Eco... ...classics?

[wdb]

Honda Insight hasn't made Hagerty's list yet, but they don't make the market -- they actually tend to follow it as regards 'official' classics, i.e. enough people have to think so before they include a car.

[wdb]

It sold for $21,000! Wow.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by wdb

It sold for $21,000! Wow.

How much did it sell for new? An average 60's muscle musclecar probably sold for under $4000 yet in that kind of condition might bring 6 figures. Some even 7 figures, now that's something. Or look at it this way, in order to sell an Insight for $21,000 they had to spend almost that much for its dry storage for 20 years and also never actually use the car after spent $20000 in the first place. What would have made the owner money would to have driven it 200,000 miles at 80 mpg.

[hat_man]

I guess this would be considered a classic then. 42 years old. Old enough I have had people ask me "What WTH is that?" Was going to make a full EV out of it but the engine and trans are still good so now I'm torn between a conversion and a restoration.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by hat_man

I guess this would be considered a classic then. 42 years old. Old enough I have had people ask me "What WTH is that?" Was going to make a full EV out of it but the engine and trans are still good so now I'm torn between a conversion and a restoration.

So it's a 1976? I rebuilt a *ton* of gearboxes on those, and replaced a *zillion* head gaskets, back in the day. The 1977 and newer had a much more robust drivetrain.

I think it would make a fine EV candidate!

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

How much did it sell for new? An average 60's muscle musclecar probably sold for under $4000 yet in that kind of condition might bring 6 figures. Some even 7 figures, now that's something. Or look at it this way, in order to sell an Insight for $21,000 they had to spend almost that much for its dry storage for 20 years and also never actually use the car after spent $20000 in the first place. What would have made the owner money would to have driven it 200,000 miles at 80 mpg.

I don't understand the need to disparage. The car is worth what it's worth. I'm very impressed with the fact that its significance is clearly recognized by those who seek to preserve automotive history. I see no need to run down the folks who would pay that much, or the people who kept the car in that kind of condition to begin with.

But consider. You're a retiree and don't drive much. But when you do drive, you want to make as little impact as you can manage. So you buy an Insight. You use it for your errands and runabouts and whatnot. You put a few K miles on it over the course of 10-12 years or so. You get older. You decide its time to sell it. By which time the car has attained cult status and become an icon. I guess that makes you a money wasting fool?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by jcp123

I'm still boggles by the value people are putting on 993 Proeschea and NSXs and the like. With that kind of upswing, the Insight might follow but I don't think the average millennial is going to be thinking Insight when he's coming to buy a car.

It's actually quite unpredictable. Maybe there will be some millenial interested in the Insight because it "looks" quite sporty, or because it was the first hybrid car to be available in the U.S. while it was still the most important car market in the world (nowadays China seems to be more relevant for many global automakers than America). Well, there are still some young people who fall in love for the VW Karmann-Ghia which has at least two similarities with the early Insight, since both have an attractive design that doesn't really match their modest performance.

[teoman]

A 1.2L diesel lamborghini lookalike would be an interesting car.

[MetroMPG]

A 1st (or 2nd) gen Honda CRX HF probably qualifies as a current eco-classic. Extremely rare car these days. The last one I saw on the road was 10 years ago, and even that was an outlier. It was very rusty.

A non-rusted-out '85 CRX was advertised not far from here about a year ago, but they didn't list the trim (SI, HF etc). I called ... it was an SI.

YKYAEM when you're disappointed the rare CRX advertised for sale is an SI, not an HF!

[jcp123]

The eco cars, I think, will be secondary classics. Enthusiasts will go for the performance models, the more ironic collectors who are closer to my state of mind might pick up the eco cars on the side. I wouldn't anticipate these are investment cars, however. Give it ten years and the factory supercharged CR-Zs may be a thing, though.