]

I think they're still affordable now if you can do a lot of work yourself....like Special-K said, the really nice ones are getting up there, price-wise. But I don't see them sky-rocketing like the cars of the same era. For now, at least around here, folks are still looking at them as just 'old trucks' not classics.....

[Chevy454]

It's a micro version of the muscle car market. The cars (and now trucks!) that we all used to pluck from original or early owners are quickly drying up, as every Tom, Dick, & Harry are out beating the bushes for them and any other old rig looking to cherry pick them and then flip 'em for Barrett-Jackson money. Granted, there are exceptions, we see them every day, but watch what the cars do, because the trucks are following.

I watched a feeding frenzy on a muscle car site over an ultra-nice low mile original owner '72 lwb Hugger Orange Cheyenne Super recently...went for close to $10k, and was a small block/auto truck, that had touch-ups and it's share of repro parts?! Sold within minutes of 10+ folks posting they'd take it. Wasn't very long ago that you coulda drove it home for under $5k any day of the week...but folks are looking for the next market car, or even neat tow/parts rig.

['68 longbed]

I'll say one thing for the chevy's in general, they tend to have such a good series of years that have popular cars/trucks. my experience is with the tri-5 cars (55-56-57) chevy's . they are mechanically identical and wildly popular, any common shlub can nickle and dime a 57 chevy in a few years and have a very respectable car for less than 10 grand, almost regardless of what you started with.

just like our trucks, mechanically identical (for the most part) and that makes it easy to scavange used parts and easy for aftermarket parts to be fairly easy to poduce and sell without really having a niche market.

just like the tri 5's i'd say they will be reasonable for quite some time.

[xshadow]

what is affordable

[corn]

What about the 67-71's?

Our trucks will definatly go up in price, but I dont think they will ever go crazy high like the muscle cars have...

[FRENCHBLUE72]

Yes they will go up ... hold on to em...........id say the base models will not go up but the super trucks will go up...

[Ron 586]

I voted that it is much to early to tell.

[Scott68-93-97]

There already getting high priced but do I think they'll reach muscle car status of the chevelle ss, hemi cuda, etc. NO They may increase a bit but I think will stay in the affordable side compared to rare muscle cars, but hey if more of them go to the crusher who knows how rare our trucks might become and where the price may go

[eedgell]

Just from a production number stand point not many of our truck will reach muscle car price. A Z28 or RS/SS camero for example might be worth 20 to 50 thousand today, but a plain camero or nova is still 1500 to 4000. Some of our trucks are rare in number produced, but not nearly as much demand for them as the old hot rods. Old hot rods were'nt in high production either, but that was because of affordability, and practical application. I dont think our trucks were ever not affordable or unpractical. Just less demand for some of them, and more for others. Much like today. I say prices stay with inflation.JMO

[ChevLoRay]

A well-optioned vehicle, whatever it is, will always bring more money than a plain-Jane version. Documentation is the key....Getting it, keeping it.

I like to think of what we have in our trucks, as if I was a kid in high school when I graduated in '65. At that time, a nearly 40-year old vehicle was made no later than 26. What vehicle that was nearly forty years old, did we want at that time? I don't think that there were any. Move on up to the Model A's and B's. The early-thirties Fords (for the sake of this argument) are what I am basing my comparisons on. Sedans, coupes, roadsters, touring cars are all worth more than the pickup. The roadster pickup is worth more than the fixed-roof cars and trucks. We all know that there are no roadster versions of our trucks.....unless you factor in the Blazers. The Suburbans are the sedans, the Blazers are the touring/roadsters (without the tops) and the trucks are, well, the trucks. So it becomes a matter of content. If a given vehicle came new with the big block and all the bells and whistles, it'll bring more than one with a small-block, which will bring more than a six-cylinder. Automatics will be desirable. The variations of each body style will always be interesting, but accessories will play a part. Originality will be a factor. Low-mileage will always be a premium. Original paint will add value. Patina will not. Again, the documentation of what you have will be the decider for some in choosing to buy or pass on a given vehicle.

So, do we keep them original? Is a Deuce pickup with a small block worth more or less than the same-appearing vehicle that runs the original model-B four-cylinder? What if it had the original flathead V-8? It will always depend on the buyer and his/her desires. Plenty of A's, B's and early-late thirties rides were butchered. There are those that weren't. If you have a barn find, you may, or may not, have a jewel in the rough. It may be that it has hosted a covey of pigeons, or a nest of mice or a den of rattlers. That will make recovery "interesting".

As long as the integrity of the style is maintained, and the vehicle is mechanically and cosmetically complete and roadable, I am of the opinion that the value will not decline, and may appreciate to a level that we feel is "high-priced" in comparison to today's prices. At the same time, like-vintage vehicles will also appreciate....some at a faster rate. We've already seen it. The auction houses bear witness to some of the prices we have seen.

As for me, my truck will be what I want it to be. It will be desired by some, and not by others. It won't matter. As long as I like it, it's no biggee. I won't trash my truck and neither will anyone else, as long as I can have an input. But I just turned sixty, and I know I won't live forever. Somebody will get it and I won't even know who it is, unless my will designates who it will be.

[70cst]

Very good feed back! But I have a question. What is a SUPER Truck? How do you define a Super Truck? What makes a SUPER Truck? Does a SUPER Truck have to be Factory Optioned or can one make a SUPER Truck? Does it have to be a BB number matching fully optioned truck? And where does the 4x4 come into play? I need answers!!!!!

[HeavyD]

[QUOTE=eedgell;2352171]A Z28 or RS/SS camero for example might be worth 20 to 50 thousand today, but a plain camero or nova is still 1500 to 4000.

Geez must be nice to live where you are. Maybe the 70+ camaros are only worth 1500-4K, but any decent 67-69 up here is way beyond those numbers, plain jane or not.

[bad6772]

id say its still to early to tell...you can get a decent truck around here from 1,000 to about 6,000....depending on what you are looking for.these are not local trucks to me, but within 50 miles

[streetstar]

excepting the few people who get really lucky and score sweet deals (we've read your stories and seen your pics) -- most trucks that are good "starters" are in the 4-6k range, and sometimes more for a good short fleetside. Some people could get a 6k truck and be happy with it forever, while others can get a 6k truck and obsessively fret about everything it needs to be "finished".
Starting out with a 50k miles truck with original paint and little rust is expensive at first, but less in the end for most.

If we could all agree on a median price for trucks that would be nice to have and drive, then that would be the approximate market value for these trucks (granted - not all these trucks, but maybe the ones whose condition and build quality many of us would like to emulate)
I think personally that is around 15k -- which conincidentally, is about what it costs to buy a new Chevy single cab V6 truck too, only it is much easier to finance the new one.

15k means rolling a nice $6000 truck into the shop for a year, and then rolling it out again with the frame detailed, every mechanical item attended to and as new, and a squeak free, rattle free ride, or close to it. (of course if you commission a pro to do every little thing for you - it will cost much more)

You can still get trucks for 2 grand, its just that the quality of the truck you can get for 2 grand now is way down because of ebay ----- but at the upper end --- 15k is the magic number to start. 20 years ago, it was 5 or 6k
Only in the truck world can something that is bagged and on 20's with a late model FI engine swap be worth more than a numbers matching big block truck

[corn]

Originally Posted by corn

What about the 67-71's?

This was just a joke BTW. Re-read the last choice.

[Ram-Man]

Originally Posted by corn

This was just a joke BTW. Re-read the last choice.

I must be dyslexic I didn't even catch it.

[70cst]

Hey Corn Reread the poll...they have multiple choices. The first choice is to select the future direction of the prices of these trucks. That is a valid question. The second choice is if our trucks will ever reach muscle car value. Ok I see...the joke is on me! It's amazing I read this numerous times and did not see the 76-72 soooooooo I win the "Stupid" award. I think I need a cup of coffee!!! A Corn I will admit you got me. All I can say is "shucks"