Solipsism. EAG was smart in recognizing the price arbitrage between US and Europe and took advantage of it. None of their pricing is out of line with German market values in regards to any of their cars. Meaning EAG had nothing to do with pushing e30 M3 values northward, the heavy lifting was done in the German market by collectors there and EAG just took advantage of the 2-5 year time lag (arbitrage).
This really started with the old air cooled 911's. When the Euro peaked against the US$ and all the old 911's became H plate eligible as collector cars smarter German dealers realized they could get half price 911's in the NA market with low miles in very well maintained condition. From there they started looking at other vintage (30+ years old) cars and bid up the prices on e28 M5's, e24 M6's, MB 560sl's, MB 190 2.x v16's, and of course e30 M3's.
None of this should be a surprise to any of us. All of the above are examples of well built, premium cars that can never be recreated due to several factors (safety bloat the biggest one). It was a comment I read not to long ago on another board from a guy quoting an old classifieds ad from 1975 that really struck home:
"For Sale: Ferrari GTO - $7500."
This really started with the old air cooled 911's. When the Euro peaked against the US$ and all the old 911's became H plate eligible as collector cars smarter German dealers realized they could get half price 911's in the NA market with low miles in very well maintained condition. From there they started looking at other vintage (30+ years old) cars and bid up the prices on e28 M5's, e24 M6's, MB 560sl's, MB 190 2.x v16's, and of course e30 M3's.
None of this should be a surprise to any of us. All of the above are examples of well built, premium cars that can never be recreated due to several factors (safety bloat the biggest one). It was a comment I read not to long ago on another board from a guy quoting an old classifieds ad from 1975 that really struck home:
"For Sale: Ferrari GTO - $7500."
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