Who says our cars will not be collector cars.
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I don't think we're at the peak of prices by any means. About four or five years ago, we seemed to hit the *bottom* of prices, where you could pick up some pretty excellent original CRXs for under $3000. Since then, I've watched as prices have steadily climbed.
I don't know what the reason is for the sudden climb in prices of clean, original CRXs. Nostalgia? High gas prices? A combination of the two? We're hitting a time when some of the people who really, REALLY wanted a CRX in high school or college, but couldn't afford it, are now hitting some of their prime earning years, and have the disposable income to indulge themselves in a "toy" or two. Looks like some of them have remembered that fun little car they wanted back then, and can now afford it, and want one as close to "new" as they can get.
Or maybe I'm just projecting, since that's pretty much how I feel about CRXs...
Either way, I'm glad I've got two pretty good examples in my driveway ('90 yellow Si and '91 burgundy DX).
Mike
I don't know what the reason is for the sudden climb in prices of clean, original CRXs. Nostalgia? High gas prices? A combination of the two? We're hitting a time when some of the people who really, REALLY wanted a CRX in high school or college, but couldn't afford it, are now hitting some of their prime earning years, and have the disposable income to indulge themselves in a "toy" or two. Looks like some of them have remembered that fun little car they wanted back then, and can now afford it, and want one as close to "new" as they can get.
Or maybe I'm just projecting, since that's pretty much how I feel about CRXs...
Either way, I'm glad I've got two pretty good examples in my driveway ('90 yellow Si and '91 burgundy DX).
Mike
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778 Posts
I had two people want to buy my CRX DX a weekend ago. The paint isn't the best on the roof. One guy followed me on the highway and pulled up next to me in a town to ask and another left a note on the windshield.
The demand is going up. The cars are becoming collectors' items.
I haven't had more fun driving a car than I have in my gutted 90 Si mini-me.
The demand is going up. The cars are becoming collectors' items.
I haven't had more fun driving a car than I have in my gutted 90 Si mini-me.
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734 Posts
That's a gorgeous car...although i wouldn't pay even what the bidding is at right now (~5700), much less what it will go for 5 days from now when the auction ends. Not to take anything at all away from it, because that car is pretty much perfect...but I've seen similar cars go for around $4K. The big issue with these cars is the difficulty of finding a car that is the "total package" -- that is, low miles, no rust, and unmolested (or, if it has custom modification work, work that's very well done and that fits your taste, i.e. a clean and well-done B-series or ZC swap).
Because of the good gas mileage, age (the newest CRX is now 15 years old) and longevity of the CRX (as in, they run FOREVER), the great majority of them have pretty high mileage these days. Because of the performance and flexibility of the cars, tons of them have had crudely done engine swaps, body kits, painted interiors, and other crap done to them. And, because of the thin sheet metal, problem areas, and age of the cars, rust is pretty common, especially in certain areas that are relatively difficult to fix (quarter panels).
All of these factors, combined with the fact that the cars are getting increasingly rare as they die off, rust, and get low-quality modifications done to them by well-meaning enthusiasts, means that the price on a low mileage, clean, rust free, and unmodified CRX will continue to climb, possibly into the "holy sh1t" range. I know cars are generally poor investments, but picking up a clean CRX if you see it for a good price could actually pay off upon resale a few years down the road.
The exact same thing happened to domestic muscle cars over the last several years. Lots of TV shows like Overhaulin' helped to drum up interest in owning and customizing classic cars, and Baby Boomers with money to burn decided to pick up cars that they owned or dreamed about in their youth. As a result, it didn't take long for the cost of these cars to go from a pretty reasonable level to aforementioned "holy sh1t" levels. It used to be only rare/high performance models or cars in incredible conditions that went for sky-high prices...now, people are paying the same premium prices for rough cars that aren't even rare or original (like straight-6 Mustangs with V8 swaps or 318cid Mopars (with or without 383/440/Hemi swaps). These cars, even when in pretty good shape, used to be the dime-a-dozen cars that Joe Sixpack could buy and work on, because he didn't care about "matching numbers" or what engine was originally in the car, he cared about getting a car at a good price and wrenching on it to make it into something of his own...but now, those same dime-a-dozen cars are going for astronomical prices, and are often out of the price range of an everyday guy looking for a clean starting point for a do-it-yourself musclecar project.
Look for the same thing to end up happening to the CRX at some point. At first just the ultra-clean examples like this silver Si will go for high prices, but it probably won't be long before we are scratching our heads trying to figure out why a DX with a rough D16 swap is out of our price range.
Because of the good gas mileage, age (the newest CRX is now 15 years old) and longevity of the CRX (as in, they run FOREVER), the great majority of them have pretty high mileage these days. Because of the performance and flexibility of the cars, tons of them have had crudely done engine swaps, body kits, painted interiors, and other crap done to them. And, because of the thin sheet metal, problem areas, and age of the cars, rust is pretty common, especially in certain areas that are relatively difficult to fix (quarter panels).
All of these factors, combined with the fact that the cars are getting increasingly rare as they die off, rust, and get low-quality modifications done to them by well-meaning enthusiasts, means that the price on a low mileage, clean, rust free, and unmodified CRX will continue to climb, possibly into the "holy sh1t" range. I know cars are generally poor investments, but picking up a clean CRX if you see it for a good price could actually pay off upon resale a few years down the road.
The exact same thing happened to domestic muscle cars over the last several years. Lots of TV shows like Overhaulin' helped to drum up interest in owning and customizing classic cars, and Baby Boomers with money to burn decided to pick up cars that they owned or dreamed about in their youth. As a result, it didn't take long for the cost of these cars to go from a pretty reasonable level to aforementioned "holy sh1t" levels. It used to be only rare/high performance models or cars in incredible conditions that went for sky-high prices...now, people are paying the same premium prices for rough cars that aren't even rare or original (like straight-6 Mustangs with V8 swaps or 318cid Mopars (with or without 383/440/Hemi swaps). These cars, even when in pretty good shape, used to be the dime-a-dozen cars that Joe Sixpack could buy and work on, because he didn't care about "matching numbers" or what engine was originally in the car, he cared about getting a car at a good price and wrenching on it to make it into something of his own...but now, those same dime-a-dozen cars are going for astronomical prices, and are often out of the price range of an everyday guy looking for a clean starting point for a do-it-yourself musclecar project.
Look for the same thing to end up happening to the CRX at some point. At first just the ultra-clean examples like this silver Si will go for high prices, but it probably won't be long before we are scratching our heads trying to figure out why a DX with a rough D16 swap is out of our price range.
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1,197 Posts
Just wait....you think the prices are climbing now...wait until the Gen Xer's start to retire and want the car they owned in high school/college. Like the baby boomers did with Mustangs, Chevelles, Camaros. Have you seen the prices of muscle cars lately? I'm sure collector car experts in the late 70's never thought that these cars from the late 60's, early 70's would be worth much either, too many were made, most were based on humble "economy" cars (for the time). But now these cars regularly fetch $100K at auction. I'm not saying that CRXs will ever command those types of prices but I'm very sure they will never be cheaper than they are right now....
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"Never ever sell a rex unless you are out for good." -- shorte (or what I would imagine him saying)crxfisher said:I should have sold mine the day after I bought it.
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