Looking for a sure way to make money in today's market? Buy a nice collectible Chevy Camaro or a Dodge Challenger. With a new Camaro and new Challenger coming out this year, the old ones are sure to go up in value.

In 30 years in the old-car hobby, I have seen this happen again and again. Excalibur, Modern Stutz, Shay Model A, New Beetle, Mini, Retro T-Bird, throwback Mustang -- it doesn't matter. When a modern version of an old car hits the market, it seems to automatically generate collector interest in the older models and their prices rise.

Take my word for it, the Camaro and the Challenger will be hot numbers this year and the numbers on their price stickers will be rising.

This isn't "free advertising land" so I'm not going to give you name, rank and serial number on this one, but if you're a collector of pressed steel automotive toys from the '20s and '30s -- the cool ones -- you'll be interested in a cool poster I picked up at an auction in Saxeville, Wis., last Saturday.

Yoder Auction Services, which did the auction, has a toy sale planned for Nov. 15 in DeForest, Wis., with a LOT of good stuff. Find them on the Web and you'll probably see the details listed. If you get there early, tell them OLD CARS WEEKLY sent you and maybe you can even ask for one of their nice posters.

Boy did I stumble on a great deal when I went to the annual car show in Green Lake, Wis., a couple of weeks ago. The car show was tied in with a community festival and the local library decided to take advantage of the big crowd that was in town to hold a sale of its old books and magazines. Included in the publications being sold were copies of LIFE Magazine from 1936 and 1937, which were priced at 2 for $5. I bought all of them that were available and I've been having a great time reading them and looking at the old car ads. One issue includes an article about European cars of that era. Another has a humorous photo layout about the proper way for a lady wearing a skirt to get into a coffin-nose Cord. In another, there is a story about Nazis with a street scene and a dorsal-finned Tatra is one of two cars parked at the curb. How modern it looks compared to the other car, a boxy 1930s model. One ad shows the Chrysler convertible sedan that was the first car to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on the day it opened. Another article shows a shot of an Archduke's famous Mercedes-Benz.

Thre is a lesson in this great find. When you attend a car show that's part of a community function, be sure to check out all the attractions. You just might wind up finding some great things you never expected to run into.

TV newsman Geraldo Rivera lost two old friends when a garage fire destroyed a pair of '54 Jaguars that he owned. The cars were slightly different models, but were finished in the same colors. Rivera has owned one of the Jaguars since the 1970s and said they were like family members. No foul play is suspected in the blaze, which is believed to have started due to a short in the electrical wiring. The fire threw up dramatic blue flames from the Rivera garage, but no one was hurt.

High-profile fires like this are always a reminder that storing collector cars should include a garage safety check for fire threats and other safety issues. Many cars go into storage at this time of year and it's important to make sure that fuel and electrical systems are properly shut off.

Stay tuned to Old Cars Weekly for an upcoming issue that will focus on winter storage tips.

As the Barrington Concours was winding down last Sunday, my good friend Lou Natenschon told me that collector Jack Bowser was interested in talking to me. Jack had entered a very nice Auburn in the show, but it was another car he wanted to talk about. It seems that he just completed building a very unique "hot rod" with a '34 Ford roadster body and a Marmon V-16 engine. The hood of the Ford had to be stretched a bit to accommodate the long V-16, which is fitted with electronic fuel injection and mated to a Viper six-speed transmission. We're looking forward to getting additional info on the "Real Hot Rod" for a future article. Stay tuned to Old Cars Weekly for that.

Turn off the radio and TV, grab a cup of coffee, pick up a wrench and twist some bolts on your collector car. Relax in the garage and listen to what I say. I have been in this collector-car writing business since 1972. I've seen a lot of crisis situations come and go. The current crisis -- which is being caled the "finacial meltdown" -- will also run its course and you and I will be collecting cars, trucks and motorcycles after it's gone.

During the years I worked for Krause Publications (1978-2007), each time the economy "tanked" the company thrived. I was busy working and never stopped to think much about this, but in retrospect, it says a lot about the way in which hobbies weather economic stress. Krause was strictly a hobby publisher and when the national economy slowed down, our subscription business and our bottom line seemed to pick up. 

It is my honest belief that people do more hobby stuff in times like we have today. I don't know why. Maybe they have more time. Maybe they think a collectible is a better investment than a stock certificate.  Maybe they are inclined to sell some choice items, which stimulates the hobby market. Maybe they are inclined to buy, when prices on collectibles drop.

I'm not a market analyst. I just know that historically, all during my career, the hobby publisher I worked for did better than the rest of the business world during harsh economic times. Go figure!

On Sunday I was one of the judges at the second annual Barrington (Ill.) Concours and I got to talk to many car collectors from all over the country. The speaker at the Saturday evening banquet was Malcolm Pray and one of the things he talked about is what he called "the revival of the Concours d'Elegance" in recent years.

The more I thought about this, the more I had to agree that number of these "fancy" car shows being held is really on the rise. I don't know if it's a revival of interest or new interest, but I tend to suspect it's that latter. It doesn't seem that long ago that only six to eight such events were staged annually. Now, the number must be at least double that level.

Surely, part of the reason for the growth is that the shows are accepting more diverse fields of cars. You no longer see only the big Classics at such venues. The concours I have gone to lately are welcoming mini cars, muscle cars and motorcycles. This gives the events wider appeal (and usually raises more money for the sponsoring charities).

Concours have a long history in the annals of car collecting. Chevy even did an add in 1955 showing a new Bel Air at the Pebble Beach show, which was much smaller then. It's nice to see more and more such events. The cars that they attract are a real treat to see.

I always thought that I would open an "unrestoration shop" when I retired. If you think about it, the idea makes sense. There is a finite number of old cars in the world. So what happens after all the old cars are purchased and restored? Simple - there will be no cars left for collectors to buy and fix-up! They will have to come to my unrestoration shop to get a car that needs to be put back together. Why, I'll even sell the parts to some vendors I know, so the car owners can have the joy of "treasure hunting" for them, bargaining on the prices and finding ways to get the big ones back from swap meets.

Unrestoration would be a great retirement job. It's relatively easy to take things apart (especially if you're not the one who'll be putting it back together). You could work fast. And you don't really have to possess any special talents. There's no need to understand how something works if you're going to "unrestore" it. You simply take it apart.

I'm just really surprised that no one has thoiught of opening an "unrestoration" shop before me. There must be someone out there who's as crazy as I am.

A few years ago, when I was still in management at Old Cars Weekly, I had the extreme pleasure of joining Greg Smith in interviewing candidates for the job of OCW editor. One of the people we interviewed was a young man from Minnesota who had recently graduated from college. I was told that this fellow -- Angelo Van Bogart -- had done an internship in the Krause Publications toy magazine and was well liked and very hard working. After doing the interview and talking to Angelo, Greg and I both felt that he was "made for the job." I still think we were right. If you ask me, Angelo is THE BEST of many good editors OCW has had.

What made me think of this was something that happened today. I stopped in to visit Jerry Kopecky, a local restorer who specializes in Chrysler fin cars. Angelo happened to be there taking cover photos with the staff photographers. A local car enthusiast came in. When we introduced him to Angelo, he did not recognize him as the editor, but he had a lot of good things to say about the publication that Angelo edits.

If YOU haven't met Angelo yet and you are heading for Hershey, I hope you'll stop by at the "Old Cars" spaces and intoduce yourself to the best editor Old Cars Weekly has ever had. When you meet him, I think you'll agree with my opinion and you'll be amazed at his enthusiasm and knowledge of cars.

A lot of people in the old car hobby are heading for Hershey, Pa. But how about those of us who stick closer to home? What can we do while our Bretheren are walking the aisles at the world's biggest swap meet?

I haven't been to Hershey in 10 or 11 years, but that doesn't mean I sit at home doing nothing in early October. Quite the contrary. With all of those hobbyists beating a path to the East Coast, it's the perfect time to look for swap meets and auctions in the Midwest where I won't have a lot of competition. What better time to pick up good stuff for low prices and modest bids than when you're the only customer? That situation makes for a real buyer's market, you know.

"Hershey week" is the perfect time to check local shoppers for farm auctions and estate sales with older vehicles consigned. And who else is going to be answering the classified ad in the local trader magazine next week? And not every classified ad in Old Cars Weekly is placed just to publicize Hershey space numbers.

So, while you're having fun in central PA, don't be feeling sorry for me. I'm sticking close to home and scarfing up the bargains.