Yes I also think so since a 02 with 40,000 miles went for $24,900 and a 01 with
3000 went for $31,000 just last week on Ebay.  So used ones really are not all
that cheap and the selection of good ones (low low miles) is really limited and
people want top dollar for them.

It just seems to me the base 05 six speed has everthing I want.  So for about
$45000 you get a fresh car with 400HP.  

Larry

Well, he can roll down the window, but on half the cars today, he won't want
to.  Something about the aerodynamic design makes rolling down windows a bad
experience these days.  If it is raining or has rained, rolling down the
window drops a pint of water in your lap.  Remember when you could drive
with the windows partially open (because you had to as there was no air)
without getting soaked by the rain?

Try rolling down just the rear windows on half the cars today and you'll
find they begin to resonate like a warp reactor just lost a phase or
something.

Astro Ventilation.  Neat idea in the '60s, but it didn't work all that well.
Guess what, 40 years later, flow-through ventilation is still poor.  Why?
Because AC is in every car and everyone uses it.  Probably because the
flow-through ventilation doesn't work.

Manufacturers have worked long and hard to have most cars equipped with the
maximum number of options.  The low-optioned or no-optioned cars were
usually less on looks, too.  There was a reason, and that was to make you
feel inferior in the stripped Biscayne when someone pulled up in the Impala.
If you wanted the zero option 6 cyl, three on the tree, roll down the
windows, manual steering, manual brakes, Biscayne, you were also stuck with
less tail lights, less trim, less looks, and you were instantly spotted as
the bottom of the line driver.

In Corvettes, that didn't work, because it was such a limited production,
gearing up two or three body styles would have been too high in price.
Things like 1 vs 2 vs 3 taillights on each side would have required
different wiring harnesses, different rear body panels, and such and on
27,000 cars average, would have not been worth it cost-wise.  In fact, a
low-priced single taillight car may have been such low production (or a
two-light if the three-light was the high-price one) that it would have
ended up costing the General more than the "expensive" one.

And most people want the goodies.  For example, the 1965 only sold 2549 with
the 250 hp base engine.  Only engine options lower was the 375 hp FI at 771
and the 396-425 hp at 2157.  The FI was due to the outrageous price, four
times higher than any other option until the 396 came along, and still
nearly double the 396.  The 396 low numbers were due to its only 5 month
production run, so a full year would have doubled that number.

Remember 1997.  Everyone talking about the stripper Corvette, the one
stripped so much it wouldn't even have the removable roof panel.  Then
horror of horrors, everyone figured out that if you had a stripper Vette, it
could be CHEAP, and then every Tom, Dick, and Billy Bob could own a new one.
What would that do to your "investment"?

We don't have cheap cars because frankly, the American public doesn't want
cheap cars.  If we wanted cheap cars, we wouldn't have Lexus SUVs, Cadillac
SUVs, and so on.  The Yugo would have been a huge success, Kia would outsell
everyone, and Harley Davidson would have died in 1985.

I think the GM price for Euro cars in the UK is £46,000 but I have
seen ads for people importing US cars for £40,000 including lighting
conversion, and UK registration.

I've concluded that you just have to forget the US prices if you are
going to buy in Europe, and instead compare with other cars.