Every time I read about "investing" in guns and whether they'll lose or gain value, I get bummed. I must be a lousy invester. I'm pretty sure my lifetime investment in guns hasn't lost or gained more than 20%.
On the other hand, my lifetime investment in automobiles is distinctly in the red...by the time I finish paying the $75,000 I agreed to for the ones in the driveway, I expect they'll be worth about $10,000.
I have nothing whatsoever to show for the first $250,000 I spent on autos....or the $200,000 I spent to shoot clay targets...or
You are confusing investments with liabilities. A car, used as a car, is a liability. It is an expense that is a necessary evil for most of us to produce an income. They get used, hard.
Some cars are investments, but, you typically lose the "use" part of the deal. I have a very nice 442 that sees regular use, if ice cream runs, weddings, funerals, and car shows, that all occur in the summer months, counts as regular. I paid the princely sum of $3750 for the car, in the late 1990s, with it's trunk packed full of parts collected over a decade by the previous owner, who lost interest in it. I have far less than 10K into it (I restored it, myself) and have turned down triple that figure for it. Recently.
I believe the old muscle cars are in the same sphere that double guns are in, namely, people not old enough to remember them in regular use are uninterested in them. I believe the value of the old 442 will decrease as the years go by, same as doubles, in general. However, I keep it, because when I pump the pedal to set the choke, light it up, back it out of the shop, and listen, as the idle on the original 400 motor settles into a nice lope, and drive down the road, often using the AC unit that contains 4 lbs of R12, or, kick the thing into passing gear, going onto a freeway on ramp, listening to the sound the secondaries of the Q-jet produce, through an open air cleaner, I get a feeling other cars simply aren't up to. It doesn't remind me if my lights were left on, and commands a bit of respect, as it is far from an idiot proof driving appliance that most cars today are.
One of the real smart guys here opined that you make your money on guns on the buy. I've had some sucess there, but, it isn't a consistant thing. Some guns I will do well on, if I sell, but, I hardly ever sell a personal gun.
So, it mostly doesn't matter to me what they are worth.
Same as the old car.
Best,
Ted
