Any other benefits to owning one or more classic cars?
The greatest ‘benefit’, at least to me, has simply been pride of ownership. I enjoy my cars....looking at them, driving them occasionally and sharing pictures and information with others who have similar interests. The internet has accommodated that last benefit to a huge degree.

And another benefit not be to be dismissed, of course, is the increase in value classic cars have been enjoying in recent years. In the fall of 2006, Newsweek magazine reported that the classic car industry had increased by 25% in the previous twelve months alone...becoming an $18 billion a year business. That’s pretty impressive. Those values are beating even a strong stock market and a generally robust economy.

It’s being driven largely by ‘Baby Boomers’ and their ability to buy and collect the cars of their youth, the 50s & 60s...a time when most people agree, the automobile industry was at its zenith in terms of design, performance, style and production quality.

You mentioned the internet. Did you ever buy any of your cars over the internet?
That’s an interesting question because about ten or twelve years ago, I met a local car sales owner who dealt mostly in upscale classic cars. I had been to his showroom and he only had a couple of cars. I asked him where his inventory was and he told me most of them were in nearby warehouses. When I asked him how that worked if people couldn’t physically see the cars in the showroom, he said, ‘Oh, 90% of the cars we sell are bought online by customers all over the United States and beyond.’

I couldn’t imagine buying a car that way. After all, at the very least, car buyers had always wanted to ‘kick the tires’ of the car they were considering. (continues on next page)