With the restauration you are rigth, if you do it with professionals, you know the result. But sometimes the result at the end of restauration is far from the price what people like to pay for a car. One example, the 190 SL. If you do it rigth, and this is very complicated bodywork, you need the correct carburettors from SOLEX especially for this car with a small differenc to nearly the same SOLEX from other cars, if you find some the are more expensive than gold ones. You need the rigth leather not what we see here in Spain, some leather, all the other small parts, and than you stop at 140.000,- . The market dont pay this for this cars because a lot of this overrestored 190SL in the market. If you like to hold the car for years ist different.
The market also has changed, now the original good cars with patina more searched. For this cars it is easier to find a buyer. In the moment, a good friend of mine had to sell a great part of his collection for healthy problems, waiting for a very dangerous operation and the chance to survive is 50%. So he cannot let his wife with all this 20 cars allone, it is also a great work with maintance.
We talking from original cars with really lo kms, first paint, etc. the best what you can buy. Jaguar E-Type like new 15oookm, MB Pagode 280SL 34oookm, MB W111 280SE3,5 Cabriolet, 930 five speed cabriolet black/black, 928 GTS red with 40000km, and so on. All european cars, not USA reimported, this is only trash.
So he start to sell, because he dont knows his future, but it is not easy and he is in Germany and knows a lot of people from collectors world. He can sell bad, no problem! So one thing is the price in a nice Oldtimer Magazin, the other thing is a buyer with cash. They all dreaming from prices, but for me the price is what a buyer put on the table in front of me. No chichi-chacha - CASH.
So it is not always that the people need money, but you never know what happens in the future. Another problem the last years are speculators for Draghis 0% and now they go out of the market. They are idiots from banks and they has no idea from cars, but the pushed prices to a bubble. Now the market needs a correctur.
I hope you agree a little bit )
Best Walter