I'm geared up and ready for another Texas Heat Wave. The show should be pretty good this year...Chamillionaire is performing anyway. There is usually an awesome showing of cars, trucks, and my personal favorite- momocycles! This should be a fabulous weekend overall- Thursday is my birthday and that leads right into the show. When I blow out my candles this time, I think I'll wish for...all motorheads to unite and show off their cars, trucks, and motorcycles in iTaggit so I can see them more often than a couple times a year.

Check out the Heat Wave website here.

-casey

Here are some HOT LINKS for Classic Car Collectors from iTaggit.  Check them out!

Recommended by C. Van Tune - our Resident Car Expert:

Hemmings Motor News
Collector Car Trader Online 

Tell us of other great car sites - just add a comment to this thread. 

1.    Do your research. Knowing the details (design history, number built, rare options, etc.) about the year, make and model of car you want to buy is the first step in getting serious about becoming a classic car buyer.  Search itaggit’s member roster for anyone who owns the type of car you’re contemplating buying. 99.999% of classic car owners like to correspond with others of their ilk…even if you are just a beginner. Widen your Internet search to look for car clubs for the particular vehicle you’re thinking about.  They’ve already done the exhaustive work of compiling production records, serial numbers and which days the plant went on strike. You may have to pay to join, but the fee is usually nominal, and is a bargain in regard to the wealth of info at your fingertips as a member.  You should also buy a book or two about the car you’re searching for. Again, someone else has done the painstaking research before you, allowing you to narrow in on a specific year or model that’s more rare or otherwise more desirable than another.

2.    Know the prices. Yes, there are the occasional screaming bargains to be had, but most of the sales that take place (whether online, in person from an owner, or from a classic car dealer) fall within a range that directly corresponds with the condition and rarity of a particular car. Just like with late-model used cars on a dealer’s lot, there’s low, average and high “book value” on every collectible car out there. Finding those sources is easy on the Internet, but don’t forget to also check the for sale ads in venues like hemmings. com and collectorcartraderonline.com. Pretty soon you’ll get to know what the cars are selling for, and what you can reasonably afford.

3.    Buy the seller as well as the car.  With more and more classic car sales taking place online these days, you may not get to meet the seller in person. So, how can you be sure he’s telling the truth about the car he’s describing? Well, you can’t…but you can take some of the mystery out of the equation by doing what I call “buying the seller.” After you talk about the car in question, ask the seller a litany of things about himself, his work, where he lives, what other cars he owns, and what else he’s sold recently. Much of this may seem like idle chit-chat, but you’re actually getting pieces to the puzzle of truth. For instance, I always ask what other cars the seller owns. If he’s selling a 1967 Mustang and he’s owned two others, and has another vintage Ford product in the driveway, I tend to believe that he knows what he’s talking about on this particular car. But if you see in the background of the photos that his yard’s a mess and there’s a car up on blocks in the driveway, chances are he hasn’t taken the best of care of the car you’re asking about. And, one more very important part of your checklist: Does the seller balk at answering your questions, or does he regale you with a day-by-day dissertation of the car’s restoration process? Again, most collector car owners love to talk about their car…especially one they’re trying to sell. If the seller is slow or curt in answering questions, I’d look elsewhere. 

4.    Documents, photos, histories.  In this day and age, nothing is more important than thorough documentation. As prices rise on collector cars of all types, so does the market for counterfeits. The honest sellers will say their car is a “clone”, “tribute” or “built up” model, meaning, for example, they took a 6-cylinder Dodge Challenger and put a 440 V8 under the hood, but are not trying to pass it off as the “real deal” (another phrase often used.) By contrast, the dishonest sellers will do all they can to make that former 6-cylinder car look and feel like the “real deal” 440 R/T, which can be worth double, triple or more than even the best 6-cylinder on the planet. The most valuable cars will doubtless come with a three-ring binder stuffed with items such as original window stickers, build sheet (a computer list of factory equipment) deciphering, old registrations, repair receipts and photos of any restoration work. Yes, even with all that, cars can still be phonied up, so caveat emptor, my friend. If the car you’re looking at just somehow doesn’t feel right to you, pass on it. There’s always another one out there somewhere.

5.    Do your diligence. Okay, so even after the seller has sent you photos of every nook and cranny of your dream car, it’s still up to you to do the necessary diligence before buying.  And this needs to be done in person.  But if you can’t drop everything and fly across the country to look at a particular car, there are classic vehicle appraisal services that can do it for you. Plan on spending a few hundred dollars for their service, but I call that cheap insurance.  They’ll give you a multi-point checklist of what’s right and what’s wrong with the car, including looking at if it’s a true “matching numbers” car (a vehicle where the engine serial number matches that car’s VIN) or not. Be advised however, that not every classic car came with such matching number stampings from the factory. But for the ones that did (such as Corvettes) the price difference between a numbers matching car and one with a “NOM” (“not original motor”) can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Again, do your diligence on the exact car you’re looking for, so you’ll know the right questions to ask, and the right amount to pay.  There’s nothing at all wrong with buying a NOM car, so long as the seller states it as such and you’ve paid the proper price for it. Many vintage car enthusiasts prefer a NOM car because they get all the looks and performance of a numbers matching machine, but at a far lower cost. And, all this should be about having fun, anyway.

A big welcome to all who attended the Lonestar Roundup in Austin, TX on March 30-April 1, 2007.

Want a Choppit Droppit Hoppit T-shirt? Create an account, create a public account in the "Vehicles" category, and put 10 of your collection pieces into the account (along with images and some field information).

Email us at support@itaggit.com with your mailing address and T-shirt size and we'll send you a shirt in the mail. Offer valid until June 30, 2007.
 

MAD CAR DISEASE!
World-renowned automotive expert C. Van Tune joins iTaggit.com

If you’ve watched television, listened to radio or read most any newspaper or car magazine, you probably have heard of C. Van Tune.  He’s one of the best known, most knowledgeable and most respected automotive journalists in the world.  For over 20 years, Van’s writing, photography, presentation and driving skills have been showcased in more than 1500 live television and radio appearances, nearly 2000 print articles, and countless web entries.

 A life-long car enthusiast who bought his first copy of Motor Trend Magazine at age 8, learned to drive at 10, and could identify every year, make, model and engine size of every car on the road by 12, Van was the perfect person to have a career as an automotive journalist---beginning while still in college and culminating as Editor-in-Chief of Motor Trend from 1994 through 2001. During his tenure, Van’s high energy and hands-on editing style transformed the 45-year-old staid title into one of the most popular, most exciting and most quoted automotive publications in the world. His editorial team increased circulation from 900,000 to over 1,300,000 and launched the magazine’s Television, Radio, Internet, and Auto Show brand extensions.

After seven years at the helm of MT, and in a position in his career where most people would have gladly “ridden the wave” of success, Van shocked the industry by retiring from print journalism to concentrate full time on his TV career…landing a job immediately as the host and co-creator of ESPN’s highly-rated DRIVE! television series. He also became a regular guest on NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Live with Regis & Kelly, CNBC and MSNBC business channels, as well as on Top-50-Market TV stations across the country. Each year, Van’s automotive commentaries and expert opinions have been seen by over 125,000,000 people.  

A self-described victim of “Mad Car Disease” Van owns more than 25 cars, most of which are 1950s and ‘60s classics or current-day high performance vehicles…plus a fire engine. He has road tested over 2500 machines during his career, and his love of motor-sports has put him behind the wheel in professional road racing, drag racing, hill climbs, autocrosses, off road racing, vintage racing and celebrity racing.

Now, C. Van Tune is bringing his experience, knowledge and passion to iTaggit.com. Bookmark this page and check back daily to read Van’s opinions, rants & raves, ask him questions, go inside his personal car collection, and interact with Van and his select group of car-expert friends about anything on four wheels. From the best buys in classic cars to the latest products on the road…and whatever else you want to discuss.

C. Van Tune’s “Mad Car Disease”. Catch it only on iTaggit.com.