TRIBUTE BUILDS? XR ANTICS, LOTUS MUSCLE AND RANGIE RESTOS

TRIBUTE CARS FIND AUCTION TRACTION – PRICES RISE AS REAL CAR VALUES SKYROCKET

RECENT AUCTION results prove that tribute Aussie muscle cars are finding an audience, now that prices for the real thing are hitting stratospheric levels.

Two recent sales via Lloyds in Queensland are telling: A 1970 Ford Falcon GT replica went for a very solid $65,000, while a 1979 Holden Commodore Brock replica scored a top bid of $29,000.

Both were well-presented cars, with a lot of detail put into the packaging. The real thing in both cases can be around double those prices, which suddenly makes a well-done tribute look like good value. After all, if it drives and looks much the same it can represent a big saving.

It does leave the question of whether building a tribute from scratch makes financial sense. That’s a question that can only be answered on a case-by-case basis, but you’d have to say numbers like the ones we’ve seen recently suggest it can be.

We asked our own car valuation expert Cliff Chambers for his thoughts, and here’s what he had to say…