Idly flicking through a 1982 issue of C&SC (or Classic and Sportscar as it was then), I was naturally drawn to the Ads and the Price Guide.
Now, it must we said that we hacks have a rather annoying, often irrelevant habit of taking age-old prices out of context to make classics that were always pricey appear once-cheap.
But, if you add some context (ie compare the then-price of one classic to the then-price of another and then rate them alongside today's relative values) you at least get an idea of what has taken off in a big way and, at the other end of the scale, all the classics I have bought!
Back then – almost 30 years ago – the Price Guide simply offered average prices based on known sales over the previous year, therefore allowing you to track trends.
I was rather pleased to see that an Elan Sprint in 1982 would have cost a meaty £3500 so was still a pretty well valued car back then. Or so you would think.
But whereas a tip-top Sprint now is going to cost you upwards of £20k, if you bought one in 1982 for that kind of money and are currently trying to sell, you would be well advised to steer clear of checking out some other classic prices from the period.
Or not to read on.
Too late...
You know that Lancia Aurelia B20 Coupé I've always wanted? Yup, cheaper than an Elan Sprint back in 1982. Or I could have had a BMW 3.0 CSL for the same money, a Porsche 911S or one and a half Porsche 356s. How the fortunes for all these cars have varied.