every time I watch an auction I keep hearing the word RARE so what do you consider rare?

 

Cooked on the outside and red in the center.

 

... And more than a bit juicy.

- Eric

 

A stick shift Oldsmobile. (except F-85 / Cutlass of course)

 

Rare does not always mean valuable as discussed here more than once. A friend once had a '71 Impala 4 door. It was a straight 6 with 3 on the tree shifter, no AC. Couldn't have been many made in that configuration but definitely not valuable.

 

Rare might be something you need to look a long time to find. I agree that the term is way over used with the implication that it must be highly valued. But as oldspackrat pointed out, there's been several discussions on how some less desirable cars had low production numbers or low survival rates. That doesn't mean there's a huge demand for those "rare" cars.


John

 

I ignore the word "rare" as a general principle. Unless you are a dealer, or buying a car as an investment, it doesn't matter anyway. As it has been said many times on this site "A car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it."


Find a car that you like, dicker on the price, and if you can afford it...buy it and enjoy!

 

I call the 69 H/O convertible rare. Also the 1897 Olds is rare but by todays standards, everything is rare. I feel like there should be less than 1000 made to be considered rare but at the same time, The older they get the more could have been made to be considered rare today. Like the 62-63 jetfire, there was around 9000 made in two years but today there are estimated to be around 50 to 100 left. The number is likely to be well less than 100. Makes it rare today but not rare in 1963. There will never be a set of rules to go by so it will always be abused.

 

About like musclecar. I seen a 77 Cutlass listed as a musclecar a while back.

 

Didn't you know? Anything built before 1990 that has rear-wheel drive is a muscle car now.


And if it has fewer than four doors, it's rare too.

 

for sale
rare muscle car
1985 442
numbers matching
non original motor
3:73 gears
original body
chrome wheels
overdrive trans

 

"muscle car" A chevette coupe with a 4 sp. and rear wheel drive
So my first new car with no power steering/brakes (above) was a muscle car!

Pat

 

This is the one that drives itself to go get red light tickets, right?

 

Come on, we all know if your selling it , It's rare, if your buying it , it's not . now that's simple to understand.

 

'66 W-30
'67 W-30
'68 Hurst Olds
any L-88 Corvette
the only ZL-1 Corvette known to still exist (only two sold to the public)
any '69 ZL-1 Camaro
1957 Chevrolet with fuel injection
any late '50's Pontiac with fuel injection
any Buick GNX
1965 396 Chevelle
any '69 Trans Am Firebird (especially convertible)
'67 Z-28 Camaro
Any ORIGINAL Shelby Cobra
1954 Kaiser-Darrin

 

Kaiser Darrin, about 10 years ago I was driving through the town of Jacksonville Oregon when a Kaiser club was there. Main street is only a few blocks long and maybe 15 Kaisers were parked along the street. There was a Darrin and what struck me is how the door slid into the body rather than swung open like other cars. That was a strange but cool looking car, too bad they didn't make more of them. John

 

On a 35+ year old ride. She should have all original options, carpet must match the drapes, unless the carpet has been pulled up and waxed (bonus). That's a rare ride worth getting your hands on.

 

Agree. Now try to find a Packard Darrin from the early 40s. Dutch Darrin was one of the last of the custom coach builders and a good designer.


I have an acquaintance in the Portland, Oregon area who has one that someone botched the restore. He wound up with it after the Packard purists wouldn't buy it and since he cannot help himself and has to hotrod every car he has, the Packard wound up with a Viper V10 power train! Dire threats from Packard enthusiasts soon followed.

 

Ha ha. That's funny.

How many of them can still ambulate without a walker?

- Eric

 

Pocket doors with a semi-automatic. No need to get the walker from the back seat I guess.

 

I kinda have a rule of thumb that 2500 is the cut-off for rarity. But does that mean a 1970 W-30 is not rare since it's around 3100?

I recently had a discussion on Facebook with a person who called a 1969 Barracuda Mod Top "super-rare." I responded that Mod Tops are not as rare as he thinks - it's almost 1000 hardtops. He then responded about how they made 31,000 hardtops so almost 1000 in comparison is rare. But I don't feel total production has any bearing on a car's rarity.

He then responded with a "how many exist today?" but we really don't know that. What I do know is that I see Mod Tops at big Mopar shows and if I'm looking for a Mod Top car, I shouldn't have to look far for one. Rare? Sure. Super-rare? I think that's reserved for something like double digits.

 

You want rare? Try to find a Vega that hasn't either rusted into the ground or been tubbed with an SBC swap. I was looking for a stock 71-73 Vega wagon to do a Quad 4/T5 swap as a daily driver, but fugettaboutit. I remember being amazed at a totally stock and rust free Vega wagon at the Syracuse Nationals a few years ago, but it was a 74. I never liked the sloped front. I used to own a Vega wagon that I dropped a 215 into back when I lived in SoCal. Even there, the car rusted out.

 

Plenty of younger Packard fans at the meeting we went to in Salado, Tx a few years ago.
Not the biggest show I ever attended but young and old enthusiasts were there. They made my wife and I feel very welcome, and one owner asked us if we would like to sit in his absolutely immaculate pre war model while he took pictures for us.
Like most old car enthusiasts, they welcomed anyone reading the same book, even if we were on another page.

Roger.

 

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/...d.php?t=298992

https://www.mecum.com/lot-detail.cfm...=FL0111-102857

 

How about a 1965 442 convertible with an original fully synchromesh 3 speed trans?

 

A lot more Hemis were built in 1966 and in 1968.

 

A thread on this site that isn't a re-run.

 

After Joe mentioning the Vega, I would also have to say a rust free Chevy Luv is rare. Well, ANY chevy Luv is going to be hard to find now.

 

LOL.

- Eric

 

Buddy of mine had one of those "back in the day."

The crappy engine had crapped out. He had a Volvo V-6 laying around the garage.

Half a day and a few sticks of welding rod later, he had a running truck.

- Eric

 

a buddy of mine had 3 of them in High School. We beat the crap out of them. In 97 I went out to Glamis (Imperial Sand Dunes) and seen one that looked like new other than the paint had been blasted from several years of sand storms. It was the last time I have ever seen one.

 

Rare is a phone call after 5pm from someone that's not a telemarketer !

 

Took the words (and the food) right out of my mouth! LOL! Great answer.

 

lol!!

 

The truth

 

Especially at an auction.

- Eric

 

 

How about a Olds Toronado powered Morris Minor pickup. I'd say that would cover "RARE". Larry

 

Indeed.

 

The saying is the Vegas were rusting out on the showroom floor. (LOL) Rare to me, is my Prototype Chevrolet Rally center cap. One of the rejects, found it in the trunk of a 74 Malibu 4 door in a wrecking yard in Phoenix. GM test ground are located close by. I think its 1 of 1, they made a half million, I would think a Corvette collector may want it but don't think they would pay much. That to me is a "Rare Find"