The headlines have been relentless. "Dow plunges another 600 points." "Consumer confidence slips again." "Banks in every country facing liquidation."

Those of us who have been around the collector car market for a while can't help but think of the crash of 1987, which started the flow of funds into the collector car market. The trillions of dollars being pulled from stock markets around the world today will be put somewhere, and it's not unreasonable to think that some portion of it will go toward old cars.

But there are some differences from 1987. Then, collector cars were just beginning to make their meteoric rise, peaking in 1991. Our situation today is that muscle cars peaked two years ago, and the sports, classic, and exotic market has been flat at best for the past several months. So we're not starting with undervalued cars, but much more fully valued ones. Will collectors and investors think that a GTO at $28m is only half way to its true potential? Will they start chasing Hemi 'Cudas again, viewing them as undervalued?

Also, in the previous run-up, the Japanese and Europeans were the primary market movers, as their economies were doing quite well, which is not the case at the present time. So we are unlikely to see a sudden rush of foreign buyers.

Each of the SCM pundits has his own opinion, and many of them are expressed within the pages of this issue. No matter what the overall economic conditions are, collectors will continue to buy and sell cars, some for entertainment, some for investment, and some out of necessity. We simply counsel that it is a time to be prudent, to buy because a car will fulfill a need rather than be a financial instrument.

In other words, buy a car that will allow you to participate in the Colorado Grand or the Muscle Car 1000, or because it will simply satisfy a longtime yearning. Buying a collector car today, in the belief that it will go up significantly in the next few months, marks someone as exceedingly brave and willing to take great risks for what may be great returns.

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