Reply to "Comment on Pantera Prices"

The subject of Panty pricing is alway a contentious issue with Panty owners. Some like the fact that they are cheap because that's all they could afford. Others just like bargains - cheap is always good in their book. Others buy Pantys because they have a love affair with the car, appreciate it for what it is, and buy it because of that. Then there is always the gold chain crowd.

In support of Dave's note, I believe that rising prices benefit all owners, regardless of what category you are in above. Rising prices mean that more people will maintain their Pantys properly. Why? Because you won't feel like you are throwing your money away everytime you properly maintain or improve the car. You can partially justify spending the money because the car is worth more money. As a result, more cars will be properly maintained. And with more people properly maintaining and improving their cars, the vendors will be profitable and will continue to support the Panty. And with more people properly maintaining their cars, Pantys will develop a better reputation as a collectable car. (collectable for driving pleasure, racing, shows, or whatever you choose.)

(I know a lot of you maintain your cars well out of love of the car, but I think you are the exception. In fact, the simple fact that you are reading this probably means you are in that category. But hear me out.)

There is a flip side to this. Since Panty prices have languished for so long, many owners have not properly maintained their cars and/or used the cheapest repairs(sometimes unethical) they could get by with when something did go wrong. Why should they spend money on something that is going down in value. A lot of cars just sit in garages unused and deteriorating because the owner doesn't see any potential in the car.

So what has this done for the Panty's reputation? A lot of folks have bought cars that had all sorts of hidden problems, lousy rebuilds, hidden rust under flashy new paint jobs, cheap or inappropriate modifications, etc. In my part of the country (I'm president of the local Dallas/Fort Worth POCA chapter) every car that has been bought in the last several years turned out to have some sort of significant problems; problems that caused the new owner to have to spend a lot of money repairing the car so it was safe and drivable. And they were all surprised that this happened. It's no wonder Pantys have a bad reputation in some quarters.

Now, if prices had been going up, some of those cars would have been properly maintained. The owners could see a return from keeping their cars properly maintained. The owners might have even been more interested in the cars because they were becoming more collectable.

So where does this lead us. I believe that there are two Panty markets developing. There are the cheap, problem riddled, $20,000 cars that are risky and or expensive to correct after you buy the car. And there is the market for good Panteras that seems to be getting better all the time. $35,000+ is the low end for these cars and its nothing to see much higher prices.

As owners, we need to stress that there are two markets so when people ask what's a Panty worth, we say there are two markets and one of them is very risky. Support the higher prices; it's in everybody's best interest.

Jeff (Panty obsession)
6559