It seems like there is a weird trend going on right now with ultra-wealthy car collectors selling off most or all of their collections and these are collections that have largely been assembled over the last 10 years. Coincidence? The whole thing seems weird as Texas businessman and kabillionaire Sam Pack joins Ron Pratte as a second major car collector to liquidate a huge portion of their stuff. The thing that is really odd at least from a business perspective is that these guys are going to take an absolute bath on this stuff. Honestly they are going to get killed as they likely purchased the cars and trucks at prices that were significantly higher than what the stuff will bring on today’s market. To simpletons like us, this seems like a really bad thing but perhaps to masters of the universe like these guys it is a play to manipulate the system somehow.
Pack’s collection has some really neat cars and trucks in it, especially an array of Ford concept vehicles. Now none of them are the types of legendary concepts that spawned cool cars and most of them were never produced at all but they are still one off concept cars and that’s neat. There are cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes in the 130 lot auction. From the cleanest Fox-body Mustang we have ever seen, to rare pace cars, hot rods, customs, lots of restored icons, and plenty of convertibles there is plenty of convertibles in there as well.
Now, back to the original question. Why are these guys liquidating all of their stuff? Will the fact that these huge collections will sell for far less than what they originally were purchased for start to drive values of cars down? The reality is that we can blame the auction houses all we want for forcing the prices up so quickly but the opposite can happen just as fast if the bottom falls out of what people are willing to pay. Sure that is unlikely but it is possible. If these concepts were bought for $200,000 a piece and sell for $50,000 it will not help guys who are selling concepts from the same era. We’re talking hundreds of pristine cars between Pratte and now Pack. That’s a small sample size overall but these tend to be the cars that actually set the values for the market.
This could get REALLY interesting in a hurry.
CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL 130 LOTS THAT WILL BE SOLD FROM THE SAM PACK AUCTION
IMO . . . prices are at the highest they have been for some time. So it makes sense to sell off high valve cars.Another person who is selling a portion of their collection is Tim Wellborn.
Not that I’d know, but the fun part is finding them. Not tripping over them in a giant warehouse.
If I were stupid wealthy, I think it’d be more fun building them (or commissioning them) like Glickenhaus or Poteet.
I too think they are getting out while prices are high. Also I think they see that if they hold onto them any longer, there will be nobody who can afford much less WANT those cars in another 15-20 years.
There are less young people who want cars much less collect them, If you want the car of your dreams they should be really cheap in the future.
There was an article in Forbes about a year ago stating that the value of muscle cars was going to decline as the core group of owners gets older and dies off….
The younger guys are into their tuner cars or like my son no interest in cars at all except to get to work in —
I was at the Huntington Beach Veterans car show yesterday, and there was some beautiful cars there. But the owners are now into the late 60’s and beyond…. This “value” of these cars is a pyramid scheme, there has to be two (or more) guys wanting that one car at auction to drive the prices up…. But what will happen when it comes a time when there is only one or possibly no one wanting these cars, what will their value be????? Look at the prices of stock model T’s and A’s and how they have started to fall for an example…
I looked through the list of cars and all I can say is WOW, if this is what he is getting rid of I wonder what is being kept, some awesome cars going up for sale. I have no idea what the wealthy think, reason to let these cars go, but all these fantastic cars spread out among the hobby for people to see is good for the automotive world, (hope 1 person does not buy them all and they disappear again), it is a ready made collection. again WOW
So here’s the ugly truth which I’m sure no one here will listen to but in the vain hope at least one person might …. here it is ;
The truth of the matter is … those of us of reasonable to extreme wealth with our eyes wide open can all see whats on the financial horizon … and it aint pretty .
And those of us in this privileged position also realize that when the ___ does finally hit the fan full on …. CASH is king .
With those of us still having multiple possessions on hand rather than an excess of cash divesting ourselves of said possessions while the prices are high and there’s still clueless folks out there with eyes wide shut willing to hand over their cash in order to buy them …. thereby increasing our cash reserves for the future we can all see coming like a freight train down the tracks .
Thats why ! Financial wisdom trumping the need to possess
So can those not of wealth benefit from this information ? Yeah … you’re damn right you can ! Big time in fact ! First and foremost by stopping … stopping buying this … purchasing that on credit … trading adequate for larger just because you think you need to … as well as selling off a few things yourselves in order to increase your cash reserves .
But hey …. no one will listen . Cause of course .. what do I know ? Well … a hell of a lot actually … so consider yourselves duly warned and informed
OMG! Are you saying that my beat up 74 Matador won’t be a nest egg I can sell and retire on one day?!!! Holy crap I’m screwed.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/11/05/tim-wellborn-to-auction-off-half-of-wellborn-musclecar-museum-collection/
To put it simply, I believe big collectors see a coming glut. They’ve probably been hoarding up these things for years from old guys cashing out…now it’s getting to be their turn…and with the coming generation probably having less interest in these-type collector’s items, the trend will not favor hanging on to too much. The price for sitting and watching prices fall must also include some pretty high storage and maintenance costs.
Small collections of genuinely meaningful-to-the-owner cars will survive and thrive. Smart shoppers who always wanted a whatever-it-is might be advised to keep saving the pennies and waiting, as their time will likely come…
I didn’t know there were any stock Fox body Mustangs left. This guy had 2. WTF?
Who is John Galt ?
Rich people that are not truly, seriously into cars but more as a casual thing are not good for the hobby. Your LS6 Chevelle was never “worth” a million bucks, you could have bought all nine surviving Futureliners for what Ron Pratt paid for one and spent the change restoring them.
A local guy paid huge for a Hemi Cuda that sat in his garage, nobody at Mopar shows would have known this guy even had it. He didn’t have calendars or clothing with cars on them, other than the Cuda he didn’t collect any car stuff. He saw the auction prices fall and bailed out losing over a quarter million dollars on his car. Prices went way up just a year later, He actually thought that like the stock market it could some day soon be completely worthless, That his half million buck car would be under a hundred bucks if he waited.
Hmm, some nice cars..and the prices on some of them…to me anyway seem reasonable….
These guys are most likely hoping that other billionaires will pay more than they did and they’ll make out like bandits.
Let’s face it, the age group that loves these cars is dying off. So in 10 years who’s going to buy them? We can romanticize these cars as much as we like but today’s cars ride much better and in many cases MUCH faster. So once the age group that grew up with these cars and loves them is gone, the market will crash. Good time to get out.
For a lot of these guys, the thrill is in the chase. Pursuit of something better is in their nature, that’s what leads to their success in business. They relish the challenge of finding the best of the best, making the deals, acquiring that rare and elusive car that no one else can get. Then doing the restoration, if needed, and setting up the perfect place to display them. Some are intrigued by the challenge of competing in prestigious shows like Pebble Beach. But once the cars have been found, the restorations done, the shows won, some get bored and find a new passion. Reality sets in that they can only drive one car at a time. Or they have some unfortunate large loss in their business, and need to raise cash. Or they find the collection to be a burden. I know a guy who had a collection of Fords from the very beginning up to modern day, all nicely displayed, and open to car clubs for tours. Probably at least 100 cars, and he was very enthusiastic about them. When he auctioned them off, I asked why. He told me that he was starting to feel like the collection owned him, not the other way around. He kept a couple of his very favorites.