<SIGH>
We have no more civility in this country...sadly. 

I did a car show in Santa Rosa, NM last Friday and Saturday. Bozo and the Crew fun run. 350-mile round trip, the car ran great. Even though it was pouring rain, the show was as big as usual, 150+ cars. It was nice to see all the cars pulling in Saturday at 7am, regardless of the heavy rain.
Unfortunately, we found out Bozo's son, Tim / Bozo Jr. committed suicide just 2 weeks prior. My public condolences to the family. Their state senator, always at the show every year, gave a 15 minute eulogy.
 My "Tim story": 3 years ago, I was at Bozo's museum in Santa Rosa, and Bozo took a long look at my car and said he really liked it, "very well done" he said, If you ever sell it, I wouldn't take less than 45K for it. He then told me he was headed for his shop, and wanted to show me his current build. While I was at the shop, Bozo's son, Tim came out to the parking lot to look at my car. He said, really nice, is it for sale? I said no, but your dad just told me if it was, not to take less than 45k for it. Tim just said: "Damn!"

Hope and pray all of our southeastern members have done OK with the storm!  Looks like another one coming for the Gulf coast?

Ditto, Bill. That was a tough storm, and a big area. I'm not aware of any members from Tn., or the Carolinas, but I'm sure we must have some.
I'm headed for my favorite car show tomorrow. It's the Run to the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, NM. 300 miles, 78 degree high, 0 percent chance of rain! perfect!. Ruidoso was another area hit by disaster earlier this year. small mountain town that lost 1,000 structures to the fire. I'll get a first-hand look. I almost sold the '57 there last year to a collector. Hopefully he'll be there again. I've dropped the price significantly.

Rich, what do you think about classic car pricing? Do you think your price was too high, or do have people less money to spend, or is there a shift towards, or away of certain models?
I'll be attending the classic car auction in Salzburg in 2 weeks. Neither selling nor bidding, but I'll be very interested which cars will sell and their price.

I hear of alot of guys buying cars, but, generally I think the market is getting soft for 50s and 60s cars, regardless of type of build. The reason is obvious when you go to a car show and 90% + of the attendees are in my 70s age group. I think it's still strong for the Chevies though because of the Hispanic appeal, and the fact that in the Hispanic world, it's a continual family thing, so the younger generations are still into it big time. Just my 2 cents.
I've dropped mine from 45k to 37,500 after putting more than 8 thousand into it this past year.

Case and point, I have had my '57 advertised for $29K in two separate places for three months; I have only had one person that was interested and he was in Australia and offered me $22K because of shipping and tariffs.
Needless to say, I didn't sell; I'll just keep it.

Interesting thoughts ! Rich, you have a point about Hispanic people. Videos of lowrider or 'Bomb' type car cruises often show whole families, 3 or even 4 generations. something that may be lacking in other communities.
In Europe it seems there is a shift towards late model 'classic cars' from the 1980s or even 1990s. Some of them are still more affordable to younger guys, and it seems that middle age collectors with money, now tend to collect cars from their youth, which isn't prewar or 50s cars anymore, but rather 1970, 80 or even early 90s. Some of these like early Audi 4wd or Lancia have become very expensive.
I will report back from the classic car auction, it will be very interesting if the original Cobra sells. it has an estimate between 800k to 1.2 mio.

Part of the "soft" market is a bunch of us are "dumping" at the same time, relatively speaking, and flooding the market.  Going to little shows and cruise-ins the preponderance of cars is now Corvettes, Chargers and of course the late model Mustang and Camaro crowd with a spattering of 50s and 60s cars.  Hardly any "street rods" (pre 48) out there anymore!  The economy is hard for the younger crowd today because of the "need for toys", those toys don't include classic cars.  It's the electronics, boats and fancy up to date clothing and lifestyle.  Now lets add to that the cost of building a car!  Many of us did our own work, couldn't afford to hire it out.  Today the younger folks (20s - 30s) are still trying to keep up with the Jones' and don't have time or location to go the learning route.  Older more established folks are enjoying the lower cost of obtaining a classic car.  Their numbers are limited because they didn't grow up in what I consider the greatest time of world as we did!  That would be the 50s and 60s, IMHO!

  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Pretty much says it all...

Don't give up on the younger ones yet!
My new next door Neighbour has a 64 Comet,302/5 speed and it's very nice.... and a bunch of other Ford Products.
He is 25 and works as an electrician ,... he just bought the home next to use.
I think it's all about financials..... Anyhow.I definitely think the early Ford Market is more than soft..... there is a hole in it.
Building today has tripled from 10 years back.

Oh I agree Jeff, they are out there doing their thing like we did.  The youngsters can take $10K and build a killer rice burner.  No rust, no searching for parts made of unabtainium and a wide open aftermarket.  They are us, just a completely different venue.  They are having just as much fun with their cars as we do with ours.  A lot of us older boomers are having difficulty keeping the pace we usta could......

Yesterday I stopped by the hotrod shop where I work occasionally. Sitting on the lift was a 4-door 55 Chevy, solid car for a builder. I know the owner of this car and I have helped build two previous hot rods for him.
He has already ordered a 600hp LS crated engine and transmission to match, we're going to build a 9" rear to fit. with all the needed hardware air cond. etc. he's going to spend probably $30 k on it. He's a young guy maybe 35 and makes good money, I guess my only point here is that's a lot to spend on a 4-dr. Barry

Spending $30K on a crew cab 55 Chevy, to each his own I guess; but If we think there is no return on our 2 door investments, what the hell is it going to be on a more-door??

I am just giving this a 'what if' thought. I know how most everybody prefers a 2dr or coupe over a moredoor, but actually the guy may be right on the money. At 35 he maybe already has kids or planning to raise a family and it may even be smart to combine his hobby with family duties. He can actually use this. My friend Baumi from Germany has driven 100k mls in his  driver quality '55 (the wrong brand) 4dr over the past 9 years. Even a humble six cyl car ! He has been all over the place, and nothing has stopped them, when their little boy came around 3 years ago. it seems they have driven the 4dr even more often since then, because his other cars may not fit the bill so well, all having 2 drs and being very collectible, and clean cars.
I really got to like 4 dr sedans, when I had my 1966 250SE. The shorter extra doors came in handy, whenever I took my son to school, in narrow parking lots at the home improvement store or piling 5 guys in the car and going on a long weekend trip.
Not going to debate the beauty of 2 door cars, as I still want to build my 57 Del Rio Ranch Wagon, but I certainly don't mind my Country Sedan having extra doors. camping in it is so much easier with the rear doors as an entry. just saying.