When I was in high school my first car was a 67 Chevelle- 327, 310 HP. Bought it for $200. It was a California car an had lots of rust around the windshield and backglass. I was going to repair the rusted places but decided to start with the engine and, with the help of my brother, rebuilt it. That’s as far as I got.

Back then the Chevelle was simply a used car. In fact, you could buy any one of the Muscle cars of the 60′s for $1200- $1500. Chargers, Challengers, Cudas, Chevelles, Cougars, Firebirds, Cameros GTOs, Mustangs, Lemans , you name it. All were in reach except maybe the Corvette which was the Holy Grail.

Well now my Chevelle would be worth about $13,000- in the condition I bought it. Muscle cars have not only become a collectors Item but they are sought after investments. Their values will never go down unlike home prices. Companies and wealthy individuals snap up every available example of these cars and restore them. The purchase prices might be in the teens to the mid and high 20’s . Restorations run $20,000 to $30,000 then they’re sold at auctions for over $50,000 and up. I recently saw a Dodge Charger sell for $110,000. The people that bid have deep pockets. Buying these cars is probably a hobby for them.

I know that it’s common business practice to buy low and sell high but the 1% has driven up the price by being able to pay it. It’s an artificial demand created where as prices increase, the demand also increases. They are taking these cars out of the hands of the people that built them.

Thanks to this display of opulence , my Chevelle is now the Holy Grail and the Corvette is parked at the pearly gates.