Prices going up??????

[RedCarsGoFaster]

What I do find surprising is how dramatically the R34’s have increased in comparison with other Japanese icons. They are also great cars, but they are all well over £100k now?!?? Did this happen overnight? Perhaps someone who knows about these cars can explain this? According to Carthrottle there were 11577 produced. Just for the record. I am totally ok with what the market does and what people decide to buy. I’m just interested in the motivations.

There is a massive pent-up enthusiasm in the US market for the R34 GTR. It's the only one of the 90s JDM legends that wasn't available at all in the US, and with their 25-year rule you couldn't import one privately. Combine that with the spike in interest that all the 90s JDM sports cars have seen because the PlayStation generation can afford the Gran Turismo cars now, and the iconic status brought about by Paul Walker and Fast and Furious, and the demand is extreme.

There are something like two dozen which were legally imported into the US by a company that actually federalised them properly before collapsing in less-than-salubrious circumstances, but other than that the demand is entirely unmet.

It'll be 2024 before you can actually legally import one, but there's an expectation that GTRs will be crossing the ocean in their thousands. Enterprising parties who saw this coming and beat the rush are already stockpiling them in Japan in anticipation.

[Papalazarou]

That makes perfect sense. It’s interesting how each brand has it’s own characteristics. For the R34, it seems like any of the GTR variants are now incredibly valuable, with exceptions for the special editions. However, they made a lot of GTT’s and GTS’s and they seem have been pulled up as a result.
The RX7’s seem to follow a similar route as the NSX. The Spirit R’s and Bathurst editions making premium over the ‘base model.’
The NSX market’s a little skewed because of the high number of auto cars and the tiny amount of R’s and S’s. Oh and the general lack of manual cars on the market full stop.
I always thought the problem with the NSX market was/is the lack of cars for sale making pricing ambiguous. Especially when the magazines ask the so called specialists for advice on pricing.
I think Porsche has become the “US dollar” of the classic world. There are loads of them and everyone knows within a small margin what their values are.

[Papalazarou]

Just been looking at the JDM prices again. You really can’t buy anything good for under £70-£80K these days. Even the colour changed/riced-up cars are expensive. And as we know, if you paint one of these cars a different colour you are screwed come resale.
Anyway, it all got me thinking about the future value of these cars. The UK market still seems undervalued when compared against Japan and the US and as a result, I guess cars continue to trickle out into other markets. In ten years time, will we be in a position where we have only a tiny pool of cars left and will UK prices finally reflect this?

Answers on postcard, or below. Come on kids, there are no wrong answers. Well actually there are, but it’s important to take part!

Cheers.

[NZNick]

Just the other day a low mileage '93 R sold in Japan at auction for 36million JPY - which is 240k GBP - according to a contact who imports cars here to NZ. That car would have set an NZ owner back more than 4 times the cost to land the car here in NZ compared to what i paid 6 years ago for my Type S...
I think that this shows how far the market has moved in recent years.

[Papalazarou]

Just the other day a low mileage '93 R sold in Japan at auction for 36million JPY - which is 240k GBP - according to a contact who imports cars here to NZ. That car would have set the an NZ owner back more than 4 times the cost to land the car here in NZ compared to what i paid 6 years ago for my Type S...
I think that this shows how far the market has moved in recent years.

Certainly things have moved on internationally. But I think that the UK market is a strange market for the NSX. Having currently two cars for sale. I am amazed at the questions I am asked. There is much misinformation out there. I have found that, on the whole buyers are ill advised in their focus. My current favourites are that the UK market cars can suffer from chassis erosion as a result of salt, which is impossible to repair! The other popular one is people expecting 20-30 year old cars to have completely original paint! When statistically over 25% of all cars have had paint before they get to the showroom. In fact, every NSX I have ever owned needed paint somewhere. Even the low mileage garage queens.
When will buyers realise that we are in the next phase with these cars. The one where the car is judged on condition, service history and rarity. Tbh with so few cars left, buyers should be lucky there are any for sale at all.

Cheers.