CANADIAN MARKET FADING SLIGHTLY

KL Nichols

The Canadian Dollar, called the Looney, because of the bird pictured on it is a Loon. It might as well stand for the eratic uncertainty that the Canadian Dollar is facing.

While Canadians celebrated last year as the country's dollar reached parity with its U.S. counterpart for the first time since 1976, traders now predict the currency will fall as much as 17 percent through 2009. Riding the express train that is the American economy, energy prices and certain commodities have boomed.

In May Canada's economy shrank 0.1 percent, as the extraction of natural gas slowed and car production dropped, Statistics Canada said last week in Ottawa. Economists predicted a 0.2 percent expansion.

If you have been watching closely, you have probably tracked this drop yourself, there being no labor savings for American Manufacturers in Canada since the parity, and the rising price of gas, mfgrs. are closing factories in Canada and looking for a cheaper market. The next factories opened will probably be in Mexico whose labor is still cheap and the pollution regs. are pretty lax.

Why am I writing about this, because the Canadian market was just developing and with the parety between the Looney and the Buck, the Canadian market was just starting to replace some of the drop the collector car market was experiencing her in the US.

The collector vehicle market is still going fairly good for foreign buyers, but so goes America, so goes the foreign economy, so if you get a buyer interested in your classic from over seas, don't bargain to hard.

Copyright K & L Enterprises

At Auction on eBay Right Now! 1968 Chrysler 300 sport convertible coupe with an automatic transmission and odometer showing 61,307 miles. The exterior has a white paint finish with a black finish vinyl top, rear fender skirts with some small spots of rust on the edge shown in the picture below, chrome trim, a complete front grill & bumper, a very small dent on the hood, white vinyl boot cover with silver finish button fasteners, a scratch on the front driver side fender shown in the picture below, driver side engine cut off switch that is not operable, and dual exhaust system. The interior has white leather seats with a folding middle arm rest, a very tiny rip on the rear leather bench seat visible in the picture below, silver finish 300 bench seat emblem, and clean black carpeting. This 300 is equipped with a power windows, power locks, power steering, intermittent wipers, manual climate control with air conditioning, power convertible top, an AM/FM Panasonic CD player, Cragar chrome wheels on 225/60R14 tires, gauges indicating ALT-Fuel-MPH, a non working driver side window, front tilt glass, and leather seats. This 300 starts right up and sounds great.
To see more pictures and details, click on the link below.
http://tinyurl.com/2k9rv8

Classic cars are here to pay

Camaro’s value laps Dow
By Jerry Kronenberg
Monday, May 14, 2007 - Updated: 10:08 AM EST

Tom duPont thinks classic cars make better investments than stocks, because even if you lose your shirt, at least you’ll enjoy driving one around.
“You can make money with either the right car or the right stock, but cars are more fun on weekends,” said duPont, whose magazine The duPont Registry recently found that classic cars sometimes outperform stocks.
For example, the Florida-based publication reported that a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 RS with Corvette brakes cost $3,184 when first sold - but fetches more than $200,000 today.
That’s a 7,193 percent return - about seven times the 1,077 percent Dow Jones industrial average’s gains for the same period. The same $3,184 invested in the Dow would have only grown to $37,480.

Other classic cars that crush the Dow include the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Supersnake and 1967 Chevrolet Corvette 435HP, both of which have gained more than 6,000 percent.
DuPont said classic-car values are soaring because “the collector-automobile market is on fire right now.”
He said well-heeled male baby boomers are driving prices higher, nostalgically snapping up cars from their younger days.
“There are an awful lot of guys between 50 and 70 whose kids are grown up, who have enough savings in the bank and who say, ‘Boy, I’d love to get an old Ferrari or Lamborghini or Pontiac GTO,’ ” said duPont, himself 58.
But while savvy car buying can yield big profits, duPont said there’s “nobody in the business that I know of who invests in collectible automobiles solely to make money. Everyone has a genuine passion for cars.”
He added that even experienced collectors have tough times predicting which vehicles will gain the most going forward.
“It’s not easy to make money in collectible cars,” duPont said. “But in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not easy to make money in the stock market, either.”
Still, the publisher said cars whose prices soar typically have some or all of four key characteristics:
Ragtops. “If the top goes down, the price goes up,” duPont said.
Celebrity owners. Any car owned by a famous person appreciates more than a typical model does.
Rarity. Limited-edition cars or vehicles with rare options do better than those that are mass-produced models.
Good condition. Well-maintained cars with low mileage usually perform the best.
Recent models duPont thinks have bright futures include the 2007 Ford Shelby Mustang GTH350 and 2004 Ford GT40. Unfortunately, both cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But duPont said even something like a $15,000 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air can return a nice profit if a collector updates the finish and hangs on to the vehicle awhile.
DuPont added that “unless you absolutely destroy a car, you’ll always get something for it. Unlike companies, cars can’t go bankrupt.”

$250 Finder's Fee

1959 LaFrance Pumper Fire Truck, 10 cylinder Continental Gas engine, 2 speed electric rear differential. Red & White with White interior, absolutely beautiful, the entire vehicle is in excellent condition. Dual redundant ignition & starting system. all valves and pumps are in working order, pumps 1000 gallons per minute, Federal Siren and separate electrical siren and horn, Teak Fire Poles, ladders as pictured, this is the same model featured in Mission Impossible 1. A steal at $18,500 OBO, for more information call 918/258-2806 or OK See more pictures at http://tinyurl.com/26ktkv

We are offering a finder's fee of $250 to anyone submitting a lead that results in a sale of this vehicle

CHRYSLER, EH?

Chrysler seems to be in need of yet another savior. It was a major mistake to think that Daimler- Benz would do anything with Chrysler except try to turn it into an American Merceded-Benz.

Now I like several of the Chrysler models and would be happy diving one anytime, but since every other country in the world seems to hate America, it seems a little absurd to think that what D/C or any other out of the US purchaser would do would be in the interest of American owners and drivers. D/C's main goal seems to be the phasing out of everything American and the phasing in of everything German.

Now sources say that yet another non-American coalition is discussing the purchase of D/C's ailing Chrysler Division, this one is from Canada. The figure of $4.7 Billion is being mentioned. But before we proceed any further, what I want to know, is that American or Canadian dollars?

Nynya Shaka Zulu

The Shaka Nynya, an open-top sports car built in South Africa, but sold in right here in the U.S.A.
It has a 405 horsepower, 6.0-liter V-8 w/ a six-speed manual. The $45,000 Prowler-ish roadster looks to be quick. It has an unusual headlight setup, they are in the side mirrors. Interesting, right?
Named for a legendary Zulu king who livied some 200 years ago, the Nynya (Pronounced Ninya? I don't know, but that is the way it looks to me!) is built on a tube frame cloaked in GRP. It is definitely light weight, 1875 pounds. Shaka claims that their car will 0 to 60 miles-per-hour in just 3.7 seconds, and slip by the quarter-mile marker in just 11.2 seconds at 132 mph. This, while cornering at up to 1.1g’s and going from 60 mph to a standstill in 100 feet.
Just what the world needs another fair weather car?