Such a strange debate. The value of most things is governed by supply and demand. If you ignore the very highs and the very lows, then the average sale value for a similar car in a similar condition is what it is worth.

As 2CV's get rarer and those that remain are maintained or restored to a better condition, then their values are on a relentless march upwards.

This old topic again.....It has happened and is happening to all of the cult classic vehicles of the masses.....cars and bikes that where dismissed as pedestrian are becoming increasingly valued for the factors that made them great.

Look at the values of honda 50s 70s and 90s now......shocking stuff.

If you look a old 2cv magazines, check out the prices.....the concept of 2000 euro for a rough aks400 was laughable, however there were still cars that seemed overpriced relative to the rest.....so basically, all that happens is a vicious cycle......

Joe Blogs wants to sell his motor, he wants as much money as possible, he sees his cars piers going for £1000, he reckons it is worth a shot to advertise at 1300 just to see what happens, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER SHE SELLS OR NOT AT THIS STAGE THE CYCLE HAS BEGUN. The next person who goes to sell their car check around to see the going rate....They see their cars piers going for 1000 but there is one for 1300, so maybe they will put theirs up for sale for 1250...why not....This is one way that prices rise.....BEAR IN MIND IT IS STILL DOWN TO SUPPLY AND DEMAND.

At the end of the day it ain't gonna' change and at least it means there is a good parts supply........

Regards,
Shane.

P.S.-This from a guy who gave his 2cv away........... BIG SOB

Shame, really. The whole point of running these cars for me was that it was cheap motoring. It was inevitable that they were going to become classics and I suppose it's not altogether a bad thing, but I think it's a shame when people stop driving them and start treating them as Sunday vehicles or museum pieces. My Charleston is about the scruffiest car I've ever owned (and those of you who remember my ex - trials Dyane or my multicoloured C-reg 2CV will know that's really saying something), but I use it as my everyday transport. To me, that's what they're for: an £11k car is all very well but in practical terms, it's just as much off the road as all the ones I wore out and sent for scrap in years gone by. Unless there's someone out there who'd spend £11k on a 2CV to use it as intended, in which case good luck to them.

"Under different circumstances". That's kinda the point. Circumstances - there and then - aren't different. They are what they are. And, at the time and place you pay three quid for a pie, that pie is clearly worth at least three quid to you - else you wouldn't pay it.

All this talk of pies is making me hungry.

This is also very tasty:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-Dyane-6-C ... 4ceef553ad

I don't agree. By 'Under different circumstances' means 'Had I a free choice', which when locked in a football stadium you don't (Other than not to buy at all) as the supply and demand element has been removed.

There can be no situation whereby you are forced to buy the 2cv in front of you at a grossly inflated price - or do without, so that same criteria doesn't apply. It may happen that an 11 grand 2cv will be sold, perhaps to a hedge fund manager who would like to go on a picnic in it, but that can't be indicative of it's actual value, the guy just paid too much because he can. As for worth, it's an individual concept and can't be transferred, so while the 11 grand 2cv would be 'worth it' to him, it very likely wouldn't be to anyone else.

Indeed. Which means that the purchase price of that £11k 2cv is more representative, not less, since it's less of a distress purchase in a closed market than that three quid pie.

I don't get it? how can the one off 11 grand purchase by a single individual be considered representative of anything but the man had more money than sense?

It can only be justified by 'worth' when considered in it's fluid sense. A parachute is not 'worth' twenty grand, unless of course you happen to be in an aircraft losing altitude. So the purchase of either object has to be 'worth' it to that individual alone, as it is not representative of accepted value. If I understand your take on this do you believe that such sellers are pricing their cars so high just in case a hedgefund manager is planning a picnic?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Citroen-Dyane-6-C ... 4ceef553ad

We bought Nippy - the Dyane Sidewinder - from this guy.....

If he isn't, then those sellers are going to have their £11k 2cv for sale for quite a while... In which case, we can safely say that that car wasn't worth that much, no? Of course, the seller might chose to knock a grand off the asking price for the car. Is it worth that much? Well, it depends if it remains for sale at the new reduced price, or if somebody is tempted. Does an £11k asking price in an ad for a car that sells even mean the car actually sold for £11k?

I don't think the top end of the 2cv market has enough cars in it, regularly enough, similar enough, to draw generalisations. One particular car might sell for £11k. Another, similar one, might not. Is that because there's no more buyers, because 2cvs aren't "worth that much" or because the buyers who may be about just don't fancy that particular car for some reason?

What, indeed, is an £11k off-the-shelf 2cv competing for the buyer's money with? Is it another £11k 2cv? Is it an £11k 2cv restoration budget? Is it a different £11k classic car?

£11k wouldn't get you anything particularly drop-dead-knock-out special in a Beetle or an MGB. Does that mean a Beetle or MGB is a better car than a 2cv?