OCTOBER 1987 – BORGWARD ISABELLA COUPE
This would be one of the last Borgwards to be built, with the company forced into bankruptcy late in 1961 and its founder, Karl Borgward, dying in 1963. The company’s products had seen decent success in Australia since the mid-1950s and it was common to see Borgwards taking the place of compact Jaguars and smaller-engined Mercedes-Benz. Today they are very rarely seen, even at specialised German car shows, and looking to Europe for price guidance shows cars being offered at $70-100,000 but no confirmed sales.
Now: $5450
Then: $55,000-$65,000
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JUNE 2004 – CHEVROLET CAMARO CONVERTIBLE
Holden dealers loved to park recently imported Camaros amongst the HRs in their showroom just to drag foot traffic inside for a look. These in the North American market were nothing special and not particularly expensive, but once they arrived here loaded with factory options and then the added cost of Right Hand Drive conversion, buyers needed a hefty bank balance to own a ‘prestige’ Camaro. The cost of an SS convertible like this one climbed a few years back but is now back at levels not too far above the money sought in 2004.
Now: $50,000
Then: $65,000-$70,000
JUNE 1985 – CITROEN LIGHT 15
Citroen’s Light 15 excited the world when launched in 1934 and was still considered modern in all but appearance when this one was built in 1951. Even by 1985 the old Citroens remained viable as regular transport, with the odd one maybe still trundling to the shops or office. About 760,000 of the Light 15 and associated models were built in France and also at Slough in England. Hundreds, maybe thousands of the right-hand drive cars came to Australia, so by the 1980s they still weren’t rare and values for good cars sat at around $6500.
Now: $12,750
Then: $30,000-$35,000
FEBRUARY 1997 – AUSTIN A40 TOURER
If you drove down a suburban street in early 1950s Australia, these frumpy little Austins were in every second driveway. Prior to the Holden’s arrival, Austin was the country’s biggest selling brand and Tourers were the cheapest Austins because their canvas tops cost less to make than steel. As age wiped out the A40s, soft-top cars disappeared first and became more expensive, with good sedans in 1997 at $2800 and Tourers like this at $6500. Spending $4500 on a tidy Tourer like this would have guaranteed decent gains.
Now: $4500
Then: $11,000-$14,000
APRIL 1998 – FORD THUNDERBIRD 1965
In a quiet market, Thunderbird values have been suffering a crisis of buyer indifference and $35,000 is reasonable for Hardtops in slightly better condition than this one. Casting our gaze to the dark days of 1998 we found the Unique Cars Value Guide price for a 1964-66 Hardtop in Fair condition to be $9000. However, the poor desperate who was trying to sell this car had slashed that by more than a third. Cars in similar condition today are worth around $30,000, but that hasn’t changed much during the past 10 years.
Now: $5950
Then: $25,000-$45,000
JUNE 2001 – BRISTOL 403
It didn’t take a Columbo or Poirot to figure that this big, curvy coupe with its distinctive grille probably wasn’t styled in a shed out the back of a British aircraft factory. Bristol, as WWII ended, needed a project to keep its metal-shaping workforce occupied and when someone in Germany stumbled across the design for a big new BMW, they grabbed it as ‘war spoils’. Three versions of the original Bristol 400, which initially had polished aluminium bodywork, were built from 1948 Until 1953 and are keenly sought now.
Now: $15,000
Then: $55,000-$70,000
APRIL 1992 – TRIUMPH TR7
Triumph’s TR7 was launched in 1975, took three years to be released to Australia and even then hardly sold at all until promoted by the biff and barge of televised Pro-Car and Pro-Am race series during 1980/81. The TR7 when discontinued in June 1981 was priced at $11,800 and it is hard to see how this car with a reconditioned motor and a few kms under its wheels was going to justify $9000. In today’s unsettled market with good TR7s hard to find, prices aren’t significantly higher than during the recession-plagued 1990s.
Now: $9000
Then: $11,000-$13,500