For Sale: John Garand personal M1

[LOCKHART]

Maybe, Ben, but I saw a '69 Mustang Boss 429 go for 350,000 dollars on Mecham auto auction last month. Don't think we'll be seeing any rice burners going for anything close to that for a long, long time.

 

[benenglish]

Oh, I agree. The muscle car market is only going away slowly and, I suppose, there will always be exceptions. Some cars will be icons 200 years from now.

But in all seriousness, collectible value life cycles are broadly predictable.

• Find something kids really, really like. It has to be something they truly loved back when their hormones gave them lots of irrational passion, say, before they were 25 years old.
• Limit the things you're looking at to stuff those kids mostly couldn't afford.
• Buy as many as you can in perfect condition when they're a few years old, fully depreciated, and not really appreciated by anyone.
• Wait until those kids who loved that stuff hit their peak earning years...say, 55+ years old or so.
• Offer to sell back to those now-grown enthusiasts a piece of their youth.
• Profit.

I've seen this exact scenario play out with certain guns, stereo equipment, first-generation Barbie dolls, pogs, pressed tin toys, fishing lures, and many other items. Sometimes, those items have timeless appeal and continue to hold value (e.g. the earliest vintage car license plates) and sometimes they don't and depreciate quickly when the enthusiasts reach late retirement age and start divesting themselves of their excess belongings (e.g. first-gen Barbies that have dropped ~70% in value over the last decade).

But that first value peak pretty much always happens.

I'm willing to bet that writer will be right about rare 90s Japanese cars. When the folks who lusted after a Type R when they were 16 years old hit 60 years old, they'll fork over big bucks to buy a piece of their youth. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if a perfectly clean Acura Integra Type R will sell in 2040-2050 for over USD$300K. And I wouldn't limit it to Japanese cars, though I'd bet they'll have the greatest rate of appreciation; by 2050, a clean, unmodified, low-mileage BMW Z8 probably won't be touchable for under USD$500K.

To get a bit more back on-topic, whether I'm right or wrong I fully expect that Garand to be considered the ultimate icon of WWII rifles. If it is, whatever it sells for will tell us a great deal about the future of WWII-era rifle value trends.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

Well said Ben, well said and good to see you back...

 

[Chirpy]

Look at what first gen NSXs are already going for in good shape.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[pharmaco]

Good for whomever gets it, but it won't DO anything that my 1954 Springfield won't do just as well. I bought mine to SHOOT, not for any collector status. And, the parts on his gun will swap out to mine with no problem and vice versa. And his name was pronounced "GARE-rund", not " Guh-RAND!"

Please don't take this as an insult, but you may have cognitive issue if you don't understand how the concepts of rarity, provenance, and historical significance play into financial value.

You're 100% right about the name, though.

The "gun community" in the US has a long history of mispronouncing stuff

 

[LOCKHART]

Pharmaco, I do understand, I see the same thing on the CMP forum. Lot of M-1 snobs on there. Lots on there don't understand that some folks just want a nice functioning Garand to shoot, and appreciate it for just what it is, one of the greatest military rifles ever made. I don't care that mine doesn't have matching parts, that isn't what I bought it for. It gets kinda intense on that forum sometimes! LOL!

 

[BRD@66]

In New York City, they have a street named Houston - but they don't pronounce it correctly.

 

[LOCKHART]

Yeah, they call it "house-ton". What does that have to do with M-1 Garands? LOL!

 

[BRD@66]

 

[LOCKHART]

Bang it, man, bang it! Hahahahahaha!

 

[MetalCutter]

https://www.guns.com/2018/09/12/john-garands-personal-presentation-m1-sells-for-287k-video/

Hammered sold at $287,500.00. No mention in the article of who the buyer might be.

 

[deemus]

Much less than I thought it would go for, but its still a crap ton of money.

 

[LOCKHART]

I paid 800.00 for mine 7 years ago, and I bet it shoots just as good as that one. Damn, some people just have too damn much money! LOL!

 

[benenglish]

My estimate was way too optimistic. Live and learn.

 

[Rifleman55]

The rifle was on display at the NRA museum a few years ago, if I remember correctly the serial number is 1,000,000