New Cars v Vintage Muscle Cars

Photo: AJ's 1968 Ford Mustang

Have you ever dreamed about owning a vintage muscle car? What about one of the new muscle cars? Well I'm very close to such a person who had his goal on importing a vintage Ford Mustang and he finally got his wish a few years ago. Was it expensive? Well read on and we will compare the costs of the Vintage Ford Mustang v the New Ford Mustang, plus the pros and cons.

You might be thinking to yourself "whoa there is no way I can afford a car" so check out this car loan calculator and, who knows? You might be pleasantly surprised.

Let's go back to AJ's car (he want's to remain anonymous) and discover all about his Mustang.

AJ imported his Mustang through a company called Griffs American Auto Parts and Restorations.

It is a 1968 Mustang couple, completely stock standard as it left the factory in that year. This Mustang has serial numbers matching, low mileage, power steering, disc brakes and air conditioning. It is 100% the original car. Since importing the car, AJ has spent quite a considerable sum improving his Mustang and at the same time keeping it 100% authentic.

AJ on the Pros and Cons of his Vintage Ford Mustang

Pros

• The car is fun to own and drive and simple to work on.

• Spare parts and reproduction parts are readily available from both Australia and the USA.

• The American Muscle car era (from the early 60's to early 70's) was a special time in automotive history and the cars have an appeal and character that everyone loves.

• They are great to look at, lots of shiny chrome and the sound of an old school V8 is hard to beat.

• When you you sit in them they even have this great smell that's nothing like cars of today.

Cons

• The cost! They are old cars and the maintenance/upkeep is an expense.

• You can get into a good driver American classic/muscle car from around $35,000 to $40,000. The more desirable models are around $60,000 to $80,000 and collector/concourse cars more than $100,000 with the rare cars a lot more than that.

• There is one new current issue that is affecting the import of old cars and that is a crackdown on asbestos. These old cars have asbestos in the brake pads, clutches, exhaust gaskets and the government is cracking down and asbestos has to be removed. Google 'asbestos affecting classic car imports' to find out more about this problem.

• Can you drive a left-hand-drive vehicle? If not you will need to learn and that's part of the fun.

AJ loves taking his Ford Mustang to coffee meets, club runs and the occasional car show to meet up with like minded people and have look and chat about the cars so there is a social element about owning one of these beauties.

I spoke with Muscle Car expert Mike Selby from Muscle Car Sales Australia on buying Australian muscle cars. Boy did that start a whole new conversation and in fact I'm going to do a story with Mike about Investing in Australian Muscle Cars so stay tuned for that. To give you a snippet of that conversation some of these cars are a massive investment. For example Ford Falcon XY GT 1,557 units were produced from September 1970 to December 1971 and out of those only about half are still around and you could expect to pay over $200,000 - not bad considering they originally sold for around $4,500 brand new.

OK let's fast forward to the year 2017.

The New Ford Mustang

Let's face it they look amazing and I would be very happy hooning around in one of these newbies. Just kidding, I don't really hoon!

Technology is the big tick here for buying a new car compared to vintage. The new Mustang is a whole lot more user friendly. For instance just tap a toggle switch on the dash to adjust its Selectable Drive Modes if the road starts getting slick.

Drivers can choose from 4 modes: Normal, Sport+, Track, and Snow/ Wet. Each one activates predefined powertrain and chassis calibrations suited to that particular driving situation. Then there are the apps! When it’s time to hit the track do it in style with Mustang’s Track Apps suite. The system gives you feedback on what your car is doing, how it’s performing, and how YOU ARE performing.

For customized steering feedback, the selectable effort electric power-assist steering offers you 3 modes (Standard, Sport and Comfort) menu. The driver can also monitor g-forces, braking times and acceleration times, all within the Track Apps which can be viewed 4.2-inch message centre screen. Note to self: Keep eyes and concentration on the road!

I've just highlighted a few things as an example of how far technology has come with car design compared to the 60's. By the way I was born in 1961! Can you even imagine what my 5 decades have witnessed?

The biggest pro for a new car is you get the warranties, faster repairs and maintenance, reliability (hopefully), and of course comfort and safety.

There is no doubt the new Mustang looks great, it's comfortable, has advanced technology and all the comforts that its predecessors never had. You will be looking at $45,990 to $66,490 to own one of these cars. If you don't have the cash then you could consider a car loan to purchase this beauty!

In my opinion, after talking to people and researching this article I've concluded purchasing an older muscle car could be a great investment v purchasing a new car because they lose value real quick.

By the way, food for thought, I don't have comments on this blog because I don't want to give a platform for trolls or negativity online but do you consider Mustang a Pony or Muscle Car?

Deb worked with NRMA to bring you this post. Please read full Disclaimer here.