Muscle Cars and Guns after 50 yrears......

[fortyshooter]

My two fields of interest over the years with the gun hobby the most recent...I sat back and compared the two.

1969 marked the high point of American engineered and built factory performance cars. All the auto makers offered a wide variety
of performance cars available for most anyone's budget. The huge selection of 1969 models would fill a 100 page magazine as you can see!

With dealerships up and down the highways and plenty of cheap high octane feed for them you could get dizzy trying to pick one for your 3000-4500 dollars to spend!

After 1972 the bottom fell out of the market due to high insurance cost and tightening EPA regulation and the coming gas crunch.
During same time frame of 1969,from what I read, there wasn't a huge variety of handguns available being mostly S&W, Colt and Ruger...I could be off here a bit but it was nothing like today.

So flash to the present 50 yrs later and the wide variety andvolume of handguns today is huge while the American performance car market has shrunk to just 5 models...Mustang,Camaro, Corvette, Challenger and currently the Charger. It's amazing in this time that they are still around.

I kick myself for not picking up on many of the old muscle cars during the 1974-1979 time period when good ones were really cheap even though I did grab a couple!

So now would you consider 2019 as being the high point of the gun market? With things heating up in a changing world might this be a great time to start adding to a collection? Time will tell over the next 5-10 years!

Myself....I enjoyed a GREAT time of the muscle car era especially the summer of 1970 when my brother 20 yrs. old at the time and me 16, bought a new 1970 Hemicuda!

[Cofisher]

Never did own one. But loved working on my friends cars. Saved a lot of money that way.

I have only recently gotten into the gun world. And boy, could I spend a lot! The science and engineering intrigues me.

[markiver54]

You have definitely touched a nerve with me. I can relate. One of my favorite muscle cars back then was my '69 mustang 2+2. You're right...not long after that, things changed. Kudos to you on that old cuda. A friend of mine had a 69. Times DID change for quite a while. Now there are some pretty high hp vehicles out there. Seems like they came back. ( unfortunatly too old now to crawl around and work on them) . I still have my '99 Ford Lightning, which is strong enough for me to satisfy my need for speed on occasion. . Now, with the MANY choices in the firearm market, it' a good time for me to focus on one of my other passions...firearms and shooting/hunting. Is't quite as painful as previous hobby....good topic!

[BrokenolMarine]

Yup, i loved both as a kid, but stuck to guns after i got married.

[North Country Gal]

Can't comment on the muscle car thing. In those days I was driving a VW Bug and tended to nag the guys about driving too fast and dangerously.

On the other hand, those were my formative shooting years, so I remember the gun scene very well. To answer you questions, do I think 2019 is some high point in the gun market? Should you start collecting?

I think the 2019 handgun market is a very different gun market than it was in the 60s and 70s and I suspect current sales figures for handguns are higher than in the 60s and 70s, but, no, I don't necessarily regard this as being the high point in the gun market. We, as handgun consumers, have certainly benefitted from current gun production techniques and research, but I think we've also lost something, too. QC, for one, certainly does strike me as any better, probably worse. Hand fitting of parts is now a vanishing art, as well.

As for collecting, it really depends on how you want to play that game. I would never recommend collecting guns as an investment, hoping to see your investment grow and appreciate in terms of dollars and cents. Predicting future trends in gun popularity is pure guesswork. For instance, I know two older gentleman that bought certain classes of guns on a regular basis, just because they liked those guns and wanted to start collecting them. Little did they know at the time that those guns would become highly collectible, down the road. That's what happened, but it was pure coincidence. My advice, then, is to collect because you would like to collect a certain category of gun, not because you think your crystal ball is telling you that said guns will bring big bucks, someday.

[PT7]

X2 per Mark's comment: "....good topic!"

The "muscle car" I had only looked like it had some muscle. It was my first car, a 1963 Impala SS.

1963 Chevrolet Impala SS.jpg (175.44 KiB) Viewed 2033 times

What was hidden under the hood was a straight-line 6-cylinder 230 engine, 3-speed. It was quite peppy back then without all the emission controls. Helped me easily earn two speeding tickets the first 2 months I had it.

Had a '71 Stang. Nice sports car.

Now I'm in a 3rd gen VW Beetle Turbo. It has some real hustle power; I just don't use it because can't afford the cost of today's speeding tickets!

As far as firearms, my history spans just six years in this hobby. I cannot comment on the earlier gun scene. I do agree with NCG's comments about the collecting "game" in firearms. It's about like anything else; a person has no way of knowing what would become a collectible, and/or increase in value. And generally, most stuff doesn't achieve that "status." From my perspective, I think collecting is best and most fun if you get what you want because you like it. My small knife collection and small S/A Uberti revolver collection are just that for me.

Less than 2 cents, and shorter than usual. :*)
PT7

[BrokenolMarine]

I have a collection of priceless guns. Priceless.

A Diamondback 22 - all my kids learned to shoot on.

A Model 64 Smith / Glock Model 22 - both guns were my patrol partners, accompanying me on building searches, vehicle stops, and there with me when I dealt with hundreds of suspicious persons.

A custom 45 match gun. Springfield frame and match everything else. The gun won a lot of matches, even with me behind the trigger. The award winning gunsmith passed too early from cancer. That 45 won't go anywhere.

There are a few others, but you get the idea.

[markiver54]

X2 per Mark's comment: "....good topic!"

The "muscle car" I had only looked like it had some muscle. It was my first car, a 1963 Impala SS.

1963 Chevrolet Impala SS.jpg
What was hidden under the hood was a straight-line 6-cylinder 230 engine, 3-speed. It was quite peppy back then without all the emission controls. Helped me easily earn two speeding tickets the first 2 months I had it.

Had a '71 Stang. Nice sports car.

Now I'm in a 3rd gen VW Beetle Turbo. It has some real hustle power; I just don't use it because can't afford the cost of today's speeding tickets!

As far as firearms, my history spans just six years in this hobby. I cannot comment on the earlier gun scene. I do agree with NCG's comments about the collecting "game" in firearms. It's about like anything else; a person has no way of knowing what would become a collectible, and/or increase in value. And generally, most stuff doesn't achieve that "status." From my perspective, I think collecting is best and most fun if you get what you want because you like it. My small knife collection and small S/A Uberti revolver collection are just that for me.

Less than 2 cents, and shorter than usual. :*)
PT7

Beautiful Impala PT! That would bring good money these days, especially in the Urban market!

[PT7]

Thanks, Mark. It was a cool-looking SS. If I still had it, it wouldn't get away again. I clearly remember the day the new owner drove it away from my house. Stood and watched it until the fellow turned the corner.

I've seen a couple of 1963 SS Impalas driving here in KCMO, and are in excellent condition. Almost follow them down the road, even though I should be going a different direction!
PT7

Beautiful Impala PT! That would bring good money these days, especially in the Urban market!

[markiver54]

Thanks, Mark. It was a cool-looking SS. If I still had it, it wouldn't get away again. I clearly remember the day the new owner drove it away from my house. Stood and watched it until the fellow turned the corner.

I've seen a couple of 1963 SS Impalas driving here in KCMO, and are in excellent condition. Almost follow them down the road, even though I should be going a different direction!
PT7

Beautiful Impala PT! That would bring good money these days, especially in the Urban market!

I can certainly understand how you feel!!

[Yornoc3]

Those were fun cars, alright. I have two cousins, brothers, that bracket my age, one a few months older, one a year younger. In the early ,70's, I had a '69 Dodge Charger (383 mag., 4 speed, Red with black vinyl top), one cousin had a Blue Plymouth Cuda, the other a green Plymouth Road Runner. Obviously, we grew up in Mopar families .
Last year, it was time to replace one of our vehicles (had to get an automatic tranny, due to pending knee replacement), and, in a bit of a blast to the past, we bought a Honda Civic Sport Hatchback (needed to have dog kennel capacity for a Lab). It's amazing the performance that can be produced by a Turbo on a 1.5 Liter engine. And still get 40 mpg on the road .

[markiver54]

Those were fun cars, alright. I have two cousins, brothers, that bracket my age, one a few months older, one a year younger. In the early ,70's, I had a '69 Dodge Charger (383 mag., 4 speed, Red with black vinyl top), one cousin had a Blue Plymouth Cuda, the other a green Plymouth Road Runner. Obviously, we grew up in Mopar families .
Last year, it was time to replace one of our vehicles (had to get an automatic tranny, due to pending knee replacement), and, in a bit of a blast to the past, we bought a Honda Civic Sport Hatchback (needed to have dog kennel capacity for a Lab). It's amazing the performance that can be produced by a Turbo on a 1.5 Liter engine. And still get 40 mpg on the road .

Nice old collection you had. Back then, before I bought my Mustang, almost bought a bright orange '69 383 Roadrunner.
As far as the smaller cars these days go, it is amazing what mods are available and what you can get out of them!...

[BrokenolMarine]

I never had a true Muscle car, but I did have a 64-1/2 Mustang with a Straight 6, Fun to drive.
A 67 Firebird with the smaller V8, again, stock but fun to drive.
I had a 65 Tbird, slow off the line, but the 390 was a beast once it was rolling.

[markiver54]

I never had a true Muscle car, but I did have a 64-1/2 Mustang with a Straight 6, Fun to drive.
A 67 Firebird with the smaller V8, again, stock but fun to drive.
I had a 65 Tbird, slow off the line, but the 390 was a beast once it was rolling.

Yes, that 390 was a beast. I think it was an old Fairlane or maybe a Galaxy a friend had with one in it.

[BrokenolMarine]

I never had a true Muscle car, but I did have a 64-1/2 Mustang with a Straight 6, Fun to drive.
A 67 Firebird with the smaller V8, again, stock but fun to drive.
I had a 65 Tbird, slow off the line, but the 390 was a beast once it was rolling.

Yes, that 390 was a beast. I think it was an old Fairlane or maybe a Galaxy a friend had with one in it.

I had a Galaxy with one when i was in school. It ran okay... But all my friends were gearheads and Nothing they drove was stock. Lol. One buddy had a pickup that was down right EVIL. . Kids laughed at the pickup with traction bars and 50 series tires on the rear... Right up to the time they paid off the bets.

[Mags]

Never had a muscle car either. Before we were married my wife had a '68 Mustang with a 289 V-8. Was really fun to drive and got great gas mileage. After we married we had a '73 Mustang with a 302 V-8. Gutless compared to the '68. The bigger engine was not enough to compensate for the weight of the bigger car with new smog control stuff.

[Cowboy Gun Fan]

I notice that the beautiful '63 above is sporting 409 Emblems.

[fortyshooter]

I found these pictures of my 1974 Z/28 I had bought new in'74. Yes it was way detuned from the 1970 350 L-T1 but a visit to the local Chevy parts dept. fixed that with the good heads, 1970 Z/28 solid lifter cam and aluminum intake and Holley 750. Then I cut the hood for the Pontiac T/A Shaker scoop.
A year later I sold it to a high school kid for more than I had in it who wrapped it around a tree.

Big story here...while waiting for Z to be shipped to dealer I happened to spot a 1970 Hemi Challenger sitting next door at another dealer used car lot. A 36,000 mile Hemi with torqflite auto and the super track-pack 4.10 Dana rear.....$1500 bucks was the price. I still kick myself today about killing the Z deal and not getting that.
Just a dumb mistake a 20 yr. old could make!!

[markiver54]

Maybe should be under fishing topic, "the one that got away" hind site is 20/20 right.

[Redthies]

Between my older brother, my dad and myself we’ve had a ‘57 Belair, a ‘68 Dart GT, a ‘70 442, ‘70 Dart Swinger and a ‘67 Firebird. All cool cars, but neither of them have any guns. At least my brother finally bought a chainsaw!

I was always a 4x4 and rally guy, so my collection went hard that way.