Anyone buying for "collector" status?

Ricks:

Aside for being in almost full agreement with you, I would like to add a few thoughts about this topic.
As I see it, the '05's will/should be a car that will hold some value with less depreciaton than many others, but mostly due to the fact there will continue to be market of performance oriented Mustang fans for years to come.
However, this will also only be for cars that remain in new, factory-like condition without modification.

The big difference between the cars of the 60's that became collectible, and the cars of today that might be considered the same in future years, is that very few of the early cars were "mothballed" from day one for that purpose. That is (in part)what made the remaining survivors highly sought after, years after production of those original models ceased. People bought the cars to drive for pleasure, while the country was entering a whole new era with the first baby boomers reaching driving age. Few young men in those days could afford or had thoughts of keeping a new Mustang (or any other new ponycar) under a sheet in a garage, when he could be out crusing the streets.

In a sense, the later market for the early Mustangs as collectibles, was created by the end of this era about 20 years later, which had been started by the introduction of this car that was unprecedented in its time. The hype campaign that Ford so sucessfully marketed in '64, also became part of the legend and remained with the cars as they started to dwindle in numbers as the years went by. Few other cars of the time had that kind of aura around them.
Furthermore, it did appear by the mid 70's, that factory production of "muscle type cars" was gone forever...along with convertibles. This caused a sudden rise in demand for all the hot cars of the 60's. These factors will probably not enter into the future demand for any cars produced today.

For the past 20 years or so, it hasn't been uncommon to hear of people buying cars and putting them into hibernation, waiting for the day they will become "collectible". This started around the time buying baseball cards in boxed sets became all the rage, to make an analogy of sorts. Suddenly, many thought that anything that was once common (but then had become scarce) might again make a great future investment...as collectors started paying incredible premiums for old rookie cards of Mickey Mantle for example. Not only did the number of new "collectors" soar, but the products themselves became manufactured in ever increasing quantities to satisfy this demand. Today, mint unopened boxes of basball cards from the 80's and 90's have relatively little value.

As a result, it is becoming more common to see older model cars at shows with minimal mileage. This is also in part because we all own more vehicles than we did 40 years ago. Where rust was once a common sight on a ten or twenty year old car, it is much less so today. Cars like a Mustang are more like personal toys now, then they were when often used as grocery getters in the 60's and 70's. Performance models of cars like a Mustang (say GT) are likely sold in greater quanties than with the original models, making them more common within the product line.

Personally, in spite of the improvements that have been made in such areas as corrosion protection, materials, and assembly of cars etc...I would be leary of trying to keep any of the cars of today, for the purposes of it becoming a collectible tomorrow. As I see it... cars of today have become too dependant on technology and electronics that the average person will ever be able to maintain, should something go wrong in the future. I foresee great difficulty in obtaining replacement parts of these systems for older vehicles in later years....much like obtaining the emmision control parts of older models today. Buying older used cars now and in the future (on account of this) is something I would consider risky to say the least. Cars become so quickly technologiclly outdated today, (like computers), that it may not be feasible to attempt to hold onto them until they become collectible.

collector cars

New cars are not investments. Basic personal transportation is a necessity for most of us. The extent to which a car exceeds basic functions becomes a luxury that depreciates rapidly. An 05 GT purchased today will relieve you of approx. 30 grand with taxes, plates etc. Put the 30k into the S&P 500 which has averaged over a 10% return since WWII for 40years and have $1,357,777.0 at your disposal. Never ever consider cars investments.

The probability of 2005 Mustangs appreciating in value is somewhere between slim and none.

The reason why 60s muscle cars have shown such great appreciation is that in the early 70s, horsepower dissappeared. Muscle cars were no longer manufactured, which limited their numbers and the cars that were manufactured in the 70s and 80s were no longer like those 60s muscle cars.

So if tomorrow gasoline suddenly hit $20 / gallon and Ford quicly redesigned the Mustang so it could bring out a 4 cylinder diesel hybrid for the 2007 model year and STOPPED making V8s, then your 2005 & 2006 Mustang GTs will appreciate in value.

For the person who pointed out how Shelbys and Bosses have appreciated in value:

TOTAL PRODUCTION #s

Boss 429: about 1,600
1969 Boss 302: 1,628
1970 Boss 302: 7,013
Total of ALL Shelby Mustang GT-350s and GT-500s from 1965 - 1970: 14,368

So a TOTAL of 24,609 of those desirable high performance Mustangs were built between 1965 and 1970.

Over the next 6 years, Ford will build and sell close to 1 MILLION 2005 - 2010 Mustangs of which at least 350,000 of them will be GTs. So the answer is NO 2005 Mustangs will not be collectible and will NOT appreciate in value.

Will Ford make some very limited production models like the 2000 Cobra R. Probably they will. Will those limited edition models that are only available for 1 or 2 years and are produced in #'s less than a few thousand appreciate in value. Probably they will.

That means a total of

I purchased mine as a shop car. We will be running 90% of the Fun Ford Events Season. It will be going to SEMA, PRI, Turkey Rod Run, Spring Break Nationals, HIN, and lot of other misc, car shows. + I will take it out on weekends if I wish. But it's not goin to be a daily driven car.