what makes a car rare?

Supply and Demand

 

Are you asking about "rare" or "collectible"?

Two different things...

 

Plus the limited production made

add/or how many are left, for example if they built 3000 cars to begin with

and now only less than 100 left in the world, that could be consider rare.

 

Depends how you define rare:

A) odds of seeing one? effected by total number made, cost, and collectability. does anyone restore them?

Example Chrysler K car... millions made but they will be very rare 30 years from now because no one is preserving them (thank God).

B) Difficulty to aquire? Number made in proportion to the number of people willing to buy.

C) statistical rarity: purely the number that were made / survive.

 

Essentially, if you want one and you can't get it, it's rare!

 

Limited production is the most straight forward answer. The less made, the less of a given car there is. Another contributing factor here would be how many from that original production run are left.

 

'Rare' means that few of the cars exist now. Vintage Ferraris (pre Dino/Boxer) are all rare, just because very few were made. 360s are common, because Ferrari cranked out over 16,000 of them. 328s in azurro metallico (light metallic blue) are rare because (almost) everyone ordered red/tan on 328s. So, those azurro cars are rare/limited production.

'Collectible' means strong demand relative to the available population. For example, the F40, with 1,300 or so made and nearly all very well preserved, isn't rare in Ferrari terms -- much commoner than a 328 in azurro. But time has shown it to be a landmark car, with performance and looks that have held up well over time -- so it's something of a pinnacle of Ferrari's last 'golden era' of the '80s (Enzo Ferrari having died in 1988) and therefore very collectible.

Ditto the Dino 246 -- several thousand made, but the car has come to be viewed as iconic and very elegant, so prices have soared.

So, 'rarity' and 'collectiblility' aren't always in lockstep.

 

I like 410SA's definition!


Onno

 

Me too !
Simple and true

 

What makes a car rare?

Having an odd combination of random accessories in an odd color of a common-as-dirt 40 year old American 2 door; at least according to the dollar throwers at BJ.

 

Or you are poor.

 

+200,000 (USD)!

 

+1. rare does not necessarily mean desirable. AMC didn't make many AMX's, but they aren't worth as much as same period Camero's. to me they are far more unique.

 

I thought a Red Ferrari 308 was RARE....that's what all the EBay ads say...<HMMMH>


LOL!!!!





JIM

 

If you're speaking of Ferrari's there are a few one of ones.

 

ROLMAO !!

 

The drunks and rubes at BJ have certainly taught us a thing or two about what constitutes "rare". LMAO!

 

On the subject of "painting collectability onto cars" - by that I mean odd colors on a fairly common car -

We used to have this "super rare color combination" thing going in the ZR-1 world...there were some very odd combos around just for the novelty - including a lady-like turquoise, a metallic purple like Barney the Dinosaur (one famous owner actually named his car after creepy Barney), and of course that copper metallic color that looks like a dishwasher from the 1970s.

Combine these with some equally weird interior color combos and you have instant Pablo Picasso on wheels.

I think that this fetish for weird color/interior options is slowly dying off. Not totally substantiated, but (following the ZR-1 market for 10 years now) I would suggest that these oddities now face a lot the same saleability problems as a white/tan car - not loved much by anyone, no matter what the low miles and great condition.

Conversely, though - if the special color is a really outstanding and tasteful one, then the factor may apply, at least on a Ferrari. Some of the Grigio and variant dark reds come to mind -

James

 

I hate to sound like a jerk.. but this is a pretty silly question man..

www.dictionary.com

look up rare

then apply that definition to a car.

you're welcome.

 

A few of us have been ready to pay a premium for those. I initially wanted a blu sera/crema 308, but couldn't turn one up in a year. Then there was a blu sera 328 that owner at Cauley kept for himself. Finally the black metallic 328 popped up at Sport Auto and I was all over it -- nicest color I've ever seen on an automobile.

Red will always be in demand, but some of the other really outstanding colors could be considered 'color rarities'. I think there will be a premium for them -- just not a huge one.

 

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