What is the correlation between the recent increase in Bullnose pricing and Bullnose Forum and Bullnose bible?

[grumpin]

Good timing on this post. Used vehicles, especially 80’s and 90’s, are going through the roof on craigslist!

Somebody had an 86, I believe it was, square bodied Chevy for sale. Looked nice, but I chuckled because he was asking $12,500 for it, then thought he might just get it.

[ArdWrknTrk]

And I thought the small bodied '70's Broncos were getting out of hand....

[delco1946]

tcbaklash wrote

Gary, do you know of a place that mixes the spruce color? I have only ever been able to find the usual suspects

 
I see a decent amount of spruce and perhaps some other year’s shade of green (is there a turquoise perhaps?) at the junk yards periodically. More often than nutmeg. I think I may start to pull the good parts for myself to then sell on eBay. I oddly enjoy the time spent in the junkyard.

I think a big part is that all vehicles seem to devalue until some inflection point, at which point they start increasing again. It seems to be around the 40 yr mark. I originally wanted a circa 1968 pickup but they were already around 10k in 2018 when I started looking. Bull noses were the oldest I could get before the price started to jump ,and I knew it would only be a matter of time...

[Rembrant]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

And I thought the small bodied '70's Broncos were getting out of hand....

THEY ARE...
I've seen them routinely on Ebay with asking prices of $75,000 or more.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thank you Icon!

When a restomod 'beater buggy' becomes a fashion statement some people cash in, some people's dreams are shattered.

Look at the roller coaster 911 Porsche's have been on thanks to the like of Singer.

[Gary Lewis]

Don't forget the $400K ICON 1970 F-100.  It is a very nice looking truck, and got all kinds of rave reviews, but I doubt it would do what Big Blue will.

[ArdWrknTrk]

That's exactly what I'm saying.
All of the sudden everybody's clapped out, rusty hunk of  is "$40k... no low ballers!... I know what I got here!!!"
And it continues to sink back into their side yard, as the vines envelop it again, until next season.

When it's magically worth more!  Because.... reasons. (And a lot of bad TV auction hype)

Screw these guys.
Go back to your bottle.
That's why you haven't been able to drive for the past decade.

[Gary Lewis]

Basically this thread and Cory's Appreciation for hard work is fading, and old cars aren’t easy (Leno) thread are two peas in the same pod.  It takes a LOT of work to put anything back in shape, and even more work to "restomod" one.

Saying it another way, there are many factors that come into play with the rise of the popularity of our Bullnose trucks.  One is that they were at a low spot in the price curve, so people could buy them to build up.

Another is the rise of technology, like social media, forums, and websites, that let us share ideas, find documentation, and encourage each other to transform the trucks.

And yet another is the likes of ICON which show the world what can be done with them, albeit at a major cost.

Then there's the weird stuff going on with buying everything right now.  Houses are going for more than the asking price in 24 hours. RVs & boats are selling like hot cakes.  And apparently all of that has spilled over into automotive projects.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Social media is nothing but a hype machine.
It doesn't add value to anything, just puts 'influencers' in everybody's face.
And in the infamous words of PT Barnum "There's a sucker born every minute!"

Have you ever taken a hard look at how much you have into Big Blue?  
Really.
Considering shop rate hours are $100 for a service tech to change out brake pads or a filter.

I know you don't want to go public with it, and keeping Janey in the dark is a given.
But have you ever scratched your chin and thought, X times 100 + Y add Z and carry the 7 = ?

I know it makes you happy and keeps you busy.
I'm not asking about personal reward.

[Gary Lewis]

No, I haven't and I'm not going to figure out how much I have in my trucks.  I don't want to know.  It is my hobby and that's what I want to do.  

As for social media being "nothing but a hype machine", that is certainly true in some cases.  However, I've seen many, many cases where people have helped others figure things out that they wouldn't have otherwise.  And in that respect it can act just like a forum.

Yesterday someone asked on Bullnose Fords 80-86 what SD springs people are using with SAS and RSK.  I was able to tell him that my U-code springs are working out well and what I have "up front" in the truck.  Very much like it would have been on here.

And last night another guy asked me via FB Messenger if a D50 TTB can be put in place of a D44 HD TTB.  I couldn't answer because the documentation doesn't tell if the parts will swap.  So he posted on FB and a guy came back saying they won't.  That the D50 TTBs are shorter and the brackets mount in a different place than the D44s, and the holes aren't there in the frame.

So social media can be very helpful.  But it can also be a real problem.

[ArdWrknTrk]

You just don't want to accept how close to that $400k you already are.  

AFA social media, the S:N is way too low for me to even wade through that morass.
The only reason 98% are on there is because they care what other people think, and they are narcissistic enough to strive for others attention and acceptance.
NONE of that is my bag, and I generally don't want to associate or interact with people like that.

[Gary Lewis]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

You just don't want to accept how close to that $400k you already are.

Yuppers.  And wait until I tell the latest.  

As for FB, there are many very nice people on there.  But you are right, the SNR is low and you have to be very selective.  I think I'd be very surprised at how many people I have blocked, never to see or be seen by them.

[ArdWrknTrk]

This isn't entirely true.
A D50 will swap right in for a D44 HD.
So it's entirely down to whether the D44 is 5 lug or 8 lug.


You should know that!  

[Lima Delta]

Another reason why there may be more demand for these older trucks (not just bullnose) is maybe the cost of new trucks. Having operated my bullnose as my "daily driver" truck and keeping it in good, reliable condition since I bought it about seven years ago I can say that my all in cost, including routine maintenance, is nowhere near what I would have spent buying then maintaining a brand new truck. It seems expensive to spend 2 or 3 thousand a year maintaining an old truck, until you do a life-cycle cost analysis of buying and then maintaining a brand new one - then all of a sudden spending even 10k on a nice bullnose and maintaining it seems like a good deal lol

Lucas

[Chris Guthro]

I’m gonna agree that it’s the generation with the memories of there parents or grandparents bombing around in a 80-96 truck that are driving the prices up. I know I’m 28 and have loved these things since I was about 14 when dad had one I fell in love with. He was kind of a Chevy guy but I persuaded him after he had seen the interest I had taken in these trucks. I was 16 when I first started gathering up a few odds and ends. Dad ran a tow truck and then the real addiction began.  Dragging them home and parting them out. Then decided to start redoing one and basically dump every extra cent I had into it haha. Now with my own land and house, new garage built I’m kinda getting into it even more with my own spot to put stuff. Started a little mini graveyard for the trucks. Cory has been down a few times and has been an excellent fella to deal with! Now I’m finding that around my little hometown there’s a new 80-96 truck popping up that some young fella is buying every other few months. There’s always people calling looking for little bits and peices and I can see why now. There just isn’t any parts truck floating around anymore so it forces people to spend big bucks here in the rust belt to get a truck they can keep for a few years.

[ratdude747]

Can concur. My boss just hocked $20K on a 2011 Chevy HD... upgraded tow rig. 10 years old, still five figures!

Granted, RWD 1/2 tons aren't worth nearly as much... and newer trucks, for a given rating, are more capable than older ones (why they've gotten so tall, too).

And that's not getting into the world of diesels... lots more crazy $$$$$$.

Sure, my Bull is a classic... but it's a functional classic that has hauled stuff and often is my daily driver (like the last couple weeks). Sure, I get weird looks (and at work, a lot of "you're an engineer, yet you drive old ****????"), but I don't own money on any of my vehicles, they strike my fancy, and at the end of the day, they get the mission accomplished.

[Angelo Voltura]

I think there's a few things going on. I just turned 26 today, I grew up with these trucks.

The first thing I want to cover is the age. These trucks are old, and aging every day. Bullnoses for a lot of reasons are gaining popularity due to this. People want old trucks, and have many reasons for wanting them. Bullnoses were a crossover generation and have a lot of "lasts" and a lot of "firsts". Sealed beam lights, basic interiors, mostly all carburetors and introduction of EFI, stamped tailgates over heavily trim option trucks....I get a lot of that applies to bricknoses as well but bricknoses don't have the same look bulls do, which is why we love them. Square wheel arches for example. The front end of these trucks have an attitude, and that's attractive to prospective buyers. There's a certain cool factor that older models have that new stuff don't.

Here's another thing. As a technician, new trucks are absolutely absurdly priced, not attractive to look at, full of otherwise useless technology, unreliable as heck, too reliant on technology (average car has 47 computers in it), and, a topic not many touch on, too heavily regulated by the government. A lot of people like the older stuff, mostly depending on where you live in the states, for the simple fact that they are cheap, easy to work on, and you can do whatever the heck you want to it. These trucks represent freedom, freedom to create and express yourself through something you enjoy. I think this is a lot of reason why it resonates with the the younger crowd such as myself.

Touching back on the reliant on tech thing, people like the old stuff because you can take it out and abuse it and it won't break easily. You can drive that truck through a creek and get it covered in mud, and where you're done you can open the door and hose it out, and go on your way. You can't do that with stuff now. People want trucks, not Cadillacs with beds. I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to purchase a $80k truck with plastic sway bar links (looking at you, GM) and 3 leaf springs.

[1986F150Six]

tcbaklash wrote

If you guys think interior parts are hard to find for your colors, try finding spruce color interior parts...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-1981-Ford-F100-F250-F350-Medium-Pine-Spruce-Green-Interior-Door-Panels-OEM/154321695858?hash=item23ee4a3472:g:RogAAOSw63FgHyGq

https://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-TRUCK-F-150-250-350-MANUAL-DOOR-PANELS-GREEN-OEM-1980-1986/154197328179?hash=item23e6e08133:g:mhkAAOSww6lfsnYw

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-1980-1986-FORD-F100-F150-F250-F350-BRONCO-LH-DOOR-HANDLE-TRIM-BOOT-SPRUCE/363230270102?hash=item5492361296:g:VkkAAOSw-JRf4bsA

[JimJam300]

As for the social media thing, over the last 10 years forums have given way to places like Reddit and Facebook groups that are more structured for showing you what’s trending right now rather than providing useful information. Users will keep asking the same questions over and over rather than have the ability to search for the answers. You can sticky posts but not that many. The “like” button and its many forms is a cancer that either awards the general consensus or the loudest opinion in a discussion. It’s all flash, and it has definitely contributed to the skyrocketing prices of older trucks. A company like ICON sells a $150,000 restomod truck, it gets social media attention, the attention generates interest in older trucks. Truck pages then post what everything is going for at auction or sale, more interest is generated. This type of information is abundant and instantaneous, everyone now has some degree of photography skills that make the trucks look more appealing. This is great if you already have the truck you want, but man do I feel sorry for the ones who have yet to get their foot in the door.

Touching back on the reliant on tech thing, people like the old stuff because you can take it out and abuse it and it won't break easily. You can drive that truck through a creek and get it covered in mud, and where you're done you can open the door and hose it out, and go on your way. You can't do that with stuff now. People want trucks, not Cadillacs with beds. I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to purchase a $80k truck with plastic sway bar links (looking at you, GM) and 3 leaf springs.

I would much more trust a brand-new decked out truck than something from yesteryear on a trail, but there is so much money at stake. $70,000 for a Power Wagon or Raptor, or even $50,000 for a Tacoma TRD or Colorado ZR2 is too much to risk doing what they were built for. Having front AND rear factory lockers is nice, so is having hill start assist, crawl control, and surround cameras. But every one of these features is another few thousand dollars you must spend, and you can’t get them unless you have the upgraded interior as well... I think Ford is on the right track offering every available off-road option on even the base model 2021 Bronco, but even then you’re looking at $40,000+. I recently gave up this expensive fantasy and bought a $6500 dual sport bike for the off roading.

[Bisquik1959]

I think there are a few factors going on here.
 1) New trucks are ridiculously expensive to buy and maintenance and repairs are a whole other story. My old daily driver/tow rig is a 2016 Ram Laramie dually 4x4 with the 900ftlb Cummins and Aisin trans. That truck was just over 75k new. I just put $2200 worth of new Toyo muds on it recently. I got my 83 from a family member for free and put some money into it to make it reliable and fit my style. In the last 6 months, my 83 has gotten 14k miles put on it as my daily and my 2016 is just now used for our heavy towing and has had maybe 3k miles put on in the same 6 months. My dually will be paid off and have many years of life left on it.

2) Covid has caused many things to skyrocket. Local RV and ATV dealers are sold out and stuff is hard to get. People are sitting around at home and feel that camping and other outdoor activities can give them back their freedom. Pickups, RVs and ATV's are a hot commodity and for many folks, stimulus checks made nice down payments. We spend much of our time in the dunes and the amount of SXS's and new folks have exploded this last year.

3) Kinda going back to point 1 with cost. Many trucks of these years can be had for fairly reasonable price (even with the recent inflated "I know what I have" prices). In my case, I will put the money into my truck at 3k with wheels, bumper upgrades etc. I spend $150 a week in fuel and get around 15mpg. My insurance actually went down when I made this may daily instead of my 2016 Ram!
So it costs me roughly $7200 yearly in fuel and has no monthly payment. A decent new car is around 30k. That comes out to 500 or so a month and gets around 30mpg. So 6K in payments a year and 3600 in fuel a year for 9600. Makes sense to use an older vehicle instead of buying a new one.

4) Finally... and this just floors my wife by the way. I enjoy driving the old truck and get compliments on it all the time. Its enjoyable, reliable and like stepping back to cars that were new when I was a teen. Its fairly inexpensive to repair and maintain and can be done by most hobby or backyard mechanic types. You have the 80's cool without the really expensive and time consuming classic car type issues. I wont get started on my 55 Dodge pickup....