A serious conversation can't be had about any collectible market without taking into account the true condition of what's sold. From my experience, there are plenty of people who comment on the market, that aren't in the room where it happens. Recently at Hershey RM had an auction and there were a lot of comments about the cars being sold. I was there, crawled all over the cars because I know I'm going to be asked about the forward look cars. Pictures were available, all shot from the 20' away. The cars went for market appropriate values, in some cases quite a bit over, but people screamed the market was falling. I feel confident pricing a restored car from the era I specialize in. If a restored car sells for 120-150k, where do you price a driver car with decent/good paint? One that's original underneath, needs various pot metal replaced, but displays well as a driver? If you restored it, you're 100k into that restoration, so you're going to be upside down. To me, that's a car that sells for 60-80k. The buyer is someone who either has the in house skills to do all the work needed to elevate the car or someone that isn't in the market at 120-150k and this is their opportunity to own it. If you don't understand the condition of the car, you scream the market is falling because this "restored" car went from 75-80k, because you think it should be 120-150.

A LOT of factors going into the evaluation of the market. It's never as clear cut as most want it to be. The one staple, is that the top 5% of cars can't truly be priced as the best will always be coveted by a broader range of collectors.