I am absolutely in support of a middle aged man, who has achieved a fair amount of success, spending a few grand on a piece of cycling history. My reasons are clear, at least in my own mind. I spent over a grand to soup up the suspension on my Miata, even though it drove perfectly well before the upgrade. No one in my neighborhood said one word to the contrary. Mind you, this is a car in which I drive less miles, than one of my bikes. I spent $1,000 on a kitchen faucet and no one said that that was a silly idea. A friend of mine got the premium upgrade to his new Honda pilot for $4000 and even his wife said that that was a "nice idea". Another friend bought a new modern road bike for about a thousand, rode it 200 miles and is currently happy to sell it for a little over half that. My wife spent $1400 on an old Colnago and could easily get that much anytime, if she put it up for sale. My other classic bikes would all trade for quite a bit more than I paid for them. In general a classic bike won't earn as much as a mutual fund, but it brings joy to those who are on the second half of their time on this earth.
Garth Libre in Miami Fl.