TILL DEATH DO US PART: THIS CONDITION COULD BE A TRUE STORY FOR CAR GUYS

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The vintage vehicle hobby is our bread and butter here at MyStarCollectorCar; thus it is no secret we like stories that involve a long term relationship between car and owner.

 

A For Sale sign on a vintage ride means one thing: we are not interested in the vehicle as a story source because there is no story for us.

 

This is a boy-or-girl-meets-old-car-and-boy-or-girl-sells-old-car story for us. In other words, it’s a complete non-starter of an idea for MyStarCollectorCar. The net result is an unhappy ending for all of these stories because the current owner is uncommitted in that one night stand kind of way. Both car owner and romance seeker are opportunists (people who MSCC wishes well in the pursuit of profit or happiness), but we are not interested in either party’s story.

 

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One of the by-products of our constant contact with the vintage vehicle hobby is our constant contact with proud owners. These are the warm and fuzzy moments for us at MSCC because we love their level of commitment as much as we dislike the lack of commitment demonstrated by some owners whenever we see their vehicles up for sale-after we have done their story.

 

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Valuable hint here: do not lie about your intentions to keep your car because MyStarCollectorCar wants honesty as much (or more) than the object of a 24 hours (or less) romance.

 

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For us, the only valid reason for a sale is the owner’s death-and unfortunately car guys and girls do not live forever. The saddest part of our contact with the car hobby is every time we learn about the death of a car guy or girl who loved their vehicles like they loved their spouses and kids.

 

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They pampered their vehicles and treated them like one of the family over the years. These type of owners never even entertained the idea of a sale while they were alive and well, but their deaths may have triggered a completely different reaction from his or her survivors.

 

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In these cases, a vintage ride that was deemed priceless by its late owner does have a price tag after all. The survivors may not have shared the same enthusiasm for the dearly departed’s vintage vehicle and the result is a vintage car on the market.

 

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We at MSCC have witnessed this scenario more often than any situation where the classic ride remains with the late owner’s people. In fact, we have witnessed shocked survivors who find out the late owner was financially committed to the vintage vehicle in a big way.

 

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The investment potential of the old car or truck was the carrot dangled in front of skeptical spouses    and now the survivors want to recoup the late owner’s cash outlay into the vehicle. The cold reality is the survivors have about as much chance to recover the owner’s massive financial investment into an old car as they would have to land on the moon without a space suit or rocket ride.

 

Nevertheless, a vintage vehicle will now enter the market and it will eventually be sold for market value because the death of the vehicle’s last owner will be a ‘Till-death-do-us-part’ game changer.

 

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The happy ending will have to wait until the next owner-unless the next owner plants a For Sale sign on the windshield as soon as the ink dries on the Bill of Sale.  

 

 

BY: Jim Sutherland

Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.  

 

 

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