Few cars have been as emblematic of their era as the Ferrari Testarossa. The work of Leonardo Fioravanti and his team at Pininfarina transcended car design and became part of the visual iconography of the 1980s. Those side strakes alone are as ’80s as early MTV, shoulder pads and brick-like cellphones.

Serious Ferrari enthusiasts will point out, correctly, that the Testarossa was a lot more than just an extra on Miami Vice. It was also a hugely significant car for the marque. Ferrari built almost 10,000 over three major iterations between 1984 and 1996, meaning that it spent as long in production in the 1990s as it did in the 1980s. Ferrari itself changed hugely over those dozen years, and it is reflected in how it developed and improved this 12-cylinder, grand-touring flagship of its standard range. The relatively high production volumes, significant updates, and longevity also mean there is huge variation between first and last in quality, dynamics, and market value.

But the cultural significance of the Testarossa is important to collectors, too. We often buy the cars that were on our bedroom walls as teenagers, and there were a lot of Testarossa posters masking bad wallpaper back then. Some of those kids now have the means to own a Testarossa, and values have soared.

Along with Ghostbusters and Beverly Hills Cop, the Testarossa turns 40 this year. To mark the occasion, Monaco Car Auctions assembled five examples of the Testarossa series for its recent Ferrari-only sale. Each represents a stage in the car’s development.

The first three were all badged Testarossa. There was an early version known as the Monospecchio for its mad single high-mounted wing mirror. The later Monodado has two conventional wing mirrors but gets its name for its single-bolt wheels that came in 1987. The final Testarossa-badged version from 1988 has two mirrors and five-bolt wheels.

With subsequent, more substantial mechanical and design revisions the Testarossa got new names: the 512 TR came out in 1991, and the final F512 M version appeared in 1994. The auction house offered one of each of those too, and bravely offered Hagerty the vanishingly rare opportunity to drive the first, the last, and the one that some people consider to be the best back-to-back. If they all sold, the auction might also provide a useful snapshot of their relative values too.

Seeing all three parked side-by-side in fierce, bleaching Italian sun, keys in the ignition and ready for me to to drive is almost too much for this child of the ’80s. I’m naturally drawn to the original, purest expression of that famous shape. The Monospecchio version with that single mirror on a stalk and an offset lower air intake adds an appealing asymmetry to the Testarossa’s otherwise square-jawed good looks. To my eyes, the original front-end treatment is also easily the best. The two later cars echo the noses of their ’90s V-8 stablemates—the 348 and 355—and lose some of that ’80s appeal as a result. If you asked me before driving them which one I’d choose, there’s no question what the answer would be.

The first Testarossa of 1984 succeeded the 512 BBi, and fixed some of the criticisms of its predecessor. The nose-mounted radiators moved to the rear, making room for a capacious trunk under that broad flat nose and preventing heat collected from the 4.9-litre flat-12 from dissipating into the cockpit as it passed through.

X-ray the Testarossa in your head and you’ll see why Fioravanti and his team gave it that wild shape. Mounting the radiators behind the doors required a much wider rear end. At nearly 78 inches across, the Testarossa was over a foot wider than a contemporary standard 911. Even after 40 years of dimensional inflation it remains six inches wider than the average new car in Europe, and an intimidating drive on the tight Italian mountain roads where we’re testing them.

Legislation required those famous side-strakes over the air intakes to prevent small children or pets from being sucked in as the car passed, and unlike modern car designers who often seek to disguise the visual mass of their bloated cars, Fioravanti was unapologetic about the Testarossa’s width, carrying it through undiminished to a square-cut rear end rather than tapering it away, and even emphasizing it with the full-width, black horizontal rear grille which echoes the side-strakes.

The Monospecchio in front of me is a 24,000-km (14,900-mile) example made in 1985. You reach deep into those strakes to find the door handle, and slide in over a wide, flat sill. Much has been said about the poor ergonomics of ’80s supercars, and it’s all true. I have to duck my head hard to get under the cant rail, and once in it’s still tight against the headlining, despite being under six feet tall. The pedals are offset heavily to the right and the space where your left foot should be is occupied by a speaker.

The metal-spoked Momo steering wheel is angled hard away from you, the clutch gives your left thigh a proper workout, and the five-speed black ball-topped shifter feels lumpy as you run through the open-gate shifter before starting. The cabin is mainly assembled of slabs of black leather and plastic, and the layout of the switchgear and dials is deeply random. The Veglia odometer is housed in the console by your right knee, bizarrely. The fog light switches are in the roof. The orange dials ahead of you run optimistically to 10,000rpm and 320 km/h (200 mph).

Of course, the heavy clutch, steering and gearchange lighten and cohere with speed. Driving a Testarossa isn’t a fight but it remains a physical experience. That dry-sumped, four-valve flat-12 developed by Nicola Materazzi is a mechanical masterpiece: it doesn’t howl like a modern, expensively elocuted Ferrari but just emits a glorious, sonorous, multi-multi-layered thrash, with the click-clack of that open-gate shifter as percussion. It makes 390hp, and when new it was the most powerful engine offered in a standard production sports car. There’s sufficient torque to make low-effort, high-gear driving easy when you want to back off a bit, but the power really comes in above around 5000 rpm and peaks at 6300 rpm.

While this is a 40-year-old car, it still feels fast. A 0-60mph time of 5.3 seconds might sound modest by modern standards (Ferrari’s official claim was 5.8) but it feels plenty quick when keeping the thing pointing in a straight line, while setting it up for the next bend commands your very full attention. Of course it’s a thrill to drive, but the satisfaction of getting your technique right and overcoming the mechanical and ergonomic challenges make the whole experience more rewarding, more organic.

The fundamentals of the 1994 512 TR might be the same as the original but the benefits of several years of development are immediately apparent. The later Viola Hong Kong paint of this 65,000km example is striking, but underneath it’s more conventional than the Monospecchio with two mirrors, five-bolt wheels and longer rear buttresses breaking up that broad rear deck. Inside, the speaker has disappeared from the footwell and the ashtray from the door, the spokes of the steering wheel are now trimmed with leather and the odometer and trip meter are now in the dials, where they should have been all along.

X-ray the Testarossa again and you’ll notice how high the engine sits in the chassis, atop its gearbox. That configuration never changed and the car never lets you forget it, but in the 512 TR the combined unit is mounted 30mm lower in the tubular steel chassis to the clear benefit of handling. Internal revisions yielded 428bhp over a broader rev range and a higher redline at 6750rpm. The steering is quicker, the brakes bigger, the clutch lighter, and the gearchange less truculent. It’s the same car, but more coherent and cooperative, your extra speed due as much to the extra confidence the chassis imparts as the extra power of the engine.

You still treat the 512 TR with the respect its size and configuration demand, but the pleasure comes more from its inherent qualities than from conquering its quirks. Within a few miles, even on tight Italian mountain roads I was slicing into corners far faster than in the original, overtaking rather than waiting, and stretching that glorious mechanical package rather than merely managing it. This was the Testarossa experience I’d hoped for for 40 years.

Then I got into the F512 M, wondering how much better it could be, given that the fundamentals didn’t change much in this final iteration. The looks did, though. The pop-up headlamps were replaced with Perspex covers, the rear grille was now punctured by twin round lamps that echo the earlier 512 BB, and it rides on a very ’90s set of wheels. For me, it’s easily the worst-looking of the three (your view may differ).

But it’s also the rarest, the last, and the most developed. Ferrari only built 501 examples, compared to 7177 Testarossas and 2261 512 TRs. There were some detail changes to the engine, such as titanium connecting rods, high compression, and less back-pressure in the exhaust. It’s slightly more sonorous, keener to rev and, of course, more powerful at 440bhp. There were more changes to the steering and suspension (gas dampers), and minor revisions to the interior including a new polished aluminum ball atop a long and very solid gearlever, a general improvement in quality and, as fitted to this 41,000-km (25,500-mile) 1995 car, the option of carbon-shelled race seats.

Ferrari claimed only a tenth of a second advantage to 60mph over the 512 TR at 4.7 seconds, and one extra mile per hour in top speed to 196mph. On the road the F512 M feels further developed than that, but not by the same margin as the TR improved on the original Testarossa. It’s a little quicker and more exploitable, but also more grown-up and refined, which may not be what you want from a Testarossa. All three, though, have distinct but similar personalities.

In the end, the Monaco Car Auctions sale didn’t yield the market comparison we’d hoped for. Only 12 of the auction’s 30 car lots sold. To be fair, this was only the second year for this event, and it might also reflect European sentiment generally: Bonhams’ sale at the Historic Grand Prix of Monaco the previous month saw 24 of 52 car lots sold.

Of the cars I drove from the MCA sale, only the Monospecchio sold, making €150,000 before buyer’s premium ($161,000) against an estimate of €150-€180,000. The earlier Bonhams sale also saw a lovely, single-family, 26,500km 512 TR in Rosso Corsa over beige sell for €212,750 with premium ($228,000) against an estimate of €200,000-250,000.

In the Hagerty Price Guide, the Monospecchio’s price was close to the model’s condition #3 (“good”) value of $142,000, while its condition #2 (“excellent”) value currently sits at $206,000. That 512 TR at Bonhams, meanwhile, looked very cheap, coming in just above the average condition #4 (“fair”) value of $211,000, with a condition #2 car now sitting at $334,000. Values for both Testarossa and 512 TR have been relatively volatile over the past decade, making big gains in the hot Ferrari market of the mid-2010s, retreating significantly at the end of the decade, and then shooting back up again during the pandemic boom.

The F512 M has followed a similar pattern but sits at a much higher price point. Driven by its much greater rarity and slightly greater usability, a condition #2 car is now worth $596,000, a near four-fold increase over 10 years, in which time the original has increased 240 per cent in value, and the 512 TR 288 per cent.

The oldest Testarossas are now 40 years old. The kids who wanted them when they were new might now be 55, and there’s a younger breed of collectors coming through who might have a stronger affinity with the 10-years-newer F512 M. Looking at buyer interest, over the past five years the share of policy quotes on the F512 M to Gen X and younger owners has risen by a third, and that group now accounts for 42 per cent of quotes issued. For the 512 TR it’s 32 per cent, and for a Monospecchio just 25 per cent. So, interest is naturally correlated to buyers’ ages, doesn’t seem to be abating, and might continue to shift in the F512M’s favor as more ’90s kids start to buy old Ferraris.

Again, these are three similar cars that nevertheless have distinct personalities with their own pros and cons. The F512 M feels like what it is: the product of company boss Luca Cordero di Montezemolo’s ultimately successful efforts to improve Ferrari’s road cars. In its manners and build quality it feels closer to the V-12-powered 456 and 550 of the nineties. If you want that era of Ferrari, though, maybe get one of those cars. You’ll pay a a lot less—a #2 condition 550 is worth less than half as much. The F512 M might be—by a small margin—the best to drive, but I’m not sure it’s the best Testarossa, all things considered. Had I been lucky enough to be bidding on June 8, and having driven all of them, I’d have been torn between the Monospecchio and the 512 TR. The early Testarossa is the easiest on the eyes, certainly. But if you buy your cars to drive as well as to look at, the 512 TR is the Testarossa to have.

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The Hemi is dead. The Challenger and the Camaro as we know them are gone for good. Only the seemingly eternal Mustang remains. I think we can call the second golden age of American performance as being officially over, and what comes next is uncertain. It’s time to take stock of an automotive epoch that lasted over three times as long as the original, and produced cars that were arguably much better. In the future, the best of these twenty-first century muscle cars may even be more collectible. Does that sound like heresy? Maybe, but hear me out on this.

The original golden age of American muscle lasted just a decade or so, give or take, depending on what you believe was the first muscle car.  It came to a crashing halt around 1974 with the multipronged assault of rising insurance rates, soaring gas prices, fuel shortages, and ever-tightening emission regulations. What followed the muscle car years has been dubbed “The Malaise Era” by journalists. It too lasted about a decade, and it took yet another generation before the next golden age of American performance cars arrived. But this one greater than the first, not just in acceleration and handling numbers but in the diversity and quality of the cars. Here are a few to try on for size:

The last manual V-8 performance sedans

As is so often the case, the apex of an epoch comes just before the end. Just as the T-Rex was around for the explosive end of the dinosaurs, the Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is here to see out the second golden age of American automotive performance as the industry moves towards electrification and away from driver-focused fun like manual transmissions and high-displacement V-8s. The Cadillac is perhaps the greatest American sedan of the modern era, and given the endangered status of sedans in general, it’s likely to go down as the greatest of all time. With a 668 hp supercharged V-8, polished handling, and an available 6-speed manual (the take-rate for which has been around 50 percent). Not even out of production, the CT5-V Blackwing is already being viewed as semi-collectible. If the history of its GM super sedan predecessors is any indicator, these cars aren’t likely to get any cheaper in the future.

Its predecessors in super sedandom were of course the Chevrolet SS and the Pontiac G8 GXP. Yes, technically these were products of GM Australia’s Holden division, but in execution, powertrain and conception, they were thoroughly American-inspired. For years, American brands had tried and failed to build a credible sport sedan to tackle the Europeans, but with this pair GM finally succeeded in building what was essentially an American take on BMW’s beloved E39 M5, minus the crippling costs of ownership, and also with an available manual transmission. They never seemed to depreciate significantly once they became used cars, and today it takes around $50,000 to secure a manual transmission version of either one. After cars like the CT5-V Blackwing inevitably go extinct, it’s unlikely they’ll get any cheaper.

The most powerful muscle car, ever

This second golden age of American muscle gave birth to something muscle car fans of the 1960s couldn’t conceive of even in their wildest nitromethane fume-fueled fever dreams—The 2023 Dodge Challenger Demon 170.

Superbird, Schmooperbird, this 1025-hp rolling affront to mundanity had what Dodge billed as “Holy $#!&” level performance: 0-60 in 1.66 seconds (which incidentally subjected the driver to 2.004G) and history’s first production 8-second muscle car in the quarter-mile (8.91 seconds ET at 151.17 mph). Holy $#!&”, indeed. And it is likely destined to be the fastest road-going muscle car with the classic big front-engine V-8 and rear-wheel drive formula. Because they’re likely to be among the most sought after muscle cars of the current golden age, even the eye-popping $150,000 to $200,000 asking prices of today may seem like an incredible buy in the future.

The best handling (and braking) muscle cars

Muscle cars from the 1960s gained a reputation as being one-trick ponies. Straight-line acceleration is where they excelled, and they didn’t do much else. There were exceptions, of course—the 1969 SS and Z/28 Camaros with four-wheel discs both handled and stopped well, for example. But the latest crop of muscle cars presents an embarrassment of riches from a braking and handling standpoint. The Mustang Shelby GT350R and Camaro SS 1LE were among the best. The headline to Car and Driver’s 2017 test of the latter said it all—”Born to run. And turn. And stop.” The myth of the one-dimensional muscle car was shattered. Brembo 6-piston calipers and GM’s FE4 suspension with Magnetic Ride Control gave it about 1.11G of grip, matching that of a Ferrari 488 GTB. It really was a supercar for everyman. Both the Shelby and the Chevy are phenomenal cars. It really comes down to whether your allegiance lies with the blue oval or the bowtie.

Do the muscle cars of this current, second golden age have the same charm and sense of nostalgia as those of the 1960s? No, of course not. But give them time. Production numbers also tended to be higher, and as the second golden age cars get older, their thoroughly digital nature will likely present greater serviceability issues. But in terms of build quality, performance, and handling, they’re light years removed from their predecessors. Automotive nostalgia also grows with time. And since it’s a virtual certainty that there won’t be another V8/ICE-powered muscle car revival, their end-of-an-era status makes a powerful case for collectability in the not-very-distant future.

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As the weather gets hotter and driving season is now in full swing across North America, the collector car market continues to cool off. That doesn’t mean all classic cars are getting cheaper, though, as a lot of them started this year with significant appreciation. We surveyed the vehicles from the Big Three (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) in the Hagerty Price Guide, and below are the ones that have seen the biggest rise in values so far in 2024.

1979-93 Ford Mustang: +15 percent

Third generation, aka “Fox-body” Mustangs have been getting pricier for over a decade now, and kept right on going through the first part of 2024. A 15 percent bump in a quarter is remarkable, and so is the 258 percent surge in average Fox-body values over the past 10 years.

A big part of the Mustang’s appeal is that there’s one for most budgets, and that’s still the case with Fox-bodies despite the big numbers above. Condition #2 values for this generation of America’s pony car range from $13,000 for some of the humble early cars to over 100 grand for high-spec Saleens and SVT Cobra Rs.

1983-92 Lincoln Mark VII: +15 percent

The love for Ford’s Fox platform isn’t limited to Mustangs. In total, 15 different FoMoCo vehicles rode on the Fox chassis, and one was the Lincoln Continental Mark VII, renamed Mark VII for 1986. The 1985 LSC model was the first American car with four-channel antilock brakes, and the combination of reliable 302-cubic inch V-8 with Lincoln luxury made it a decent seller. Maybe it’s a case of the Mustang’s rising tide lifting all Fox-platformed boats, but the Mark VII’s growth isn’t limited to 2024. Since 2021, this car has more than doubled in value, with current #2 prices ranging from $22,000 to $24,500.

1999-2004 Ford SVT Lightning: +18 percent

The 1993 F-150 SVT Lightning was Ford’s original sport truck, and alongside the ’93 Mustang SVT Cobra, it introduced the buying public to Ford’s Special Vehicle Team. Ford retired the Lightning name in 1995, but brought it back on the 10th generation F-Series platform for 1999. Whereas the original Lightning used the tried-and-true 351 Windsor, the 1999 Lightning used an Eaton supercharged 5.4-liter Triton engine good for 360 hp (up to 380 from 2001). MSRP for the 1999 Lightning came in at $29,355 (about $55,800 when adjusted for inflation) when the regular F-150 XL V8 listed from $16,015, and Ford sold over 28,000 units of the boosted pickup from 1999-2004. When adjusted for inflation, then, Lightnings haven’t quite caught up to their original price unless they’re in #1 (“best in the world”) condition.

1965-68 Plymouth Fury/VIP: +11 percent

Plymouth’s fourth-generation Fury rode on Chrysler’s new, full-size C-body platform and was available in a wide range of body styles, engine configurations and trim levels, including a luxury version called the Plymouth VIP. Given the wide range of equipment and body styles, Fury values have a broad range as well, from under 13 grand for a 318-powered Fury I sedan to over 100 for a Hemi-powered Sport Fury. Prices have moved differently among the various body styles: Most convertibles and sedans have actually moved down about three percent, while two-door sedans and hardtop coupes are up 20 percent since January.

1965-68 Dodge Polara: +9 percent

Also built on the full-size C-body platform and available with a wide range of engines, body styles, and trims, the third generation Polara similarly has a wide range of values that move differently from each other. And, like the Fury, it isn’t the first name in American muscle despite being available with big V-8s, including 440s and Hemis. While most versions haven’t moved at all, convertibles are up 15 percent since the beginning of the year.

1984-2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ: +10 percent

Introduced for 1984, the XJ-generation Jeep Cherokee was Jeep’s first all-new design since the 1960s as well as the first with unibody construction. This proto-SUV was so popular that when Chrysler bought the Jeep brand from AMC in 1987, it retained the XJ and kept on building it until 2001. That’s an impressive run, and XJs are still in demand. Their #2 values are up by 10 percent across the board so far this year, and have more than doubled over the past five years.

1973-75 Pontiac Grand Am: +16 percent

Pontiac debuted the Grand Am model in 1973 as a sort of mix between the luxury-oriented Grand Prix and the sporty Firebird Trans Am. Built on the GM A-body platform, the “mid-sized Pontiac with Foreign Intrigue…American Ingenuity” (according to the ads) was available as a 2-door colonnade or 4-door “pillared” hardtop, and adorned with the massive beak found on most ’70s Pontiacs.

Introduced after the golden age of muscle was already over, the first-gen Grand Am is like many ’70s American cars in that it isn’t very expensive and its prices historically haven’t moved much. They started getting pricier in 2020, however, and have started the year with a 16 percent gain on average.

1961-63 Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass: +13 percent

Olds used the Cutlass name on a 1954 Motorama show car, but it didn’t reappear until 1961, with the introduction of a deluxe coupe version of the all-new F-85 “senior compact.” It came with a 215-cubic inch aluminum V-8, similar to the Buick engine that went on to become the famous Rover V-8. The Cutlass-based 1962 Oldsmobile Jetfire was also the first production car offered with a turbocharger.

F-85 values were flat for most of the 2010s and didn’t move dramatically during the earlier part of this decade. Convertible models and Jetfires are also flat so far this year, but all other trims (F-85 and F-85 Cutlass) and body styles (coupe, sedan, and station wagon) are up 20 percent since January.

1973-77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo: +30 percent

The redesigned ’73 Monte Carlo was a big success for Chevrolet. Motor Trend named it their “Car of the Year,” and the Monte helped the company set a sales record that year. New features like standard radial tires, wrap-around interior styling, and one-piece swiveling bucket seats helped the Monte Carlo lead the parade of entries in America’s personal luxury car market. Through several restyles and despite shrinking engines and power figures, the second-gen Monte remained a sales juggernaut through its five-year production run.

These cars shot up in price starting in 2022, and #2 values are up a whopping 82 percent over the past two years.

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Lambos were expensive this week. A 2003 Murciélago sold for $508,500, 67 percent over its #1 (“best in the world”) value in our price guide. But even more special than that Murci was a 1972 Miura P400 SV that sold for $4.9M. That’s 34 percent above its #1 value and comfortably more than the previous world record for the model, a $4.26M sale back in 2020.

What was a six-figure Italian classic 15 years ago is now, with the right specs and condition, a blue chip collectible approaching the $5M club.

The words “Lamborghini” and “supercar” tend to go hand in hand these days. Indeed, the brash, brightly colored exotics from Sant’Agata Bolognese are some of the most popular supercars out there. Throw a stone in a nice part of Miami or L.A. and you’re bound to hit one. This wasn’t the case in 1965, however—Lamborghini was a much different company back then. The tractor-turned-carmaker focused on producing small batches of refined, mature gran turismos that aimed to best Ferrari’s equivalent road cars. Frivolities like racing just weren’t part of the equation. The car that changed that philosophy, and put Lamborghini down its current loud, wedge-shaped path, was the Miura. No wonder it’s the most valuable Lamborghini of them all.

After Lamborghini’s first car—the 350 GT—began steady production in 1964, several company engineers and designers started thinking about what to do next. Everybody in the group was in their mid-20s. Ferruccio Lamborghini was 48. They were enthusiastic about racing, where mid-engine cars were dominant. Mr. Lamborghini wasn’t, and insisted on staying away from motorsport. Nevertheless, he budged and gave the team the go-ahead to develop a mid-engine sports car.

The chassis design was a monocoque with an integral roof, leaving the front and rear of the bodywork as unstressed, hinged panels. The steel chassis included drilled holes for lightness. Meanwhile, Lamborghini’s signature V-12, then displacing four liters, was a long unit. Mounting it longitudinally would have meant lengthening the wheelbase and compromising the handling. The clever solution was to mount the engine transversely in parallel with the rear axle, sort of like an Austin Mini but on a much larger scale and behind the driver instead of in front. Due to limited space, Lamborghini also fabricated a transaxle, mounted at the rear of the engine and in unit with the crankcase (like on a motorcycle), so the engine and gearbox had to share oil with each other.

A rolling chassis debuted at the 1965 Turin Auto Show, and just the naked mechanicals were enough to cause a stir and send potential customers rushing to the Lamborghini stand. But Lamborghini, still a boutique carmaker just a few years in the business, thought of the project as a promotional tool. It wasn’t just lacking a body. It didn’t even have a proper name.

When they finally decided to put this new mid-engine design into production, Bertone won the deal to design a body and gave the job to a young Marcello Gandini. The finish product debuted at the Geneva Salon in 1966 and it once again caused a stir. Its name—P400—referred to the engine placement (“P” for Posteriore), and the engines displacement of 400 deciliters. But Mr. Lamborghini, a Taurus, also wanted a proper name and went with Miura, after a renowned breeder of fighting bulls. Bullfighting-themed monikers have been a Lamborghini trademark ever since.

The original Miura’s shape was a masterpiece and its $20,000 price in the U.S. was enough to buy five brand-new Corvettes, but there was still room for improvement. The P400 has numerous ergonomic quirks, and at over 100 mph the nose starts to generate lift. The common oil supply between the engine and gearbox also didn’t allow for a limited-slip differential. A first batch of upgrades arrived with the Miura P400 S in 1969, which added vented brakes, power windows, optional air conditioning, improved rear suspension and better tires as well as a bump in power from 350 hp to 370.

Then, in 1971, the SV came with even more rear suspension improvements, a slight lowering of the nose to alleviate that pesky front-end lift and wider 15-inch wheels under flared fenders. The retractable headlights also lost their signature black trim, aka “eyelashes,” and engine output again grew, this time to 385. Later P400 SVs got a split sump, which meant separate oil supplies for the crankcase and gearbox and made a limited-slip feasible, although it wasn’t standard factory equipment.

Lamborghini built 762 Miuras, and just 150 of them are the higher-spec SV models. The hierarchy of values is straightforward, with three distinct series carrying three distinct prices. Basically, the first P400 sits at the bottom, the improved P400 S in the middle, and the fully developed P400 SV at the top.

This Miura SV, Chassis 4972, was built in 1971 and finished in Rosso Corsa with gold rocker panels over tan leather. It sold new to an Italian living in Germany, before a later British owner converted it to right-hand drive in the 1980s. A Hong Kong collector bought it in the 1990s and commissioned a full restoration. Then, singer Jay Kay of Jamiroquai bought it, and it featured in a 2004 episode of Top Gear. It sold on again and received a full restoration in Italy in the 2010s, returning it to its original left-hand drive but giving it a blue leather interior instead of the original tan. Otherwise, it has its original engine, chassis, and body and was represented in concours condition.

It sold at the RM Sotheby’s “Dare to Dream” auction, which featured a collection owned by financier Miles Nadal that included 140 cars and motorcycles as well as hundreds of pairs of collectible sneakers. Despite top shelf Ferraris like an F40 (sold for $3.47M), an F50 ($4.24M), an Enzo ($4.295M), a LaFerrari ($3.69M) and a 275 GTB/4 ($3.305M), the upstart Lamborghini flew past its $2.75M—$3.5M estimate and its #1 value of $3.65M to take the top spot of the sale and become the most expensive Miura ever sold at auction. It’s a bit of a surprise given the interior change and the steering wheel switcheroo, which would ordinarily be hindrances at auction on a car like this.

Condition counts for a lot, though, and this car wears its restoration well. The car was also vetted by Lamborghini’s PoloStorico and issued a Certificate of Authenticity. And, speaking of documentation, we’ve heard that the stack of books and records that come with the car is a foot high. The setting, an auction full of high-dollar classic European cars in excellent condition, also helped. Then there’s the trajectory of Miuras in general. They have been consistently getting more valuable for well over a decade. “It is absolutely one of the most beautiful piece of automotive design, ever,” says Dave Kinney, publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide of Lamborghini’s breakout supercar. As for the market for them, “most people are realizing that Miuras really are worth the big money they’ve been selling for, so I don’t necessarily think this result is a one-off.” For now, though, the red and gold over blue beauty is the new king of the bulls.

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Among second- and early third-generation Corvettes, big-block cars tend to dominate any debate about which spec of America’s sports car is king. There are some exceptions, though: The L84 “Fuelie” in the early cars is a favorite, though the small-block Chevy that’s perhaps in the best position to fight for the prize is the 350-cubic inch mill that came with the Regular Production Option (RPO) LT1.

LT1-equipped third-generation Corvettes delivered a balanced blend of power, higher-revving personality, and handling that contrasted with the brute force of the big-block cars. Today, they remain among the most sought-after C3 Corvettes, though their prices haven’t gone through the roof.

By 1970, the Mako Shark II-concept-inspired design of the third generation was in its third year, and Chevy decided to perform some subtle stylistic updates and improvements. The fender flares were widened to reduce rock chips, while the front end got an egg-crate grille and treatment to the side vents similar to those on Bill Mitchell’s Aero Coupe styling exercise from 1969. Side markers front and rear grew in size.

Inside, high-backed seats integrated the headrest, and the Corvette was now available with a “custom interior” option that offered better touch points all around—leather seats and shift boot, woodgrain dash, and improved carpeting. This may have been appreciated, but the real cause for conversation was what was available—and not available—beneath the Corvette’s forward-tilting hood.

Before getting too far, let’s take a brief pause for clarification of references. LT1 is, as mentioned above, an RPO code. The engine it came with is commonly—though not always—referred to as the LT-1 (dash included), not to be confused with the 5.7-liter LT1 (no dash) that powered Corvettes, F-bodies, and select full-size GM cars in the ’90s. You will see the RPO and the engine designation in this piece in their appropriate circumstances.

Coming from the L88 427-cubic inch big blocks of 1967-69, and with the 450-horse, 454-cubic inch LS6 headed for use in the Chevelle, there was a good deal of anticipation for a high-output 454 in the Corvette. Chevy did intend to provide one—RPO LS7 was rated at 460 horsepower, and though early ’70 Corvette brochures did include this beast, the engine was unfortunately never put in a Corvette that was sold to the public.

That left the 390-horse LS5 454 as the only big block option for that year. In offering a massive 500 lb-ft of torque, the LS5 confidently got the job done, but was neither a wind-it-out screamer nor the outright monster that the L88 had become known as.

All this created a lot of context for the new-for-1970 LT-1. When comparing the LT-1 to the LS5 and the 270-horse engine in the base Corvette, Car and Driver in-period characterized the differences bluntly: “But those powerplants are of little interest to the Corvette purist, the man who remembers the soul and vitality of the high-winding fuel-injected 283 when it was the only street engine in the country that put out one horsepower per cubic inch. Today’s equivalent is the LT1…” High praise indeed, and truly highlighting the LT-1’s position in the lineup.

At its core, the LT-1 represented a thorough hot-rodding of Chevy’s proven small-block formula. It’s often characterized as a more hardcore version of the potent hydraulic-lifter 350-horse L46 that debuted the prior year, and the two did share a number of parts, including the same block and cylinder heads, along with the same 11.0:1 compression ratio in 1970.

The LT-1 traded those hydraulic lifters for a set of solid ones that responded to a more aggressive cam. Lighter, TRW forged aluminum pistons with revised rings were added to help put up with more abuse, while stronger connecting rods and wrist pins along with a forged, balanced crankshaft rounded out changes to the rotating assembly. Four-bolt mains held the crank to the block, and improved rod and main bearings, a gear-driven oil pump and a different oil pan design helped ensure proper lubrication. Up top, 2.02-inch intake valves and 1.60-inch exhaust valves made for freer-breathing heads over the base 350, and a Winters aluminum high-rise manifold wearing an 800-cfm Holley carburetor voraciously mixed the fuel.

The result was 370 horsepower at 6000 rpm—the LT-1 would keep pulling to a then-heady 6500 rpm—and 380 lb.-ft. of torque at 4000. Peak power was up by 20 over the L46, and it was made a full 400 rpm higher in the power band. Torque figures were the same, though again there was a 400-rpm difference in the peak. Backed by a standard four-speed manual or a more assertively-geared Muncie M-22 “rock crusher” gearbox, and optional performance gear sets, Chevy had built an engine and drivetrain that wanted to go.

And go it did, on the straights, and through the corners. Those who have driven both big- and small-block examples note that the balance of the car is markedly more even, with the small block weighing as much as 300 pounds less than the 454-powered cars. Though the big block cars wore a rear anti-sway bar to help offset their nose-heavy manners, the lighter front end of the small block-powered cars was effective in improving steering feel and overall agility.

Whether it was as easy to live with every day was a different question. The LT-1’s ability to run at higher rpms coincided with a tendency in testing to throw air conditioning compressor belts, and as a result, AC wasn’t immediately available on the model. The L46 or even the LS5 may have been the more sound, if less dynamically pleasing, choices for drivers who wanted power in everyday driving scenarios, but it was the LT-1 that pulled at the enthusiast’s heartstrings. Of the 17,316 Corvettes that would sell in 1970, 1287 were LT1s.

1971 brought about more changes, two of which weren’t good for the LT1. The first and most notable was a drop in compression to 9.0:1. That two-point drop trimmed horsepower to 330—still a solid figure, but the wrong direction nonetheless. The second was the late arrival of the LS6. Though compression neutered it somewhat to 425 horses, down 25 from its rating in the 1970 Chevelle, the LS6 still had plenty of character. “It’s like the LT1 only bigger,” beamed Car and Driver. That was a boon for the go-fast crowd, but maybe not for the future of the LT-1. The availability of a raw, rowdy LS6 with nearly 100 more horsepower, along with the LS5, which was more relaxed but still faster than the LT-1, begged the question: Did buyers really want a high-strung small block, too?

The answer to that question was mixed. Sales did improve for 1971, with 1949 buyers choosing the LT1. (It should be noted that 1970 was a short model year, with cars debuting in February, so sales figures between years aren’t truly apples to apples.) The LS5, though, sold significantly more, at 5097. Also, the L46 was no longer available, likely steering buyers who wanted more livable power over the base car to the LS5.

Those who know this era well can easily recite what’s coming next. 1972, the final year for the LT-1, GM switched its horsepower rating from gross to net, and power “went down” to 255 hp. The good news was that this was a paper number—the engine remained essentially unchanged from 1971. On the upside, Chevy figured out how to keep the AC belt from flying off the engine, so cool interior air was available as an option in ’72. Even though the power wasn’t the same as the LT-1 that wowed small-block fans in ’70, it maintained the personality that it debuted with, and a 4.11 gear swap did wonders to help wake up the performance of the later cars. That said, sales dipped to 1741 LT1s out of more than 27,000 total Corvettes.

Come 1973, the LT1 disappeared from the order form, leaving the base 200-horse L48 350, the 250-horsepower L82, and the lumbering 275-horse LS4 454 to carry on. The days of the screaming small block were done, at least for the moment.

It’s worth rewinding the tape a bit and highlighting an even more performance-oriented Corvette where the LT-1 engine found a home. Chevy had an inkling that buyers ordering a high-strung small block were a different breed, many of whom were seeking more of a sports car feel from their Corvette. So, to complement the LT-1’s personality, RPO ZR1 helped transform the rest of the car.

Possessing the LT-1 engine but going by its ZR1 RPO code, these first Corvettes to bear the ZR1 designation made the M-22 transmission standard, added an aluminum radiator, heavier-duty springs, shocks and sway bars, more powerful brakes, and a different fan shroud. Several options were unavailable on the ZR1, including air conditioning, a defroster, radio, and power steering. This truly was the hardcore option, and as you might expect, sales reflected that. Just 25 ZR1s were sold in ’70, eight in ’71, and another 20 made it out the door in 1972. It stands as the most potent and capable small-block C3 Corvette package, and among the most collectible as well.

“Looking back, the LT1 is one of the most admired Corvettes and ‘Vette engines in history,” says Don Sherman, a marque expert and regular Hagerty contributor. “There were two camps: Big block and small block. But the character built into the LT-1 would be very important for future Corvettes, and the LT-1 remains much loved to this very day for its performance and its historical impact.”

This reverence is generally reflected in the LT1’s values: Setting aside the ultra-rare ZR1, RPO LT1 commands a solid premium over the other third-gen small block-equipped Corvettes. And, among 1970 Corvettes, the LT1 is the most valuable, regardless of displacement—a #2 (excellent) condition LS5 454 is $9000 cheaper while the tamer L46 comes in 12 grand beneath the LT1. Naturally, the most potent 1970 LT1s are also the most valuable, but it’s also worth noting that solid driver-quality examples can be had for less than $40,000.

The slight premium the LT1 carries over those other ‘Vettes pales in comparison, though, to the value delta between the top-flight big blocks and the rest. Number 2 condition values for L88 cars from ’68 and ’69 come in north of $400,000, and a same-condition 1971 LS6 is valued $188,000, more than double a ’70 LT1. In that light, the LT1 delivers quite a bit of attitude per dollar.

Perhaps surprisingly, given its place in Corvette history, the LT1’s allure does not appear to have been picked up on by younger generations of enthusiasts. Boomers make up the overwhelming majority of quotes sought for LT1 Corvettes at 62 percent. Gen X and younger generations each make up shares markedly less than their overall market stakes. That said, we don’t think the LT1 will be forgotten anytime soon—rather, it may continue to represent a solid entry point to a high-performance, third-generation Corvette experience.

Its three-year lifespan may have been fleeting, but the LT1 effectively put a capstone on early small-block performance in the Corvette and served as an inspiration as the model returned to a powerful era again in the ’90s. For modern enthusiasts who are looking for the right mix of history and capability at a non-stratospheric price, the LT1 makes perfect sense.

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The last five years have been pretty crazy. There was a pandemic and a whole bunch of other newsworthy items, but even sticking with the classic car market—since that’s what we at Insider know best—things have been topsy-turvy. Aside from some uncertainty in the earlier months of 2020, prices rose at a fast clip for just about everything interesting on four wheels, and kept rising in 2021 and 2022 before slowing down in 2023 and so far in 2024. Many vehicles have even come down in value after their pandemic boom highs, but on average the #2 (“excellent”) value for vehicles in the Hagerty Price Guide is 33% higher than it was five years ago, in the spring of 2019. That outpaces inflation: A hundred dollars five years ago translates to over 120 bucks today.

That doesn’t mean every classic car jumped in value by a third, though. In fact, while quite a few of the market’s most popular classics have been quite active, prices for many others have held steady. The values of these cars have for the most part chugged along at their own pace rather than responding to the whims of the market, or after a brief blip settled back into their prior trajectory. All these examples serve as a reminder that while big numbers can impress when the hammer falls, the meat of the market hasn’t fluctuated as much as some of the top lines would suggest.

Measured by insurance activity, the 1965 Ford Mustang is the most popular classic car in America, and the second most popular is the 1966 Mustang. America’s pony car has indeed had an active five years, with the median condition #2 value up 28 percent over that time. Meanwhile, America’s sports car—the Corvette—has been more stable, at least in its earlier C1 (1953-62) and C2 (1963-67) iterations. The median #2 value for C1s is up 11% over the past five years, and the average up nine percent. For C2s, the median #2 value is up less than one percent, and the average is actually down three percent.

Keeping in the Chevrolet camp, in contrast to the 1967-72 Chevy C/K pickups, which are up an astonishing 72 percent on average over the last five years, muscle car mainstays from the same period have been more understated. The 1968-72 Nova is up just 11 percent, and over the last decade just 13 percent. The median #2 value for 1970 Chevelles is up less than three grand over the last five years. A few other GM muscle staples have been relatively stable as well, with the median #2 value for 1964-67 Pontiac GTOs down three percent and 1968-72 GTOs up 15 percent.

Turning back the clock again to the 1950s American cars, this has generally been a sleepier segment of the market, both before and during the 2020s. A ’50s favorite—the 1957 Chevy Bel Air—has barely moved since 2019. The 1956-57 Lincoln Premiere hasn’t either, while other era-defining cars like the 1957 Chrysler 300C (three percent), 1957-58 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser (two percent), and 1958-60 Edsel (three percent) have also barely nudged.

Even further back, both the Ford Model T and Model A have been mainstays of the old car hobby for longer than almost anything else because they’re so, well, old. The market for them is mature, and they’ve spent the last five years tracking straighter than most other classics. Average #2 values for the 1909-27 Model T are up less than one percent over the last five years. The 1928-31 Model A is up 18 percent, although the median is up 12 percent and many versions haven’t moved at all.

Even with all the movement, both up and down, during this very eventful decade so far, some of our favorite classics have been a lot more consistent. For buyers and sellers of these favorites, it’s always reassuring when a car brings a price that feels right.

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In 2000, High Performance Pontiac magazine featured a wide-ranging interview with Bill Porter, chief designer at the GM Design Center, and studio chief at Pontiac Styling through 1979, the meat of development years for the second-generation Pontiac Firebird. By the time he’d worked his way up to studio chief, he said, the first-generation Firebird was just about wrapped up. “I never identified with that car personally,” he said. “But that ’70½ second-generation Firebird was another story altogether. I was absolutely crazy about that car from day one and I really threw myself into it. I put the best designers on it, and we were consciously trying to create an important American sports car. We knew we had our chance, and we wanted to do it bad.”

They did, and it was bad, in the best sense of the term. With the exception of the Corvette, the Trans Am and the Formula 400 were the baddest street cars available at that time, cramming high-horsepower 400-cubic-inch V-8s into a platform built to turn as well as it took off in a straight line. The Camaro was tough enough, but the Pontiac Firebird—with its own interior and exterior design staff and engineering teams—kept Pontiac on the map during some exceedingly grim years in the 1970s.

Of course, the Trans Am and Formula 400 get the attention, but lower-trim cars like the Esprit were massively popular. Long before Burt Reynolds drove a Trans Am in 1977, Jim Rockford put a series of brown Esprits in millions of American living rooms. Sales commensurately took off and stayed elevated throughout the entire decade, almost until the very end of production.

From the beginning, the Firebird was a driver’s car, and not just for drivers of the hot-performing trim levels. It went right down to the base car, and everybody involved with the Firebird’s production wanted to deliver a holistic driving experience.

Good ergonomics, for example, were a Firebird standard feature in every trim level. “Too many people cling to the notion that the inside of a sports car—especially a low-budget sports car—is a wind-in-the-face, knees-in-the-chest, pain-in-the-neck,” read the promotional material. Even the back seat gets a mention for its overall comfort, comparing its relative spaciousness to international sports cars that considered the rear seat an afterthought better suited for bag lunches than human occupation.

The basic shapes of the interior were similar to the Camaro, but as Porter mentioned in his interview, there was a unique synergy between the inside and the outside of a second-gen Firebird that might have been a bit lacking in the Chevrolet. “One of the design approaches pioneered in the ’70½ F-car and that’s coming into the industry in a more widespread way is the integration of the interior and exterior,” he said.

John Shettler designed the interior of the Firebird to mimic shapes that were used on the outside of the car. “I actually had templates taken off the grille openings and the nose profile,” said Porter. “John used those for the seatback shapes, the instrument panel cowl shapes . . . so that the exact same curves were used through the interior and exterior of the car. When you open the door of a Firebird, there is—I would like to think—a subliminal sense of the unity of the interior and exterior.”

John DeLorean—at the time general manager of the Pontiac Division—exerted his own influence on the interior design. “[I]f your hand didn’t fall right where it should’ve been when you reached for the shifter, or maybe for a switch, [DeLorean] and Johnny [Shettler] would talk about it, make modifications and try again,” said Porter. “Everyone involved with that vehicle wanted it to be really good, not only from a performance standpoint, but from an ergonomic standpoint.”

Like all cars of the era, the Firebird was challenged by increasing restrictions from the EPA and corporate mandates, by inflation, and by the general malaise that overtook the country, but it simply didn’t seem to hurt what most Americans considered to be a fun, good-looking mode of daily transportation. Especially in the early years of production, it wasn’t the Trans Am or the Formula 400 that kept customers flowing into Pontiac showrooms. From 1970 to 1976, it was the Esprit and the base trim Firebird that represented the largest sales volumes. That’s kind of fascinating for a car that has long been synonymous with the excess of the era.

1970

Depending upon who you talk to, the second-gen Firebird was a 1970 or a 1970½. Porter talks about the half-year, but the brochure clearly identifies it as a 1970. Regardless, the Camaro and Firebird debuted within a day of each other, on February 25 and February 26, 1970.

Like the Camaro, these cars were built at the Norwood, Ohio, and Van Nuys, California, plants. Later in the production run—from ’72 to ’77—Norwood exclusively built Firebirds. Cars built in Norwood will have an “N” in the fourth digit of the VIN from 1970 to 1971, in the sixth digit of the VIN from 1972 to 1980, and in the ninth digit in 1981, when the 17-digit VIN finally arrived. Van Nuys cars will all have an “L” (for Los Angeles) in the same positions.

Pontiac offered four trim levels in 1970: The “basic Firebird,” as identified in the sales brochure, the Esprit, the Formula 400, and the Trans Am.

“Economy is what the basic Firebird is all about,” read the copy, leaning on the car’s overall value proposition rather than its performance. The Endura nose, for example, is called out for its long-lasting resistance to dents and chips and its imperviousness to rust. The long door with no rear quarter window is identified for ease of access to the rear seat.

The base car sadly avoided the Pontiac-specific overhead-cam straight-six in favor of Chevrolet’s 250-cubic-inch six, though a Pontiac-specific 350-cid V-8 was available. Horsepower jumped from 155 in the six to 255 in the V-8, with the larger engine putting out an impressive 355 lb-ft of torque. It made a base 1970 Firebird with a 350 and a Hurst-shifted four-speed a smoking bargain.

The Esprit was marketed as a “luxury” Firebird, but not at the expense of performance. “We never let luxury get in the way of sport,” read the promotional materials. “You won’t find anything frivolous or wasteful about Esprit’s kind of luxury.” And you won’t, especially through a modern lens. “Luxury” includes things like knit vinyl upholstery (along with straight vinyl and cloth options), an available console, storage pockets in the doors, and “soft, squeezable vinyl” wrapping the wheel. Even in the “luxurious” Esprit, power steering was still an option, but you did get chrome window opening trim, and a 15/16-inch front stabilizer bar.

A differentiator from the Camaro was the fact that the Esprit was only available with a V-8 engine, either the base 350 or a 265-horse 400-cid V-8 with almost 400 lb-ft of torque. You could buy an Esprit with a manual transmission, but only the three-speed, and only with the 350. The Esprit with a 400 came exclusively with a TH350 automatic.

In nearly every way, the Formula 400 may have been the best car in the Firebird lineup for 1970. With its lack of spoilers, side scoops, and tape stripes, the Formula is a much cleaner design, hewing close to the car’s original sketches and avoiding nearly all identifying markers except for the fender callouts. The brochure called the styling “almost stark.” Dual exhaust, a flexible fan, fat front and rear stabilizer bars, and F70-14 tires were all part of the trim level.

The Firebird 400 featured—as the name implies—the 400-cid V-8, delivering 330 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque. The 400 could also be had with the 345-horse Ram Air III package (the same engine was rated at 366 hp in the GTO), though fewer than 700 were so-equipped. The Hurst-shifted three-speed was the base transmission, with a four-speed or an automatic transmission on the options list. The optional Ram Air twin-snorkel hood scoop was a particular bone of contention for Bill Porter. “I always kind of wished the double-scooped hood that became the Formula hood—originally done for the Trans Am—would have prevailed [as the hood for the Trans Am] because it’s functionally superior,” he said. “Those twin boundary scoops up front really gulp in the air.”

Top shelf was the Trans Am, with its spoilers, air extractors, and shaker scoop, all of which was functional. The 345-horse Ram Air III came standard in the T/A, while the 370-horse Ram Air IV 400 was an option that only 88 buyers took advantage of. The stabilizer bars are the thickest available for 1970, with 1¼-inch up front and 7/8-inch in the rear. Heavy-duty shocks, Rally II wheels without trim rings, and F70-15s rounded out the handling package.

There were 15 color options in 1970, and that year, Pontiac produced 18,874 base Firebirds, 18,961 Esprits, 7708 Formulas, and just 3196 Trans Ams. Watch that Trans Am number between now and 1979, because it goes through some wild fluctuations.

1971

The biggest news for 1971 was in the engine room of the Formula and Trans Am trims. The Formula now offered the two-barrel 350 and a four-barrel 400, and the cars were identified as “Formula 350” and “Formula 400.” Then there was the Formula 455, which shared the 455-cubic inch V-8 with the Trans Am. Compression ratios had dropped across the board, but the 455 was available in two flavors: The four-barrel 455 delivered 255 net horsepower (though gross horsepower was still listed in the brochure), with 455 lb-ft of torque. Then there was the 455 HO, with 305 net horsepower and a Wide Oval–boiling 480 lb-ft of torque.

Several trim items were revised, too, including fake side air extractors all the way down to the base Firebird, a new console-like armrest with an ashtray between the rear seats, and new Polycast honeycomb wheels. Bill Porter designed those himself, with the help of Maurice “Bud” Chandler, with whom Porter shares a patent. “It was inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes that I had admired since I was a student,” said Porter. “The idea of doing a wheel with a deep cell structure that would be inherently strong, not only radially but laterally, was intriguing.” Porter’s intent was to make the wheels completely aluminum, but that never made it to production. Instead, they were Polycast, “much to my regret,” said Porter. “In the Polycast approach, all of the structural requirements are taken care of by the underlying stamped steel wheel. The honeycomb pattern—now an injection molded appliqué—merely goes along for the ride, reduced to just so much pastry icing, only there for its decorative pattern.”

For 1971, again, 15 colors were available. Pontiac produced 23,021 Firebirds, 20,185 Esprits, 7802 Formulas in all three engine sizes, and 2116 Trans Ams.

1972

The Firebird underwent some exterior changes in 1972, including a new honeycomb grille pattern that mirrored the design of the Polycast wheels. Inside, the front seats all featured a new high-back design, the third consecutive year the front bucket seat design changed. In 1970, the low-back seats had small individual headrests. In 1971, the seat backs got slightly taller and the headrests left. And for 1972, the headrest was fully integrated into the high-back design, which would essentially carry through until the end of second-generation Firebird production.

Power outputs took it on the chin across the board, with the 250-cubic-inch six dropping to 110 hp, the 350 two-barrel to 160 hp, the 400 two-barrel to 175, and the 400 four-barrel to 250 hp. The standard 455 in the Formula 455 and Trans Am was eliminated for 1972, focusing solely on the HO, which dropped to 300 hp and 415 lb-ft of torque. (Some of the change in output coincided with the switch from SAE gross to SAE net calculations.)

The VIN code change for 1972 is significant. Prior to 1972, the only engine identification in the VIN was that V-8 cars had serial numbers starting at 100001, and six-pluggers started at 600001. From 1972 through 1980, the VINs got much more specific, helping future owners understand the DNA profile of their Firebirds. These letter designations change through the years, though they are fairly consistent for the next three model years. For a more explicit breakdown, visit PontiacFormula.Free.fr:

• D = 250-cid
• M = 350-cid 2-barrel, single exhaust
• N = 350-cid 4-barrel, dual exhaust
• P = 400-cid 2-barrel, dual exhaust
• R = 400-cid 4-barrel, single exhaust
• T = 400-cid 4-barrel, dual exhaust
• X = 455-cid HO 4-barrel, dual exhaust

Fifteen colors were again available in 1972. Thanks to a UAW strike, this is the lowest-production year for the second-generation Firebird, with just 12,000 base cars, 11,415 Esprits, 5250 Formulas, and a scant 1286 Trans Ams.

1973

It’s interesting to consider just how far ahead Pontiac was with the Firebird compared to the Camaro. Over at Chevrolet, there was hustling afoot to make the split bumper comply with new 2.5-mph crash requirements. The second-generation Firebird was born with it, thanks to the Endura bumper, which required no design changes to comply, regardless of trim level. The slender rear bumpers were beefed up a bit, but still chrome.

Inside, the Esprit got a “Custom Interior” as standard, with deeply scooped bucket seats, a grab handle on the dash for the passenger, rear ashtrays, a fitted rubber trunk mat, and a body-color insert on the exterior door handles. The Custom Interior package was optional on the Formula and Trans Am.

And most notably, the exterior of the Trans Am featured—for the first time—the bird decal on the hood that had been an emblem and a small decal in prior years. Porter said he sketched it roughly on a napkin and had intended it for the 1970 Trans Am. Norm Inouye—who later attained greater fame for designing the logo for Disney’s EPCOT Center—worked out the graphics, and Porter had it applied on two concept cars. “[GM styling chief Bill] Mitchell saw it in the paint shop and just went into one of his horrible tantrums. I was back in the studio. He called me up and I had to hold the phone away from my ear. That was the end of that,” said Porter.

But three years later, designer John Schinella had another bite at the apple. Schinella had worked on the Chaparral 2, the Mako Shark II, the ’67 Camaro, and the ’68 Corvette, before making his way to Pontiac. In a 2014 interview I conducted with Schinella for Bangshift.com, Schinella shared that Mitchell was driving a Trans Am in custom John Player Special livery that had been a show car. Schinella had a set of gold foil decals made up, applied them to the John Player Special car Mitchell was driving, and parked it outside Mitchell’s office. Evidently, that was enough to seal the deal for the hood bird to reach production.

Power reset again for 1973, with a paltry 100 hp for the inline-six, 150 for the 350 two-barrel, 170 for the 400 two-barrel, and 230 for the 400 four-barrel. The 455 HO disappeared, and in its place were the 455 four-barrel with 250 hp, and—one of the last significant muscle car–era engines—the 455 Super Duty with 310 hp.

A choice of 16 colors provided the most extensive palette to date, and seven vinyl top colors expanded the range as well. Five interior colors were available, but only two were available in cloth trim. Production picked back up to more normal levels, with 14,096 Firebirds, 17,249 Esprits, 10,166 Formulas, and 4802 Trans Ams.

1974

The 5-mph federal bumper standards came into effect for the 1974 model year, and it changed the nose of the second-generation Firebird for the first time. As a result, the Endura bumper morphed into something that was much more in line with the design of the Camaro.

The bumper itself is interesting and unique to the Firebird. Instead of the aluminum bumper that the Camaro had, the Firebird got a full rubber bumper, along with bumperettes that were all cast in one giant rubber piece. A body-color Endura chin piece covered most of it and provided the housings for the lower air intakes and marker lights.

Inside, seat belts changed to a three-point design, which moved through a seat-mounted holder, along with an inertia reel.

Power steering moved to the standard features list for all Firebirds, while power brakes became standard on the Trans Am. The fuel tank increased from 18 gallons to 21. Mechanical changes also included the late introduction of HEI ignition on the 400 and 455 engines, beginning around May 1, 1974. The balance of the engines kept their points distributors.

Sixteen colors made up the paint options. Production ramped in a big way, with 26,372 Firebirds, 22,583 Esprits, 14,519 Formulas, and Trans Ams broke the five-digit mark for the first time, with 10,255 units.

1975

The HEI distributor made its way to all Firebirds for the 1975 model year, and that’s probably the only positive news for performance. It was part of what the brochure pitched as “The Pontiac Travel Plan,” which included radial tires and a catalytic converter. The 455 bowed out, and the Trans Am instead featured a 400 four-barrel just like the Formula.

There were only minor exterior updates again, including the ever-moving marker lamps, which now moved up to the grille inserts. Like the Camaro, this was the year the Firebird got a wraparound rear window for better visibility, made more crucial because of the high-back bucket seats.

The brochure shows a new AM/FM stereo as an option, along with infant and child love seats (GM-branded baby seats), which were a first-time option for the Firebird. Again, 16 colors were available, but black was not one of them. Production dipped slightly to 22,293 Firebirds, 20,826 Esprits, 13,670 Formulas, and—in what would now be a relentless march skyward for the next four years—27,274 Trans Ams.

1976

Most of the changes for 1976 were cosmetic, but they seem rather dramatic in some cases. Take the Formula, for example: The twin scoop hood was still there, but it was drastically scaled back for 1976, with the two nostrils almost vestigial and moved back at least 10 inches on the hood.

Two full model years before the Camaro had them, the Firebird sported monochrome bumper covers rather than the aluminum bumper employed over at Chevrolet. It made the Firebird look much more modern, and it provided some interesting color contrast between the standard Firebird and the Formula, which now had more elaborate lower colors and graphics. The “Canopy” vinyl roof was new for 1976, essentially a reverse landau top with the vinyl over the front passenger compartment.

Hurst T-Tops were available for the first time in 1976, a late-enough option that they didn’t make the brochure that year. They were only available on the 1976 Trans Am Special Edition and had unique, one-year-only weatherstripping that both sealed the T-Tops and held up the headliner. The design changed in 1977 to a plastic trim held in with a series of screws. The Hurst T-Tops used between 1976 and 1978 were smaller—only 30¼ inches x 17½ inches wide—and left a foot of roof between the two panels.

In the engine room, things carried on pretty much as before, with a 250-cubic-inch inline-six as the standard in the Firebird, with a jump up to a 350 as an option. Formulas had a TH350 automatic as standard equipment, which was optional on all other trims.

There were 14 colors for 1976. This was the first year when Trans Am production really started to raise some eyebrows. The Firebird still sold respectably at 21,209 units, with another 22,252 for the Esprit. The Formula still sold well at 20,613, but the Trans Am massively outpaced all other Firebird trims at 46,701 cars.

1977

You can make arguments for the merits of Firebird design prior to 1977, but this is the Trans Am that everyone remembers, thanks to the second-most popular movie that year behind Star Wars. For the first time, the Trans Am was the halo car, showcased prominently on the cover and the opening spread of the Pontiac brochure.

The biggest obvious change was the nose, with a phoenix-like beak, and four DOT-certified rectangular  headlamps, set deep into the grille. The front fascia is one continuous piece, and it set the stage for more elaborate soft bumper covers to come. Incredibly, this icon of Pontiac design was around for just two years before it underwent a significant change in 1979.

The initial 1977 Trans Ams had shaker scoops that were recessed a bit into the hood, before a design change made the scoop more prominent later in the production year. Formulas also got another revision to their twin-nostril scoops, which moved them from the center of the hood to the leading edge, for a more aggressive look. Formulas and Trans Ams both shared the iconic chrome quad exhaust outlets.

Wheel and wheel cover designs changed as well, with Trans Ams using the Rally II as the base offering, while new cast aluminum wheels to replace the old honeycombs were available on all trim levels. Firebird, Esprit, and Formula all had a spoked wheel cover available as an option, a tragedy for any Formula.

Sadly, the lesser Firebirds really started to get pushed to the back of the line, though they did have their own redesign for 1977. With it came the all-new 3.8-liter Buick V-6, years before the Camaro would finally move away from the mid-1960s–era 250 as the base engine. The Buick 3.8-liter was as good here as it was in the rest of GM’s lineup, providing 105 hp and 185 lb-ft of torque. For the first time, the Esprit would start out with a six-cylinder as the base engine.

The Formula also got serious engine revisions, including an all-new Pontiac 301-cubic-inch two-barrel V-8 as the base engine, which providied 130 hp. That engine was optional on both the Firebird and the Esprit, along with an Oldsmobile 350 with a four-barrel that was available on all three lower trims. A Chevy 305 would come in later as well. The larger engine options in the Formula and Trans Am got even more busy. The 180-horse L78 400 Pontiac engine was available only with an automatic and was visually identified by the “6.6 Litre” on the Trans Am’s shaker scoop. The hotter 200-horse W72, denoted by the “T/A 6.6” on the scoop, was available with a manual or automatic. California and high-altitude locations got a 403-cubic-inch Oldsmobile V-8 rated at 185 hp.

New for 1977 was the Sky Bird, which was an appearance package only available on the Esprit. It featured blue velour seats, two-tone blue paint, cast aluminum wheels with unique blue-painted inserts, a dark blue rear panel, blue grille panels, and accent stripes.

Colors became more limited in 1977, with just 13 offered. All sales ticked up in 1977: The Firebird sold 30,642 cars, the Esprit 34,548, and the Formula 21,801, while Trans Am sales grew to 68,745.

1978

Styling didn’t change much at all, with a gold Trans Am stealing the show on the cover and the first spread in the brochure. There were slight revisions, with the grille surrounds in black, but otherwise, the design went essentially unchanged.

The T-Tops were still the Hurst design, featuring screwed-in plastic pieces that held up the headliner. Continuing through the interior, cruise control appeared on the options list. The radios included a new AM/FM stereo with a digital readout, though it was still an analog tuner.

Power increased on the W72 6.6-liter V-8 to 220 horses, making it the engine to have. Some sources note that it was partway through the ’78 model year that the automatic ceased to be available with the W72.

While the Camaro offered just nine colors, the Firebird palette grew to 14. Sales for 1978 saw growth across the board, with the Firebird at 32,672, Esprit at 36,926, Formula at 24,346, and the Trans Am at a staggering 93,341 units.

1979

Depending on who you ask, 1979 might be the last year for the “real” second-generation Trans Am. It marked the end of 400-cubic inch V-8 production.

The basic shape was unchanged, but it was bookended by radically different front and rear fascias. The front was a return to something similar to the Endura nose, a rubberized nose cover unbroken by anything but low-mounted grille openings with the marker lights at the outside edges, and four headlamp buckets. The nose design was shared throughout the Firebird lineup, with the exception of the Trans Am’s chin spoiler.

At the rear, the pads on the bumpers mirrored the design of the grille up front. Replacing the individual taillamps was a full-width red panel that hid the fuel filler and incorporated the lights, predating designs that used full-width LED lamps by 40 years.

The 10th Anniversary Trans Am was a bona fide hit, with a ton of unique features that had never been available before, including mirrored T-Tops, leather seats, and a hood bird that reached the front fenders for the first time. These cars had their own unique X87 VIN code and only one option: The Olds 403 with an automatic, or the Pontiac 400 with the four-speed. Base price was a hefty $10,620, or nearly $46,000 in 2024 dollars.

If there’s one thing to take note of for 1979, it’s that it was all Trans Am. The Formula Firebird rated exactly one picture in the Pontiac brochure. The Esprit and Firebird none at all, though the Esprit did have a special package in the Red Bird, which replaced the Sky Bird. It was essentially the same idea but red instead of blue.

Mechanical changes were few but presaged what was coming in 1980: For the first time, the Trans Am was available with a small-block V-8, the 301 that was optional in the standard Firebird. High-altitude cars were available for the last time with a Chevrolet 350, and California was only offered the optional 305.

There was also the addition of four-wheel disc brakes as part of the WS6 package, which included fat stabilizer bars and wide 8-inch wheels. The big issue was the take rate on the package, which caused supply chain issues and resulted in Pontiac offering a WS7 package that included everything but the brakes.

The T/A was so immensely popular in 1979 that the last page of the brochure featured a pitch for a limited-edition 20 x 50-inch poster of the car, which was available for $2. Again, 14 colors were offered, and 1979 marked the most popular year ever for the nameplate: Pontiac sold 38,642 Firebirds and 30,852 Esprits (the first year that trim level had seen a dip since 1975). The Formula managed to hold steady at 24,851 cars. For Trans Am sales, though, hold onto your hats: 117,108 cars were produced, a number it would never come close to again.

1980

The Turbo Trans Am got a bad rap in its day, but it’s actually a more exciting car than most people thought in 1980. That year’s 301 wasn’t the run-of-the-mill engine that it had been in years prior. The block was beefier, along with the head gasket and pistons, and there was a high-pressure oil pump. The turbocharger was electronically controlled and was shipped over to Pontiac from Buick, which knew a thing or two about turbocharging. The Garrett TBO-305 delivered 9 psi of boost and used a modified Q-Jet four-barrel and a knock sensor, just like the early T-Type from Buick. (Imagine what might have happened if the second-gen had hung around long enough to steal the Grand National’s later setup . . .)

The engine delivered 210 hp, which wasn’t much to get excited about, but torque was respectable at 345 lb-ft. Sadly, this engine was crying out for a manual but only got an automatic, with a 3.08 rear gear to boot. That put the kibosh on any enthusiasm for the car, as did the 17.02-second quarter-mile that Car and Driver reported that year.

The other major intro for 1980 was the Indy Pace Car, 5700 of which were built in Cameo White with gray details. The Esprit had one more trick up its sleeve with the Yellow Bird appearance package, which continued the legacy of the Sky Bird and Red Bird before it.

This was also the first full year of the Fisher T-Top, which replaced the Hurst T-Tops that required cars be shipped out to Hurst for modification. Now they were built right at Fisher Body, and the modified design addressed a few issues. First, instead of having two latches at front and rear, the Fisher T-Tops had just one latch, with pins at the front and rear that extended into matching holes in the roof. They were also 3 inches longer, stretching back to match the side window opening. And they were each 5 inches wider, leaving a narrow strip of just 4 inches of steel roof between the two panels. If there’s anything truly improved about the 1980 model year, it’s the T-Top design.

Pontiac offered 15 colors in 1980. The Firebird’s sales glory came to an end that year, with every trim level seeing significant drops. The Firebird sold 29,811 units. The Esprit dropped to 17,277, and the Formula was barely on life support, with 9,356 cars sold, less than half of the year before. The Trans Am fared not much better, with a total of 50,896 cars, a year-to-year drop of significantly more than 50 percent.

1981

In its final year, the Firebird was virtually unchanged, except for the deletion of the Indy Pace Car and the Yellow Bird trim package. The Pontiac brochure squeezed the entire Firebird lineup in between the Phoenix and the Bonneville. It did manage to feature Burt Reynolds in the main spread, atop a black Turbo Trans Am, and next to a Formula.

The biggest revision was the standard Computer Command Control emissions system, an ECU that monitored fuel mixture, throttle position, and transmission performance, since the computer controlled the new lockup torque converter. There were 14 colors available in the final year. Sales took another massive dip in 1981, with just 20,541 Firebirds, 10,938 Esprits, a paltry 5927 Formulas, and 33,493 Trans Ams produced.

Before Inspection

If you’re hunting for one of these cars, you’ve got a lifetime worth of resources for figuring out every possible nut and bolt. Note that most of those resources are going to be focused on the Trans Am and to a lesser extent the Formula, and not necessarily the six-cylinder cars, the Esprits, or the odd trim packages like the Sky Bird. For the most part, though, many of those same resources for everything from headliners to wheel covers will transfer.

FirebirdNation is an excellent forum, with more information in one site than we could possibly add to this document. Check out the sticky topics at the top of the forum, which focus on things like paint colors, fabric types, how to adjust door glass, and where you can find whatever parts you may be looking for.

As with the Camaro, VINs in these cars changed three times during production, so be aware that the information encoded in those VINs will change depending upon the year. There’s a good VIN decoder at Classic Industries.

F-Body Warehouse is a parts supplier specializing in Firebird and Camaro restoration. Their video on what to look for when buying a second-gen Firebird—specifically a Trans Am, but it applies across the trim levels—doesn’t have Ingmar Bergman–level production quality, but the information within is solid and a must-see before you decide to look at one of these cars.

Rust is going to be your biggest concern. It can quickly turn a half-decent prospect into something that’s not much better than a parts car when areas like frames, floors, trunk pans, fenders, rockers, window pinchwelds, and firewalls are rusted beyond reasonable repair. Keep in mind that while these cars do have an excellent aftermarket, the cost for parts and labor to set a car like this right is going to be expensive.

These cars were built in the same two plants as the Camaro, so build sheets will likely be in the same locations—that is, all over the place. They could be tucked under the package shelf, under carpets on the transmission tunnel, over gloveboxes, under the front seat springs, under the rear seat backs, or on top of the fuel tank.

The cowl tags are also a vital source of information. Trans Am Country has good information on cowl tags, from their location to their contents to why it should be considered an international war crime to swap a tag.

Unfortunately, the GM Heritage Center has no information on these cars at all, so you won’t find order guides, brochures, or sales documentation the way you do for a Chevrolet (or a Geo, inexplicably.) All of that information is now with PHS Historical Services, which will sell you a full report on your car based on its VIN for $95 via email in four to five days, or $125 for a rush turnaround.

Before You Buy

When you’re considering what you’ll have to put into a potential project, know that there really isn’t a part that you can’t source through one of the major suppliers. And some of these aftermarket suppliers are dedicated to nothing but cars from Pontiac, like Ames Performance Engineering. They’re probably the best place to start for technical advice and sourcing. Start with the PDF version of the Firebird catalog. Other suppliers, like Classic Industries, Year One, Classic Muscle, and National Parts Depot, can fill in the gaps. You may need to hunt for highly specific things. For example, the folks at Restore-a-Muscle Car have successfully 3D printed the T-Top headliner trim we mentioned earlier. But the good news is, it’s not like owning a second-generation Buick Riviera, where the only parts available are in a junkyard.

Mechanical components for the Chevy 250, the Buick 3.8-liter, the Pontiac 350, the Pontiac 400, the Olds 400, and the Pontiac 455 are all readily available. F-Body Warehouse even has a number of restoration parts for the 301. Transmissions and rear differentials are plentiful, no matter which example your Firebird came with.

The best car to buy is wildly subjective. Most people are going to be interested in the Trans Ams throughout the build history, but you can have a lifetime’s worth of entertainment with a 1973 Esprit with a 350 and save yourself a boatload of money in the process. Cars like the Sky, Red, or Yellow Birds add an extra element of rarity with period-correct luxury touches, ensuring you’ll never find a duplicate of yours at a local car show.

What to Pay

Since the middle of 2021, median #2 (good) value is up a little more than 20 percent, with even more growth for the Super Duty, though prices stabilized and have been flat for about a year, according to the Hagerty Price Guide, #2 values range from $11,400 for a 1981 Firebird with a 120-hp V-6 to $165,000 for the aforementioned Super Duty. As always, get the latest valuation data from Hagerty by clicking here.

According to Hagerty’s data, it almost doesn’t matter what year of Trans Am you choose, a #1 (concours) example will be expensive. The 1970 and 1973 Trans Ams with the largest engines and four-speed manual transmissions push up over the $200,000 mark, with the best of the rest still fetching around $60K. On the other end of the economic spectrum, there are deals to be had if you don’t necessarily want to go fast. Driver-class 1980 base Firebirds and Esprits with a 350-cid V-8 and an automatic can be had for less than $13,000, and the 301-powered cars are even more affordable.

The count of insurance quotes sought for these cars has remained even in the last year, but the Firebird—in all trim levels—is the sixth-most popular vehicle in Hagerty’s database. Gen X quotes a fairly stunning 40 percent of second-generation Firebirds, even though that cohort makes up a 32 percent share of the market. Right behind them, boomers quote 34 percent of the second-gen cars, about even with their share of the market. Millennials quote 17 percent of second-gen F-bodies, with an even smaller share of the market at 21 percent. Gen Z quotes 8 percent of F-body examples, and comprises exactly the same percentage of the overall market.

Bookended by the memorable blue-and-white early Ram Air cars and the Bandit-era black-and-gold Trans Ams, all of Pontiac’s second-gen Firebirds have come to epitomize the charm of 1970s American iron. Whether you go understated or full bird, this Pontiac delivers plenty of character.

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The post Your Handy 1970–81 Pontiac Firebird Buyer’s Guide appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The Ford Mustang celebrated its 60th anniversary a few weeks ago, and it got us wondering where it is in the U.S. of A that America’s pony car is most popular. We surveyed our insurance data to find out, and learned that a little county in Kansas is Mustang-crazy, and created an interactive map to see where the rest of the country stacks up. Well, in the tradition of GM’s pony car lagging behind a bit, here’s another map, this one showing where in America the Camaro is most popular. Hover over it to see which counties have the most Chevrolet Camaros per capita.

Located at the very tip-top of the Lower 48 and sharing a border with both Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Bottineau County, North Dakota gets its name from nineteenth-century frontiersman Pierre Bottineau. Per the 2020 census, it has a population of 6379 people, and there is a Camaro insured by Hagerty for every 199 of them. It seems the rest of North Dakota is Camaro country, too, because seven of the top 20 counties with the most Camaros per capita are in the Peace Garden State.

We noted in our last map that Kansas loves Mustangs, but apparently Kansans just love pony cars in general. Sheridan County, KS, which has the most Mustangs per capita in the country, also has the second most Camaros, with one for every 243 people. The county with the third highest Camaro count per capita is in Kansas as well. As for the rest of the country, where does your hometown stack up?

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Keeping classic vehicles up and running isn’t always easy, and these days, that’s just as true for shops as it is for DIYers. I recently talked to four owners or operators of restoration shops to find out what their top business challenges are in 2024. Some of the answers I received were not a surprise. Frankly, everyone has been talking about finding qualified labor in almost every field. But some of the answers I got were eye-openers. 

Every independent restoration shop operates differently. Some shops are very well-established with a long track record, and a few have major national or worldwide concours wins under their belts. Some are more focused on their local area, building a reputation as well as a customer base. Many shops also tend to specialize in a particular field, such as engine and transmission rebuilds, paintwork, or a specific type or decade of cars. In 2024, even full-service shops tend to utilize independent rebuilders or repair shops for specific skills such as radiator repair and rebuilding, powder coating, or rebuilding clocks or radios.

The repair, not just restoration business is also thriving at many restoration shops. Those services that might have been handled by a local service station 20 or 30 years ago—tune-ups, hose and belt replacement or air conditioning repairs—now represent part of the day-to-day work docket of many restoration shops.

Adam Hammer, owner of Hammer and Dolly Automotive Restorations LLC in Traverse City, MI, sees the value in doing many of the small jobs alongside the full restorations that they also perform. The “small work adds more volume, and helps to make sure that everyone in the shop keeps busy” says Hammer.

Hammer, a graduate of the McPherson College Automotive Restoration program, has been in business as Hammer and Dolly for 13 years, has 10 employees and offers services ranging from full restorations to maintenance. Challenges include increasing costs for parts and equipment, as well as labor. In addition to increased cost, backorders for those parts is also an ongoing issue. Hammer also mentioned environmental challenges, as some regularly used compounds such as paints and solvents are no longer sold, making substitutions, often seen as harder to work with, a necessity. As to finding qualified workers, Hammer says “find the right person with aptitude to grow the skills, and we can teach the skill.”

Husband and wife Ed and Melissa Sweeny are the co-owners of Proper Noise, LTD, a restoration shop located in Mount Penn, PA that specializes in both postwar British and Brass Era cars. In business for seven years, there are six employees including the Sweeneys. They specialize in the mechanical side of a restoration, and will outsource paint as well as some other areas of restoration if needed. When asked about current challenges, Ed focused on a few areas such as the quality of parts that they source from vendors. The issue is serious enough that Sweeney has turned in-house to scanning and 3D printing parts when necessary. Another challenge? Finding correct tires post-pandemic for those cars that use odd sizes, including many of the Brass Era vehicles he works on. “No one can go into production for just a small amount of tires, making it too expensive for the supplier, it becomes impossible for them to make any money,” says Ed.  

Another problem facing all of these small shops? “It’s always hard to say no to clients, but sometimes scheduling work can be very tough.” Sweeny is talking about “job creep”, where a car comes in for brakes, for example, but, upon inspection, tie rods and shocks and more are needed, turning a few days repair into a week, or longer.

Mechanical Arts, located in Tenants Harbor, ME, is owned by Philip Reinhardt, also a recent McPherson College graduate. In business for four years, the shop has three employees. Specializing in repairs and restorations of pre-1980s vehicles, with a sweet spot for cars of the 1930s through 1960s, Reinhardt is facing another common problem in the restoration world: Running out of space to work on client’s cars. Their 3000 square foot shop is overwhelmed with customer cars, forcing staff to “play musical cars.” Although he characterizes this as a “good problem to have” Reinhardt hopes to expand soon, with plans to more than double the size of Mechanical Arts. Reinhardt also sees the “job creep” on client cars which can make effective scheduling tough. “Maine doesn’t have a State Inspection for older cars, so a car coming in for a routine service can have a completely worn out front-end” said Reinhardt. This type of problem is especially important to owners who are new to the old car world, some of whom have grown up in an era when going 10,000 miles between services is expected.

Finally, Eric Peterson is the manager of Leydon Restorations in Lahaska, PA, a shop that has been in business for just over 50 years. Peterson has worked there for 16 years, and been manager for 13. Leydon is known almost exclusively for mechanical restorations, which you can expect to see (or hear) at concours lawns around the globe. Peterson has a bit different take on finding talent. With the advent of television “rebuilder” shows and pop culture expectations of the mythical 30-minute total restoration, occasionally managing expectations of potential new hires is a challenge. “The realities of the work-a-day life at a shop is much different than what some might expect. You can’t have someone who is only interested in the glitz and glamor side of  the restoration.” That said, Peterson reminds us that good people are an investment, and that he feels very fortunate to have a great crew aboard.

Like other shops, Peterson laments the quality of parts that are currently available. “The quality keeps getting worse. I have one car that has had three ‘bad from new’ condensers. Few things are of the lasting quality (that we used to see). Manufacturers are just looking for the cheapest way, the least expensive supplier. Charge us more the first time if you have to, but give us a part that works!” 

Peterson also brought up a theme that ran through just about all of my discussions with restorers. Perhaps the biggest problem facing restorers in 2024 is simply finding the right specialty shop that can do the smaller jobs that used to be easier to farm out. A town that used to have three, four or five radiator shops might have one remaining. The owner is usually older, too, and often looking for someone to take over. It’s the same deal at a radio repair facility or that automobile clock repair shop. Finding someone who can reline brakes, grind cams or even make replacement keys is becoming increasingly more difficult.

The takeaways are twofold: For the consumer, understand that constraints are tightening for the shops that keep your ride on the road, so once you’ve found a good one, be patient with them. For the entrepreneurs who might be reading:  Perhaps you should set your focus on becoming a specialty supplier. Find a need and fill it. And do it soon, because the demand is strong.

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In 1986, BMW turned the sport sedan space on its head when it homologated the E30 3 Series for German DTM and Group A touring car racing. As was BMW’s ethos, the 3 Series was already a competent, fun-to-drive little machine, but the M3 was a different beast entirely, with a race-derived powertrain and upgraded suspension and brakes. Bodywork included fat fender flares to accommodate wide Pirelli P700-Z tires, a deep front splitter and rear valance, aggressive sill trim, revised C-pillars, and a taller trunk with big rear wing atop it. Only the hood and roof were shared with its “lesser” 3 Series counterparts, and the changes resulted in a car far more slippery and far more stable at speed. 

The car was nothing short of a revelation and easily embarrassed some of the world’s great sports cars. In 1988, the M3 finally arrived in America. Naturally, it became an enthusiast favorite and today commands a hefty premium over other E30-generation BMWs.

Never one to ignore a winner, with each successive generation of 3 Series, BMW stuck with the M3’s formula. The E36 of 1992–99 introduced convertible and four-door variants, along with an extra hundred horsepower over its predecessor, this time from a straight-six. 

When the third-gen E46 M3 hit the streets in 2001, journalists and enthusiasts alike reckoned it was just about perfect. With its sonorous 333-hp 3.2-liter inline-six, available six-speed manual, and sure-footed handling, it did the badge justice, whether in two-door coupe or convertible form.

On condition alone, the Laguna Blue E46 M3 that sold on Bring a Trailer this week was not perfect. Chiefly, it was a 29,000-mile car with an underside showing some of the grit and grime of those miles; it had a resprayed hood; a cracked and dented front fascia; and a front end peppered with tiny rock chips. Its record $117,600 sale price, however, suggests that bidders simply didn’t care. So, how did a car with flaws like these achieve a best-in-the-world result?

Answer: a great blend of rare options. That color, for one. Laguna Seca Blue (LSB) is lovely in photos. It’s even better in person. The BMW Registry tells us that 26,202 E46 coupes were sold in North America. Just 1128 came in LSB, the bulk of them from 2001–03. After the M3’s mid-2003 “lifecycle impulse” (which, for some reason, is BMW-speak for “facelift”) just 154 LSB coupes appeared, and there were none in 2005–06. 

Also rare was this car’s Cinnamon Nappa leather interior. Nearly 90 percent of all LSB coupes had either gray or black leather interiors; just 1.7 percent of LSB coupes (19 total cars) featured this lovely orangey-brown inside. In a world of power everything, refreshingly, this car had lighter, manually adjustable (but heated!) seats. Similarly, sunroofs were almost de rigueur on these M3s, but this car was spec’d from new without, making it one of two cars in this color combo with a slick roof. One of them featured BMW’s SMG automated manual transmission, the other a row-your-own six-speed. If it was a Ford and this was a Marti Report, here’s where we’d arrive at the pay-off line: This is that car. 

So, rare colors inside and out, a lightweight no-fuss roof, manual seats, and DIY gear changes. That was the recipe here, and bidders were all too happy to overlook the minor foibles that might otherwise knock a car down in value. And, to be fair, the miles, the dings, and the repainted hood (reportedly done before the car’s original/only owner took possession) probably did hold back the final price. But no one is complaining. This car has been driven. It will get driven more.

In January, an 18,000-mile LSB-over-gray E46 M3 with a sunroof sold on Bring a Trailer for $94,500, very near the #1 (concours, best-in-the-world) price, according to the Hagerty Price Guide. The selling dealer of our feature car, OTS and Co., considered that result closely when it consigned this one to BaT, but given the earlier car’s more common features, the seller here was confident of a bigger result.

“I don’t think there’s another E46 M3 that could get close to this,” says Derek Tam-Scott, a principal at OTS and Co. who is also a Hagerty contributor and host of the Carmudgeon podcast. “Except maybe a Laguna Seca Blue slicktop manual with Impulse cloth interior or Laguna Seca Blue interior, if any were made. A slicktop black leather interior car could also get close. Our car was literally the only manual slicktop LSB/Cinnamon car sold in North America. The paint color makes a huge difference, and interior also helps.”

In the comments for our Sale of the Week, Tam-Scott asked and answered the following: “Can you get an E46 M3 that drives very similarly (or even identically) for less money? Absolutely. But we like cars because of how they make us feel. This is why we’re more enthusiastic about decades-old manual naturally aspirated sports cars than we are about almost all new stuff you can buy today, even though old cars are less performant, less safe, less efficient, less feature-rich, and just less objectively good generally.” 

It’s hard to argue with that. And it’s hard to argue when the market speaks. Sure, yes, this is one result (on the back of that $94,500 sale, however . . .), but it is still a statement: Enthusiasts hanker for purity over perfection, and when the right car comes along, they’ll pay up for it. 

Then they’ll go drive it.

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Mecum’s annual mega-auction in Kissimmee, FL each January gets a lot of attention for its size and its “world’s largest” designation, but the auction house’s Spring Classic auction in Indianapolis is only slightly less monumental. Case in point: over 2500 vehicles crossed the block from May 10-18 this year.

Total sales were a few percent down from the $100M-plus Indy auctions in the more frenzied markets of Indy 2022 and 2023, but sell-thru rate was still a decent 72 percent. Indy is also an auction that, by virtue of its massive volume, truly has something for everyone. There were top-tier muscle cars, Japanese oddballs, prewar greats and European sports cars on offer, and the median sale price was a reasonable $31,900. Below and outlined in detail are some of our favorites from Mecum Indy 2024.

Lot F315: 1970 Oldsmobile 442 W-30

Sold for $110,000

Chassis no. 344870M179685. Platinum Poly and black over black vinyl. Concours restoration, #1- condition.

Equipment: 455/370hp, M21 4-speed, 3.42 Positraction, Firestone Wide Oval tires, power steering, tilt steering column, tinted glass, Rally Pac, bucket seats, console.

Condition: No penny spared on the restoration of this Olds 442, which just wrapped up in 2022. MCACN Concours Gold award the same year. Paint and body are excellent. Panel fit is right on. Brightwork is beautiful. Interior looks new with no wear. Engine bay is immaculate, with only slight paint discoloration on the heads at the exhaust. Underneath looks spotless like the rest of the car. Pretty much perfect.

Bottom line: This spectacular 442 W-30 sold here one year ago for $145,750, but the collector car market, including for muscle cars, has continued to soften since then. That, plus the second auction appearance in just 12 months, explains the lower but still strong price here.

Lot S231: 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Super Duty

Sold for $286,000

Chassis no. 2V87X3N138639. Brewster Green with Firebird graphics over black vinyl. Older restoration, #2+ condition.

Equipment: 455/310hp Super Duty, 4-speed with Hurst shifter, Rally wheels, Goodyear Polyglas GT Tires, radio, PHS documents.

Condition: Represented as one of seven Brewster Green Super Duty 4-speeds, and matching numbers. Fully restored in 2009. Paint looks very good with a few cracks on the front bumper. Brightwork looks very good. Weather stripping on the doors is cracked and torn. Interior looks very good with little wear showing. Engine bay is very clean, some discoloration on the heads at the exhaust manifold. Underneath is very clean. A rare muscle car with light but visible use on an older restoration.

Bottom line: This Trans Am, with the top-spec Super Duty engine and desirable rare color sold at Auburn Fall in 2018 for $231,000. That was a lot of money then and this is a lot of money now, but for Pontiac collectors this car ticks a lot of hard-to-find boxes, and the numerous high-spec Ponchos on offer in Indy this year brought them out in full force.

Lot S319: 1970 Chevrolet Nova SS

Sold for $115,500

Chassis no. 114270W396404. Forest Green with black vinyl roof over black vinyl. Visually maintained, largely original, #2- condition.

Equipment: 396/375hp L78, close-ratio 4-speed, Positraction, hub caps, Goodyear Polyglas tires, original manuals, Protect-O-Plate, column-mounted Sun tachometer, original AM radio, Soft Ray tinted glass.

Condition: Represented as matching numbers and largely original. Paint looks very good, with a few touch-ups in various places. Good panel fit. Brightwork looks very good other than some chrome bubbling up on the corner of the rear bumper. Interior looks very good with minimal wear. Engine bay is showing some age and wear with paint peeling off the engine block. Underneath is showing some age and wear, but holding up very well for its age.

Bottom line: The Nova was Chevrolet’s entry-level model in 1970 and most Novas were basic drivers, but the classic formula of small car plus big engine was available in the SS and it’s these tire-burners that get collectors’ attention today. This one had the winning combination of good colors, top-spec engine, 4-speed, and impressive preservation. Novas rarely crest six figures, but this one deserved to.

Lot F69: 1947 Hudson Super Six Pickup

Sold for $33,000

Chassis no. 17823103. Cream yellow over black vinyl. Truck restoration, #2- condition.

Equipment: 212cid six with Twin H-Power air cleaners, column shift 3-speed, hub caps and trim rings, amber fog lights, dual spares, dual mirrors, original radio, dash clock, Hudson Weathermaster cooler/warmer, wood bed.

Condition: From the last year of Hudson pickup production, with 2917 made. Paint looks good with some cracks around the roof seam. Brightwork has some pitting on the grille. Interior is very good, with slight wear showing on the driver’s side seat. Engine bay is good with a little paint flaking off the head. Inside of the bed looks very good. Underneath looks good and is holding up well since restoration.

Bottom line: It’s not clear how many pickup-bodied Hudson Super Sixes are left, but it can’t be much more than a handful. This one looks great and needs nothing to go out and enjoy. Its good looks and rarity would make it a highlight of any gathering of vintage trucks anywhere in the world. Getting all that for 33 grand is not a bad deal at all.

Lot T50: 1998 Mitsubishi Pajero Jr. Flying Pug

Sold for $15,400

Chassis no. H57A5004101. Wine over gray. Unrestored original, #3- condition.

Equipment: RHD. 1094cc four-cylinder, automatic, fog lights, air conditioning.

Condition: Showing 116,044 km (72,106 miles). Lots of paint blemishes, chips, and clearcoat peeling. Paint does not match on a few panels. Interior looks very good with only slight wear showing on the driver’s seat. Engine bay looks good, with some age showing on rubber and plastic parts. Underneath is good as well, with small amount of surface rust on the rear axle. Used, but a charming oddball.

Bottom line: Built on Mitsubishi’s tried and true Pajero Junior platform, the Flying Pug (that’s not a nickname, Mitsubishi actually called it that) was a Japan-only model that aped the design of classic British cars, which were popular in Japan during the 1990s. Design-wise, though, it was a swing and a miss. Mitsubishi planned to build 1000 but only wound up selling 139. One look at it, and you’ll understand why. There can’t be more than a few in the United States, so in terms of rarity per dollar, this was a fun buy.

Lot T223: 1989 Ford Mustang Saleen SSC

Sold for $88,000

Chassis no. 1FABP41E0KF269238. White over gray leather. Original, #2- condition.

Equipment: 302, Saleen high-flow heads, Saleen-modified intake manifolds, Saleen rocker arms, 65mm throttle body, Saleen headers, Walker Dynomax exhaust, 5-speed with Hurst quick ratio shifter, 3.55 Traction-Lok, Racecraft suspension, power windows, cruise control, air conditioning, original window sticker.

Condition: From the Jason Dietsch Saleen collection. One of 161 Saleen SSCs built. Showing 906 miles. Paint looks very good with a few blemishes showing, and a small touch up on the front bumper. Interior is very good, some slight wear to the driver’s seat outer bolster. Engine bay is very clean, small amount of corrosion showing on the throttle body. Underneath is clean, with mild oxidation on the rear axle. Not as spotless as the three-digit odometer reading would suggest, but still a clean, barely used example of one of the rarest and hottest Fox-bodies of all.

Bottom line: 1989, Saleen was finally able to combine its effective handling improvements to the Fox-body Mustang with a much more potent engine. The new model, dubbed SSC, bumped power from 225hp in the base car to 290, and it got the other usual Saleen treatments of body kit, decals, seats, wheels, and Racecraft suspension. The window sticker on this one reads $36,500 (well over $90K adjusted for inflation), so its 161-car production run is very small batch stuff by Mustang standards. This one’s condition didn’t quite match its mileage, but the result is still surprisingly low. With buyer commission the price isn’t much more than half the car’s low estimate.

Lot T221: 1988 Ford Ranger Saleen Sportruck

Sold for $43,450

Chassis no. 1FTBR10T6JUC85019. Regatta Blue over two-tone gray cloth. Original, #2- condition.

Equipment: 2.9-liter V-6, 5-speed, Racecraft suspension, alloy wheels, bucket seats, Momo steering wheel, Saleen gauges, power steering, air conditioning, cruise control, original window sticker.

Condition: From the Jason Dietsch Saleen collection. The ninth of 24 Sportrucks built for 1988, and reportedly the only one finished in Regatta Blue (all the others were white). Also represented as a one-owner truck and showing 1678 miles. Paint is very good with a few small scratches and chips on the front. Interior still looks new with little to no wear. Engine bay is very clean with some age showing on rubber and plastic parts. Underneath is clean for the most part with some oxidation on the driveline and suspension parts. Window sticker reads $11,230 (about $30K today) as the original price. Barely used, and surely one of the world’s coolest Ford Rangers.

Bottom line: While Saleen is better known for modifying Mustangs, Ford’s compact pickup was getting the Saleen treatment as early as 1987, when Saleen entered the SCCA Coors Race Truck Challenge with ‘roided up Rangers. The Ranger-based Sportruck came out in 1988, and in 1991 Saleen won the SCCA Race Truck title with five wins in six races. The last one of these ultra-rare Rangers to sell at auction that we could find was in Scottsdale way back in 2009, for just $6050. This one’s $75K-$90K estimate proved ambitious, but $43,450 is still probably the most anyone has ever paid for a first-gen Ford Ranger.

Lot S211: 1969 Chevrolet Berger COPO Camaro RS

Sold for $181,500

Chassis no. 124379N613366. Fathom Green with green vinyl roof over Midnight Green vinyl. Older restoration, #2+ condition.

Equipment: 427/425hp L72, automatic, horseshoe shifter, power front disc brakes, 4.10 Positraction, cowl induction hood, Endura front bumper.

Condition: Represented as one of fewer than 60 COPO Camaros built with the RS package. Ordered new by one of Berger’s top salesmen with both the COPO L72 high-performance engine package and the Sports Car Conversion Package, which included heavy-duty springs, power front disc brakes, bigger sway bars, and 4.10 Posi. Fully restored and has been kept in a museum since. Paint looks great, with a few very light swirl marks. Very good panel fit. Brightwork looks new. Interior looks new with no wear. Engine bay is spotless, with slight discoloration on the intake. Underneath looks great with no wear as expected. A beautiful, high-spec Camaro.

Bottom line: Grand Rapids, Michigan-based dealer Berger Chevrolet established a High-Performance Parts department in 1967, with the slogan “Prescribed Power.” High-performance COPO Camaros were commonly ordered there, and Berger is nearly as associated with special big-block Camaros as Yenko. This one has been to auction a few times, selling for $170,500 in Scottsdale in 2011, $170,500 again at Mecum Dallas last year, and once more in Kissimmee this January for $220,000. While this result is lower than in Kissimmee, three trips across the auction block in less than a year didn’t turn off the Indy bidders too much—this is still a strong price for a well-restored and well-equipped Berger Camaro.

Lot S238: 1953 Chevrolet Corvette

Sold for $137,500

Chassis no. E53F001115. Polo White over red. Unrestored original, #4+ condition.

Equipment: 235-cubic inch I-6/150hp, Powerglide automatic, AM radio, heater, wide whitewall tires.

Condition: An unrestored 1953 car, and one of the first 300 production Corvettes made. With the second owner for 56 years. Lots of cracks and discoloration to the paint. Fiberglass texture can be seen on the body, but that is a feature on these early cars, as are the uneven panels everywhere. Brightwork is faded, scratched, and pitted. The grille looks very good, though. The interior is showing wear and faded. Engine bay showing age as the rest of the car. Underneath has some surface rust on suspension parts, and signs of fluid leaks. A little rough around the edges, but as a preserved first-year Corvette, it’s also a piece of history.

Bottom line: The first-year 1953 Corvette was famously an unremarkable performer, and the only real reason to seek one out is to round out a comprehensive Corvette collection. Even if you love the looks, a ’54 is nearly identical, far easier to find, and significantly cheaper. On this car, though, originality didn’t inspire much bidding and this is a surprisingly low price for what it bought. Mecum has brought six ’53 Corvettes to auction so far this year, and after a freshly restored one brought $352K in Kissimmee, the other five have sold low, so it may be that everybody who really wants a ’53 right now already has one.

Lot F185: 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona

Sold for $396,000

Chassis no. XX29L9B400585. Hemi Orange and white over white vinyl. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 440/375hp, 4-speed with Hurst shifter, power steering, power brakes, broadcast sheet, A33 Track Pak with 3.55 gears, original radio

Condition: One of only 505 Daytonas produced, and represented with the original drivetrain, body, and interior. Also represented as one of two known cars in these colors. Paint and body are good, with some paint chips on panel edges, and the door fit is a little uneven. Interior is in good condition, though the driver’s seat and door armrests are showing some wear. Some age showing in the engine bay, with paint starting to bake off of the intake. Underneath is showing age/wear as well, including some surface rust on the exhaust and rear axle.

Bottom line: Chrysler sold several times as many Plymouth Superbirds as they did the similar Charger Daytona for NASCAR homologation, but with 505 built, the Daytona is only rare by muscle car standards. They pop up for sale semi-regularly. Engine, transmission and colors make a difference, so this car’s colors and 4-speed are big items even if it doesn’t have the coveted Hemi. And despite its unexceptional condition, it sold near the top of the range for a 440 Magnum-powered Daytona.

Lot S260: 1972 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

Sold for $159,500

Chassis no. 1Z37L2S526397. Ontario Orange over black vinyl. Older restoration, #3 condition.

Equipment: 350/255hp LT1, M22 4-speed, heavy duty power brakes, transistor ignition, aluminum radiator, Rally wheels, Firestone Wide Oval tires, power steering.

Condition: One of only 20 ZR1s built for 1972. Bloomington Gold certified and multiple NCRS awards. Paint looks good with a few flat spots and some chipping on hood edge. Panel fit is a little uneven. Interior looks very good with a little wear showing on the driver’s seat. Engine bay is showing age and wear. Underneath showing age as well, with a little surface rust on metal parts and exhaust.

Bottom line: Big-block Corvettes boasted higher numbers, but the small-block, solid-lifter LT1 engine available from 1970-72 packed a lot into a 350cid package, and handled better, too. GM further built on that with a special “ZR1” package that added to the LT1 engine upgraded suspension and brakes, stabilizer bars, and close ratio M22 gearbox. ZR1 was an expensive box to tick as it cost about $1K, so just 25 sold in 1970, eight in 1971, and 20 in 1972. Although another 1972 ZR1 did sell at auction earlier this year for $220K, the typical going rate for these at auction over the past several years is in the mid-$100K range, so this car sold right where it should have.

Lot S245: 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB

Sold for $1,237,500

Chassis no. 06943. Rosso Corsa over black leather. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 3286-cc V-12/280hp, triple Weber carburetors, 5-speed, Borrani wire wheels (set of Campagnolo starburst wheels included), Michelin WXW tires, Tubi exhaust, books and tools.

Condition: North American model. With the same owner, the car’s second, for 54 years. Originally a short nose car but converted to more desirable long-nose appearance in the early 1980s, and has received restoration work over the years. The paint is showing some age, with chips on the nose and very light scratches throughout. The brightwork looks good, but the driver’s side vent window has a little pitting and looks worn thin. The interior looks very good with slight wear to the driver’s seat. Engine bay looks very good. Underneath looks good as well, with just a little wear and use showing.

Bottom line: Despite the long-term ownership, the generally good condition and the somewhat modest estimate, this car sold at the very bottom of the range for a 275 GTB. Mecum Indy isn’t just an auction for muscle cars, but it isn’t exactly heavy on 1960s Ferraris, either. Also, the altered bodywork is a big knock to this one’s value even if most people think it looks better with the long nose. It was reportedly bid to $1.6M at Mecum Monterey in 2017 and to $1.5M there a year later, both missed opportunities. Then again, if the seller had owned this car since 1970, $1.24M is still a hell of a lot more than he paid for it.

Lot F152: 1966 Shelby Cobra 427

Sold for $2,145,000

Chassis no. CSX3200. Red over black leather. Recent restoration, #1 condition.

Equipment: Center oiler 427/425hp, dual quads, Toploader 4-speed, sunburst wheels, wood-rim steering wheel, wind wings, Smiths gauges.

Condition: The last car in the initial run of 100 Cobra 427 street cars before Shelby switched to the cheaper, less powerful 428. Original purchase price was $6183. It suffered damage in transit to its first owner but was repaired and carefully kept by subsequent owners, who never modified it. By 1995 it still had just 16,000 miles and today shows barely 18K. More recently restored to incredibly high standards with an eye to originality, keeping the original leather in place and reusing original rivets. A gleaming, correct, gorgeous car that is essentially perfect.

Bottom line: Mecum is a nine-day auction, but CSX3200 took less than four minutes on the block to become the most expensive car of the week. That it’s a genuine 427 Cobra (not a 428) with its original engine, body that has never been cut up or modified, and a no-expense-spared restoration make the $2.145M price easy to justify.

***

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There’s never been a better time to be a steward of the obscure, rare, and obsolete. The steady rise of 3D printing seems to have followed an inverse path from the trickle-down of tech in decades past; while major automakers continue to utilize it on a relatively small scale, the democratization of the technology has led to a massive hobbyist community. Within this, automotive enthusiasts lead a collaborative, grassroots movement in spinning up all manner of tools and componentry for collector cars at every level.

Indeed, it’s the professional restorers, speed shops, and small-batch manufacturers who appear to benefit the most from 3D printing. In some ways, restoration and modification is the same as it ever was; metal fabrication and OE parts sourcing is as relevant as ever, but as cars once considered “modern” begin to slip deep into “classic” territory, a vast amount of plastic components—both vital and superficial—are only becoming more brittle and faded with each passing year.

And as much as we hoped modern production technology and OEM classic support from automakers like Porsche and Mercedes-Benz would guarantee an unbroken line of quality OEM replacement parts, a major European and Japanese parts shortage is brewing. And, when these parts reserves run out, some cars might be jerry-rigged lest they be permanently put on jackstands. 

This is hardly a new phenomenon—dwindling support has required creative solutions from generations of enthusiasts, and while 3D printing has been around for a long time, in its early days it showed more promise than result. To wit, Steve Dibdin, co-owner of Additive Restoration (AR) and one of the foremost experts on 3D printing in the automotive space, has seen the technology evolve from the get-go. He’s used 3D printing since its relative adolescence in the mid-1990s, when he says the end product could only be used for prototyping. “The early ones were incredibly brittle, and very expensive. I remember working on a product, it was a small plastic part—about three inches by four inches by half an inch—and it cost [about $2,000] in the 1990s,” he laughs. “I remember putting it on the table, and it just shattered!”

The tech has come a long, long way in the decades since. One of his first projects under the banner of AR was a twin-spark rotor arm for an OSCA MT4, a component that leaned heavily on 3D printing for both prototyping and actual production. A week after the first rotor arm was installed, the recipient OSCA was shipped abroad for a successful 500-mile endurance rally. 

AR still offers that OSCA rotor arm for sale on its website with a $750 tag. Hardly cheap, but as Dibdin explains, the alternative is your MT4 running poorly, or not at all, not to mention the actual production cost of the part is higher than you might think. OSCA built an estimated 72-79 MT4s between 1948 and 1956, and given these were hard-lived race prototypes, quite a few were lost to both time and tragedy. Prior to AR’s work, most OSCAs just “made do,” either with adapted off-the-shelf ignition or with time-consuming custom-fab parts. Dibdin says previous efforts from enterprising owners include a small batch of rotor arms hand-dremeled from a block of Bakelite.

With so few cars in existence and traditional means of parts production, it hardly made sense to produce even a limited run of production rotor arms. Economies of scale mean a minimum order for this part might have run into the hundreds, if not thousands of units, necessitating a unit price far, far beyond AR’s $750 ask. “We do a lot of one-offs, of course. But below between 1,000 or 2,000 parts, there’s this gray area that’s been difficult to make things efficiently, especially in plastics—until now.” 

He holds up a small, blue plastic component on our video call, apparently a 3D-printed prototype for a carburetor linkage for a Sunbeam Tiger. As he tells it, the nylon doodad is likely stronger and will last longer than the original part while maintaining the same appearance. I ask him if that’s the case for many now-ancient plastic parts. “Absolutely! Take the column switch repair kit for [Ferrari 330s]. If you have one of those, there’s a good chance your indicator stalk is going to fall off at some point.” He mentions poor injection molding done in-period that that produced a plastic part that was weak, brittle, and full of inclusions. 

“It was destined to self-destruct at some point. With 3D printing, we can make sure we don’t have those [imperfections], and I can predict exactly how something is going to fail,” he explains. “The technology we have both on the design side and the implementation of that is far advanced from where it was even 10 years ago.”

So, at the current state of the art, proper implementation of 3D printing produces components that are often better and far cheaper to produce than it was when it left the factory. For the smaller parts, is there still even a need for traditional restoration methods? “Machining still has its place,” he says. “What [3D printing] does is take out much of the man hours and required expertise of actual production. The design and development time is still the biggest expense.”  

Shucks—I was rather hoping each hobbyist 3D printer came with a button marked “Press here for 1950s Maserati wheel cap,” but I digress. Of course, plastic isn’t always the answer. “If we’re doing something like suspension or brakes that’s safety critical, we’ll machine it from billet,” Dibdin explains. “We can get parts printed in 3D metal, and they’re very good. But, there are significant considerations.” He mentions post-processing is a large part of the current output of 3D printed metal, both aesthetically and structurally. And you’re limited in the material and application, whereas machining is settled science. 

“When you machine something from metal, you know the material, you know the process, and the tolerances are far, far tighter,” Dibdin continues. “Though they can sometimes 3D print in metal or other material and then throw it on the CNC to finish it off.” The best of both worlds, then. 

Still, even modern material cannot out-maneuver poor design. Dibdin mentions a previous project involving 3D printing a commonly failed part found in a Ferrari 550 seat. After a full development period, AR’s recreation part failed a short while after installation. “You have to know where the technology is appropriate and compatible. It’s the difference between getting a microwave-ready meal versus going out for a sitdown meal,” he laughs.

Dibdin was keen on stressing that 3D printing, no matter how advanced it may be, is still just another tool in your workshop. “It helps us get to a point, but it’s still very much about human interaction and understanding how things go together. It’s sort of sexy with lasers flying around, but to get to that point, someone spent time developing a product, going through iterations, prototyping it, testing it, and making sure it’s suitable,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s just a fancy hammer.” 

So, things are looking way, way up for micro-scale production of better-than-factory direct replacement components. But 3D printing has also irrevocably changed the aftermarket, especially when builds turn both restomod and big money. 

In a similar vein to Icon 4×4 and Gateway Bronco, Texas-based Vigilante 4×4 thoroughly modernizes and powers-up your choice of SJ-platform Jeeps, including ‘70s family truckster hotness like the OG Cherokee, Gladiator pickup, and Wagoneer. These are serious builds, and with a price tag starting at $300,000, each build is incredibly detail-rich, with little touches the Vigilante team says wouldn’t be possible without 3D printing.

Actually, the whole enterprise likely wouldn’t exist. “It’s important to say that it’s a very critical moment for us, as Vigilante is about modern technology, and we wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing without 3D printing,” says co-owner Rachel van Doveren. “A lot of other vehicles can order [modern] parts straight from a catalog. Jeeps don’t have that luxury.” 

Like most shops that utilize the tech, Vigilante primarily 3D prints test components as part of prototyping ahead of machining. “As of right now, we have an FTM printer in-house that we prototype everything from handles to brackets before we machine the metal part to make sure it looks right and fits correctly,” explains 3D printing specialist Nick Douglass. But, where there is no old part to restore or modify, and the component sits more-or-less behind the scenes, Vigilante will create something wholly new. 

Jeep never installed rear air-conditioning ducts on any SJ-chassis vehicle, so some clever 3D printing ensures rear passengers are either frosty or toasty. Among Vigilante’s signature details are the repositioned (and modernized) air-conditioning controls, now made to look entirely original via careful post-processing. “We start with determining the need for the custom solution,” says Douglass. “We ask, ‘Are there factory parts we can restore and reuse?’ When there aren’t, we begin the process.”

It could be as complex as the A/C or as simple as a tiny bit of trim. “Take for example the clip that holds the sun visor in place. That’s not a complex piece. It just had to do its job and look good,” Douglass says. “Trying to get a factory piece sanded, repainted, and installing it with a screw without cracking that plastic can be a huge challenge.”

I ask Douglass about what developing 3D printing advancements he’s most looking forward to. He mentions metal printing, and material with integrated carbon fiber. Then, he pauses for a moment to reflect, thinking back on our discussion. “I wonder, personally, when it will become so hard to find a decent donor [body] panel, that the technology for sheetmetal reproduction will become more popular,” he muses. “There is a technology I’ve seen videos of, where a CNC-type machine uses a hammer-type object to form sheetmetal panels almost like a 3D printer, working a layer at a time. I wonder if that’s going to be the only option in the future.”

A fancy hammer, indeed. 

***

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For a car that helped define what pony cars were all about, the first-generation Chevrolet Camaro got off to something of an ignominious start. As we covered in a story about Bill Mitchell and Irv Rybicki’s interview in the mid-1980s, neither one of these icons of style at General Motors had any particular love for the design eventually became the First Generation Camaro.

The truly fascinating part of dual interviews that Mitchell and Rybicki gave to the Benson Ford Research Center at the Henry Ford Museum was that the second-generation Camaro, which ran from 1970 to 1981, should’ve been the first generation.

“We did what we were asked to do,” Rybicki said in that interview, regarding the First Generation Camaro. “But when that program was finished, I got with our vehicle packaging group, and we started planning the second-generation car, and there was no interference. We did a new underbody and placed the seats where we wanted them, and got the cross section.”

Mitchell echoed Rybicki’s sentiments: “[T]hey ran for ten years, because I got the right dash to axle, the right cowl height,” he said. The look stood the test of time.

So, the 1970 to 1981 Camaro exists as an example of what could’ve been in 1967 had the team had the time to fully execute the ideas that they had about what a personal sports car should be, rather than rushing to grind out cars in an effort to catch up with Ford’s Mustang.

The February 1970 debut of the second-gen Camaro was a clean-sheet design that nonetheless followed a familiar formula designed to meet a broad spread of buyer’s needs: Six-cylinder at the base level with a manual transmission, all the way up to the Z28 at the top of the food chain. (As an aside, the slash disappeared from “Z/28” in 1970, and wouldn’t return till the 2014 Z/28.) The broad range of engines was augmented by the order guide’s flexibility: You could buy the base car with absolutely no frills and a big block V-8 with a four-speed manual, meaning big power could be had without the added cost of stripes, emblems, and wheels that the Z28 offered.

During the second-gen car’s run, the Z28, along with the Type LT and SS, got all the attention, but the real sales numbers came from the low- to mid-trim levels like the Sport Coupe and Berlinetta, which provided basic transportation for Americans all over the country. These two-door sporty coupes were a significant part of what everyday American buyers drove daily before they shifted over to four-door sedans from Toyota and Honda.

As the years went from 1970 to the mid-1970s, a fuel crisis and perceived ebb in demand for performance cars further encouraged Chevrolet to position the Camaro as more of an everyday vehicle rather than the tire-smoldering drag car or road course dominator it had been in the past. Chevy’s marketing leaned on the universal appeal of a sporty car that actually worked as a daily driver, emphasizing the long doors and easy access to the back seat. “Getting in and out is a snap. Especially in the back,” reads one print ad from 1970. “It’s OK if you have to slip in an occasional shopping bag.”

Especially through a modern lens, with the sixth-gen Camaro selling around 25,000 units a year, the second-generation Camaro was an unqualified smash from the second it arrived. With the exception of 1972 and 1973, when strikes caused production numbers to dwindle, the second-gen Camaro always sold in the six digits. Between the years of 1977 and 1979, Chevrolet sold more than three quarters of a million Camaros. In 1979—when Chevrolet sold 282,571 units—it outsold the Toyota Corolla by about 8,000 cars.

Over 12 model years, the Camaro went from a tire-boiling performance car to a tape-stripe packaged personal coupe and nearly back again as the third generation loomed. That said, in any search for a second-gen car, you’re much more likely to find a Z28 or other performance-oriented model than you are a base coupe with its original six-cylinder engine intact.

1970

The 1970 Camaro was produced at two plants—Van Nuys, California and Norwood Assembly in Ohio. In that first year there were five engines available: At the base level was the 155hp Turbo Thrift 250-cubic inch inline six cylinder. Oddly, Chevrolet referred to the 307-cubic inch V-8 and all three of the variations of 350-cubic inch V-8 as “Turbo Fire.” The 307 delivered 200 hp, while the 350s offered 250 hp with a two-barrel, 300hp (L48) and 360hp (the LT1 in the Z28), both with four-barrel carburetors. At the top of the ladder were two versions of the Turbo Jet 396-cubic inch V-8, producing either 350 or 375 horsepower.

Four basic transmission setups were available, dependent upon the engine selected. The base was a three-speed manual, which was standard with the six-cylinder and the 307 V-8. The six-cylinder and the smaller V-8 were also available with the Powerglide two-speed automatic, while the 307 and 350 V-8s could also be ordered with the TH350 three-speed automatic. The 350s and the 396s could be had with Muncie four-speed manuals, and if you wanted an auto with your big block, a beefier TH400 three-speed would be fitted.

For the first time, the Z28 could be had with an automatic. You could also get two different low gears (a 2.52:1 and a 2.20:1) in the Z28’s four-speed manual, along with your choice of a 3.73:1 or 4.10:1 rear end. This choice of rear gears were available on big block cars, too, while lesser-engined cars based their gear sets on transmission choice.

Chevrolet offered five basic trim levels in 1970: A base car identified as “Standard” in the order guide. The “Style Trim” (RPO Z21) included parking lamps mounted in the front valence, bright hood trim, body-color inserts on the door handles, and bright “Dual Concentric” rings on the taillamps.  Rally Sport (RPO Z22) included Rally Sport emblems, the iconic split front bumpers and the valence-mounted parking lights. The SS (RPO Z27) came through with a standard 350-cu.in. V-8 with a four-barrel and dual exhaust, power disc brakes, hood insulation, and a black grille and rear valence panel, plus 7-inch wide Rally wheels. The optional 396 also gave the suspension a boost with a rear stabilizer bar.

At the top of the food chain was the Z28, which featured the standard 360-horse LT1 V-8. With 11.0:1 compression, four bolt main bearings, a unique cam, mechanical lifters and a four-barrel, extruded aluminum pistons, bigger valves, and a thermo-modulated fan, and other tweaks, this engine was among the most revered small blocks that Chevy produced. The Z28 also provided higher rate springs and shocks, a front and rear stabilizer bar and a quick-ratio steering box. On the outside, the Z28 received a rear deck spoiler, stripe kit, and gray-painted Z28 wheels with F60x15 white letter Goodyear Polyglas GTs.

There’s a lot of confusion about what constitutes a Rally Sport, in large part because that trim could be applied to anything from Z28s all the way down to six-cylinder cars. The only way to fully identify whether a car is an RS—five decades after it was produced—is to find code Z22 in the build sheet. It’s more than just the split bumpers, too, and buyers should note that people have been adding split bumpers onto standard noses almost since the get-go. True RS cars will also feature Hide-A-Way wipers (RPO C24) as well as the contents of the Z21 Style Trim Group. On SS and Z28 trims with the RS option, the only obvious callout will be the RS emblem on the steering wheel.

Inside, the standard car was a lot more stripped than popular imagination remembers. The floor console was an option, for example. It’s always a treat to run across a bare-bones base car with a floor shifted three-speed and no console. Interior packages included the Z23 Special Interior Group (additional instrument cluster lighting and wood-grained accents on the instrument cluster and steering wheel) and the Z87 Custom Interior (everything in Z23 plus deluxe seats in either cloth or vinyl, a glovebox light, additional instrument cluster lighting; a luggage compartment mat and engine compartment, hood, and interior insulation.)

Standalone options ranged in the dozens from air conditioning—though not on the Z28—to a forced air rear window defogger. Major option groups included ZP5 (Appearance Guard Group—door edge guards and front and rear floor mats), U14 (the Instrument Panel Gage Package that came with temp and voltage gauges, plus a clock and tachometer), and ZQ2 (Operating Convenience Group: a clock, sport mirrors and the rear defogger).

A few minor notes: 1970 was the only year the second-generation Camaro was available with the “Camaro by Chevrolet” emblem on the rear decklid. The side marker lights on a 1970 Camaro also don’t flash with the turn indicators, a one-off anomaly for that year.

There were 15 color options in 1970, with three tones of vinyl top, and five interior colors in total, three of which were available in Knit Vinyl and Pattern Cloth. The vast majority of the 124,901 Camaros produced in 1970 featured a V-8: Just 12,578 featured the 250-cu.in. six-cylinder, making these cars pretty thin on the ground in 2023.

1971

1971 was a pivotal year for performance, or more specifically, the lack thereof—GM lowered the compression ratios of all of its engines, and dropped its most potent 396 from the engine lineup.

The 250-cubic inch six and 307-cubic inch V-8 were identical in performance to 1970. The two-barrel-equipped 350-cubic inch engine dropped to 245hp from 250hp. But the big drop was for the four-barrel 350 (270hp from 300hp in 1970), the four-barrel 350 with dual exhaust in the Z28 (330hp from 360 the prior year) and the 396 (now marketed with its actual displacement of 402 cubic inches) sat at an even 300 horses.

The 1971 grille was the identical tight rectangular pattern of the 1970, and unique to those two years of Camaro.

Inside, there were further changes. 1971 debuted high-back bucket seats for all Camaro models rather than low-back buckets with a separate headrest. That high-back design would continue for the remained of the second-gen’s run. And for the first time, 1971 Camaro models featured a pictograph on the smaller rubberized headlamp switch, replacing a larger chrome pull knob from 1970. The two-spoke base steering wheel is slightly different in 1971, more of a rectangular shape than 1970’s somewhat triangular design. The four-spoke wheel (RPO NK4) was an option that would eventually become standard the following year.

15 colors were available, with four vinyl top options and five interior colors. In 1971, Chevrolet produced a total of 114,630 Camaros, with about 90 percent of that production allotted to V-8s, and just 11,178 six-cylinders.

1972

The order guide in 1972 looks different, and a lot easier to comprehend. The basic difference is down to “6-Cylinder Model” with the 250-cu.in. inline six, and for another $95, the “8-Cylinder Model” with the 307-cu.in. V-8, making it absolutely clear why V-8-powered Camaros made up most of the production in any given year.

Major options continued to include the Z27 Camaro SS (with the L48 350 or with the optional LS3 402); Z23 Rally Sport (still available on everything, but deleting RS emblems on Z28 and SS); Z21 Style Trim; and Z28 Special Performance Package. All of the engines were rated for SAE NET HP in 1972, showing a significant drop from 1971. The 250-cubic inch six was rated at 110hp, the 307 V-8 at 130hp, the L65 350 V-8 at 165hp, the L48 350 at 200hp, the Z28 350 at 255hp, and the 402-cu.in. V-8 at 240hp. Transmission offerings remained the same.

The big exterior change for 1972 was the larger grille pattern, which the 1972 model year Camaro shares with ’73. But it’s the only year that the Camaro has this grille pattern without the underlying larger, stronger bumper supports. Besides that grille, the exterior largely stayed the same, though lots of changes were occurring inside. The steering wheel went to the four-spoke urethane NK4 sport wheel that became synonymous with the Camaro until 1981. Three-point seatbelts became standard for the two front passengers. The door panels underwent a style revision, with map pockets and a change holder. Speedometers dropped to a 130-mph max, down from 150 in the first two years. In prior years, four-speed-equipped Camaros used a Hurst shifter, but that was eliminated for 1972.

In previous years, Z21 (Style Trim) was included in the Z23 Rally Sport package, but in 1972, the packages were independent, meaning you could buy a car that was Rally Sport equipped, but not have bright exterior trim. It’s important to note that prior to the 1972 model year, the engine code was not part of the VIN. That changed in 1972, with the fifth digit of the VIN signifying the engine:

• D = 250ci
• F = 307ci
• H = 350ci
• K = 350ci (SS)
• L = 350ci (Z28)
• U = 396ci (SS)

Fifteen colors were available in 1972, with another five vinyl top hues. Six interior colors were available with two reserved for vinyl only. This was a grim year for Camaro production, thanks to a strike. Just 68,671 Camaros were produced, with only 4,821 six-cylinders, and the balance in V-8 production.

1973

This was a big year in second-generation history, for a number of reasons. First off, it’s the last year for the original flat-faced design. This marks the last year for the split bumper, and the only year the split bumpers have additional reinforcement beneath, specifically to allow these cars to pass the 2.5-mph federally mandated bumper crash test.

On the performance side … well, there wasn’t a performance side. 1972 was the last year for an SS, and with it went the big block. From here through the end of second-gen production, the Camaro would have a six-cylinder as the base engine, and small block V-8s as options. Power ratings fell again: To 100hp for the six, 115hp for the 307-cu.in. V-8, 145hp for the two-barrel L65 350, 175hp for the four-barrel L48 350, and 245hp for the Z28 350. The transmission offerings also changed, with the deletion of the Powerglide. The only automatic available henceforth would be a Turbo Hydra-Matic 350.

In the SS’s place was the Type LT—ostensibly standing for “Luxury Touring,” a fact made obvious by the full foam front and rear seats designed to give “superb riding comfort” and “firm support.” Seats could be covered in either vinyl or cloth. The “deep twist” carpet was supposed to be more luxurious, and could be ordered in accent colors depending on the upholstery color. Standard on Type LT was the Décor/Quiet Sound Group, which included sound deadening on the floor, cowl-to-fender seals, a headliner insulating pad, and full hood insulation, along with woodgrain on the door panels. The LT got special emblems on the decklid and sail panels outside.

Turbine wheels were available for the first time in 1973 on every trim except Z28, and the full wheel covers were revised. The bad news of the Z28 losing its mechanical lifters was salved slightly by the Z28 finally being offered with air conditioning. Throughout the lineup, the console and automatic transmission shifter were revised to a single ratchet style shifter, rather than the basket-handle shifter of the first few years. Inside, all Camaros had a mandated seat belt warning buzzer. In the trunk, a space saver spare debuted.

16 colors provided the most extensive palette to date, and seven vinyl top colors expanded the range as well. Five colors were available for the interior, but only two were available in cloth trim. Production picked up nearly a third to 96,751, with 93,137 of those cars shipped with one of the V-8s.

1974

Federal bumper standards forced a major facelift for the 1974 Camaro. Look around at how other makes and models had their faces altered during the same time period, and you realize just how successfully Chevrolet designers were able to integrate the bumpers into the Camaro’s overall aesthetic.

Along with the new aluminum bumper up front came an all-new fiberglass nose with deep sugar-scoop headlamp buckets, and turn signals set between the grille and the headlamps. The rear quarter and rear valence was redesigned to add a larger aluminum bumper to the rear as well, which also integrated wedge-style wraparound taillights with full red lenses. Front and rear bumpers had jack slots, so the bumper jack was revised.

The delightful baby moon center caps of the first three years gave way to the same aluminum center caps from the Nova. Radial tires became an option for the first time. The Z28 got wild new graphics for ’74, just in time for the designation to disappear for a few years.

Changes were afoot inside, too, some subtle, some not. A retractable, inertia reel shoulder belt became standard, and an AM/FM stereo was on the option list. Gone as quickly as it arrived was a seatbelt interlock that prevented the car from starting if the seat belts weren’t engaged.

Mechanically, there were a few revisions, too: Power steering became standard on all V-8-powered Camaros. The fuel tank increased from 18 gallons to 21. The Z28 got an HEI electronic ignition, which would eventually make its way to all the cars. The 307 disappeared in favor of the two-barrel 350. 16 colors made up the paint options, along with the widest color range of vinyl tops to date at 10 colors. Nine interior colors were available, along with some great two-tone check patterns. Production skyrocketed in 1974 to 151,008, with 128,798 cars shipped with V-8s and the balance 250-cubic in. sixes.

1975

While the big changes all occurred in the 1974 model year, there was more in store for 1975, and most of it wasn’t good. The Z28 was gone, though the Rally Sport re-emerged toward the end of the year as a paint and trim package. The familiar “Camaro” cursive script was still on the glovebox lid, but the front fenders received a block script in all caps.  The rear window was also redesigned to mirror the wraparound look of the tail lamps, and to provide more visibility to the rear. The tricolor emblem in the grille on the 1974 model year moved up to an escutcheon on the fiberglass nose.

Inside, power locks were available for the first time, along with a new cruise control option. The Sports Décor package (Z08) showed up briefly, including body-colored sport mirrors, a body-colored insert on the door handles, and body-colored appliqué on the bumpers. That package disappeared halfway through the year, so it’s a relatively rare sight nowadays. The Type LT featured bird’s eye maple trim inside, versus the previous year’s meridian walnut. Even the handful of people who bought sixes could get air conditioning in 1975. According to the order guide for 1975, for the first time, leather seating was available in either Dark Saddle or Dark Oxblood. That option disappears in 1976 and wouldn’t return in the second generation.

There were also a few mechanical changes. The big one was the addition of the catalytic converter, which required the modification of the passenger side floor. All V-8 cars received twin exhaust outlets. HEI became standard on all engines, including the six. Rear brake drums were finned for better cooling.

16 colors were available, along with nine vinyl top choices. Interior colors were limited to just five. Production held steady in 1975 to 145,770 units, with a growing percentage of six-cylinder cars at 29,749, and 116,021 V-8s.

1976

It seems hard to distinguish the differences between a 1975 and 1976 Camaro, though there were a number of minor trim revisions, as well as some significant mechanical changes.

On the Type LT, the rear valence panel under the decklid received a smart brushed aluminum cover that set the entire back of the car off nicely.

Outside, a new Landau top trim was available. It’s essentially a reverse landau top from what you might be familiar with on a Colonnade body, where the vinyl is only over the front passengers, rather than wrapping around the rear window and quarter. This replaced the full vinyl top available up to this point. Custom-styled urethane and alloy wheels were also options for the first time in 1976.

Upholstery revisions were again in the mix, with new sport cloth-and-vinyl trim patterns. The instrument panel trim shifted from interior color to a tan simulated leather, which made the black-faced gauges seem to leap out of the dash. Optional gauge packages included a voltmeter rather than the old ammeter.

Mechanically, 1975 introduced the 305-cubic inch V-8 as the middle engine in the lineup. The 145-hp two-barrel split the difference between the 105 hp inline six and the 165hp of the 350. Power-assisted brakes were now standard, and the braking system received minor updates.

There were 14 colors for 1976, with another seven vinyl top colors. Five interior colors were available. Production numbers were way up again for 1976, with 182,959 total. That number is made up of an increasing percentage of six cylinder cars with 38,047, along with 144,912 V-8s.

1977

Camaro news for 1977 was big, if only for the return of the Z28. Tom Zimmer—the Camaro’s Chief Engineer—demanded it, reportedly after seeing the Pontiac Trans Am’s sales numbers take off.

The Z28 debuted at the Daytona Motor Speedway in February that year. While it wasn’t exactly the car that Pontiac delivered, it did pretty well for itself, with a 185-horse 350 fitted with a Rochester four-barrel carburetor. The exhaust went through a single cat, but split into dual resonators and tailpipes with no mufflers. The standard transmission was a Borg-Warner four-speed with a 2.64:1 low gear. The stick wasn’t available in California, which only got the three-speed Turbo Hydra-Matic, though the shift points were revised upward.

The Z28 emphasized handling over straight line performance, with revised 365-lb springs and a 1.2-inch stabilizer bar up front. Springs in the rear were 127-lb. versus the standard 89 to 99 pound springs in lesser Camaro trims. The rear stabilizer bar trimmed back a bit to .55 inches versus .69 inches, and the rear springs benefitted from higher durometer rubber shackle bushings. The 15×7 Z28 steel wheels returned, though they were painted body color instead of gray as in previous years.

The exterior package included Z28-specific decals on the hood, front fenders, front and rear spoilers, wheel wells, rocker panels, and door-handle inserts. The bumpers—the same bumpers as any other Camaro in 1977—were body color. Headlight and tail light bezels and window trim were black anodized, and the rear trunk panel, rocker panel and parking light buckets were painted black to match. Front and rear spoilers were standard and the Z28 received the full U14 gauge package. And for the first time, the Z28 received a unique steering wheel with faux rope “whipping” around the rim. That steering wheel would remain a Z28 component until the last model year of the second generation.

Only two minor changes occurred on the balance of the Camaro lineup: intermittent wipers were optional for the first time, and the four-speed transmission moved the location of reverse to far left and down. Colors grew a bit more limited to 13 in 1977, and you had more than half as many vinyl top colors to choose from, too. Inside, though, just four colors were available. Boosted by the popularity of the mid-year Z28, Camaro numbers exploded to 218,853, outselling the Ford Mustang for the first time, and including 14,349 Z28s. The total breakdown includes 31,389 inline sixes and 187,464 V-8s.

1978

A whole range of exterior changes occurred in 1978, largely centered around the bumpers. The aluminum bumpers that arrived in 1974 were reportedly supposed to be replaced with urethane bumper covers by 1976, but that change was delayed for two long years. When they finally came around, however, they gave the Camaro a significant refresh that helped propel the car to fresh sales highs.

Front and rear fascias were both revised, and hid impact-absorbing construction designed to withstand a five-mph impact without damage. The headlamp and turn indicator buckets were more squared off than previous years, and they were smooth chrome in all but the Z28. Prior years had a pebbled finish that didn’t fare well in the weather. The Camaro emblem once again moved to the middle of the grille. Tail lamps were revised to a more geometric pattern, with amber turn signals split by a fuel door in the rear panel, instead of behind the license plate. The license plate mount itself moved from the rear panel down into a molded section of the bumper.

1978 also marked the first year for the T-Top option. Interestingly, the brochure shows the option, but the available order guide from October of 1977 doesn’t. The Rally Sport also re-emerged as a separate trim level rather than an RPO package.

There were some mechanical changes, as well. The 305 received the four-speed manual as the standard transmission, and all but the Z28 had taller rear axle ratios to help fuel economy. Lower control arms received heftier bracing for improved chassis stiffness, and redesigned rear spring shackles improved stability.

The color palette shrunk again to nine choices, with nearly as many vinyl top colors to choose from. Upholstery color choices grew to six. Production numbers again surpassed anything previously seen for the Camaro, with an astounding 272,631 total, including 36,982 six-cylinders and 235,649 V-8s.

1979

1979 brought another year of growth for the Camaro and the all-time sales record for the model. The biggest revision was the trim name shift from the Type LT to the Berlinetta, which included custom interior, bright upper and lower grille, bright windshield and rear window moldings, a dual pin stripe, body color sport mirrors, argent appliqué on rear panel, specific trim and either polycast wheels or color-keyed aluminum wheels. The Berlinetta also received Amberlite insulation blankets in the doors, rear quarters, roof/sail panels, behind the rear seat, under the package tray and under the carpeting. Dual horns and the full gauge package were also standard equipment.

Inside, all Camaros got new brushed aluminum-style instrument panel trim, and the optional forced air rear defroster gave way to a heated backlight.

Color options expanded to 11 in 1979, along with seven vinyl top choices. Six upholstery colors were available. It was the best-ever year for the Camaro with 282,571 produced, including 21,913 six-cylinders and 260,658 V-8s. Despite the economy, rampant interest rates and rising fuel costs, the Z28 alone represented 84,877 units sold.

1980

The penultimate year for the second-generation Camaro represented a lot of change for the car, some good, some not so much. For the first time ever, the base Camaro wouldn’t rely on the inline six that had powered Chevrolet vehicles since 1962. In its stead were two V-6s. California got an even-fire 231-cubic inch V-6 with internal balancing that would eventually go on to power the lion’s share of GM products for the next 20 years. The other 49 states got an odd-fire 229-cubic inch six for 1980.

Also available—and universally despised—was a 49-state L39 267-cubic inch V-8 good for 120 hp and 215 lb-ft. of torque.

The Z28 got ever-more menacing three-bar, tri-color graphics in 1980, and even slightly more horsepower, too, at 190hp, provided you didn’t live in California. Z28s sold there were limited to a 305 V-8 and a TH350. It also got the nifty Air Induction hood for the first time, with a solenoid-fired flapper that snapped open at wide-open throttle, perhaps one of the coolest gimmicks to come out of the 1980 model year.

Polycast wheels finally bowed out for this model year, replaced by polished wheel covers for the Berlinetta.

The disco era may have finally reached its conclusion, signified by the deletion of the vinyl top option for 1980. Color choice exploded to 14 selections, while interior colors were limited to five. Production dropped significantly in 1980, down to 152,005 units. The available V-6 was a smash, selling 51,104 units—the best ever showing for a six cylinder. V-8s totaled 100,901 units.

1981

In its final year, the bulk of the Camaro lineup was a carryover from the 1980 model year, but there are still changes to talk about.

The biggest revision was the standard Computer Command Control emissions system, which took up some valuable real estate in that year’s sales brochure. It was an early ECU that not only monitors fuel mixture, throttle position and 02 emissions, but transmission performance as well, since the computer controlled the new lockup torque converter. It’s also notable for the birth of the Check Engine Light for the Camaro.

For 1981, the Rally Sport fell out of the lineup. Like all cars, Camaros in 1981 featured a 17-digit VIN. Power brakes were a standard feature for the first time, as was a space saver spare. Halogen headlamps became optional, and there were 13 colors available in the final year, with six interior color choices. While a shadow of the 1979 zenith, sales were still pretty strong for 1981, with 126,139 Camaros produced. V-6 models continued to perform well at 52,004 units, while V-8 models dropped to 74,135, including 43,272 Z28s.

Before You Inspect

There are few vehicles with as deep a set of historical and reference resources as the Second Generation Camaro. The biggest resource—and one that we’ve used here for production figures and year-to-year changes—is NastyZ28.com, which has long been the primary resource for 1970 to 1981 Camaro enthusiasts. The American Camaro Association runs the Camaro Nationals which takes place this July in Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

VINs in these cars changed three times over the span of Second Gen Camaro production, so be aware that the information encoded in those VINs will change depending upon the year. There’s a good VIN decoder at Chevy-Camaro.com, and aftermarket supplier Classic Industries has a version, as well. Double R Restorations has an outstanding series of videos covering every aspect of Second Generation Camaro purchasing, but start with the video on common rust areas. This is the dividing line between a Camaro that can reasonably be put back together, and one that’s too far gone to serve as anything but a parts car.

We won’t go into great detail here because it’s all laid out in the video, from rust around the windshield and backlight to floors, trunks, quarters and doglegs.

Your prospective Camaro—like all cars from the era—may or may not have a build sheet tucked up under the rear seat, over the glovebox, over the fuel tank, in the springs of the front seat, under the carpet by the transmission tunnel or elsewhere. The Service Parts Identification label that has been so helpful in determining option codes wasn’t fully integrated until 1984, so that’s unfortunately not an option on these cars.

Cowl tags were part of every Camaro built between 1970 and 1981, so you’ll find valuable information there. What information is contained in the trim tag varies depending on the year, but thankfully Chevy-Camaro.com has an excellent pull-down menu by year which will help you learn what your target Camaro left the factory with.

The GM Heritage Center managed to get its Historic Information Kits back online recently, and we found every order guide for every Camaro from 1970 to 1981 listed. There’s invaluable information there about what options, colors, powertrains and equipment your Camaro may have come with.

Before You Buy

Like all cars from the 1970s and 1980s, second-generation Camaros were prone to rust. As Russ from Double R Restorations notes, in a lot of instances, you really can’t tell the extent of the rust on things like window channels until you’ve taken the glass out and gone past the point of no return. Areas like toe boards hold rust that you can’t see underneath because of body bracing. Frame rails can also be destroyed.

The good news is that there really isn’t a body part that you can’t find for these cars from a supplier like Classic Industries, Year One, Rick’s Camaros, Classic Muscle,  National Parts Depot, Camaro Parts Central, and a nearly inexhaustible list of smaller parts suppliers.

Mechanically these cars are straightforward, and they remain plentiful, with a few exceptions. For less desirable engines like the 267-cubic inch V-8 and the odd-fire 229-cubic inch V-6 are going to be hard to source. Many of the 350-cu.in. V-8 heads that came out of this era are commonly referred to as the least desirable in Chevrolet’s history, but swapping them out for something better is relatively easy. Transmissions and rear ends are plentiful, no matter which your Camaro happens to have.

Which one to buy? Aside from the stronger powertrains and muscle car-era ties of the early models, it’s largely a matter of personal preference. Some buyers are going to be after an 1970 RS/SS, and some are going to want the full disco package in a 1980 Z28 with T-Tops. They’re all equally susceptible to rust, and all have a fairly prolific aftermarket.

What to Pay

Given the long lifespan of this generation and the variety of spec, there’s quite a spread in values. “Number 2 values vary widely for these, from just $11,200 for a 1980 base with the lowest output V-8 to $84,800 for a 1970 SS 396/375hp L78,” says senior auction editor Andrew Newton. As always, check out Hagerty’s Valuation Tools to ensure you get the latest values for your specific Camaro.

If you simply like the shape of the Second Generation Camaro, choosing a six-cylinder car, or something like a clean Berlinetta will save you enough money to send a kid to stage college for a few years. The pandemic boom had a dramatic effect on all Camaro prices, and prices are still up significantly, but prices have softened a little recently. That said, certain trends remain: “For both the early and the later cars—the latter of which tend to be cheaper—it’s the high-spec performance models that have seen the most appreciation by far,” says Newton. “For example, while 1981 Z28s are up 80% over the past four years, 1981 base and Berlinetta models are up just 24%.”

Quoted values for these cars—regardless of year or condition—is up 32 percent in the last three years, according to the Hagerty Valuation Team.

Gen X unsurprisingly quotes 38 percent of 1970 to 1981 Camaros, while making up 32 percent of the overall collector car market. These were incredibly popular cars when Gen X was growing up (and continued to be so when they became the used cars that populated their high school parking lots), and they have the liquid cash to buy one. Millennials have a strong affinity for these cars, too, making up 20 percent of quotes—about consistent with their share of the market. Gen Z quotes 11 percent while being seven percent of the overall market. Boomers are still a strong ownership bloc, but not as much as you might think. They quote 30 percent of all 1970 to 1981 Camaros in Hagerty’s database, while making up 35 percent of the market.

Buy the best Second Generation Camaro you can afford, and if you can verify that any rust areas have been addressed, all the better. And as with any classic purchase, have the car looked over by a qualified professional.

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The post Your Handy 1970–81 Chevrolet Camaro Buyer’s Guide appeared first on Hagerty Media.

This is a story about the track-ready Porsche Cayman R, which we’ll get to in just a moment, but let’s spend a minute talking about how the Cayman came to be.

It did not take a financial analyst to discover that Porsche, circa 1992, was having issues. The 911 was selling passably well—it almost always finds its audience—but the pricey 928 was failing to win the hearts and minds, not to mention to pocketbooks, of the Porsche faithful, especially near the end of its run, which finally occurred in 1995.

Similarly, the 968, introduced in 1991 as a replacement for the 944, wasn’t being embraced by sports car fans looking for an entry point into the Porsche brand. Though the company insisted that 80 percent of the 968 was new, it perhaps wasn’t different enough from the 944 to ignite a fire among potential customers. By the time it was dropped from the lineup in 1995, it was quite a good car, but it just wasn’t selling.

Meanwhile, Porsche executives were rethinking the whole entry-level-model conundrum. They arrived at something that felt comfortable—the Boxster concept car, which debuted at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in 1993. “We had originally planned to present our concept car in Geneva in spring 1993,” says Grant Larson, lead designer of the car. “But we decided on Detroit in January because we did not want to waste any time.”

The mid-engine roadster was an unqualified hit. When the production car hit the market in 1996, it was very faithful to that concept. Twenty-five years later, total Boxster sales had topped 350,000.

But not everyone wants a roadster, those Porsche executives reasoned. (Especially Porsche fans, it turns out—coupe models are consistently valued higher than their drop-top stablemates within this brand.) What if they took the Boxster platform and made a coupe? Versatile designer Pinky Lai, who joined Porsche after styling the BMW E36, was assigned to the car. Yes, it was influenced by the 911, but it was different enough not to tread on its territory. Thus was born the Cayman, which debuted as a 2006 model.

The base Cayman was powered by a 2.7-liter six-cylinder engine, while the Cayman S got a 3.4-liter engine. But Porsche thought there was room for a more performance-oriented Cayman, which finally came in 2011: That was the Cayman R. But after 2012, it was gone, with the pending arrival of the third-generation Cayman.

A nice little niche market remains for the 1621 Cayman R models that Porsche cranked out. It isn’t that much more powerful than the Cayman S and Boxster Spyder—just an additional 10 horsepower from the 3.4-liter six-cylinder, achieved by tweaking the exhaust system.

But it’s what surrounds that 330-horsepower engine that gives the Cayman R its track credibility. Taking a page from the Lotus playbook, Porsche designers and engineers put the Cayman R on a diet, not that the Cayman S was all that porky. They managed to trim as much as 121 pounds, starting with aluminum doors, lighter seats, different (19-inch) wheels and a fixed rear wing. Fabric straps replaced interior door pulls.

Additional pounds were shed by those willing to, as Porsche put it, “Do without convenience equipment.” That included air conditioning and a sound system, which is good for a 33-pound savings. (Thankfully, you could add those two back in if you valued being cool and entertained.) After that, it got expensive. A lighter lithium-ion battery could save 26 pounds but would cost you $1700. Carbon-ceramic brakes cut seven pounds, at a cost of $8150.

The standard transmission was a six-speed manual, but you could swap that out with a seven-speed PDK automatic, though it weighed an extra 55 pounds.

Fortunately, there were other changes. “With its specially adapted sports chassis,” Porsche said, “it provides an even more precise driving experience than the Cayman S.” Improved aerodynamics substantially reduced front and rear lift. The addition of the Sport Chrono package whacked three-tenths of a second off the 0 to 60 mph time, trimming it to about 4.5 seconds. Top speed was 175 mph with the manual transmission, 174 with the PDK automatic.

While all these adjustments made for a potent track rat, the R was as accommodating on the road as any Cayman model. As thin and lightweight as those seat were, they weren’t nearly the punishment you’d expect them to be.

There remains a strong market for the Cayman R, which was introduced at a base price of $67,250. Hagerty values a Cayman R in #2 (“excellent”) condition at $90,300, and a #3 (“good”) example at $74,000. By comparison, a 2012 Porsche Cayman S in #3 condition is valued at $40,000.

Values started increasing during 2019 and through the pandemic boom, but have been largely flat for the last two years. From the beginning of 2018 to the end of 2022, condition #2 values for the Cayman R grew 54 percent, which was a higher percentage than any other version of 2006-12 Cayman. They haven’t moved at all since the end of 2022.

Buyer interest for all 2006-12 Caymans pretty much mirrors the classic car market as a whole. Baby boomers make up 36 percent of Cayman policyholders that Hagerty covers, with members of Generation X representing 33 percent. Millennials appreciate the Cayman, too, making up nearly 20 percent of policies.

Bringatrailer.com has sold at least four Cayman Rs in the past year or so: Two for $75,000 each, one for $74,500, and one for $68,250. As of Wednesday afternoon, two Cayman Rs are presently being offered on the site.

As with any performance car, a Cayman R that has been consistently beat on during track days is likely to need more work than the proverbial, school-teacher-just-driven-to-church-on-Sunday car. Though many of these cars have led a coddled life, plenty did get used as intended, so be sure to shop for your particular use case.

And we don’t know about you, but we like our air conditioning and sound systems.

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The Tesla Cybertruck is a unique vehicle, to say the least, both on the road and in the marketplace. The EV, packed with high-tech features and adorned with sharp angles, gets attention everywhere it appears. And despite teething troubles, the secondary market for the Cybertruck reflects this nothing-else-like-it appeal. New examples selling at a big premium relative to their sticker price.

It looks like a different kind of truck, but just how differently does the market treat it?

The Cybertruck joins the new vehicle marketplace in 2024, amidst slowing sales growth for EVs in general. Gone are the days of supply shortages and, for the most part, the annoyingly large added dealer markups (MSRP + dealer fees) common among popular new vehicles in 2022. In those days, new EV trucks such as the Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, and GMC Hummer EV were popular, and they regularly had transacted well over sticker. That the Cybertruck is now enjoying similar markups even in a cooler market speaks to its popularity.

Measuring the premium of those early EV trucks isn’t hard, but does require a little more time than many of these behemoths take to get from 0-60. With the growth of online auction sites, a couple of hundred examples of those three have been auctioned as nearly new vehicles. Often, the auctions contain the window sticker price of the truck when it was new. The secondary market premium is the final price (hammer price plus fees) over the window sticker price. That premium shows how much more someone will pay to jump the line and get one of the hot new EV trucks in their driveway ASAP.

When the GMC Hummer EVs started hitting the auction market in the spring of 2022, they began selling for between two and two-and-a-half times the $112,595 sticker price (a premium of +100% to +150%). One even sold as a charity lot for $500K. That premium drifted down to about 50 percent by late 2022. By 2023, the median premium was still 39%, but by 2024, some examples are selling for sticker price.

The 2022+ Ford F-150 Lightning reached the secondary market a couple of months later in 2022, but the premium was still around 33 percent for the fall of 2022. By the fourth quarter of 2022, the premium had dropped to 15 percent. In 2023, the premium continued to drop, and in 2024, the now slightly used trucks are selling at a discount.

As an EV startup, Rivian is the most similar to Tesla, but its innovative R1T truck isn’t nearly as in-your-face different as the Cybertruck. It did beat it to market, however, and the first examples sold on the market in the spring of 2022. In that first month, the average premium was 73 percent over the sticker price. Much like the other two launched in 2022, the R1T has continued to depreciate, with the first model year trucks now selling at an average discount of 16% to their original sticker price.

Notably, the supply of nearly new examples of these three EV trucks in the secondary market is still comprised of first model year vehicles, presumably because supply has caught up with demand for the 2023 and 2024 model years.

The Cybertruck has also been enjoying a premium in the secondary market, with an average premium of 35 percent over sticker. That the truck has only been available for less than three months means it is still early days. For the big splash it has made, however, its early secondary market premiums are only stronger than the Lightning’s: Comparing it to premiums enjoyed by the other three, the Cybertruck’s 35 percent puts it slightly above the market performance of the Ford, and well below that of the Rivian R1T.

What’s different? The market in 2024 isn’t the same as it was in 2022, though, so that may account for the slightly lower premium for Tesla’s truck. That said, it’s not the only vehicle commanding a significant premium in a cooler market. The other newly available 2024 model that also currently enjoys a premium isn’t an EV, but it is from an automaker with a similarly fervent fan base. The 2024 Porsche 911 Dakar is also an innovative vehicle, and is off-road capable, but based on a limited amount of public secondary sales, it too is selling at an average of 40 percent above sticker price in the early months of 2024. Given its limited production and the trajectories of past special 911s, though, it’s likely that the valuation path of these two vehicles won’t stay the same for long.

Context really is everything: The Tesla Cybertruck is commanding a premium, and its popularity is reflected in secondary market sales. This wedge-shaped Tesla might be, well, different, but its market behavior so far tracks the paths of EV trucks before it. Regardless of the Cybertruck’s novel approach, the premiums it currently commands are unlikely to persist.

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MonacoCarAuctions is a company based in, you guessed it, Monaco. And 2024 will be their second L’Astarossa auction in the principality. The June 8 auction is an all-Ferrari affair, with not just cars that wear the prancing horse but tons of memorabilia as well. That means everything from ashtrays to Enzos, but seven cars in particular caught our eye.

1981 Ferrari 208 GTB

No, the heading above isn’t a typo. Despite it looking exactly like a Ferrari 308, this car is in fact a 208. The 208 mostly sold in its home market, where the Italian tax man went after over-2.0-liter cars at a much higher rate. To make it, Ferrari de-bored the 308’s 3.0-liter V-8 to just under 2.0 liters, and fed it with four Weber carburetors. For 1982, Ferrari upgraded it with fuel injection and a single KKK turbocharger.

Because of its limited market, 208 production was limited, with about 300 naturally aspirated models and fewer than 700 208 Turbos built. This Argento over Blu Scuro 208 boasts a recent belt service, and has a presale estimate of €75,000 – €110,000 ($82,000 – $120,000).

2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale A

The 458 was the last of Ferrari’s naturally aspirated mid-engine V-8 models before being replaced by the turbocharged 488 in 2015, and the market for 458s is already strong. The higher performing 458 Speciale is particularly desirable thanks to a thorough list of upgrades, including a bump up to 597 horsepower compared to 652 in the base “Italia” model. The 458 Speciale A (“A” for Aperta, or “open”) is at the top of the heap, because when the top goes down, the price goes up. Ferrari built just 499 Speciale As, and this Giallo Triplo Strato (“triple layer yellow”) example has a presale estimate of €625,000 – €725,000 ($680,000 – $788,000).

1965 ASA 1000 GT

It’s not technically a Ferrari, but this little ASA still has a deep connection with the company. By the late 1950s, Enzo Ferrari had successfully spun an automobile company out of his racing obsession, but his road cars were very expensive and he envisioned a product that would compete at lower, more accessible price points. So, Ferrari built a new 850cc engine, essentially a scaled-down, four-cylinder version of the Colombo 250 V-12. Rather than place the little engine under a prancing horse badge, Ferrari sold production rights to the De Nora Electrochemical Group, which then established Autocostruzioni Societa per Azioni, aka ASA, to build the car.

Engine displacement was enlarged to 1032cc with 97 horsepower, and it was installed in a tubular chassis. The ASA also came with four-wheel disc brakes and it was a capable performer for its size, while a young Giorgetto Giugiaro penned a lovely fastback body. In part thanks to its high cost, though, the ASA was not a big seller and fewer than 100 coupes are thought to have been built. This one, which sold new in France, has a presale estimate of €75 000 – €125 000 ($81,500 – $136,000).

1965 Ferrari 275 GTS

Built from 1964-66, the 275 GTS is mechanically almost identical to the coupe 275 GTB, but cosmetically its Pininfarina body is distinct. Ferrari built 200 examples, and this one is represented as the 29th. When 275 GTSs do pop up for sale they typically bring prices in the low-$1 million range, and this Blu Chiaro over Blu Scuro car has a presale estimate of €1,550,000 – €1,800,000 ($1,685,000 – $1,957,000).

1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4 Spider

The 365 GTC/4 was both mechanically and visually quite similar to the better-known 365 GTB/4 “Daytona”. In the GTC, though, the 4.4-liter V-12 was detuned and the 5-speed was mounted to the engine rather than the transaxle as it was in the Daytona. It was an all-around more comfortable car as well, with softer suspension, power steering, and a longer body with two small rear seats.

And, unlike the Daytona, Ferrari never offered the GTC/4 as anything but a coupe. That didn’t stop people from wanting a little wind in their hair, and this one is reportedly one of four GTC/4s transformed into convertibles by Claudio Zampolli, who later went on to build the 16-cylinder Cizeta supercar. This one also has some musical history, as it has been owned by both Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Maroon Five vocalist Adam Levine. It has a presale estimate of €320,000 – €420,000 ($348,000 – $457,000).

1990 Ferrari 348 Zagato Elaborazione

The 1989-95 Ferrari 348 was a volume seller for the company with nearly 9000 produced. Like any Ferrari, though, there were some rare variants, and with just nine or 10 cars built, the Zagato-bodied Elaborazione is the rarest.

Compared to some other designs by Carrozzeria Zagato, which are typically outlandish, the 348 Elaborazione is a bit more restrained, but it does have Zagato’s signature double bubble roof. Other changes include different, more open side intakes, a glass engine cover, triple round taillights, a rear spoiler, OZ Racing wheels, and a revised hood and front bumper. This car is reportedly the third one built, and it has a presale estimate of €350,000 – €400,000 ($381,000 – $435,000). Normal 348 tbs typically sell for under $100,000.

2002 Ferrari Enzo

When Ferrari introduced the Enzo in 2002, the company was in the midst of its dominant period in Formula 1, winning five constructors’ championships on the back of Michael Schumacher’s five consecutive drivers’ titles from 2000-04. The well-timed Enzo reflected the latest developments in racing, and was highly anticipated as the latest of Ferrari’s halo models, following the F50 of the 1990s. Just 400 were built, and this is a one-owner example showing 7704 km (4787 miles). Its presale estimate is €4,200,000 – €4,500,000 ($4,567,000 – $4,893,000), making it the most valuable lot of this sale by a long way.

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Any real-deal Shelby Cobra is valuable. And even more so when it’s a big-block, especially when there’s an actual 427 (as opposed to the tamer 428s installed in some “427” Cobras at Shelby American) under the hood. One with its original drivetrain and body is better still, and one that was never cut up or modified in period is really special.

Then, if it’s given a no-expense-spared restoration, you essentially get this car—CSX3200. At $2.145M, it was the most expensive car at Mecum’s massive Indianapolis auction, and brought almost exactly its condition #1 (“concours” or “best-in-the-world”) value in the Hagerty Price Guide.

The Cobra story is a famous one: little British roadster + Carroll Shelby + Ford V-8 = race-winning performance icon, etc.

But not all Cobras were created equal, and the market doesn’t treat them the same, either. The short(ish) version is that the earlier Cobras, powered by 260 cubic-inch V-8s, are worth the least. Next on the ladder are the 289-powered cars, the earliest of which came with a worm and sector (W&S) steering system. Shelby eventually modified the 289 model with better rack and pinion (R&P) steering. R&P is worth more than W&S.

In 1965, the big-block cars came along with a new 4-inch tube chassis and, at first, Ford’s exotic 427 cubic-inch FE V-8. Then, Shelby built a batch of cars with the cheaper, longer stroke, less racy 428 Police Interceptor engine, although the badge still said 427. Finally, for the last few dozen cars, a real 427 went back in. Of the big-block cars, 428s are worth less than 427s, and most valuable of all are the Competition and Semi-Competition (S/C) 427s. Good race history of course impacts value, as does condition. Some Cobras led hard lives, got wrecked, swapped engines, or were cut up for modifications, so originality matters a lot as well.

Per the World Registry of Cobras & GT40s, the Cobra sold at Indy this year—CSX3200—is the last of the initial run of 100 427 street Cobras before the switch to 428s. Its 427 “center oiler” engine came with two 4-barrel carburetors and was mated to a toploader 4-speed manual. The bodywork has the wide rear hips associated with big-block Cobras, but it came with neither roll bar, hood scoop, nor side exhaust like the race-oriented 427s, which are the ones most copied in countless Cobra replicas.

CSX3200’s original purchase price was $6183 (about $61K adjusted for inflation!). In transit to its first owner, though, it reportedly suffered damage to multiple body panels and a broken wind wing, although the cause was “unknown.” Its damage claim was $86.61. It also sold in 1984 for $27,000 (about $83K adjusted for inflation), according to the registry, and by 1995 had racked up just 16,000 miles.

In more recent years, a collector bought it and had it restored by Legendary Motorcars, highlighted in the video below.

The restorers “basically had an open checkbook to do this,” as the owner wanted a perfect 427 Cobra, but also wanted to use as many of the original pieces as possible, down to the original rivets. He also left the original leather on the seats alone because it was so well-preserved. Since the car has the somewhat rare distinction of never being modified, it currently has its unmolested original aluminum body on top of its original chassis, drivetrain and rear end. The 18,078 showing on the odometer are even represented as the actual mileage.

Mecum Indy is a 9-day car auction, but CSX3200 took less than 4 minutes on the block to be the most expensive car of the week. Given all the above, you can’t say this little Cobra didn’t deserve it.

The post “Open Checkbook” Cobra Restoration Brings $2.145 Million appeared first on Hagerty Media.

If the Indy 500 is “the greatest spectacle in racing,” serving as pace car for the race must be a marketing goldmine.

After all, a pace car is basically a rolling advertisement, driven on parade laps by a celebrity or famous athlete, and subsequently leading the procession of thundering, eager racers around the Brickyard to the green flag and during caution periods. It’s a lofty endorsement of the car’s worthiness to be on track at the same time as the real competitors. The winning driver even gets a pace car as a prize. Naturally, carmakers squeeze as much publicity out of the pace car glamour as possible. They continue that squeeze even after the race is over, offering limited edition replicas of the pace car, sprayed and stickered to look just like the ones used at Indy.

But are pace cars special just because marketing departments say they are? Do collectors buy into the “limited edition” cachet? How does the market treat them? Let’s dive into the history and explore the data.

Within the world of Indy pace car replicas there are DeSotos, Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, and even Fieros. Traditionally, the cars are decked out with graphics, decals, and loud paint until they’re about as subtle as a forest fire. The king of these “pace car editions,” though, is America’s sports car—the Corvette.

The Indy 500 had been around for nearly seven decades by the time Corvette was first chosen to pace the event in 1978. After that late start, though, America’s sports car has gotten more pace laps under its belt at Indy than any other model. This year, when an E-Ray will lead the field, marks the 21st time that a Corvette has served as pace car for the Indy 500.

The 1978 pace car wasn’t simply the start of Corvettes pacing the 500; it established a tradition of pace car collecting. Though Corvette celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1978, and the model got a new fastback rear end as well as a new interior, all the attention was on the pace car replica, a limited edition finished in black and silver with Indy 500 graphics. What was originally supposed to be a small batch for public consumption quickly ballooned to about one car for every Chevrolet dealer in the country. Pace car replicas comprised about 15 percent of Corvette production for the whole year.

In the end, GM built 6502 pace cars for ’78. An article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Few Want to Drive This Car, but Many Are Eager to Buy It,” touting the potential of the pace car to become a valuable collectors’ item and prompted people to snatch up ’78 pace cars for well over MSRP. Customers stuffed the cars into storage and waited for that sweet, sweet ROI.

Choosing which automobiles to buy as investments is never a sure thing, and nobody ever got rich off of ’78 Corvettes. However, Chevrolet has still released an official pace car replica for many (though not all) of the years a Corvette has paced Indy. After 1978, a few years passed before Corvette again got the honors in 1986. Chevrolet didn’t introduce a separate pace car replica but instead sold all 7315 Corvette convertibles in 1986 with Indy 500 decals, and it was up to the owner whether to apply them or not. In 1995 another Corvette convertible paced the 500, but Chevrolet again produced a separate model, this time painted in a brash purple and white and with a production total limited to just 527 units. The 1998 Corvette pace car is among the more famous, due to its almost painful combination of purple and yellow. Chevrolet built 1163 of them. The only other years in which Chevrolet sold a significant official run of pace car replicas to the public were 2007 and 2008, with 500 built for each year.

Relatively limited production and loud paint typically mean that pace car replicas sell for a decent premium over the equivalent base car, but the differences vary.

For 1978 pace cars, the difference from a base model is purely cosmetic, but the changes are significant. In addition to the paint job, each car got a full silver interior, better seats, glass T-tops, and alloy wheels. Even 46 years after all the hype, and despite not being that rare, a ’78 pace car is still worth significantly more than a “normal” ’78 Vette. Pace cars equipped with the range-topping L82 engine carry a condition #2 (“excellent”) value of $41,300, which is over 60 percent higher than a base car.

As for 1986 pace cars, things are a little different. Like the ’78 models, they’re not that rare—Chevrolet built 7315 over a quarter of production for the year. They also weren’t technically a limited edition, as all ’87 Corvette convertibles are “pace cars.” People selling one will often tout it as a “1986 Pace Car Edition,” when what they really mean is “1986 Corvette convertible.” Nevertheless, 1986 marked the first Corvette convertible since 1975, and 1986 convertibles command a slight premium over 1987 convertibles, with condition #2 values of $23,500 and $21,300, respectively.

For the purple-and-white 1995 Pace Car Convertible, production was much more limited with 527 built. Yet the premium for them isn’t huge. The condition #3 (“good”) value is $14,500 compared to $11,500 for the base car, but its #2 value of $27,800 is within a few hundred dollars of the base. The purple-and-yellow look-at-me-mobile that is the 1998 pace car also doesn’t cost all that much more than a base ’98 soft top. Its $32,800 condition #2 value is just 6.5 percent higher.

Corvette paced the 500 again in 2002, just ahead of the car’s 50th birthday in 2003. Chevrolet sold thousands of “50th Anniversary Edition” cars for the ’03 model year, all finished in a special shade of Anniversary Red Metallic over Shale two-tone leather. But Chevrolet also offered an “Indy 500 pace car” decal package to Anniversary Edition buyers for about $500. That’s a lot of money for some stickers, but they actually turned out to be a decent investment, as cars wearing them carry a #2 value of $37,100 compared to $33,000 for a regular ’03 50th Anniversary Edition.

The 2007 and 2008 Indy Pace Car replicas number 500 examples each. The ’07 Indy Pace Car Convertible carries a #2 value of $37,300 (11 percent higher than a base car), and the 2008 Indy Pace Car Coupe carries a #2 value of $42,400 (13 percent higher than a base car).

In addition to the pace car replicas you could buy at the dealer, there are the actual pace cars used for the race, which are naturally more desirable. There are also “track cars” (used by race officials and VIPs for the event) and “festival cars” (used in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade) that are often similar to the dedicated pace car. When the festival or track cars aren’t given out to execs or VIPs or otherwise come up for sale, they can be even more sought after by collectors than the production replicas. Some collectors are so crazy about pace cars that, for years when GM didn’t sell an official replica, they commission their own with special permission from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Sale prices for all of the above, though, are mixed. For example, one of three official pace cars used at the 2004 Indy 500 sold at auction last year for $38,500 and one of the Parade Cars from that year sold this January for $40,700, both of which seem low. As does the $59,400 for the 2019 Parade Car driven by Alexander Rossi. There are 2019 Corvettes on used car lots asking more than that. On the other end of the spectrum, a parade car from the 2005 race sold for $132,000 at auction this month, and one of the six official pace cars for the 2006 race sold for $242,000 at auction last year.

Since pace cars are sought out by collectors, they are sometimes sold as a collection. Back in 2018, a pace car collection of 16 Corvettes sold for $1.6M, which works out to an even $100K apiece. Which is a lot, but the group included four official track-used cars and five replicas that were commissioned by the owner and authorized by Indianapolis Motor Speedway because no official replicas were offered for those years. Another group of 18 sold at auction two years ago for $1.375M, or over $76,000 apiece. That group included two real pace cars used at the race and eight Indy-authorized replicas.

Corvette pace cars, then, are proven collectibles. They have been for over 40 years. They’re often not that rare. Their paint is often gaudy. They’re not any faster than a mechanically identical base model. But their connection to the greatest spectacle in racing, and their uniqueness, negates all that. The prices don’t lie, and we should indeed care about pace cars.

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We track thousands of vehicles in the Hagerty Price Guide. Many of them fit into nice, mainstream segments—muscle cars, British classics, trucks, Ferraris, etc. Others don’t fit so neatly into standard buckets, but these oddballs are also some of our favorites. And although the audience for them isn’t as big as something like, say, Corvettes, the prices for weird and wonderful classics also fluctuate and it’s important to track them, too. Below are some of the oddballs that have had the best start to 2024.

1959-65 BMW 700: +63 percent

BMWs aren’t typically oddballs. In fact, they’re pretty mainstream. By sales volume, BMW sold the ninth most cars out of any company in the world last year. In the early 1960s, though, things were different, and the brand with the beachball badge was in search of identity. In the postwar years, its upmarket models weren’t successful, while small offerings like the Isetta microcar kept the lights on at Bayerische Motoren Werke. Seeing that buyer tastes were shifting away from microcars and to larger, more comfortable offerings, BMW responded with the 700. Like the Isetta and the BMW 600 before it, the 700 used a rear-mounted motorcycle engine—in this case a 697cc version of the flat-twin found in the R67 motorcycle—and four-speed gearbox. Riding on BMW’s first steel monocoque frame, it was available as a coupe, a two-door sedan with a taller and more spacious roofline, and a convertible.

BMW itself has dubbed the 700 “the car that saved the company” and sold over 188,000 units when it desperately needed the sales, but they never moved in large numbers in this country. They don’t often pop up for sale now, but some big recent results, including a $33,867 coupe and a $40,533 convertible, showed we were a bit behind on pricing for these obscure but important Bimmers. Condition #2 (excellent) values now range from $34,600 for a base two-door sedan to $75,500 for the rare convertible.

1964-70 Honda S600/800: +21 percent

Another unconventional but important car for a major automaker is the Honda S600. While not technically Honda’s first four-wheeled vehicle, it marked an important shift for what was then primarily a motorcycle company, and had some quirky but impressive elements of its design. Its 606cc four-cylinder is cast aluminum, leans left at a 45-degree angle, has double overhead cams, revs to a 9500 rpm redline, and drives the rear wheels not via shaft but via chain. It makes just 57hp and 38 lb-ft of torque, but only has 1600 pounds of Honda to push around.

Its size, styling, and performance are roughly similar to the MG Midget and Triumph Spitfire, but the Japanese upstart only lasted from 1964-66, and the similar S800 that succeeded it only lasted until 1970. Its British rivals, however, lasted another decade. Even so, the Honda is more sophisticated, more significant, and much rarer, particularly in the U.S. where it was never officially sold. They’re also much more valuable. S600s/S800s have been steadily increasing in value for over a decade, but some recent sales like a record $109,000 result earlier this year have pushed them even further. Current #2 values for an S600 range from $48,600 for a coupe to $66,000 for a convertible, and for an S800 a similar $58,100 for a coupe to $65,900 for a convertible.

1969-74 Volvo 142: +15 percent

The 140 series, introduced in 1966, marked a few of firsts for Volvo. It marked the company’s shift away from the ’60s curves of cars like the Amazon and 1800 to the boxy brick era for which the company is probably best known. It also introduced Volvo’s three digit nomenclature, with the first digit indicating series, the second digit the number of cylinders, and the third digit the number of doors. So, a 142 was part of the 100 series, with a four-cylinder engine, and a two-door coupe body style. The 140 series also came in 144 (4-door sedan) and 145 (5-door wagon) styles.

Volvo sold over 1.25 million 142/144/145s in eight years, and nearly 413,000 of those were 142 coupes. These were utilitarian cars. Few people bothered to save them, and 140s were very much overshadowed by the 240s that came after them. Several big results for 140s, but particularly for the coupe-bodied 142s, have come up over the past several months and resulted in a significant price bump. That said, these boxy Swedes have been inexpensive for a very long time, so a significant appreciation in percentage terms isn’t all that much in pure dollar terms. Depending on year and spec, #2 condition values for 142s still only range from $15,100 to $17,500.

1949-52 Crosley CD: +12 percent

When postwar America tooled up for a decade of tailfins, chrome and big V-8s, Cincinnati-based Crosley thought smaller…much smaller. Although Crosley was the first US carmaker to offer a mass-market overhead cam engine and among the first carmakers anywhere to use disc brakes, it is mostly remembered for its pint-sized Hot Shot sports car, the toy Jeep-like Farm-O-Road, and the small but surprisingly practical CC/CD.

The 1949-52 CD was available in wagon, sedan, convertible, panel delivery, and pickup body styles. The two-door sedan body style is the cheapest but has appreciated the most in recent months with a 20 percent increase. Their #2 value is still just $10,800, though, while the most expensive station wagon models are still just $20,800.

1985-91 Subaru XT: +17 percent

In the 1980s, long before love made a Subaru a Subaru, the brand was known mostly for yawn-worthy family cars or quirky, fun vehicles like the BRAT pickup. Arguably even quirkier than the BRAT, though, was the XT, Subaru’s take on the compact Japanese sports coupe market that was booming at the time.

Styling-wise, the XT was ’80s wedge taken to the extreme, with aircraft-inspired wraparound rear glass and wheels that looked like a sheet of graph paper. The basic shape, and clever touches like door handles that fit flush to the body helped make the XT the most aerodynamic car sold in America at the time. Things got even stranger inside: The XT had a digital gauge cluster that looked like a contemporary arcade game, a shifter that looked like the yoke of a fighter jet, checker-pattern cloth seats, and a goofy two-spoke, asymmetrical steering wheel that would make Citroën blush. But among all the weirdness were a lot of features that were ahead of their time or at the very least very uncommon, like height-adjustable suspension, central locking, available all-wheel drive (activated via a button on top of the shifter), and a gauge cluster that adjusted with the steering wheel. “The kind of car Mercedes might have built if they were a little more frugal and a lot more inventive,” said one ad.

What wasn’t cutting edge was the performance, and the 1.8-liter flat-four, even in turbocharged form, made less than 120 hp. A 1988 facelift brought a six-cylinder XT6 model with 145hp, but the facelift brought more conventional looks that ditched many of the quirks enthusiasts find charming today.

XTs never sold well and few people bothered to pamper theirs, so clean examples are rare. One did pop up late last year, however, and it sold for over 18 grand. Which doesn’t sound like much, but it’s the most expensive XT we’ve seen sell by a long way.

1962-63 Studebaker Lark: +11 percent

In the early 1960s, Studebaker was still one of the most recognizable names on American roads, but the Indiana-based company was living on borrowed time, and wouldn’t survive to the end of the decade. The Lark was the brand’s volume-selling compact, first introduced in 1959. When the Big Three introduced compacts of their own compacts at the dawn of the 1960s, Lark sales suffered, but a restyle by designer Brooks Stevens for the 1962-63 generation Lark helped, and sales improved. Larks of this period came with either a 170-cid six-cylinder, or V-8s of either 259 or 289 cid, and in sedan, station wagon, coupe, or convertible body styles.

Generally, cars from this period and especially ones from defunct brands like Studebaker haven’t done much price-wise in recent years, but Larks are an affordable way to get an unusual, stylish V-8 classic, and strong sale prices have pushed them up 10 percent across body styles and model years. They’re still inexpensive, though, as the most costly 289 convertible is $29,000 in #2 condition, and a six-cylinder sedan doesn’t even hit 10 grand.

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What do Rolls-Royce and McLaren have in common? Not much. One is a nearly 120-year-old builder of silent, supple luxury cars. The other is about half that age, and makes loud, fast cars. One has nothing whatsoever to do with racing. The other has motorsports baked into its DNA, and built nothing but race cars for most of its existence.

You get the idea, Grey Poupon and papaya (McLaren’s traditional color) don’t mix. But they are both famous English carmakers, and they’re both still very much in business, with established dealership networks. And they both, somewhat surprisingly, enjoy a fairly young ownership base, measured by Hagerty’s insurance quote data. The number of people under 40 years buying a Rolls-Royce or a McLaren show demographics shifting at a faster pace for these two companies than for other British brands.

In general, the market for British collector cars has been stable, even through fluctuations in other parts of the classic car market. Hagerty’s British Car Index, for instance, is just up one percent from where it was in 2021. Enthusiasm for Britain’s best also tends to skew towards older buyers. For example, 65.5 percent of buyer interest for Triumph TR3s comes from Baby Boomers or older and for 1961-67 Jaguar E-Types the number is 66 percent. Yet this segment of the car enthusiast population makes up barely one third of the market as a whole. For Morgans, it’s even more skewed. Just seven percent of buyer interest comes from enthusiasts aged 40 or younger.

There are some youthful exceptions. About 32 percent of buyer interest for Lotus comes from enthusiasts 40 or younger, and for Land Rover it’s 27 percent, compared to just 18 percent for Porsche and 17 percent for Ferrari. The share for both Lotus and Land Rover, though, has been steady. For Rolls-Royce and McLaren, it has grown conspicuously. For McLaren, it makes sense. Over the past decade or so it has been churning out more and more new supercars that are loud, brash, and competitively priced—exactly the kind of thing that appeals to less mature buyers.

Less so for Rolls-Royce, who may build “The Best Car in the World” (their words) but does so for a more discerning type of motorist. We tend to think of the U.K.’s other luxury high-end luxury carmaker—Bentley—as having a more youthful reputation. But that’s wrong, apparently. Just 12 percent of buyer interest for Bentleys comes from enthusiasts 40 or younger, and that ratio is decreasing.

Meanwhile, according to our data, younger buyers turning to Rolls-Royces are gravitating towards Silver Clouds from the 1950s-60s and Silver Shadows from the 1960s-70s. On one hand, this is a bit surprising given the age of these models. On the other, it makes sense because these two models are among the cheapest ways to get a Spirit of Ecstasy on your hood.

Interestingly, this youthful shift for Rolls-Royce in the classic car market mirrors a similar one for the company in the new car market. After a year of record sales in 2023, Rolls-Royce’s CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös credited youthful clientele, noting that “we are now an average age of 42; we are even younger than a brand like Mini, for instance.”

So, while they may be completely different from each other, these two British badges look like they’ll be relevant in the collector car market for years to come.

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In the early 2000s, I was working as general counsel for an auto transport company.  We had a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals to move the players’ cars the hell out of St. Louis at the end of the season—mostly to South Florida. Back then, the dominant whip among major league ballers was not what you’d expect. Corvettes, Benzes, Bentleys and Ferraris barely registered. Neither did the thinly disguised Yukon Denali that was the first generation Cadillac Escalade. No, what everyone from juiced sluggers to ballboys wanted was the Lincoln Navigator. But that quickly changed as soon as Cadillac introduced the second-generation Escalade, the one made famous by everyone’s favorite North Jersey sanitation executive, Tony Soprano. The next-level swagger of the new 2002 Escalade turned the Navigator into the MySpace of luxury SUVs—going from first to market to also-ran, in record time.

As the first-mover in the segment, the battle was Lincoln’s to lose. The original 1998 Navigator was a supremely nice rig that was generally well-reviewed by the magazines of the day. Motor Trend was particularly effusive in its praise: “This Lincoln goes almost anywhere the biggest, ugliest, member of the current crop of beastly off-roaders goes with impressive levels of mechanical refinement and interior comfort, yet it still looks smart parked in front of The Ritz.” What really set the Navigator apart was the fact that unlike the 1999 Escalade with its uninspired badge engineering, the Navigator looked the part. Although it was based on the Ford Expedition, the only body panels that it shared with that vehicle were the roof and doors.

Uncharacteristically, GM learned from its mistakes quickly, and the now iconic, Ed Welburn-supervised design of the second-generation Escalade was an instant classic. Car and Driver in its initial test said that the Escalade went from worst to first in one fell swoop. But even more importantly, the magazine made this particularly prescient observation: “Someday, when—and if—Cadillac has successfully completed its renaissance, we may look back on this vehicle as the beginning of the comeback, the vehicle that marked the restoration of America’s one-time standard for the world to the first rank of prestigious transportation providers. Wow, huh?”

Wow, indeed.  In response, the refreshed 2003 Navigator was pretty meh. Car and Driver noted that even owners of the original Navigator would be hard-pressed to recognize this as a new model. That, sports fans, is a serious foul for a new vehicle in a hotly competitive segment. So was giving up about 50 hp to the 6.0-liter Escalade, and even though acceleration isn’t the point of an SUV, taking almost 2 seconds longer than the Caddy to get to 60 was also hard to ignore. An incalculable number of style points went to the Cadillac as well.

An overly conservative refresh with no gains in power, and only modest gains in performance effectively squandered the lead established by the first Navigator. By the time the second-generation Escalade came out, the Navigator was also getting trounced in the ever-important pro ballplayer market. Lincolns had all but disappeared from the fleet of that annual Cardinal exodus to South Florida. And in perhaps the ultimate addition of insult to injury, when a Navigator appeared in The Sopranos, it was owned by a rat, Fabian (Febby) Petrulio whom Tony finds hiding out in Maine. The game had been Ford’s to lose, and they had truly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

The Escalade, on the other hand, has done what several generations of super-sedans couldn’t do for Cadillac—make the badge relevant again and get younger people into Cadillacs in large numbers. Car and Driver’s prediction had come true; the 2002 Escalade really was the cornerstone of the revival of the brand, which in the coming years saw more exciting models like the CTS-V, ATS, and CT5-V join the lineup. Conversely, you could argue that the second-gen Navigator, introduced for 2003, was the opposite. It preceded the general neglect that the Lincoln brand still suffers from.

There are many instances of Ford Motor Company putting out a hit new car or opening up a whole new segment, leaving General Motors to play catch up. The Mustang and the Bronco are two of the most famous. In the case of luxury SUVs, though, GM’s upstart challenger got it just right and has continued to be more culturally relevant and desirable than its FoMoCo rival.

With the Sopranos-era Escalade already approaching some form of collectibility, it’s just something to ponder when you light a cigar, cue up Alabama 3’s “Woke up this Morning” and transit the toll booths on the Jersey Turnpike, while pondering whether Tony got whacked or not in the finale.

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The Hagerty Market Rating measures the current status of the collector car market in terms of activity or “heat,” directional momentum, and the underlying strength of the market. It is expressed as a closed 0-100 number with a corresponding open-ended index (like the DJIA or NASDAQ Composite). To learn more about how we calculate the Hagerty Market Rating, read here.

After a slight bump two months ago, the Hagerty Market Rating continues its slow descent. It’s current rating of 65.01 is the lowest its been in three years. That said, it is still 6 points higher than the floor it reached shortly after the COVID shutdowns in early 2020.

The Hagerty Market Index, an open-ended stock market-style index of the Market Rating, has dropped for 17 consecutive months. This is the longest unbroken losing streak in the Index’s history and also the steepest decline—dropping nearly 24 points in that time.

Several factors continue to influence the Hagerty Market Rating’s downward trend. Chief among them are the notable declines in sale prices at auction. The Auction Median Price metric dropped another 2 points this month down to 35.86—the lowest this metric has been since it was added to the Market Rating calculation in 2011. While the real numbers behind this metric are dropping, inflation continues to make the situation worse. The current actual median sale price at auctions is $29,400, a significant drop from its peak of $34,560 in November 2022 and the lowest value since the fall of 2020. Accounting for inflation, however, the current auction median sale price is the lowest in Market Rating history.

Softness in sale price isn’t isolated to auctions, as cars trading hands privately are also seeing less cash on the table. The ratio of cars selling above insured value on the private market has dropped to 42.6%, its lowest point in over two years. That said, it is still higher than any point prior November 2021.

Only one individual metric increased this month. Following a 14-month decline, the ratio of insured value increases-to-decreases for cars valued under $250,000 is on a four-month winning streak. This ratio for high-end vehicles, meanwhile, has dropped 18 of the last 19 months to its lowest value in nearly three years. That said, both of these ratios are in the black by a wide margin. For every call Hagerty gets to lower the insured value of a broad market (sub-$250K) vehicle, we get more than eight calls to increase values. For high-end vehicles, this ratio is 2.5 calls to raise for every one call to lower.

As driving season begins, large auction events will slow down a bit and changes in the market rating will slow. Based on its recent trajectory, it’s very likely the market rating to continue to fall, gradually, through the summer.

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Fifty years after it first came on the scene, the Mk8 Volkswagen Golf of today finds itself larger, heavier, and more reliant on touchscreens and digital technology than ever. (Who among us isn’t?) To rewind the clock back to the first generation of this world-famous econo-hatch is to step back into your youth; there were fewer horsepowers to spend in those days, but they seemed to go further. The view out the windshield looked clearer and brighter, and the road ahead seemed to wind on far beyond the horizon.

That’s the magic of vintage cars: they are time machines of a type, and while they may only transport you for a short drive or a weekend, you can recapture a bit of your youth with them. The first-generation Golf is a pathway to a humble, everyman experience known to many from 1974–85, blending the best of no-nonsense Germanic interiors with solid build quality and stout reliability. In its day, this little hatchback offered a Mercedes- or BMW-like experience albeit at much thriftier pricing. In the process, the Golf became nearly as ubiquitous as the Beetle it replaced as a result of that appeal.

The good news here is that the Mk1 Golf still delivers joy at a half-century since its inception. And while it’s nowhere near as common as it once was, the car remains within reach of regular enthusiasts. VW built seven million of these little cars for the whole world, and thanks to a strong and faithful fanbase, many of the best examples are still out there. When you do come across a Mk1 Golf enthusiast, it’s common to find that they own several examples, possibly a few later Golfs, and maybe even a Scirocco. People like to rescue these cars, and that keeps them on the road.

So, you want one. Maybe you had a slightly ratty GTI in college, or maybe your unrequited high school love drove a flawless white Cabriolet and looked like a Patrick Nagel illustration. No matter the motivation, here’s what you need to look for before going down the proverbial Rabbit hole.

Mk1 Golf: Squaring Volkswagen’s Circles

Let’s begin with a little history on the car that America first knew as the Rabbit (arguably an even better name for the car than Golf). Volkswagen began planning to replace the Beetle all the way back in the 1950s, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that VW’s economic outlook became dire enough to actually force the change. After all, the 1960s were basically defined by the Beetle’s ubiquity and cultural clout, especially in the U.S. market.

All of VW’s prototype efforts were dubbed “EA” for Entwicklungsauftrag, which translates to “Development Assignment,” and is, regrettably, not a valid Scrabble word. As the number of such efforts climbed, you could kind of see the eventual Golf emerging from the primordial hatchback ooze. The rear-engined EA266 was built by Porsche and vaguely resembles a Honda N600. EA276 was a hatchback with an air-cooled engine mounted up front, and it looked like a Skoda or Fiat project. The latter, especially, was rather ungainly.

In 1969, while visiting the Turin auto show, VW’s Director and the company’s main Italian importer totted up a list of their six favorite cars from the show and sat down to compare notes. As it turned out, four of the six had been drawn by a young designer just into his thirties, but with a string of hits already: Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Giugiaro was invited to Wolfsburg to provide a shape for EA337. For a designer responsible for everything from the Giulia Sprint GT to the BMW M1, the fact that Giugiaro often called the humble family-oriented Golf his best design speaks to just how special this little car is. Interestingly, his original prototype featured square headlights, so while round-headlight Euro-style conversions are a popular modification now, the U.S.-style squares are actually closer to Giugiaro’s original vision.

Production commenced in March of 1974, and the first cars were delivered to owners in May of that year. The name, “Golf,” is generally held to be taken from the German for Gulfstream, as many Volkwagens are named for winds (Scirroco, Bora, Jetta). The front-engine, front-wheel-drive hatchback layout wasn’t groundbreaking—the Honda Civic had arrived a few years earlier—but the Golf’s deceptively simple engineering and supremely practical nature made it a hit.

Enthusiast readers are by now champing at the bit chanting “GTI! GTI! GTI!” like a bunch of unruly Bayern Munich Fußball-Bundeslinga fans. Keep your jerseys on, people, we’ll get there in a bit. First though, a look at the Mk1 Golf’s more pragmatic side.

In Europe the early cars were powered by a carbureted 1.1-liter four-cylinder engine that made 50 hp, or a later 1.6-liter four with 75 hp. With a curb weight of around 1800 pounds, this was perfectly sufficient motive power for a small car. There was also a diesel option, again with about 50 horses to start, and while on this side of the Atlantic early oil-burner VWs have a reputation for being more tortoise than hare, they do get there in the end. The thrifty diesel even turned out to be popular when gas prices skyrocketed in the late 1970s.

With a simple two-box chassis layout, independent suspension up front, plus a space-saving twist-beam suspension out back, rack and pinion steering, and front drum brakes on all but the earliest models, the Golf was a capable handler even in non-sporting trim.

It arrived in the U.S. market in 1975, badged as the Rabbit with a 1471-cc engine good for 70 hp (later bumped to 1.7 liters and 78 hp). Period reviews noted that it was quicker than rivals like the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic, yet just as cheap to fuel.

By 1978, the Rabbit Diesel’s 1.6-liter engine offered U.S. buyers about 50 percent more efficiency than the gas model, and an unused Chrysler factory in southwest Pennsylvania had begun breeding Rabbits outside of Germany. VW’s Westmoreland Assembly site ceased operations in 1987, but not before it had produced well over a million Rabbits in various trims and configurations.

Mk1 VW Golf: Varieties Are The Spice Of Life

When it comes to changing things up as you go along, the Golf might as well have been called the Volkswagen Calvinball. Yes, the two-door hatchback was the original version, but VW turned the basic layout of the Golf into a number of different cars. Pickup truck, anyone?

Perhaps the best-known and longest-lasting of these variants was the Jetta sedan. Little more than a Golf-with-a-trunk, the Jetta has now been around long enough to be celebrating its 45th birthday this year. More of a success in the US than Europe, the Jetta was first offered as a two-door, then later a five-door variant, and is a popular platform to modify as essentially anything you can do to a Golf will also work on it.

Even more fun is the Golf-based pickup truck known as the Caddy in Europe (very funny, VW) or the Rabbit Pickup over on these shores. This Golf-with-a-bed was actually a U.S.-market innovation, and it entered our market in 1979 with the choice between the Golf’s 78-hp gasoline engine, or the diesel motor with a five-speed manual transmission. Fuel economy for the latter was simply excellent, over 50 mpg, and the little bed was rated for a useful 1100 pounds.

Perhaps most fun of all were the cabriolet models, with their signature “basket handle” central roll bar. These were all built by longtime VW partner Karmann and were usually available in a high level of trim. U.S, versions are basically GTI-spec, merely with a roof so you can be open to the elements and enjoy room for four friends.

“GTI! GTI! GTI!”

Okay, fine.

Mk1 VW Golf: The GTI

The Volkswagen GTI (Rabbit or Golf) is one of the most important enthusiast cars ever built. It was not the first hot hatchback, nor was it the fastest of its kind. In U.S. specification, the GTI didn’t even muster up three-figure horsepower levels.

But for so many who grew up to be BMW propellor-heads, or avid AMG fans, or air-cooled Porsche cultists, or perhaps even Mustang or Corvette owners, the GTI could have been that first time you fell in love behind the wheel: Not much power, but the ability to make the most of it. Agile as a terrier. Easy to keep fueled up when your wallet was full of cartoon moths and half-stamped rewards cards. It was the right car for almost anything.

Plus, the GTI had a great backstory. Back in the early 1970s, Volkswagen had introduced a sporty version of the Super Beetle called the GSR (for Gelb Schwarz Renner, or Yellow and Black Runner). It had a 1.6.-liter air-cooled engine that made all of 50 hp, but this was sufficient to get some German politicians riled up about performance cars tearing up the highways during a fuel crisis.

“Won’t somebody think of die kinder?” type of thing.

Thus, VW’s executives weren’t interested in building a performance-oriented Golf. Instead, a six-man skunkworks project led by the head of VW’s press department, Anton Konrad, developed the GTI outside of official oversight. Split between marketing staff and performance-minded engineers, the small team tuned the chassis, bumped up the power, and came up with the moniker GTI for Grand Tourer Injection. The original prototype was built with twin carburetors on a Scirocco platform, but the near-final version used the 1.6-liter fuel-injected engine intended for the Audi 80.

The crowning touches were added by designer Grunhild Liljequist, who came from an unusual background. Her family members were hatmakers, and she studied porcelain painting and designed boxes for a Berlin chocolatier before joining Volkswagen’s fabrics and colors division in the 1960s, the first woman to do so.

What does all this have to do with the GTI? Well, Liljequist is responsible for the tartan check pattern on the GTI’s seats, and she also came up with the idea for the golfball shift knob. She’d recently returned from a vacation in the U.K. before being assigned to the GTI team, so there is a little Scottish influence baked into VW’s hot hatchback.

The car debuted in 1976 but remained a forbidden fruit in North America for several more years. European-spec GTIs had roughly 110 hp from a revvy 1.6-liter engine, stiffer and lower suspension than the standard Golf, upgraded brakes, a subtle red trim to the grille, and 13” wheels. Canada got a version of the Rabbit with GTI suspension but the standard engine beginning in 1979, until the Rabbit GTI came along for the U.S. in 1983. (It should, however, be noted that VW Canada did actually stock European GTI parts for many years, as some owners would occasionally import Euro GTIs or convert their own cars to full overseas spec.)

The 1983-84 Rabbit GTI didn’t have quite as much power as the European cars, but its 1.8-liter four-cylinder had broader torque characteristics. The GTI tipped the scales at 2100 pounds in U.S. trim, but it was and so remains an absolute blast to drive. Furthermore, seeing as most of the actual sports cars of the period had ballooned into personal luxury coupes, the no-nonsense GTI cut through the fat with crisp handling and zippy performance.

Two-year production of the U.S.-built 1983 and 1984 Rabbit GTI totaled roughly 30,000 cars. Worldwide, GTI production figures: nearly half a million in volume. Not bad for a car VW never actually wanted to build in the first place.

Mk1 VW Golf: Problem Areas

Like any unibody car that’s decades old, rust is a particular consideration when checking out a Mk1 for purchase. Areas to watch for include the wheel arches, spare wheel wells, floor pans, and both inner and outer sills. If the windscreen has been leaking, the lower panel there is also worth close inspection. Further, rust around the fuel filler neck can be particularly problematic; ending up with sediment in the fuel tank is a huge problem for fuel-injected models.

Some exterior trim bits can be hard to find, especially on older models, but something like a Rabbit GTI has been collectible for ages so there may be aftermarket suppliers out there. In South Africa, Volkswagen built a Mk1 Golf called the Citi Golf right until 2009, and there’s some crossover there for parts.

The engine and transmission are robust and simple, so the usual concerns here are pretty basic. Watch for blue smoke indicating worn valve seals, and listen for synchros failing in the gearbox. Getting a potential purchase inspected by a specialist in water-cooled VWs is always a good idea.

The interior is probably the biggest consideration because chasing parts for it down is tricky. Carpets and some interior fabrics are relatively easy if you have a good local upholsterer (harder to find these days), but plastic parts like the dashboard are pretty scarce.

An unmodified Mk1 will, of course, be the most collectible example to hold onto. But many owners modify their cars at least a little. Suspension changes are relatively easy to return back to stock if wanted, and most of the cosmetic changes done in the community tend to fall under the less-is-more ethos. Period-look alloy wheels in larger diameters are so popular that aftermarket companies like RML have done multiple production runs. The 14-inch “Snowflake”-style wheels worn by the Rabbit GTI can be had in a very tasteful 15-inch size that’s wide enough to wear stickier modern rubber.

Mk1 VW Golf: Valuation

There are not many secrets left in the car collector world, and this one got out a few years back when everyone woke up and noticed what a bargain the Mk1 Golf was, particularly the Rabbit GTI. Recently, VW’s decision to drop the manual transmission from the modern GTI after the 2024 model year just underlined how the Rabbit is one of those “they don’t make ’em like this anymore” cars.

Let’s start with the Rabbit GTI, as its price spike tells pretty much the story for all Mk1 Golf variants. After a long and steady shallow rise over decades, the values for #2-condition (Excellent) 1983 Rabbit GTIs surged in 2018, crossing the $10,000 mark for the first time. They still would have been a good buy at that point, as between 2022 and 2024, they have since doubled. A perfect, #1-condition (Concours) car—among the very best examples in the world—is somewhere above $35,000 in value, assuming you can find one.

However, there’s better news around #3-conidition (Good) cars, which represent by far the majority of examples out there. Truly, this is probably the GTI you actually want to own and drive. These examples rose with the same cadence as better-condition cars, but they are currently having a slight downward correction and are now below $12,000 in value, on average. Gone are the days when a really nice Rabbit GTI was half that cost, but compared with other fun-to-drive classics, this is still a lot of value for your dollar.

Values for other Mk1 hatchbacks, the Cabriolet, and the Pickup/Caddy are a little less coherent. Like the GTI, all had spikes up around 2021 and 2022, and all have slightly had what seems to be a correction. A VW Pickup might be anywhere between $10,000-$20,000, the latter informed by two strong sales on Bring a Trailer. That kind of money is still a “Why Not?” bid from a collector who might want to own something fun for a while, then move it on. Cabriolet versions seem much more reasonable, with high bids coming in at only about half what you’d pay for an Excellent-condition GTI.

While it’s fun to contemplate a project here, as these cars are well understood and have a strong fanbase, it is still worth stepping up to pay for a Mk1 that is structurally sound. Rust repair is no cheaper on a Rabbit than it is on a 911, so while the mechanical parts and hunting down trim can be fun, it’s worth paying more for a car with good bones.

Mk1 VW Golf: Notes on Community

When hunting a Rabbit, it’s best to be Vewy Qwuiet make as much noise as possible. Because Golfs and Rabbits were so inexpensive for so long, many VW enthusiasts of ordinary means often have multiple cars in their fleet. What you want to do is find your local VW community and start asking around for cars people might part with.

Just as Beetle owners like to get together for swap meets like it’s still the 1960s or ’70s, local VW meets are a good way to develop knowledge on the water-cooled cars. There is almost certainly a VW specialist in your area who might be a good resource for problem solving, but Mk1 owners generally like to do their own wrenching. The cars are still easily understood by shade-tree mechanics today, and troubleshooting doesn’t require a laptop.

Part of the fun of Mk 1 ownership is that there is a club feel to it. So many of these cars were sold that the pool of enthusiasm for them is both broad and deep. Cruises, meets, and late-night wrenching sessions are all part of the experience. Just like it was back in the day. If you’ve been thinking about one, a Mk1 Golf or Rabbit is still one of the best bang-for-buck time machines out there.

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Chassis 040 is a Ferrari 312 T4 F1 car. It has lots of first, lasts, and onlys to its credit.

It was Ferrari’s first full “ground effect” car. It also won Scuderia Ferrari’s last World Drivers’ Championship while Enzo was alive. It was the last 12-cylinder Ferrari to win the World Constructors’ Championship. The guy who drove it is the only person from Africa as well as the only Jewish person to win F1’s highest honors. After retiring, he bought Chassis 040 directly from Ferrari, so it’s only had one owner. The ’79 champ is also reportedly the only person to have ever piloted it. He sold it at auction in Monaco this past week for an above-estimate €7,655,000 ($8,246,732).

To F1 fans of the Netflix generation, Jody Scheckter might not be a familiar name, but in the 1970s he was a fixture of the sport. Born and raised in South Africa, he moved to Britain in 1970 and his first Grand Prix was in 1972, in a McLaren. He didn’t get a full-time seat until joining Tyrrell in 1974, and he won two races that year and finished third in the championship. A disappointing seventh in the standings followed in 1975, although he did win his home Grand Prix in South Africa. In 1976, he drove the wild and crazy P34, aka the Tyrrell six-wheeler, which featured four small wheels at the front. He gave the P34 its only win, at the Swedish Grand Prix, with teammate Patrick Depailler in another six-wheeler finishing P2.

Scheckter joined the Wolf F1 team in 1977 and won their first ever Grand Prix, then followed up with two wins and multiple podiums to finish second in the championship behind Niki Lauda. Another seventh place in the standings followed for 1978, and in 1979 he joined Ferrari. He would be driving the Scuderia’s latest Grand Prix machine—the 312 T4.

The 312 T (3 for 3.0 liters, 12 for 12 cylinders, and T for the transverse mounting of its gearbox) was already one of the sport’s most successful designs. Designed by Mauro Forghieri, it would go on to rack up 27 wins, three Drivers’ Championships and four Constructors’ Championships from 1975-80.

The T4 version, however, was the first of the 312s to fully utilize ground effect aerodynamics. To put it briefly, ground effect happens when air directed underneath the car flows in such a way to lower the air pressure in the area between the car and the road, effectively sucking it towards the ground to increase downforce. Lotus had been playing with ground effect in 1977, and then perfected it in the 1978 season, which they dominated. So, all the other teams had to catch up with ground effect cars of their own. Ferrari’s main challenge with ground effect was ironically not with their chassis but with their engine. The 12-cylinder unit was both powerful and reliable, and its cylinders were horizontally opposed which made for a low center of gravity. But its width so low down got in the way of the venturi tunnels that travel underneath the car to make ground effect possible, an issue not faced by the Cosworth DFV V-8s powering the majority of Ferrari’s competitors.

Regardless, the power and reliability of the 312 T4, introduced at the third race of the ’79 season, kept it at the front. Scheckter’s teammate Gilles Villeneuve won the season’s third and fourth Grands Prix and for round six in Belgium, Scheckter was allocated 312 T4 Chassis 040. He won the Belgian GP, then led the Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish. He finished second at the Dutch Grand Prix, then led Villeneuve in a Ferrari one-two finish at Monza in front of the Italian team’s home crowd. With that win, Scheckter clinched the Drivers’ Championship, and Villeneuve’s second place guaranteed Ferrari’s Constructors’ Championship title. Although the red cars won Constructors’ titles again in 1982 and 1983, no Ferrari driver would win the Drivers’ title for another 20 years.

The ’79 win proved the high point of Scheckter’s career. The 312 T5 Ferrari brought out for 1980 was a dud. Scheckter failed to finish four races. When he did finish, he never managed better than fifth. After 1980, he retired from racing. Ferrari, meanwhile, ditched its 12-cylinder for 1981, entering F1’s turbo era with the all-new 1.5-liter, six-cylinder 126C.

In 1982, though, Chassis 040 was still in Ferrari’s ownership. Scheckter bought it and has kept it ever since. Since his racing days, he also accumulated an impressive race car collection, most of them open wheel formula cars that he either raced during his career or are cars of a similar type, including a six-wheeled Tyrrell P34. The Ferrari, though, was the king of the 12-car collection that Scheckter sold at this this year’s RM Sotheby’s Monaco auction. Held at the principality’s glitzy Grimaldi Forum and in conjunction with the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, the sale featured such racing greats as a Porsche 917, an Audi Sport Quattro and a Lancia Delta S4. Scheckter’s 312 T4 was the star, though, shooting past its €5.25-€6.5M estimate and selling for more than any car there. While neither a record price for a Formula 1 car nor for a Formula 1 Ferrari (a handful of ex-Schumacher cars have sold for more), it’s noticeably more than Niki Lauda’s 1975 title-winning 312 T, which sold for $6M back in 2019.

Despite Lauda being a much bigger name in the halls of F1, and despite the similarity in car and era, Scheckter’s 312 brought more for a few reasons. First, top-tier historic F1 cars in general have gotten more expensive over the past five years. The Lauda car also passed through several owners, and since its glory days has been restored. Scheckter’s car, on the other hand, is completely original down to the seatbelts, and according to RM Sotheby’s nobody has ever even driven it other than the world champ who made it famous. Few F1 cars, especially from that era, tick all those boxes, and it’s not a combination you can repeat or replicate no matter how deep your pockets are. This result is yet another instance of the best examples of the best cars bringing big money no matter what’s happening in the wider collector car market.

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Today’s automotive landscape may be populated by all sorts of half-this, half-that vehicles (coupe-SUVs, anyone?), but you can’t walk into any new-car dealer in America today and find something quite like like the El Camino.

Debuting in 1959 as a modified two-row station wagon, this car-based pickup grew up into a Chevlle-based “ute” in 1965 and was built in several generations until as late as 1987, with sales totaling nearly one million. Thanks to that long production range, you can find an “ElCo” of just about any era that suits you, from the classy tailfinned originals to the mullet-and-mustache conclusion forced out of production when pickups began to replace cars as daily drivers.

Blink, and you might miss the first generation of El Camino, introduced by Chevrolet for 1959. It was the General’s response to Ford, who had announced the Ranchero, based on its full-size car platform, for 1957. Though later generations of the El Camino would eventually outlast and outsell the Ford, the first El Camino was hardly the hit that Chevy had hoped, so the ute disappeared after just two years on the market. Three years after its competition disappeared, the Ranchero was still selling well, so Chevrolet went back to the drawing board and designed another El Camino, this time on the Chevelle platform.

The 1964 El Camino benefited from all the work Chevy had put into developing the ’64 Chevelle, including that car’s engine choices and wide-ranging trim levels. For the third generation introduced for 1968, Chevrolet infused the El Camino with the full range of Chevelle goodness, including a Super Sport (SS) variant. Today, those SS models are far and away the most expensive examples of the desirable third generation (’68 and ’69 models with the L78, L89, or LS6 exceed $100K), but if you’re on a budget, don’t be discouraged: You can find a clean, V-8 ElCo for $30K or less.

The third-gen El Camino was the most muscular one yet, both aesthetically and mechanically, thanks to its Chevelle DNA. From the A-pillar forward, it looked identical to its handsome sibling, with four headlights beneath a rakish chrome brow. The changes started at the broad B-pillar, which flowed downward to frame the sloping sides of a 79×39.5-inch bed with a bottom-hinged tailgate. And yes, the ute could tow!

Engines increased in number and output when the 1968 car arrived. Displacement of the base V-8 (on the Standard trim) grew from 283 to 307 cubic inches, and output was 5 hp higher (200). The next rung up the powertrain ladder remained a 327-cubic-inch engine, but there was an additional tune on offer, for a total of three: 275, 325, and 375 hp, all available on the Custom model along with chrome molding for the lower body panels.

The SS-spec engines in 1968 included the “Turbo-Jet” L35, which displaced 396 cubic inches, and the L34, which Chevy called a 396 but whose displacement was actually 402 cubic inches. Those mills made 325 and 350 hp, respectively. The magic years, for those who want maximum performance in their third-gen El Camino, are 1969 and 1970. In ’69, Chevrolet added two more SS-spec engines, the 396-cubic-inch L78 and the aluminum-head L89, both rated for 375 hp. The legendary 454-cubic-inch V-8 arrived for 1970 in two states of tune: LS5, with 360 hp, and the holy-grail LS6, with 450. The LS5 was available in the El Camino for ’71 and ’72 as well, but after 1970 the LS6 was gone from the lineup.

GM tweaked the styling of each model year from 1968 to 1972, though the most obvious changes occurred every other year and are most easily seen at the front. In 1970, the chrome “brow” disappeared, replaced by front fenders that plunged nearly straight down, rather than back, and flanked a larger, rectangular grille. In 1971, Chevy replaced the pairs of headlights with single lenses, and integrated two stacked turn signals into the forward ends of the front fenders. Those stacked elements blended into one for 1972, the final year of the third generation.

There’s a clearly defined hierarchy of values when it comes to the El Camino, and it should be familiar to muscle car fans—the rarer and more powerful the engine, the higher the price. The king of the ’68–72 El Caminos, ranked by value, is the SS 396 from 1969: One in #2 (excellent) condition is $128,000, and a concours-quality example breathes even rarer air: $174,000. Interestingly, the El Camino with the largest-displacement and most powerful engine, an LS6-powered 1970 car, costs less: $105,000 in #2 condition.

The good news for ute enthusiasts on a budget is that El Camino values decrease rapidly as the engines become slightly tamer and the production numbers more plentiful. You don’t even have to give up an SS badge: Set aside the 454, and the two highest-spec engines for ’69 (the L78 and the L89), and you can get an SS in #2 condition between $39,200 and $41,800. If you simply want an El Camino, and don’t have to have an SS, your options become even more plentiful and affordable: With the exception of the 1970 year, 350- and 375-powered cars fall below $40K. Find a lovingly maintained driver with few dings, and you’re well under $30K.

El Caminos are sometimes—but not always—cheaper than their better-known brethren, Chevelles. The top end of the Chevelle market is far above that of the El Camino, even after setting aside the COPO and Yenko cars: a 1970 LS6 coupe, for instance, is $172,000 in #2 condition; a convertible, $369,000. However, at $128K in #2 condition, the top-dog El Camino (’69 L89), is more expensive than the comparable Chevelle. Step a little further down the ladder, and a 454-equipped El Camino from 1970 is $58,600, while an LS5-powered Chevelle of the same vintage is $86,400. Compare prices for 350-powered Chevelles and El Caminos, though, the Chevelle is sometimes the better bargain. In short, any comparison between the two markets must leave room for nuance.

Though values for the ’68–72 El Camino are up 25 percent over the last five years, much of that increase is explained by the heating we saw across the collector car market during and immediately after the pandemic. Pre-pandemic, values were growing, but very gradually. Values for third-gen El Caminos are quite stable, as a rule: Their last significant fluctuation was in 2009 and mirrored another broader trend–the dramatic correction of the muscle car market.

The ’68–72 cars are most often purchased by those who remember them as a weird, awesome highlight of the muscle car’s golden era. This vintage of El Camino appeals disproportionately to boomers, who represent 32 percent of the collector car market as a whole but make up nearly half of insurance quotes we receive for this generation ElCo. Gen X falls in second place, with 26 percent of third-gen El Camino quotes (but 31 percent of the overall market).

A delightfully weird offshoot of Chevrolet’s most horsepower-happy years, the third-gen El Camino is a classic for good reason. The wide spread of values covers a broad array of buyers, from discerning collectors of American muscle who want a perfectly preserved LS6-powered example to enthusiasts who want an affordable, cool collectible that might even make the weekend trip to Home Depot a little easier.

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Time flies in the car business, so it’s hard to believe over a decade has passed since a certain trio of halo hybrid hypercars burst onto the scene. They set a performance and design benchmark that defined the 2010s, and they hinted at the turbocharged, electrified future that quickly followed. By nature of their looks, speed, and exclusivity (you had to apply to buy one of these cars, and be invited to buy another), they became collectible instantly. And although they’ve seen some depreciation, they never dipped below a million dollars. That trio, of course, is the LaFerrari, McLaren P1, and Porsche 918.

Over 10 years on, they’re still deeply impressive and significant automobiles, but they’re no longer the latest and greatest, and the mystique that surrounded them in 2013-15 has diminished somewhat. Comparisons were inevitable then, and probably always will be. You can hardly speak about one without thinking of the other two, whether you’re talking lap times or sale prices. Since we talk prices here at Hagerty Insider, how does the market treat these cars 10 years after they sat on top of the hypercar hill?

When Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche started building their new, highly anticipated halo models within a few months of each other in 2013, a case of automotive déjà vu was inevitable. After all, these same three companies had done something similar in the early to mid-2000s with that decade’s definitive hypercar trio – the Ferrari Enzo, (Mercedes-Benz) SLR McLaren, and Porsche Carrera GT. But this time wasn’t a rehash of the same theme. The 2000s trio were quite different from each other—the Ferrari a cutting edge F1-inspired showpiece, the McLaren/Mercedes a brutally fast but comfortable GT car, and the Porsche a thrillingly analog stick shift sports car with world-beating performance. This 2010s trio, however, had conspicuous similarities. All were mid-engine, tech-heavy and, surprisingly, hybrids. Gas-electric hybrids were nothing new, but what was novel here was that these cars exploited electric power primarily to enhance the performance of the internal combustion engine. Added fuel economy and cleaner emissions were just nice little bonuses.

Introduced at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, the redundantly named Ferrari LaFerrari (so called because it was “the definitive Ferrari of its era,” according to the company) was the next addition to the company’s super- and hypercar dynasty that includes the 288 GTO, F40, F50, and Enzo. Like its predecessor, it only went to Ferrari’s preferred clients, meaning that even if you had $1.5M to plonk down on an impractical two-seater, Ferrari had to invite you to do so.

The LaFerrari’s carbon fiber bodywork was styled entirely in-house by Ferrari, and sits atop a carbon fiber monocoque. Its 6.3-liter V-12 is from the same F140-family of engines that power the Enzo, 599, FF and others but in this case is tuned for 800hp, while the electric motor that works with it makes an additional 163hp. Magneti Marelli supplied two separate electric motors, one to send power to the rear wheels and another to power the ancillaries. It also has a Hybrid Kinetic Energy Recovery system (HY-KERS) developed through Ferrari’s F1 cars, which provides bursts of extra power at the driver’s discretion, for a total system output of as much as 950hp and 664 lb-ft. The LaFerrari lapped the company’s Fiorano test track a full five seconds faster than the Enzo. Ferrari produced just 500 LaFerraris, then built a little over 200 examples of the LaFerrari Aperta, an open model with removable roof.

Although McLaren built the world’s fastest sports car in 1992 with the F1, they didn’t follow it up with any in-house product, and simply went back to racing when production ended. (The SLR McLaren was produced with significant input and funding from Mercedes-Benz.) Then, at the beginning of the 2010s, McLaren finally started to become a volume sports car manufacturer with models like the MP4-12C. Much more ambitious, though, and something of a spiritual successor to the F1, was the P1.

Built around a carbon fiber monocoque chassis that McLaren calls “MonoCage,” it uses a 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 similar to lesser cars in the McLaren range, but tuned to much greater heights with 727hp and 531 lb-ft. The electric motor mounted to it fills in for the gas engine when it isn’t at peak power, like during lower rpms or during a gearshift, and makes 176hp, for a total system output of 903hp going to the rear wheels. Car and Driver called it “every bit as great to drive as you might hope it to be”, and many period tests called it the rawest driving experience of the three. The limited production run of P1s sold out quickly, to approved applicants. Just 375 were built, with over a third coming to the United States, so the McLaren is the rarest of the three hypercars by some margin.

Unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013, the Porsche 918 followed a similar philosophy to its Ferrari and McLaren competitors. Its 4593cc V-8 also sat behind the driver and relied on electric power to support it in key moments, and its total system output was a similar 887hp, going through a seven-speed dual-clutch semi-automatic like the other two. But there were a few key differences: The Porsche came with an electric motor at each axle. The front one directly drives the front wheels, and a clutch decouples it when not in use, so it’s effectively a part-time all-wheel drive vehicle. It can also drive short distances in silence on electric power alone, and an optional front axle lift system gets the car over bumps, so it’s reasonably practical in the real world, and road testers called it the easiest to drive of the three.

A more significant option that adds a healthy bit of value and desirability is the Weissach package. Essentially a weight savings bundle that replaced certain aluminum parts with carbon fiber ones, it also featured lighter wheels, windshield frame, roof, and mirrors, shedding a grand total of about 100 pounds.

In classic Porsche math of less car = higher price, the Weissach package grew the 918’s sticker from $845,000 to $929,000. Fittingly, Porsche sold 918 examples of the 918, making it a very rare car by almost any definition. Compared to the Ferrari and McLaren, however, it is by far the most common, and when new it didn’t sell as quickly.

From the moment they hit the second-hand market, demand for these ultra-exclusive automobiles was high. Now, anyone with deep enough pockets could buy one, not just the few cleared by the manufacturers. The initial buzz in the automotive media had been loud, all but screaming that these were basically the cars of the decade. The term “Holy Trinity” was bandied about a lot. So, when they started hitting specialist dealer showrooms and auction lots, prices climbed well above what they cost from the factory. Values then dropped significantly as demand wore off, but they rebounded during the early 2020s and have since settled into what appears to be a steady price range. All three followed this pattern, but there are some clear differences.

For the LaFerrari, prices appreciated during 2015-17 along with the other two, but the Ferrari grew at a much faster clip. From the end of 2015 to the end of 2018, #2 (“excellent”) values rose by over 57 percent, peaking at $4,075,000. By the last couple years of the decade, however, initial enthusiasm about the LaFerrari being publicly available wore off, and from the end of 2018 to the end of 2021, #2 values fell 22 percent. Then, they rebounded in a big way during the pandemic boom, and have since settled at $3.8M. LaFerrari Apertas are worth even more, by nature of their rarity and open roof, and carry a #2 value of $5,050,000.

Now that LaFerraris are getting on in age, they’re not the fastest Ferrari money can buy: An SF90 will go quicker around Fiorano. LaFerraris also have some well-known issues, specifically with the batteries. If a car sits (and many do) for long enough (more than five days, according to Ferrari) while unconnected to a power source, the batteries can degrade or fail. If the more complex HY-KERS battery should fail, it’s a six-figure replacement. Famously, rocker Sammy Hagar’s LaFerrari was pulled from auction in Scottsdale this year because, according to Barrett-Jackson, “the car’s original high voltage battery was nearing the end of its anticipated 8-year lifespan.” Instead, it will cross the block in October with a fresh battery. Even so, the LaFerrari is far more valuable than the other two. This is likely down to its invite-only status when new, its four extra cylinders, and the fact that Ferrari is a more established name with a richer heritage of building cutting-edge road cars like this, even more than such storied names as McLaren and Porsche.

Like their nemesis from Ferrari, the McLaren P1’s values grew significantly from 2015-18, peaking at $2.25M for a car in #2 condition. Then they fell sharply, losing nearly half their value (49 percent) from the beginning of 2018 to the beginning of 2021.

Their rebound during the pandemic boom also wasn’t as steep as the LaFerrari’s, and the McLaren’s prices have also tracked curiously close to the Porsche 918 despite being well over twice as rare. The #2 value currently sits at $1.7M. P1s sold more than once at auction have also proven to bring less money the second time around.

Despite their rarity and comparing favorably with their competitors, P1s have arguably performed the worst in the market. The P1 has been called a successor to the F1 (a $20M+ car), but over two decades separate the two—there’s no direct lineage. Meanwhile, the P1 has much more in common (perhaps too much) with less expensive models in the company’s lineup, which themselves have spawned numerous limited and special editions. On top of that, there are also two newer halo models—the Senna and the Speedtail—that are crowding the P1 out of the McLaren family photo.

Ferrari and Porsche also have a tradition of building low-production top-tier exotics going back decades. When the P1 came out, McLaren had only been doing it on and off for a handful of years, literally. And there’s the issue of perishable battery packs with the P1, too. While things shouldn’t be as steep as the Ferrari, owners have reported that the battery charger costs $30,000, and a replacement or upgraded battery pack over $150K.

It makes sense for the 918 to be the “cheapest” of the three, and it is. Its #2 value peaked in 2018 at $1.8M, and followed the familiar pattern of slumping from 2018-21, then rebounding during the pandemic boom. It currently sits at $1.45M. Cars equipped with the Weissach package get a substantial boost, to $1.75M. Unique specs and colors can also command a premium, as they do for most Porsches. A paint-to-sample Grand Prix White car with matching wheels, for example, sold for a world record $3,935,500 at auction last year, and one of perhaps two 918s finished in Gulf blue and orange livery sold for $3,525,000 in March of this year.

The Porsche is probably the most usable and cheapest to maintain of the three, but significantly higher supply of cars keep it from being the most expensive. If any of these cars is a “good buy,” it’s the Porsche.

In another 20 years or so when the LaFerrari, P1 and 918 are proper classics, will their decade-defining status keep them in the pantheon of top-tier collector cars? Or will their extremely complex drive systems and pricy, perishable battery packs be an albatross around owners’ necks? Time will tell, but for now they appear to have settled into a realistic price range, and although their halos aren’t shining as brightly, they haven’t gone away.

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What do Jaguar, Ruf, and McLaren have in common? Each, at one point in the same ten-year span, built the fastest production car in the world. All were low-volume manufacturers, but the least widely known of the trio also built the fewest, most exclusive vehicles.

Meet the Ruf CTR2, a 993-generation rocket with a think tank’s worth of proprietary Porsche-tuning know-how. One of only 30 or so examples built—only the manufacturer in Pfaffenhausen knows the true total—this CTR2 is going up for sale late this summer, at Broad Arrow’s Monterey Jet Center sale in August.

Unlike Gemballa and other Porsche customizers that rose to fame in the ’80s and ’90s, Ruf is its own manufacturer, and its cars have Ruf-specific serial numbers. Founded in 1939 by Alois Ruf, Sr, the small shop in Pfaffenhausen, Germany began as a service station. Alois Ruf, Jr began working on Porsches in his father’s shop, and took over in 1974 upon his father’s death. He had a passion for tweaking cars from the Stuttgart brand, and the shop’s focus became modifying 911s for speed. (The shop put a five-speed gearbox in a turbocharged 911 before Porsche did, for one.) In 1981, Ruf was listed as a manufacturer by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority.

The Ruf name catapulted into global awareness in 1987 when Ruf released a video of a bright yellow 930-chassis 911, its air-cooled flat-six strapped with two turbos, tearing—often sideways—around Germany’s infamously challenging Nürburgring. In a test published later that year, Road and Track clocked the CTR at 211 mph around the 15.5-mile oval test track in Ehra-Lessien: That was about 13 mph faster than Porsche’s contemporary 911 Turbo, and faster than any vehicle (Ferrari Testarossa and Porsche 959 included) in the star-studded test gathering. The magazine editors dubbed the CTR “Yellow Bird”—and the name stuck. Soon after, Ruf decided to build 29 more, calling the model CTR.

The CTR2 is what happened when, in 1995, Ruf got its hands on the 993-generation 911. Ruf would fit the Porsche-supplied bodies-in-white with either rear- or all-wheel drive, whichever the customer preferred. To say that the shop’s engineering changes were extensive would be an understatement: Like the CTR, the flat-six in the CTR2 was twin-turbocharged and mated to a gearbox of Ruf’s own design, with new, lightweight body panels supported by a proprietary integrated rollcage. (For the CTR2, though, those panels were carbon-kevlar composite rather than aluminum and fiberglass.)

The CTR2 demonstrated a new level of commitment to aerodynamics: The side-view mirrors were new and snuggled as close to the body as possible. For each Carrera 2 body-in-white that it received from Porsche, Ruf removed the rain gutters on the roof and welded the seams on the roof, changes that not only made the car look sleeker but also made it quieter at high speeds. The rear bumper, and the giant wing affixed to it, the rocker panels, and the front spoiler were all of Ruf design.

The CTR2 had its own moment of motorsports fame in 1997, when two specially modified examples placed second overall and fourth in class in the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb. (Double-decker wing, 702 bhp, and yellow paint!)

This brings us to today’s car, a silver-over-black CTR2 (chassis no. W09BD0364WPR06010) presented for sale by the same person who commissioned it from Alois Ruf in 1998. Given the chance to order the car however they liked, this discerning customer asked for a six-speed transmission made-to-order with gear ratios that prioritized acceleration over top speed, the optional four-wheel-drive system, and the lightweight, composite body panels. While this CTR2 is not billed as the Sport model, it does have the uprated, 580-hp engine developed for that later variant, as requested by the customer, who paid an additional 65,000 Deutsche Marks for the 60 extra horses. (Rufs are frequently sent back to the shop for further modifications, so clear differentiation between variants isn’t as clearly delineated as it would be for an outfit that worked in larger volumes.) Other build-specific details include the oval exhaust tip and a sound system made by Nokia.

The car is accompanied by all its original paperwork, including order forms, options list, a photograph of the owner and the Rufs standing next to the car upon its delivery, and even the handwritten calculations for the modified gear ratios. It is offered by Broad Arrow with an estimate of $2.2M–$2.5M.

Air-cooled Porsche 911s of all stripes have seen a dramatic rise in values over the last several years. Naturally, the fast, rare, and unique examples have led the way, and it’s no surprise that the Ruf CTR2 comes in at the top of the list.

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As the new enthusiast vehicle market moves increasingly towards hybrid systems, dual-clutch transmissions, turbochargers, and all manner of computer systems managing the power going to the ground, enthusiasts are seeking out vintage vehicles with none of those things. Vehicles with drivetrains featuring naturally aspirated engines and manual transmissions have enjoyed renewed popularity. But there is one piece of technology, often discarded when it was new, that is shared by some of today’s most collectible vehicles, and yet it doesn’t get talked about much.

For a period in the middle of the 20th century, before electronic fuel injection became the solution to performance and emission considerations, automakers added nth-degree performance to their best models via mechanical fuel injection (MFI). The excellent throttle response and additional horsepower made them ideal for enthusiasts, but the complexity of mechanical fuel injection made them expensive and difficult to repair, so owners commonly swapped them out for familiar carburetors. Today, though, despite MFI systems being a dead-end in the evolution of the automobile, they are better understood and are often more valuable than the carb versions. Indeed, they’re a feature of some of the most collectible cars ever produced.

Many manufacturers embraced mechanical fuel injection, including Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lancia, Maserati, Pontiac and Volkswagen, but below are arguably the most famous MFI classics, with pronounced premiums in value.

Mercedes-Benz 300SL

Mercedes-Benz was the first to introduce a system in their automobiles when they used a Bosch system designed for airplane engines in their new 1950s supercar, the W198-series 300SL. Mercedes-Benz was constrained by using the 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine from the contemporary W186 sedan, but they sought to maximize the performance of all the other components. The frame was a lightweight spaceframe (hence the Gullwing doors), the bodywork was aerodynamic, and the engine was leaned over at 50 degrees and given a dry sump. After experimenting with supercharging and Solex carbs in the racing cars, the W198 was given the Bosch a (direct) mechanical fuel-injection system, which bumped performance from an unreliable 230hp in Solex-supercharged form (the M197 engine) to a reliable and drivable 240hp in production form (M198). Today, the 300SL is one of the few cars built in the thousands that routinely sells for over $1M. The current condition #1 (“concours”) value for a 1955 steel-bodied Gullwing coupe is $2,250,000. The high prices relative to its production number are down to the 300SL’s famous style, cultural impact and world-class performance, the latter in part made possible by adopting fuel injection technology decades before it became ubiquitous.

Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7

The 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 wasn’t the first car Porsche equipped with a mechanical fuel-injection system (that was the 1969 911 S), but it is one of the most collectible if not the most collectible road-going Porsche. And although fuel injection wasn’t as exotic in the early 1970s as it was in the ’50s, it was still far from commonplace. As the company pivoted away from racing prototypes like the 917 and 908/3 due to rule changes, the nearly 10-year-old 911 became the chosen platform for racing. Pushing the displacement out from a stated 2.4 to 2.7 liters was possible by using a cylinder liner specially developed by Mahle (for the 917) called Nikasil, and with the MFI system, the new model had 210 HP (an increase of 20 HP over the contemporary 911 S 2.4). In heavier “Touring” spec, the 1973 Carrera RS 2.7 isn’t quite as valuable as the 300 SL (current condition #1 value of $999,000), but the Lightweight (only 200 out of the 1580 built), has a current condition #1 value of $2.1M. 

Alfa Romeo Montreal

The Italians embraced mechanical fuel injection, too. The International and Universal Exposition, aka Expo 67, aka the world’s fair for 1967, took place in Montreal, Canada. With a theme of Man and His World, Alfa Romeo was invited to display a vehicle representing the ultimate evolution of the automobile. Alfa brought a concept, designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, and appropriately named it the Montreal. Despite its 4-cylinder Giulia Sprint GT base, Gandini gave it some mid-engine styling touches and the car impressed showgoers so much that Alfa Romeo decided to offer a production version. Bringing the Montreal to market took longer than expected, and by its launch in 1970, the intended competition was cars like the Porsche 911 described above. Consequently, Alfa got more ambitious with the engine and used a 2.6-liter V-8 inspired by its Tipo 33 racing car and equipped it with SPICA (Società Pompe Iniezione Cassani & Affinimechanical) fuel injection good for 200hp. With nearly 4000 produced, the car isn’t as rare as some of the MFI-fed classics on this list, but demand remains consistent, and the condition #1 value is currently $158,000. 

BMW 2002tii

BMW had a hit on its hands with its Neue Klasse small sedans. Launched in 1961 as the 1500, it was intended to compete with the Volkswagen Beetle. Despite that humble target, sporty versions followed with models such as the 4-door 1800ti in 1965 and then the 2-door 1600ti. The ti suffix stood for Touring International, and indicated the model featured twin carbs. When that 1600ti version couldn’t meet emissions regulations in the U.S., the single-carb 2.0-liter 2002 was introduced. A two-carb 2002ti was also offered, but BMW went even sportier in 1972 with the 2002tii. Featuring a mechanical fuel-injection system by Kuglefischer, the tii (Touring International Injection) model gained 16hp over the carb 2002 for a total of 130. While all versions of the 2002 have become collectible in the past several years, and the 1972 model has a condition #1 value of $84,600 at present, the 1972 2002tii is worth significantly more and has a condition #1 value of $129,000. 

1957 Chevrolet

In 1950s America, the Big Three were in a horsepower race. Bragging rights went to engines that could achieve one horsepower (gross, not net) per cubic inch (cid) of displacement. Further, GM was known for its technical innovations in the 1950s, and fuel injection seemed like the right way to give the recently launched (1955) Chevrolet small-block V-8 an edge. The result was the Rochester Products Division Ramjet mechanical (port) fuel-injection system launched for the 1957 model year cars. The 283 cubic inch Chevrolet V-8 with the Ramjet system produced 283hp, meaning it reached that magical one hp per cube threshold. Nicknamed Fuelies, the Corvettes and Bel Airs equipped with the system won the numbers race for years. They won on the racetrack, but it was also the highest-performance version of the Corvette through the 1965 model year when the 327cid V-8 Fuelie made 375hp. For the 1957 Corvette, the current condition #1 value for a Fuelie is $185,000 compared to $144,000 for the 270hp dual-quad 283 Corvette built the same year. For a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Sedan, a 283 Fuelie has a condition #1 value of $125,000 compared to $109,000 for that same 270hp dual-quad setup. 

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For fans of Formula 1, the biggest surprise to come from last Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix was the victory of McLaren driver Lando Norris, which not only gave the Brit his first win in racing’s top tier but also put an end to the ceaseless and frankly boring domination of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Off the track, at the Bonhams auction on the Saturday before the race, we witnessed an even more unexpected result at the Miami International Autodrome, when this 2003 Aston Martin DB7 Zagato sold for a mere $168,000. “Mere” is relative, of course, because that’s starter-house money in some parts. But in the rather exclusive “1-of-XX” realm of Zagato-bodied Astons, it’s #4 (fair) condition money for a car that easily falls in the good-to-excellent (#2- / #3+) camp. Someone got a deal, in other words. 

Aston Martin and Zagato have a rich history that goes back to 1960, when the Italian carrozzeria rebodied 20 copies of the DB4 GT in a sexy, lightweight aluminum skin in order to help make them more competitive in GT racing. It didn’t really work, because the competition was stiff, mainly the Ferrari 250s, but the legacy of that first collaboration has resulted in Aston’s most valuable car, with prices ranging from $8M to $11M on the rare occasions they change hands.

The partnership then went dormant for a quarter century, until the 1984 Geneva auto show, when Aston and Zagato execs began talking shop again, this time with a plan to zhuzh up the V8 Vantage. Just 52 of the 187-mph supercars were built, each with £95,000 price tag, and each sold in the blink of an eye. An open version (37 made) followed in 1987. And then, another long fallow period. 

When it debuted in 1993, the DB7 proved to be an overnight gamechanger for the fortunes of Aston Martin. By 2002, however, it was already a decade old and had already been upgraded with an extra six cylinders, so there wasn’t a lot left to be done to keep the sleek GT fresh. Which kind of made it a prime candidate for some, uh, Zagatofication, until its DB9 successor arrived.

Talks between Aston chairman Ulrich Bez and Andrea Zagato had begun at Pebble Beach in August 2001, and by early in the new year, the project was a go. Just 99 DB7 Zagato coupes would be built, each based on the convertible Volante model and clothed in a mix of steel, aluminum, and composites and retaining only the donor car’s windshield. Every other bit of the exterior was changed, and it reflects Zagato’s trademark flourishes: short overhangs (the cars are 8 inches shorter than a standard DB7), brawny quarter panels, a higher belt line, and a double-bubble roof. The interior was clad in aniline leather, and in place of the rear seats was a package shelf. Brakes and suspension were upgraded, as was the Vantage’s V-12 engine, up from 420 hp to 440 hp, and each was mated to a six-speed manual transmission, with a top speed of 184 mph and a 0–60 time of 4.9 seconds. 

Aston took 200 orders for the £166,000 ($260,000) car, which understandably left the 101 buyers who missed out feeling hard done by. Lucky for them, a year later the company would unveil a follow-up in the DB7-based AR1, code for “American Roadster.” A hundred were built and most were aimed specifically at, you guessed it, the U.S. market.  

This left-hand-drive DB7 Zagato coupe, our Sale of the Week, is number 48 of the 99 built and believed to be one of perhaps 10 in the country, with time spent from new in Vermont, California, and Florida. It is finished Mercury Grey (the other two colors offered were Zagato Nero and Aqua Verde) and shows fewer than 14,000 original miles. At some point, the original dark brown aniline leather upholstery, which is reported to patina in lovely ways but requires upkeep to get there, was changed out for a lighter Connolly leather. It might look better, but the swap is also likely a knock to the car’s value. Maybe the miles were too; we can’t say for certain, but this can’t be the least-driven example around.

Still, as one would expect, DB7 Zagato public sales in America are rare. RM Sotheby’s sold car number 40 in 2015 for $330,000, then again in 2017 for $357,500. And, well, that’s it. In European auctions, the firm sold one in Monaco in 2014 for €235,200 ($321,260) and another in Paris in 2017 for €392,000 ($413,756). Similarly, Bonhams shows five sales between 2006 and today, all in the UK, with prices from £95,000 ($119,000) in ’06 to £359,900 ($481,454) in 2017.

By comparison, sales of the DB AR1, built in equal numbers but for these shores, seem almost commonplace, relatively speaking, with 65 recorded results over the last 20 years, from a low of $132,500 in 2012 to a high of $363,000 in 2016.

If you were only looking at the headlines from Bonhams’ Miami auction, the star of the show would undoubtedly be the 2011 Ferrari SP30 Berlinetta, a one-off built by Ferrari’s Special Projects Department that sold for $2,296,000. Time will tell if that’s a deal or not. But if you happened to be in the market for some other sort of exclusive machine, an Anglo-Italian hot rod that maybe only 98 other people happen to own, you could have done way, way worse than this bargain-basement, quite excellent DB7 Zagato. 

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Every so often, I engage in a particularly futile and depressing ritual—I shop for cars that I’ve foolishly let go. They’re cars that could have been feasible 10 years ago, but not today. I’ve been priced out of the market for virtually all of them. And while the market might be settling down at the moment, there are few signs of an out-and-out retreat to pre-pandemic pricing. Among cars from the 1970s through the early 1990s, there are precious few bargains. But go a little bit newer, where there’s even some depreciation yet to be done, and the picture gets more enticing. I’m talking cars from the 2000s to 2010s that are getting older, but still aren’t considered any kind of “classic” or “collectible” yet. Here are some highlights.

Fiat 500 Abarth

The 500 Abarth is the closest thing to a real hot hatch that Fiat has ever offered in the U.S., a market that is sadly short on real hot hatches. There were more interesting varieties of the Punto and Ritmo, but those were Euro-only cars that frankly weren’t very good compared to competition from Renault, Peugeot, VW, and Ford. As for the 500 Abarth, although it first arrived here in the early 2010s, the 160-hp pocket rocket feels more like a 1990s hot hatch. It’s crude, the ride is choppy, and a 10 year-old Fiat probably wears more like a 20 year-old VW. But it’s loud, analog-feeling, and fun. Most importantly, it’s cheap. Around $8000 to $10,000 buys one with under 50,000 miles. That’s tons of fun per dollar in a package that offers an old school driving experience in something that’s new enough to have most contemporary features and conveniences.

MazdaSpeed3

Back in the days of the Zoom Zoom tagline, Mazda fielded the incredibly entertaining MazdaSpeed3. Offered from 2007-13, it’s a four-door hatch with 263 hp and 280 lb. ft. of torque. It’s exactly the kind of car enthusiasts and auto journalists beg manufacturers for, but rarely head to a dealership and actually buy.  Everyone who tested a Speed3 back in the day found the car fun, especially those of us who were entertained by the torque-steer. Car and Driver wasn’t, comparing driving the car to a game of tug-of-war. But, affordability and perfection don’t often go hand-in-hand, so for $10,000 to $12,000 at current prices you could do far worse than the powerful and practical Speed3.

C5 Corvette

If hot hatches aren’t your jam, there’s always the bargain Corvette of the moment, the 1997-2004 C5. While some variants, most notably the Z06, sailed beyond true affordability in the last several years, a base manual C5 with somewhere between 75,000 and 100,000 miles can still be had in the $13,000 to $15,000 range. That’s a huge bargain for what was an utterly clean sheet design, one of the few in Corvette history, and more performance than almost anything in this price point. Interiors are standard 2000s GM, but livable. And the styling, over a quarter-century after it was introduced, is aging quite nicely.

2003-08 BMW Z4

The 2003-08 Z4 is a bit like the C5 Corvette in that it wasn’t universally loved when new, but is aging well. Available in 2.5- and 3.0-liter six-cylinder forms, the Z4 was larger and more practical than its predecessor, the Z3. Its odd surface detailing and Kamm-tail also look better now than they did 20 years ago. The Z4’s list of maladies is well-known at this point—the VANOS variable valve-timing system can give trouble (it’s often the solenoids), as can the cooling system. These are pricy repairs, but with nice cars available in the $9000 to $12,000 range, if you budget $2000-$3000 to sort things out, these can still be a compelling deal in semi-modern convertible German sports car.

2005-2014 Ford Mustang

You could argue that the 2005 Mustang was the first one to really look like a Mustang since maybe 1973. The brilliant Sid Ramnarace-designed S197 Mustang managed to look the part without being foolishly retro, a hard balance to achieve. Special editions, and certainly the Shelby versions of the S197 are not cheap, but a lightly optioned V-8 coupe or convertible is still one of the best cheap V-8 pony cars out there. Being a Mustang, there are always plenty on the market to choose from at any given time, and a decent manual transmission car can be had in the $12,000 to $14,000 range. 

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Among the many segments in the collector car hobby, muscle cars are one of the most solidly established. Their market is more mature than the emerging collector SUV and Japanese segments, and demand remains broad and deep, in contrast to the more limited audience for cars from the ’50s and earlier. Lately, however, the trend for these cars as a group is also one of the hardest to pin down.

The Hagerty Muscle Car Index, a stock-market-style grouping of cars that represent a broad spectrum of the segment, is down 5 percent in the last quarter, and 8 percent over the last year. That said, 2024 has still featured standout muscle car sales, like this ’70 Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda and this ’70 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W30. As a result of these somewhat mixed messages, Hagerty Price Guide editor Greg Ingold has characterized the muscle market as “softening but nuanced.”

One theme we are seeing lately is top-line cars—like the Plymouth Superbird we highlighted in a recent Price Guide update—slipping while some less powerful, less ostentatious, or less mainstream models are seeing a slight uptick. To wit, here are a few examples of muscle car values that show some bright spots in the middle of the muscle car market as well as some of the recent weaknesses at the pointy end.

1968-69 Mercury Cyclone: +15 percent

Starting out in 1964 as a trim level on Mercury’s Comet, the Cyclone became its own, more luxurious take on the muscle car in 1968. The model offered a range of solid-performing engines and handsome, sporty looks, but never took off in an era where wild exterior visuals were beginning to match the increasing power under Detroit’s hoods. While not as rare as some of the other cars on this list, the entire run of ’68-69 Cyclones didn’t cross 23,000 units, so if you’ve got one or are thinking about picking up this upscale muscle alternative, it’s a near lock that you’ll be the only Cyclone at the next local car show.

The Cyclone and its close relative, the Ford Fairlane (below), are the two on this list with the broadest spread of options and drivetrains, so there’s a fair amount of variance in terms of value and percentage of increase within each of these two models (the percentage increase in the heading is for the model overall). For instance, a #2 (“excellent”) condition ’69 Cyclone Spoiler II with its burly 428 Cobra Jet is up 26 percent to $89K, while a ’69 Cyclone GT with a 302-cubic inch V-8 in the same condition is up a still-significant 16 percent to $28,500. Our valuation team does not always note increases across the board within a specific model—sometimes in a slow market, a top configuration will move while lesser versions hold steady—so this market behavior bodes well for the Cyclone.

1971-74 AMC Javelin AMX: +10 percent

Though the AMX started life as a two-seater, AMC pivoted for 1971 and made AMX the top trim level at in the Javelin lineup. A spruced-up interior, revised fiberglass hood, and spoilers front and rear visually distinguished the AMX from the rest of the Javelin trims, while between the fenders sat a 285-horse 360-cubic inch V-8 or a 330-hp 401-cubic inch V-8. Even if it wasn’t the most powerful car out there, the Javelin/AMX was stylish if slightly offbeat competition for the Big Three’s pony cars, and it proved to have a healthy following.

We picked the original ’68-70 AMX for our 2023 Bull Market List, and since then values of that generation are up just shy of 5 percent. The AMX-trim Javelins of ’71-74, however, are up a more impressive 10 percent. The good news is that even #2 (“excellent”) condition 360-powered cars come in at $36,600, and driver-quality cars can be had for about $20K. Budget a few grand more for the larger engine.

1966-67 Ford Fairlane: +8 percent

As with most mid-sized cars of the era, you could get your fifth-generation Ford Fairlane in decidedly non-muscular station wagon and sedan form (though you could get some powerful engines in those body styles). For the purposes of this exercise, though, we’re only considering the two-door models. Still, there was plenty of variety in both trim and engine—from mild 289 V-8 to the much wilder (and rarer) dual-quad-equipped 427. What’s more, in contrast to the Mercury Cyclone, Fairlanes were produced in healthy numbers.

Values for the more muscle-oriented Fairlanes are up 8 percent overall in the latest edition of the Hagerty Price Guide. A 320-horse 390-cubic inch ’67 Fairlane 500 convertible tips the scales at $30,900 in #2 (“excellent”) condition, a 10.4 percent increase. Up 16 percent (to $35K) is the ’66 Fairlane 500XL coupe with the 265-horse 390. Meanwhile, the crown jewel of the model, the 427-powered ’66 Fairlane 500, is up 16.4 percent in the same condition, and is valued at $255K. Prior to this past quarter’s strong performance, Fairlanes were increasing slightly through 2023’s slowing market. If there’s a poster child for a solid ’60s muscle cruiser that’s not flashy but gets the job done, the Fairlane might be it—and it seems the market’s taken notice.

1969 Chevrolet Chevelle COPO: -13 percent

In 1969, GM’s corporate edict keeping engines larger than 400 cubic inches out of any car that wasn’t either full-sized or named Corvette was still very much in effect. Creative minds find solutions, however, and the Central Office Production Order (COPO)—a program designed to enable the special order of specific option combinations for police, municipal, and other fleet use—got leveraged to bring big power to a few savvy people. That year, 323 Chevelles were ordered with the 425-horse L72 427-cubic inch engine through COPO. Don Yenko’s S/C conversions were the most famous Chevelles to go through this process—99 were made—though Berger Chevrolet in Michigan also utilized the COPO side door. The remainder trickled out to other dealers across the U.S. and Canada.

Despite the fact that these Chevelles are among the most rare and sought-after Chevy muscle cars, our valuation team has observed a downward trend in prices. Across all conditions, non-Yenko COPO Chevelle values are down 13 percent. Yenko S/C Chevelles have performed a little better, losing 10 percent over the last quarter. That doesn’t mean any are cheap, however. A #2 (“excellent”) condition COPO Chevelle is still valued at $156K (a Yenko in the same condition will garner $165K), and either car in #4 (Fair) condition will still command six figures.

1967-69 Camaro SS: -8 percent

From the factory, a set of SS badges on a first-gen Camaro meant at least a 350-cubic inch V-8 under the hood. Buyers who wanted more grunt could option a big-block 396 with up to 375 horses. If you pulled up to a stoplight next to a Camaro SS, it helped to scope out the front fender to see what flavor V-8 you were up against. That said, plenty of savvy owners subbed out the chrome “396” for a more modest 350 badge to fool would-be opponents.

Today, regardless of the horsepower count, first-generation Camaro Super Sports of all stripes are down a significant eight percent as a whole. Of course, this translates to different values across the spectrum—For instance, a 300-horse ’69 L48 350-powered Camaro SS in #2 (“excellent”) condition is now valued at a little more than 61 grand, and $127,000 will fetch a ’68 SS convertible with the 375-hp 396 in the same condition. While these Camaros aren’t top-dog Chevys like the COPO Chevelles, they are coveted A-list cars from the muscle era, and our valuation team takes notice when their values move.

1968 Shelby GT500 KR: -4 percent

It’s not the most pricey Shelby Mustang (that honor goes to the ’65 GT350R) and it isn’t set up to be as nimble as other Shelby creations, but the ’68 Shelby GT500 KR has a lot going for it. 428 Cobra Jet Power, the Shelby name, and some seriously good looks have put the GT500 KR at the top of the list for many a Mustang fan. After a stable 2023, prices are down 4 percent for convertibles (to $204K for a #2 example) and 3.7 percent (to $155K) for fastbacks in the first quarter of 2024. Though Ford muscle has generally trended positive over this period, this particular Blue Oval tracks the broader segment’s recent cooling.

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Placing a value on a car can be relatively straightforward when there are plenty of data points and everyone knows exactly what’s on offer. Let’s take one of the most popular collector cars as an example. Ford built a million 1965-1966 Mustangs. Their production is well documented. We know what they looked like when they rolled off the assembly line, and they sell every day. Plotting the data will reveal that certain body styles, options, and even colors impact prices. Valuing rare cars can be more difficult, but people still know a Lamborghini Miura when they see one, and can research what it’s worth based on specs and condition. Hot rods, however, are another animal entirely.

The factory lines, proportions, and drivetrain are only a starting point for hot rods. Countless details are reworked in ways that are subtle and sometimes unique. Original components are often outright discarded. With all the variables in each and every hot rod, how can one possibly figure out how much one is worth?

To help us sort things out, we spoke with Terry Karges, Director of the Petersen Automotive Museum, via phone. We also visited Bruce Meyer, one of the nation’s top sports car and hot rod collectors, who wrote the book on ’32 Ford hot rods based on his own extensive collection.

Karges explained how difficult it can be to even begin to put a price tag on a custom-built car. “Hot rods are one-off creations,” said Karges. “You’ve got old-school T-buckets, Brizio hot rods that are the cleanest of the clean, and Ringbrothers builds that are wildly imaginative.” They all fall under the banner of “hot rod”, but each bring with them different qualities.

Provenance

Just like any other modified performance machine, a hot rod’s build history, ownership lineage, and race pedigree all factor into its value. “Sophisticated buyers have their favorite builder,” Karges said. Some car builders have a few well-heeled repeat customers who have kept the lights on. Some buyers, like George Poteet, keep going back to the same couple of high-end shops and have multiple irons in the fire at a time.

“I’m a huge fan of Roy Brizio.” Meyer explained, noting that when Roy Brizio builds a car the customer wants, he’ll also steer them to make choices that won’t spoil the overall aesthetic. “I’ve been involved with a lot of hot rods. So few of them really run down the road right. With Brizio, it’s gonna run down the road right.” A builder’s reputation, then, carries weight.

So does a major award. There are more than 30 major hot rod shows across the nation each year, including the Detroit Autorama and the Grand National Roadster Show that crown the Ridler Award and America’s Most Beautiful Roadster, respectively. Any car that’s won an award with such discerning judges has got to have the basic proportions dialed in and have stellar build quality that stands out from the crowd. “Winning a show would always add value,” said Karges. “If you like a car, and it has provenance, and it was owned by a well-known collector or won a show, that certainly helps.”

The Look

Hot-rodding evolved from Southern California land-speed racing, as street cars emulated the chopped, fenderless race cars that plied the dry lakes of the high desert. Form followed function. Stripped-down, lowered cars built to reduce weight and drag can also look phenomenal. Enzo Ferrari famously said, “Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win”. Bruce Meyer would disagree. As important as the car’s history, aesthetics play a major role in whether or not a car makes it into Meyer’s collection. “For me, the car has to look good,” Meyer said. “When I started doing this, back 30 years ago, hot rods were of no use to anybody. They weren’t a lot of money. I just went through Hot Rod Magazine and I picked out what I thought were the best-looking cars. That’s kind of how I started.”

Meyer found the cars that were considered noteworthy then, that also appealed to him when he was a kid, and tracked them down. “The most important thing to me is the aesthetic.” Meyer would often have owners trying to sell him cars that had been race winners, but contrary to Enzo’s words, they didn’t appeal on their race pedigree alone. They didn’t make the cut.

“The Greer, Black, Prudhomme dragster is one of the most famous in the world,” Meyer noted, alluding to its phenomenal win/loss record and launching the racing career of Don Prudhomme.  “It looked good in my eyes.” In a time of long, spindly dragsters with bodywork that was often an afterthought, the short (for a dragster) sculpted body, painted by Prudhomme himself, caught Meyer’s attention. After its restoration, the dragster served as a cackle car for years with its overbored Chrysler 392 Hemi and a reproduction of its signature scoop.

Restored vs. Preserved

Meyer’s current tilt toward preservation is penance for all the cars he modified in the 1980s. “I wanted everything red with a tan interior,” Meyer said. “I took a beautiful, original, 300SL gullwing, changed the color, and took out the original interior. It’s sad, but that’s what happened. Lately, if it can be saved, I save it. That’s the trend today.”

Just like their road-racing brethren, drag cars and land-speed cars were not held in much esteem when they were no longer competitive. Hot rods built for the street or for show often suffer from a similar fate. Years of neglect can mean extensive deterioration and a need for repairs, but that’s often the only option. Restoring a car with a long history of modifications can also bring a different set of challenges with hot rods. “You have to pick a point in time you restore a car to,” Meyer said “Like the McGee car. That car went from Bob McGee to Dick Stritchfield. Scritchfield was the founder of the LA Roadsters. He did more famous stuff with the car than McGee did, but McGee was on the cover of Hot Rod Magazine with the car in 1948, the first year of Hot Rod Magazine.” Meyer fell in love with the car as a kid. The early iteration, McGee’s vision for the car, struck him. “Then Stritchfield got it, put a Chevy in it, and put headers on it. It was probably in 10 movies. Then he took it to Bonneville and set a record.” When Meyer finally had the opportunity to buy the car, Stritchfield thought that it might get restored to its ‘50s Hollywood heyday. Instead, Meyer brought it back to its 1948 glory, as it was on Hot Rod’s cover.

Meyer has been asked why he didn’t restore CXS2001, the first Shelby Cobra, to how it was when it left Shelby’s Venice shop. Meyer likened the proposition of undoing all of the history of the car to turning the Doane Spencer Roadster or the McGee Roadster back into run-of-the-mill ’32 Fords with factory parts and proportions. “That’s what’s really important, finding that point in time and being true to it, said Meyer. “It’s got to be really good looking, owned by somebody great, done something great, important in the period, and then I restore it back to that moment in time.”

Meyer told us about another example of modifying a car that slightly deviates from his current philosophy. Bob Morris tried to buy the Doane Spencer car, but Doane had already planned on selling it to Meyer. Morris decided to build a gorgeous homage to the Doan Spencer car and spared no expense.

Years after it was built, Meyer purchased the car for himself. As fantastic as the car was, Meyer thought there were some improvements to be made. He explained that when looking at the car from the rear, the wheels stuck out a bit too much. “The wheels were just outboard, like outriggers. So we tucked them in a little bit. The exhaust system was nothing special, so we put a proper exhaust system on it. It needed stagger, so we left 15s on the front and put 17s on the back.” None of the changes were major. They weren’t permanent, “nobody would even know but me,” Meyer said. The modifications did come back to haunt Meyer, however. The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance had a class of Hot Rod Magazine “cover cars” in 2019. “I was so proud of what we did to that car, and I was telling the judges how we tweaked this and added a little. They said, ‘Bruce, we appreciate that, but we’re looking for original, as it was on the cover.’ I didn’t win a prize, for all the right reasons.”

Collecting vs. Investing

This was another topic where Meyer and Karges agreed. High-end custom builds can take a year or more and involve scores of talented craftsmen. “Is that car worth what it cost to build after it’s done? Probably not,” said Karges, referring to top-notch custom work. “People who have them built don’t plan on selling them.” Many of the vintage hot rod builds donated to the Petersen Museum collection come from estates after the owner has passed.

“Hot rods, generally, have not been a great investment,” said Meyer. He’s spent considerable time and money restoring historically significant hot rods like the So-Cal belly tanker and the aforementioned Greer-Black-Prudhomme dragster. The Pierson Bros coupe is another that required a major restoration.

“It’s still a labor of love,” said Karges. “You not going to be able to restore a car and get what you put into it.” That applies to restorations of all kinds, not just hot rods. Still, it’s tough to put a price on history. We have to agree with Karges’ sentiment when considering acquiring a hot rod for a collection, “How many Delahayes can you have?”

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Believe it or not, America’s longest serving nameplate isn’t the Mustang. It isn’t the Corvette, either. Nope, it’s the Suburban. Debuting as the Suburban Carryall in GM’s 1935 lineup, the first Suburbans were a new take on the station wagon body style but built on a truck chassis, making it the earliest successful iteration of the “Sport Utility Vehicle” as we know it today. Eighty-nine years later, GM is still selling the same basic concept with the same famous name.

While we’ve gotten used to the Chevy Suburban and its GMC-badged cousin the Yukon XL as expensive, cushy trucks, that’s not where they started. If you wanted a comfy people hauler back in the day, you bought a Station Wagon. Trucks were designed to do work, and the Chevy/GMC Suburban was essentially a panel truck meant to haul people. In 1973, though, the Suburban got a significant redesign that brought on a combination of rugged utility with real luxury and usability for passengers. That seventh generation lasted for nearly two decades, and helped define the Suburban as we see it today. As a classic truck, it’s also surprisingly attainable.

Among the most important changes for ’73 was the introduction of the four-door body style, making passenger access easier. A generally cushier and quieter interior also made it a nicer place for riders, all while keeping ample cargo space and enough towing capacity to pull a house. The appeal of previous Suburbans was more limited and skewed toward utility, but now the Suburban was an attractive alternative to the station wagon. As we now know, it would eventually outsell and outlast the wagon in America’s new car market.

Like their pickup counterparts they share a chassis with, seventh gen Suburbans adopted the C/K naming system, with “C” denoting two-wheel drive and “K” denoting four-wheel drive, while Suburbans would be offered in both ½-ton and ¾-ton configurations. They also shared powertrains with their pickup siblings, offering a six-cylinder as a base engine through 1976, as well as a variety of small-block V-8s ranging from the economical 307 and later the 305, to the ever-popular 350 as well as the 400 small-block in 4WD trucks. Opting to stay with a 2WD version opened up the availability of the 454 big-block for those seeking a bit more grunt. A 6.2-liter diesel option also appeared in 1982 across all configurations.

While we use the term “square-body” as an all encompassing phrase for this series of truck, there is quite a bit of nuance throughout the model’s long production run. Earlier trucks running from 1973-80 are easily distinguished from later ones by a pair of round headlights, a styled hood, and vertical side marker lights. The 1981 range received more simplified styling with rectangular headlights, a flat hood, and horizontal side marker lights. The final change in 1989 was a minor one, with an update to four smaller rectangular headlights.

Three main trim levels were offered by both Chevrolet and GMC included the more “fleet” grade Sierra and Custom trucks with rubber floor mats and bare bones options, a mid-tier trim package in the form of the Sierra Classic and Custom Deluxe/Scottsdale, and a decked-out range-topping Sierra Grande and Silverado package that came with better sound deadening, power everything, and front and rear heater and air conditioning. In the context of the ’70s and ’80s, this was serious luxury for a truck.

Today, life with a square-body Suburban is fairly similar to keeping one of its truck siblings. Parts support is excellent, and the tried and true small-block Chevy is famously reliable. The driveline is similarly robust with the TH350 transmission being installed on most earlier trucks, and transitioning to the 700R4 overdrive in the ’80s. The ¾-ton trucks also have the bulletproof TH400 transmission. Axles are stout and easy to fix, from the corporate 10-bolt to the over-engineered 14-bolt full-floater axle behind the 454. In other words, you don’t need to worry about the driveline.

While the mechanicals are not a point of worry, rust is. This is especially true of the earlier Suburbans. Rocker panels are especially susceptible to rot, as are floorboards and wheel wells. The interior is fairly robust, but the dash almost always cracks right down the center and fixing Suburban-specific bits such as the rear HVAC may pose a bigger challenge if something breaks.

While modifications are a bit less common on the ’Burb than their pickup siblings, the same caveats apply. Lift kits with bigger tires on the 4×4 trucks require extra frame bracing at the steering box, otherwise cracking is inevitable. As with anything that has been upgraded, follow the cardinal rule of “don’t buy until you’ve inspected the quality of the work.”

While the market for classic trucks and SUV’s has blown up in the past several years, Suburbans remain an affordable entry point to square-body ownership. Depending on year and configuration, it is still possible to put yourself behind the wheel of a perfectly usable one for under $10,000 and a truck in excellent condition can be had for $25,000-$30,000. Chevrolet-badged versions can command a small premium, but none are particularly expensive. Relative to comparable Blazers at nearly twice the price, Suburban ownership is understandably alluring.

Speaking of buyers, square-body ’Burbs are quite popular with younger ones. Hagerty’s insurance quote data, which is a good benchmark for interest, shows millennials as the primary generation coming to Hagerty for coverage on these trucks, closely followed by Gen-X. This is the reverse of the interest in square-body Blazers, which are dominated by Gen-X, with millennials trailing.

There could be many factors at play here, but the most likely is substitution. The affordability of Suburbans compared to the Blazer may have comparatively cash-strapped millennials flocking to the more affordable option.

Regardless, seventh gen Suburbans are historically significant classic trucks that are stylish, usable, capable, and comfortable. And, despite all that, they come at a surprising and tempting discount relative to their contemporaries.

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Steve Saleen has achieved some big things in his decades-long involvement in the automotive world, not the least of which include the creation of the S7 supercar. But if the California manufacturer is best known for anything, it’s for building souped-up Mustangs. Saleen founded Saleen Autosport in 1983 and built a handful of Mustangs in 1984, leaving the 5.0 engine alone but adding stiffer springs, alloy wheels, and stickier tires to transform the lumbering Fox-body into a proper corner carver. Saleen quickly reached an agreement with Ford to put Saleen Mustangs on the showroom floor at Ford dealerships, and they even came with a Ford factory warranty. Given their racy specs and relatively low production, it’s not a big stretch to look at them as the Shelbys of the ’80s.

Saleen didn’t just work its magic on the Mustang, though. There were also Saleen hot hatches and trucks, both of which are included in the all-Saleen collection that is up for auction at Mecum Indianapolis this month, and outlined below.

1986 Ford Mustang Saleen

In 1986, Saleen took its Mustangs to the track in Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) racing. One highlight was victory at the 24 Hours of Mosport, a race that Saleen Mustangs won three times on the gallop from 1986-88. This 1986 example, then, is a rather early car, and a relatively rare four-headlight Saleen (Mustangs went to larger single rectangular headlights for 1987). The body kit and graphics give it away as not your average Fox-body, while underneath it is fitted with a BBK intake and Racecraft suspension. It also features Saleen SC alloy wheels. For Indy, it carries a presale estimate of $45,000–$55,000, roughly the model’s #3+ value in the Hagerty Price Guide.

2005 Ford Focus Saleen S121

This Egg Yolk Yellow hatchback started as a normal Ford Focus, but Saleen scrambled its relatively humble specs for more serious street cred. The finished product was a little over easy, though, as Saleen only tuned the 2.0-liter Duratec in this model (the S121) to 150hp, while other upgrades included Racecraft suspension, front strut tower brace, and Saleen six-spoke alloy wheels. The body kit, while not fitted to a Mustang, still has all of Saleen’s mid-2000s styling cues.

A higher-tier Saleen Focus, called the N20, was factory-prepped to take nitrous oxide, but this one still looks like plenty of fun. Although it sold in Scottsdale seven years ago for just $9350 and at Auburn Fall in 2018 for just $10,360, its estimate at Indy 2024 is $20,000–$30,000.

1989 Ford Mustang Saleen SSC

In 1989, Saleen was finally able to combine his effective handling improvements to the Fox-body Mustang with a much more potent engine. A larger throttle body, improved intake, new exhaust with high-flow cats, and other improvements brought power from 225 hp in the base car to 290 in the new model Saleen dubbed “SSC.” Body kit, decals, seats and wheels distinguished it visually, while handling upgrades included Racecraft suspension, and cockpit-adjustable shocks and struts. All these tweaks added up to a sticker price over $36,000 (nearly $90K adjusted for inflation) for the SSC, so it’s not surprising that only a few people bought one. Production totaled just 161 examples, very small batch stuff by Mustang standards.

This 905-mile SSC appears to be the cleanest Saleen of the collection, and it’s certainly the most valuable. Its presale estimate is $150,000–$175,000, while the #1 (“best-in-the-world) value in the Hagerty Price Guide sits at $176,000.

1997 Ford Explorer Saleen XP8

The “S” in SUV may stand for Sport, but performance isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when we think about Ford’s first four-door SUV. That didn’t stop Saleen from turning their attention to it with a model they called the XP8.

In turning this family hauler into an ass hauler, Saleen lowered the Explorer by about two inches, swapped in Racecraft suspension, and fitted 18-inch 5-spoke magnesium wheels. XP8s were available in two-wheel or all-wheel drive, and a supercharger was optional. Total XP8 production isn’t clear, but some sources claim 125 were built.

This all-wheel drive, supercharged example was reportedly used when new as a personal vehicle for Liz Saleen, Steve’s wife and Saleen Autosport’s PR representative. It has since racked up nearly 78,000 miles, and its presale estimate for Indy is $35,000–$50,000.

1988 Ford Ranger Saleen Sportruck

The Ranger might seem like an even more unlikely vehicle to get the Saleen treatment than the Explorer, but Saleen was modifying Ford’s compact pickup as early as 1987. That year, Saleen entered the SCCA Coors Race Truck Challenge with his ‘roided up Rangers, and notched two wins before introducing the Ranger-based Saleen Sportruck in 1988. In 1991, Saleen won the SCCA Race Truck title with five wins in six races.

Just 27 were built, including three race trucks, with a 2.9-liter V-6 and five-speed manual. The usual Saleen upgrades of Racecraft suspension, body kit, special wheels, and sport bucket seats were included. Reportedly, all the Saleen Rangers were white except for this Regatta Blue one. It is also represented with one owner from new and as the lowest-mile Saleen Ranger known to exist, with 1678 miles showing on the odometer. The window sticker and original temp tag are still on it. The last one of these ultra-rare Rangers to sell at auction that we could find was in Scottsdale way back in 2009, for just $6050. This one, though, is in much better shape and selling in a much different time. Its presale estimate is $75,000–$90,000, which surely makes it the world’s most expensive Ford Ranger.

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As we observed in our most recent Hagerty Market Rating, the collector car market is cooling, and has been for the last 19 months. That said, it’s important to look at the larger story: The collector car market, measured by this rating, is still stronger than it was before the unprecedented gains of the pandemic years. In 2022, during that boom, we took a look around at the markets for other collectibles—fine art, NFTs, and sneakers—to see what we could learn. Perhaps to no one’s surprise, collector markets of all stripes took off in that era. Two years later, as the cooling classic-car market continues to search for equilibrium, we decided to repeat the check-in, to see whether other collector segments are slowing in the same fashion. This time, however, we looked at different luxury goods.

Like collector cars, which you would own in addition to your daily transportation, the other three collectibles we chose here are nice-to-haves, not need-to-haves: Fine art (again—its maturity as a market makes it a perennially valuable comparison), watches, and handbags (the high-end, carefully crafted kind). Like cars, all three are collected globally, and thus influenced by geopolitical tensions and large-scale economic trends: Think inflation in the U.S., war in Eastern Europe, the Chinese economy struggling to recover from strict COVID policies, etc. 

There are a few important differences between the four markets, starting with demographics. Though the age ranges for watch and handbag collectors are similarly broad—20 to 80 for the former, 30 to 70 for the latter—the watch market, like the classic-car market, is dominated by men. The market for handbags is largely composed of women. Fine art hosts a mix of both. While the price of the most expensive painting (Salvatore Mundi, by Leonardo da Vinci, $450M) dwarfs that of the most expensive car ($142M, Mercedes-Benz Uhlenhaut Coupe) and watch (a $31.2M Patek Phillipe), the watch market (including retail) is larger than the art market, measured in value: $74.6B to $65B. At $513,200, the most expensive handbag sold at auction (a crocodile Hermès Kelly 28 Himalaya with diamond-encrusted hardware) falls well below the most expensive examples of fine art, cars, or watches (in that order), but the handbag market is also far younger than any of the other three: Its rise is closely connected to the rise of the Internet, in the late ‘90s.

The tl;dr is that post-pandemic cooling is not restricted to the collector car market. Naturally, we dug deeper, and were rewarded: Each field revealed similar trends in buying behavior, as well as increasing interest from younger collectors. Whether the treasure of your collection is a Birkin or a Bugatti, we are confident that you will gain a richer understanding of collecting from what these experts have to say. We certainly did.

Volatility of Novelty

Everything got hot during COVID, but some less-established names got really hot, really quickly. The inverse is occurring now: The most dramatic decreases in the last few years are confined to those superheated segments that, in hindsight, were most due for a correction. Let’s start with the collector vehicle market, specifically with trucks and SUVs from the late 1970s and ’80s. Ford Broncos, Chevrolet Blazers, and Land Rover Defenders from this era were hot even before 2020. In 2017 and 2018, the average appreciation for this set was 26%. From 2019 to 2022, that figure spiked to 91%. The bubble has let some air out. In the last two years, the average change for these vehicles is -7%. A significant change in trajectory, yes, but it didn’t erase COVID-era gains. 

In the world of fine art, young contemporary artists (under 45) “overheated dramatically in 2022” according to The Fine Art Group’s 2023–2024 Global Art Market Report. Sales doubled, the report says, in 2021, compared to 2019 and 2020, only to correct, equally dramatically, in 2023, when they reverted to pre-pandemic levels. “It’s important and needs to happen,” says Anita Heriot, president of The Fine Art Group. She diagnoses the segment as “overheated,” adding that there simply is “not enough track record for the [young contemporary] artist to really consider them investment-quality.”

In the world of timepieces, the parallel is “hype watches,” typically stainless-steel versions of pieces that are coveted from the moment they are produced and, because of that desirability, easy to flip for far above retail price. The trio, according to Hodinkee, are the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, the Patek Philippe Nautilus, and the Rolex Daytona. Tiffany To, head of sales for Phillips’ watch department, calls out a stainless-steel variant of Daytona called the Panda, which retails for $10,000. “At its height, it went up to $40,000,” she says. “Now it’s in the middle ground at around maybe $30,000. It’s still triple the retail price, but it’s just not at a level where it was completely nuts as it was two years ago.” She sees the trajectory as a natural correction: “The more people bought [a stainless-steel Daytona], the more other people thought it was an investment and then everyone kept trying to jump onto the bandwagon until at some point it just wasn’t sustainable anymore and it just flopped.”

When we spoke with Max Brownawell, head of Christie’s handbag and accessories department, he painted a less dramatic picture. Handbags overall increased in value by about 25% during the pandemic. As we saw in the car market, the examples at the top of the handbag market set records: In November of 2020, Christie’s set a new world record for the most expensive bag sold, a 25-centimeter Hermès Kelly that brought $435,375. The auction house broke its own record a year later with another Kelly 28 Himalaya, one with diamond-encrusted hardware that brought $513,200. Today, Max says, those prices are very difficult to achieve. Prices for bags at the top of the market have come down, while prices for more accessible bags and leather bags have continued to rise. (Another pattern we’ve observed in classic cars, as borne out by our Blue Chip and Affordable Cars indexes.) Though annual increases in value are still going up, the pace of that growth has slowed, and increases are in the single digits. 

As with the Bronco, Blazer, and their ilk, young contemporary artists and stainless-steel Rolex Daytonas are still bona fide collectibles. Corrections haven’t erased their gains, and even though their performance has been volatile, it’s an oversimplification to say that anyone who has invested heavily in one of those superheated segments is out in the cold. Some works by young contemporary artists, too, have not only survived the correction but are now thriving. The Fine Art Group points out Caroline Walker, a Scottish artist, who had the good fortune to be shown in museums before the pandemic. That foundation is helping protect her against the volatility of her genre. 

Demographic Changes

When it comes to demographics within the four markets, each of the experts we discussed painted an optimistic picture: Younger buyers are entering the market. In the case of watches, however, the tastes of those buyers are influenced by a highly unpredictable factor: social media. “It has a life of its own,” says Tiffany To. Younger buyers, says vintage watch dealer Eric Wind, aren’t always interested in the same things as older buyers; they are more likely to be influenced by trends, fashion, and what (and who) they see on social media. To points to the collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Houston-based rapper Travis Scott: “Once everyone on Instagram saw him wearing the watch, people wanted the model, it became super hot.” Brownawell says that the handbag market reflects a similar influx of younger buyers—Gen Z in particular—and an influence from social media, which drives demand for certain colors or styles. 

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Demographic changes in the classic car market don’t reflect anything dramatic over the last four to five years (before, during, and after the pandemic): Our insurance quote data reveals a changing of the guard supported by a gradual upswell of younger interest. Gen X is now the largest generation, surpassing that of the baby boomer for the first time in the number of quotes. Of the younger generations, millennials are increasing slowly and steadily. Gen Z surpassed preboomers back in the spring of 2021, and their share of quote data has only gotten larger since.

Changing Tastes

Nostalgia plays a major factor in the markets for cars and for watches, and what is nostalgic is determined by the age group most dominant in that market. “I think of it as generational collecting,” says To. “You see resurgence of each period pending on the profile of the people who have purchasing power today.” Think of the rise of Gen X in the collector-car market, and the concurrent appreciation of ‘80s and ‘90s, or Radwood-era cars. The pattern also explains why certain items fall out of fashion: “People don’t really buy pocketwatches today because people who are 40 or 50 didn’t dream of pocketwatches as children. That era passed.”

Relevance and collectability don’t directly correlate, however. Just look at the $94.4M sale by Sotheby’s of Gustav Klimt’s Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan) last year. An Impressionist work, it was the highest-value picture ever sold at auction on the European continent. “Everyone says that impressionism (in fine art) is hard to sell … it’s an older person thing.” But, as a $12.1M Mercedes Simplex proved at the 2024 Amelia Island auctions, a work can still make millions if it is the best representation of its era. Not only was the Simplex the most expensive result from those auctions, it was the most expensive by a factor of nearly three.

Desirability of Originality

Cars, handbags, and watches all have something in common: New ones are being produced all the time, which means that if you want something that no one else has—a sentiment shared by more serious collectors—you’re going to look at secondary markets. There, certain types of imperfection are actually desired, not only because of attrition and the rarity of well-preserved examples, but also because imperfections can tell a particular story that makes an item unique. “The Japanese call it wabi sabi,” says Wind. “It’s what gives [a watch] character.” If that story involves a celebrity, or an important event, all the better. Often, originality or authenticity itself is what collectors prize. Take a closer look at that Simplex mentioned above. Note the peeling paint and weathered upholstery.

Patterns of stratification in each of the markets bear out the desirability of originality. Says To of watches: “A collector would rather have a watch that is highly worn, but showing all its original definitions on the side of the case, rather than sending it to the factory and coming up brand new with today’s parts. Wind adds a specific example: “There’s a huge difference between, say, a 1950s, small-crown Submariner that has a service-replacement dial, and bezels, bracelets, et cetera—that might be an $8000 watch—but an original example could be $500,000 at auction.” 

The handbag market appears to be following the same trend that our own Dave Kinney, publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide, observed in the car market: Serious buyers are getting more selective. The value of an example isn’t captured solely by its configuration or condition. To be desirable, the example must also have the right paperwork and provenance. As Max Brownawell observes about the handbag market, buyers are increasingly looking for a bag to be accompanied by its original box, accessories, receipt, and/or factory paperwork. All three markets understand the value of a factory-spec restoration—the handbag market is especially picky, requiring the work to be done by the manufacturer—and prove the truth that Kinney captures: “Restored is OK, but original is better, and sometimes way better.”

Long-Tail COVID Changes

The COVID era introduced speculation and volatility, but to reduce the last four or five years to that story risks oversimplification, as does a conviction that 2023’s cooling is a cause for major concern. When we interviewed experts in the collector car market at the end of 2023, the consensus was a decelerating but stable market. The Hagerty Market Rating, at 65.41 as of April 19, may be on the longest unbroken losing streak in its history, but it remains safely above the 50 of a flat market and higher than any point in the four years leading up to its most recent surge. 

The art market finished 2023 with a global total of $5.74B in sales, a 27% drop from 2021, according to The Fine Art Group’s year-end report. As drastic as that sounds, the latest non-COVID-related highwater mark was 2018, whose total of $12.33B was heavily swayed by one Christie’s sale ($835M for The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller) and, with that discount, 2023 ended only 9% below 2018. The Art Group concludes by calling 2023 “a natural and necessary decline from a period of unprecedented and unsustainable price points.” 

The handbag market, on the other hand, appears to be sitting pretty: Between 2019 and 2023, says Christie’s Brownawell, the Handbags & Accessories auction market grew by 28% overall. Christie’s own department, which comprised 52% of the global handbag market in 2023, observed 94% sell-through rates; far stronger than the art market or the classic-car auction market (live and online), whose numbers are both declining. 

One thing is sure: Online auctions, forced centerstage by COVID, are here to stay, no matter which of the four luxury goods we’re discussing. Heriot says that COVID was the single biggest factor in increasing the popularity (by 400% or more) of online auctions for art, a notoriously “persnickety” market that can punish an “overexposed” lot. From 2019 to 2023, total sales of online collector-car auctions ballooned from $243.74M to $1.7B. Online participation in Phillips watch auctions doubled or tripled in the last few years, To says. Post-COVID, Christie’s only hosts one live handbag auction, in Hong Kong, and not because online is weak: The local market in Hong Kong is particularly strong, and export restrictions around alligator and crocodile bags artificially localize the market. 

What’s not as clear is what sort of a factor social media is in the market. Gen Z, the group whose youngest years were dominated by social media, has yet to age into its prime earning years. Will the transience of online trends become so obvious that even younger collectors brush it off? Or will it become a new factor in taste-making for a rising generation? 

A Few Takeaways

Some things, of course, never changed. One is that the serious collectors have patience and crave the best, not simply the most popular. “When you’re starting to collect,” says To, “you want the thing that’s most recognizable. Once you’ve collected all these highly recognizable pieces, then I would say people become more nuanced. They want to go deeper.” Often, this desire prompts a turn from the retail to the secondary market. Wind identifies a complementary motivator: the desire for something more exclusive, more individual. “I would say more people in the kind of fashion world, athletes, [people] who would never think about vintage watches—actors, musicians as well—all these demographics were sort of more focused on modern watches traditionally.” As with cars or handbags, the finite selection within the vintage market offers more exclusivity than the retail market, in which there might be thousands of a single reference, and that limited selection offers more of a challenge to those who want the best. To, again: “The game is not just paying as much as you can, but it’s having the patience to search, hunt for certain references.” Money, of course, cannot always prize the piece that you want out of the hands of another buyer … and that hunt, and that game, is what attracts such passion-driven buyers.

Such patience may or may not be accompanied by curation of your collection as a collection; you may simply buy what you like. As Brownawell says, “There’s a big element of our buyers that I would call shoppers, more than collectors … They’re not necessarily looking at their [handbag] collection as something that they’re developing over time. It’s just something that they do. This is just what they buy.” If you nodded as you read that sentiment, you likely buy out of genuine love for the object, regardless of whether others recognize a car, bag, or piece of art as a statement about your taste or status.

Nearly everyone we interviewed for this piece attested to another lasting truth: the value of education. “I’ve seen people blow, in some cases, millions of dollars buying things that they shouldn’t have, you know, either overpriced or misrepresented Frankenstein watches, et cetera,” says Wind. “It’s a huge negative for the market because those people leave the field forever typically.” The more educated collectors are, he says, the happier they will be and the stronger the market will become. At Hagerty we have a similar goal: We want to celebrate vintage cars, educate younger buyers about their quirks, and empower them to make informed decisions not only about purchase but about maintenance.

It’s not just individual dealers or publications that take on this responsibility; auction houses accept the mantle, too. As Brownawell says, “When we get a very rare vintage piece that might not be appreciated by the larger collecting community, that’s our opportunity to teach people about it and to increase the level of scholarship within the market and introduce it to  a large audience.” Much of the education, too, happens between collectors, no matter whether you’re discussing how to jet a carburetor or the best insert to protect the lining of your Birkin. 

If you are genuinely passionate about bags, watches, cars, or art, buy what you love, learn about it, and seek out the community around it: You might even come out ahead. Despite the unprecedented heating earlier in the decade, it’s clear that collector markets are generally correcting. (The handbag market is riding higher than the other three, which may be tied to its relative youth; time will tell.) New buyers are entering the market, and new eras, varieties, brands, and manufacturers are finding their footing. This sort of growth, while it may contribute to instability, is what keeps every collector market humming, and if the last few years are any indication, the market always recovers.

The post What Watches, Art, and Handbags Illuminate about a Cooling Car Market appeared first on Hagerty Media.

My work life has been all about cars, but I have a confession to make: Fixing what’s broken is not my thing. Sure, I can glue stuff and I know my way around some of the most basic tools, but a handyman I am not. Online courses taken at YouTube University have helped, but the reality is that you just don’t want anything DIY’d by Dave.

In my field of valuing cars, however, I have many examples of much better DIY work. This includes everything from simple fixes to entirely home-built automobiles. When it comes to the value of these cars, it all comes down to two simple words: build quality.

Yep, build quality. Hot rods? Build quality. Restored cars? Build quality. Rebuilt wrecks? Build quality. For anything that has been extensively touched by humans or machines not employed by the factory, those two words overrule the rest. And, in general, a repair or modification that leaves your car significantly different or objectively worse than when it left the factory will likely make it worth less than the same car in highly original or properly restored condition. Work done by well-known professionals also generally has a better value outlook down the line than even competent work you’ve done at home.

Of course, there are nuances here. The first has to do with the kind of car. Generally speaking, the more exotic and expensive the vehicle, the greater the scrutiny on your handiwork. For example, about 15 years ago, I looked at a Bentley whose dash had been replaced with plywood. Had this been a 1950s MG or an old pickup, I might have found this charming or at least forgivable. But a Bentley? Not so much.

For true high-dollar classics, the mere lack of a receipt for maintenance work from a reputable shop can be a black mark. I admire anyone with the gumption to attempt an engine-out belt replacement on a Ferrari, but I’m willing to bet it won’t sell for as much as one that’s had the service done by professionals and has the paperwork to prove it. For a buyer, receipts are reassuring.

The next question here—and forgive me for getting personal—is who are you? What skills or qualifications do you really have? Think about it this way—a classic maintained at home by an aerospace engineer is going to attract more buyers than one maintained at home by a tax attorney. In the end, though, the work usually speaks for itself. When a car presents with a poor-quality paint job, incorrect parts or a botched interior re-do, the value prospects become dimmer.

The same basic rules apply to kit cars. From the 1950s and well into the 1980s, they were offered and built everywhere. You’d find them in the back pages of magazines for the mechanically inclined, as prizes on game shows, in the lots of new and used-car dealerships, even on raised displays at airports. The Mercedes (kinda almost) look-alike SSK’s, the VW-powered fiberfab exotic racers, the faux MG TDs with a motor mounted in the rear. The values for these projects depends heavily on how well they were finished (and, for that matter, if they were finished at all). The difference in quality between a kit car built to last a lifetime and one built to last a lunchtime is obvious. The difference in value between the two is astonishing. A professionally built or even factory-produced replica of a classic is also always going to be of better quality, and therefore worth money, than a replica built by a DIYer.

None of this is meant to discourage anyone from wrenching on their own car. I’m in awe of those who can use those skills that I don’t possess—the building, fixing, repairing and restoring of automobiles. And, enjoyment rather than monetary value, should always be the primary return on a classic car. Yet if we’re talking about protecting an investment, it’s important to make sure work is done properly—even if that means paying an expert.

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The post Why I Pay the Pros to Do My Repairs appeared first on Hagerty Media.

From the outside, 1421 Emerson Avenue in Oxnard, CA, is a nondescript industrial building among many others. Inside, though, it has been a garden of earthly delights as collection after collection filled its floor and mezzanine. It first housed the collection of Otis Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, and later those of Peter and Merle Mullin. It was here on April 26, 2024 that select cars from the Mullin Collection were sold at no reserve.

During its Chandler years – when it was known as the Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife – its displays and the underlying collections underwent many changes. The Vintage Museum, as it was commonly known, rotated displays reflecting both Otis Chandler’s interests and his evolving collections.

When motorcycles were the focus the feature display at one time included Daniel Statnekov’s unparalleled collection of board track racers along with a recreated section of lumber-paved banked oval track typical of where they were raced in the 1910s and 1920s. Then there were Muscle cars, including the finest limited-production examples from the 1960s and 1970s.

And always there were classic cars. They were the Vintage Museum’s focus in 2006, when Gooding & Company sold the collection at a 90-lot on-site auction after Chandler’s death. I largely catalogued the sale.

That seemed to be the end but soon Peter and Merle Mullin acceded to the property. They took a turn at an even better venue for their collection of major league French design, and not just the stuff on wheels. They had Carlo Bugatti-designed furniture, the animal sculpture of his son Rembrandt and, foremost, the cars and other creations of Carlo’s other son, Ettore.

They refined the venue with Art Deco details ranging from an open cage elevator and elaborate mezzanine railings to cladding the industrial strength building posts with details recalling the cast iron construction of the French Belle Epoque. The building was marked by banners for French marques and coachbuilders in the style of the great Paris Auto Shows. It reflected their passion, from a Figoni & Falaschi Talbot-Lago T150 CS Teardrop through a representative collection of Gabriel Voison’s idiosyncratic sleeve valve-engined Avions-Voisins and rows of barn finds, from the fabled Schlumpf “Reserve Collection” and the fabulous Bugatti Type 22 Brescia salvaged after decades underwater in Lago Maggiore to a phalanx of variants of the Citroën Deux Chevaux.

Peter Mullin passed away last year, and for the past few months there was a great deal of anticipation for this dispersal auction, conducted by Gooding & Co. The Mullins’ cars and their appreciation of great design were well established. Much of the collection, however, had been already gone off to new owners, leaving only a few outstanding designs for this sale.

According to an April 23 Robb Report online article and interview with Merle Mullin, four important cars had been sent to the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles: 1937 Talbot-Lago T150 CS “Teardrop” by Figoni & Falaschi, 1938 Hispano-Suiza H6B Dubonnet Xenia, 1939 Delahaye 165 and 1938 Delahaye 145. The 1939 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic has reverted to its 51% partner, Rob Walton.

Gooding also sold 20 of the Mullin Collection cars in the build-up to the Oxnard sale at Amelia in March bringing a total of $4,428,700 including:

• Avions-Voisin C28 Clairiere (s/n 28917) for $224,000
• Hispano-Suiza 15T Alfonso XII recreation (s/n 814) for $$357,000
• Bugatti Type 49 Berline (s/n 49377) for $390,000
• Delahaye 135MS Cabriolet (s/n 800727) sold for $390,000
• Delage D6 Grand Prix (s/n 80004) for $544,000
• Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix (s/n 4634) for $582,500

Including them in the $19,016,296 total for last weekend’s auction in Oxnard yields a total of $23,444,996 for the Mullin Collection, less than the $35,930,950 that the Chandler Collection brought back in 2006 (at the time a record for a one-day single collection auction) but still an endorsement of collectors’ enthusiasm in 2024. What Rob Walton forked over for the Mullins’ 49% interest in their Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic only adds to the swag and may put the whole collection’s total over the top of Chandler’s 2006 auction (without adjustment for inflation, it should be said).

In truth, most of the Oxnard sale’s cars were old restorations. Many were raggedy barn finds from the Schlumpf Reserve Collection. There was a lot of rust in the preview, but still there were many lots in exceptional condition and a notable contingent of largely original vehicles that ignited the bidders’ interest.

Only five of the 38 lots I examined on-site earned condition ratings of #2 (“excellent”) or better. Fifteen were (sometimes generously) rated as #4 (“fair”) or worse.

That did nothing to deter the crowd in Oxnard, the people on the phones, or the bidders on the internet. Bidding contests were prevalent, even when auctioneer Charlie Ross scraped the bottom of the barrel for opening bids on some of the lots. The sale was all at no reserve and some lots opened at nearly negative money. But they usually ramped up quickly into four and five figures with a median transaction of only $27,500.

Throughout the sale there was good-natured interplay, often between auctioneer Charlie Ross and bidders who didn’t keep up, and sometimes among bidders determined to prove they were more committed than others. It was a shared enthusiasm among the many who appreciated the Mullin cars for what they might be, not the rusty/dusty relics they were today.

Notable transactions included:

• 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Special Cabriolet by Gangloff, originally owned by racing driver Maurice Trintignant and restored for the Mullins under Trintignant’s guidance, a radical transaction at $6,605,000 all-in, about three times the middle of its pre-sale estimate.
• 1927 Bugatti Type 40 Break de Chasse, a utility truck with wood bed and canvas wagon top from the Schlumpf Reserve Collection that was all there but exploded its pre-sale estimate of $100-$150,000 with an all-in price of $445,000.
• 1937 Wanderer W25K Roadster, another Schlumpf Reserve Collection car and one of a handful of Mullin cars that didn’t originate in France, that rated a condition scale #4- but surpassed its pre-sale high estimate of $80-$120,000 with a successful hammer bid (and an enthusiastic bidding contest) of $125,000, $140,000 all-in.
• 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Ventoux Coupe, also a Schlumpf Reserve Collection barn find, was a bit better than the Wanderer, classed a #4 condition and largely complete except for some trim details, sold for $472,500 all-in against a pre-sale estimate of $125-$175,000.
• And, lest it appear that all was rough around the edges, there was the 1937 Delage D8-120 Three-Position Cabriolet, a sleek, beautiful car that was concours restored with some road miles. It brought $731,000 all-in, although less than its estimate of $800-1,000,000.
• The Bugatti Type 46 Semi-Profilée, a rebodied and re-engined derelict Type 46 reportedly sold at the Barrett-Jackson/Coys Monaco auction in 2000 for $49,059 rewarded Jack Braam Ruben for his efforts to recreate it by bringing $1,105,000 all-in.
• Finally, it is impossible to ignore the last lot of the sale, a 1986 Citroën 2CV6 Special sedan that sold for an affordable $14,560.

There are several take-aways from the dispersal of the Mullin Collection.

The first and more important is that there still exists an appreciation of old cars with buyers willing to back up their enthusiasm and fine distinctions in chassis and coachwork with serious money. Bidders here in Oxnard and two months ago in Amelia bid with both their heads and their hearts for appealing cars.

Then, there is the elusive “provenance” consideration. With the Mullin cars it was manifest in the nearly singular approach to the collection’s approach to French style and automobile history. The Mullin cars are the finest of the fine (including those sent to the Petersen Museum and the Type 57SC Atlantic transferred to co-owner Rob Walton). That provenance will always attach to these cars where “ex-Mullin Collection” sets them apart.

And, finally, there’s the 1421 Emerson Avenue in Oxnard, a car lover’s mecca for a generation. The history of the place, the great cars and motorcycles that have been displayed and preserved here, is epic. It is a setting that should be seized upon and exploited by a new car collector from Southern California to continue its history.

The post At the Mullin Collection Auction, Old Car Enthusiasm Was Alive and Well appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Porsche sold about 1270 Carrera GTs worldwide, and roughly half of them came to North America. When new, they cost in the half-million-dollar range, but that was 20 years ago. Since then, prices for classics, modern exotics, and even late-model production cars have surged, and then more recently softened. The past two decades have also seen cars like the Carrera GT—stick-shift, naturally aspirated, non-hybrid, no driving aids—all but cease to exist despite a clear appetite for them. That this one sold at Broad Arrow’s all-Porsche Air|Water event this past weekend for $1,792,500 (more than triple what it cost new) suggests that our appetite is still strong, despite cooling prices of late.

Even amid the super-heated collector-car market during the pandemic boom of 2021–22, the Carrera GT was a major standout. Porsche's halo model of the era, and one of the definitive hypercars of the 2000s, the CGT was never cheap, but they were sub-$1M for most of their existence. Then, over the past five years, their value in the Hagerty Price Guide grew 87 percent. Over the last decade, their values have grown 201 percent. During 2021 and 2022, the record auction price for a Carrera GT was broken six times. Once, the record lasted just four weeks.

Since the end of 2022, though, Carrera GT values have taken a step back, by about 7 percent. The record sale price is still $2.2M, for a car sold in 2022. There was also a safety recall in April last year, and Porsche's delay in suspension parts to fix the issue led the company to issue a stop-use order on its 2000s flagship. Some insurers, especially in the UK, have also removed road-use coverage on their clients due to the order, which may have softened demand.

That said, Carrera GT values are still plenty high. The model's #2 ("excellent") condition in the Hagerty Price Guide currently sits at $1.4M, while its #1 ("best-in-the-world") value sits at $1.75M. The latest Carrera GT sale falls into that #1 range and is still the fifth-highest auction we've seen. And, taking a break from driving until any recall issues get sorted shouldn't be a big deal for this one. Bought and owned from new by American racing driver John O'Steen, who drove Porsches at the 24 Hours of Daytona and in Trans Am during the 1970s and 1980s, it shows just 3601 miles. It comes with the factory five-piece luggage set and car cover, and just had its annual service. There are lower-mile Carrera GTs, and there are examples finished in colors more exciting than black over black, but this is a solid car and it sold very well.

Stick-shift exotics like this were one of the hottest segments of an already super-heated market in 2021–22, and it appears the Carrera GT has staying power. It hits that 2000s sweet spot of being decidedly modern, but not too modern. The carbon-fiber monocoque and subframe, along with its 205-mph top speed, are all the stuff of contemporary supercars, but the beechwood shift knob atop its six-speed manual, real buttons in the interior, that big, naturally aspirated V-10 engine, and the lack of electronic nannies to keep you from doing something stupid are all refreshingly old school. Buyers like that combination, but nothing built in 2024 has it. That's what keeps the exotic cars of the previous generation relevant.

The post Porsche Carrera GTs Have Softened, But a $1.8M Sale Shows They’re Still High appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Nearly 20 years ago, I was in high school and riding to Thunderhill Raceway Park with Bruce Trenery, a vintage car dealer. During our trip, he articulated his predictions for the future of enthusiasm for cars. In addition to his concerns about the regulatory environment, he was most disquieted by his perception that young people just weren’t interested in cars any more. As a young person who was (and remains) immensely passionate about cars, I was initially put off that the latter idea could even be possible, but after reflecting on the interests of my contemporaries, it alarmed me because I could see a lot of truth to it.

While car enthusiasm today isn’t ubiquitous the way it might have been in the era of Grease or when the Beach Boys released “409,” Trenery’s foreboding apprehension remains mercifully unfulfilled. In fact, I have been delighted to observe what almost feels like a resurgence in passion for cars among young people in the past two decades. Attending events today, especially more approachable ones like Radwood, I’m always struck by the number of obviously enthusiastic teenagers and twenty-somethings, especially given that the cars concerned are often older than they are.

The emergence of social media has doubtless played a big role in spreading enthusiasm: The dynamic and sensory nature of cars (i.e. they move, they’re shiny, and they make loud noises) means that they lend themselves perfectly to the mediums of photo and video. Teenaged “spotters” wandering events, camera in hand, become the purveyors of beautiful media that portrays our cars in fresh, original ways. While it is gratifying for us to look at pretty images, the rise of spotters does something essential for young people, too—it gives them a meaningful way to interact with cars (and often their owners, too) that they couldn’t otherwise do, regardless of whether that’s in person or on their phones.

That’s particularly fortunate since the barriers to entering this space as a participant—that is, as a car owner rather than an observer—are higher than they have been since at least the end of World War II. This is tragic but incontrovertible based on three interrelated factors, all of which converge to make things tough for young enthusiasts. These are, in order from broadest to most granular: 1) macroeconomic shifts 2) their consequences on the new car market 3) the resulting impact on secondhand enthusiast cars ranging from lightly used late model cars to full-fledged classics.

The core of the macroeconomics discussion as relates to young people is disposable income. Simply put, young folks have a lot less of it than youths did in previous decades. This is the result of too many things to discuss in detail here, but the rising costs of real estate, education, and healthcare at rates that exceed the growth of wages are major drivers. These affect people of all ages of course, but for young people who do not yet own any real estate to help their net worth grow, and for whom the ever-increasing cost of education (and the near necessity of student debt) is greater and a larger share of their liabilities, these economic realities are far more restrictive. This means that even if car prices were stable (they’re not), young folks would be less able to participate in the market because they simply don’t have the disposable income to enter it.

Real wages have been stagnating for decades and the consequences of this long-standing trend have been manifesting themselves in the new car market since at least the 1990s. In short, as people have less disposable income, they buy fewer fun cars and manufacturers respond by killing them off because they sell poorly.

Let’s take a journey back 30 years to 1994, when there was a whole host of enthusiast cars available at both entry and higher price points. Effectively the entire sport compact genre, including: Honda Prelude and Del Sol, Nissan Sentra SE-R and 240 SX, Toyota MR2 and Celica, the Mitsubishi Eclipse (and Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser) and 3000 GT (and Dodge Stealth), the Ford Probe, the Mazda MX-3 and MX-6. Go back another 20 or 30 years and the story is similar: Fiat 124, Alfa Spider, Datsun Roadster, Triumph TR, MGB, and big Healeys. This to say nothing of pony cars and muscle cars from the ‘60s and early ‘70s.

Today, these cars and their ilk are nearly gone from manufacturer lineups. There are precious few reasonably priced sporting survivors: the Mini (which recently lost its manual for the US market, as has Volkswagen’s GTI), the Subaru WRX, the Mazda MX-5, and the Toyota GT-86 (and BRZ), which is most realistically the spiritual descendent of the 240SX. This is not part of some draconian plot on the part of manufacturers to deprive us of driving enjoyment and modernity in the same package, but rather their response to market forces. One needs only look at MX-5 sales in 1991 (63,000 units) vs 2018 (27,000 units) to see that consumers aren’t buying sporting cars the way they once could, despite today’s Miata costing less than it did in 1991 when adjusted for inflation and there being fewer other enthusiast choices at comparable prices now.

This lack of appealing new affordable options for the driving enthusiast has predictably disheartening consequences for secondhand cars of the same ethos, whether they’re four years old or 40 years old. The decreasing sales of these cars when new in recent years means that supply for used options is tight and thus depreciation is low. This, coupled with the fact that 30-year-old cars are pretty usable in modern traffic, means that more and more enthusiasts are turning to Radwood era (1980-99) cars.

In 1994, driving a 30-year-old enthusiast car meant giving up a lot of usability and performance. You’d have to deal with carburetors, marginal brakes, tires, suspension, and acceleration, catastrophic rust, poor weather sealing and ventilation, and a host of other unpleasantries that we don’t generally have to contend with in a 30-year-old car today. Similarly, cars of the Radwood era are easier to live with than more modern ones, albeit for completely different reasons. They’re much simpler than newer cars, lacking most of the sensors and computers that handle everything from HVAC to the powertrain to radar cruise control. Even something as simple as replacing headlights has been completely transformed: compare the 5.25” and 7” sealed beams in a BMW E30 or NA Miata to a $1500 Xenon assembly in a car from 10 years ago.

The result is that cars of this era are sought not only by Generation X and millennials who lusted after them in their youths, but by Generation Z too, who are pushed toward them by the dearth of affordable and appealing newer options and pulled toward them by the intrinsically appealing characteristics such as the experience of interacting with them and the variety of options, along with their simplicity and accordingly sensible running costs. The tragic result of this growing demand is that cars of this era have appreciated in value, making it even more difficult for young folks to buy into the market.

The silver lining (for us car nuts anyway) is that car enthusiasm is still very much alive and well, even if it takes a bit more diligence. For young enthusiasts, there are many interesting options at reasonable prices if they’re willing to go off the beaten path a bit. Mainstream enthusiast cars like M3s and air-cooled 911s are prohibitively expensive, but plenty of other options do still exist like non-M BMW E36s, early Boxsters, or several generations of the Mustang. For those less concerned about sporting intent, a host of other Radwood attendees remain attainable, from a Toyota Century to the world’s cleanest 1989 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo. 

This may be feeble consolation in the face of larger economic forces, and young enthusiasts approach the hobby through different literal and figurative vehicles than in years past, but there’s no question that they remain highly engaged. I for one am delighted to see their passion and look forward to seeing how the resilience of the human spirit inspires them to express that passion in ways that generations before them never considered.

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The post Is It a Bad Time to Be a Young Car Enthusiast? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Barrett-Jackson has been coming to Palm Beach (technically, West Palm Beach) at the South Florida Fairgrounds since the mid-2000s, making this the auction house’s most enduring auction that’s not in Arizona. B-J’s sale here consistently brings over 600 vehicles and dozens of vendors to the venue for a smaller version of the collector car fanfare we’re used to seeing in and around Scottsdale. This year, total sales were a solid $45M and average price was rather high at more than $74,000, but there were plenty of budget-friendly four-figure classics as well.

Indeed, Palm Beach usually offers a wide range of vehicles at a wide range of prices, and this year was no different, although offerings at the top end were less diverse. Five of the top 10 sales were a Ford GT of some sort, and eight of the top 10 were built after the year 2000. Only a 1966 Corvette restomod and the replica Dodge Daytona from Joe Dirt brought some American muscle into the top 10.

We examined some of the more interesting cars and significant sales in detail below.

Lot 692: 1972 DeTomaso Pantera

Sold for $176,000

Chassis no. THPNMB02424. Red over black vinyl. Visually maintained, largely original, #2 condition.

Equipment: 351/330hp, 5-speed, Campagnolo wheels, Becker Europa radio, power windows, air conditioning.

Condition: Represented with 1592 actual miles and its preservation is impressive. It shows careful ownership and only light age inside and out, although the paint does not look original.

Bottom line: An early Pantera that hasn’t been cut up or modified is already impressive, doubly so when it is as well preserved as this. The car has been to auction a few times, and bidders have always appropriately recognized its originality by paying a premium price for it. Its auction history also does a good job of tracing the market for these Italo-American sports cars over time. At Mecum Indy in 2014, it sold for $86,400. At Indy again six years later and in a hot 2020 market, it sold for $148,500. At Kissimmee 2022 and in an even hotter market, it brought $181,500, while in 2024 among softer but still high prices it took a small step back in price.

Lot 677: 1987 Buick Regal GNX

Sold for $156,200

Chassis no. 1G4GJ1174HP451735. Black over black and gray cloth. Unrestored original, #2 condition.

Equipment: 231/276hp, automatic, Goodyear Eagle tires.

Condition: Number 438 of 547 built. Showing 1309 miles and the tires are represented as original. Very well kept and preserved.

Bottom line: The GNX was one of the fastest and most desirable American cars of the 1980s. They’ve never really fallen out of favor, but it wasn’t until the last few years that they became six-figure modern collector cars. Way back in 2000, this one sold at RM’s Phoenix auction for just $30,800. Its odometer showed 534 miles and it was in essentially the same condition as it is today. It really is worth five times as much as it was 24 years ago.

Lot 745: 2005 Ford GT Twin-Turbo by Hefner Performance

Sold for $374,000

Chassis no. 1FAFP90SX5Y400061. Midnight Blue with white stripes over black.

Equipment: Twin-turbocharged, Ford Performance exhaust, shorty headers, Penske shocks, transmission oil cooler, removed rear bumper, 6-speed, painted calipers, McIntosh stereo, BBS wheels.

Condition: Paint shows some swirling and scratching but no major issues. Oddly, neither the mileage nor the horsepower numbers are represented.

Bottom line: This is an early production GT modified by an outfit in Florida, and although there are no dyno sheets, it is surely very fast. To drive, it’s probably a blast. As a collector car, though, the mods and the signs of use are knocks against it, and there are cleaner 2005-06 GTs to choose from that hit the auction block every month. Or even the same day, as the 597-mile car Barrett-Jackson sold 20 lots earlier than this brought $451,000.

Lot 440: 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 Cabriolet by Gemballa

Sold for $110,000

Chassis no. WP0CB2965LS472097. Black over black leather. Original, #3+

Equipment: 3.6, 5-speed, whale tail, Gemballa wheels, Michelin Pilot Sport tires, white gauges, Pioneer stereo, carbon fiber dash.

Condition: Showing 75,514 miles. Some minor paint blemishes on the nose and mirrors. A few small cracks in the headlight covers. Clean wheels. Clean, straight top. Good interior with stretched upholstery on the driver’s side. Pretty understated for a Gemballa.

Bottom line: Uwe Gemballa founded a tuning company in 1981 and became a big name in modern coachbuilding, at least until he was murdered in South Africa in 2010. Gemballa-modified cars (mostly Porsches) are distinctive at best and ugly at worst, but they’ve never been boring, even if this is one of the more understated body kits they ever did. Body-kitted and tuned exotics like Gemballas, Koenigs, early AMGs, etc. were a bit passé for a while but collectors of a certain age are coming around to them. The bidders recognized this one for what it is, and that it isn’t just a 911 with a kit slapped on at the local body shop. Despite its use, the car sold for a big price. A regular 964-generation Carrera 4 cabriolet would never sell for this much, even in perfect condition.

Lot 356: 1979 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II

Sold for $27,500

Chassis no. SRK38123. Chestnut over biscuit leather. Visually maintained, largely underneath.

Equipment: Automatic, wheel covers, narrow whitewalls, power windows, air conditioning, original AM/FM.

Condition: Supposedly bought “nearly new” for talk show host Jack Paar as a gift from his wife. Represented with $30,000 worth of work over the past six months. Old repaint with a few blemishes but nothing serious. Lightly aged bumpers. Excellent interior. Tidy underneath. The recent mechanical work is very reassuring on any old Rolls-Royce, and the celebrity connection, while not super-relevant, is a nice bonus.

Bottom line: Jack Paar was a TV pioneer, but the number of people who really remember his tenure at The Tonight Show (1957-62) can’t be big. He also wasn’t known as a big car person (at least not the way later host Jay Leno is), and he owned this Rolls well past the peak of his career. The celebrity appeal here, then, is limited. The price, however, is on the high side for a Silver Shadow—one of the avenues to getting a true Spirit of Ecstasy on your hood. Credit the $30,000 worth of recent service, which isn’t usually lavished on affordable Rolls-Royces like this one.

Lot 675.1: 1999 Shelby Series 1

Sold for $165,000

Chassis no. 5CXSA1817XL000039. Silver with blue stripes over black and gray. Original, #2- condition.

Equipment: 244/320hp Oldsmobile V8, 6-speed, Nitto tires.

Condition: Some chips on the nose and dirt behind the headlight covers. Paint crack behind the left headlight. Very light wear on the driver’s seat. Showing 1360 miles and showing very light signs of age.

Bottom line: Despite its looks, the Series I wasn’t quite the Cobra successor it could have been, and people have been holding that against it ever since it came out. Original specifications called for a carbon-fiber body, Corvette transaxle, and 500 horsepower, but the reality was more modest. It got heavier, and the Olds V8 offered up less power, and the price climbed higher than anticipated. Objectively, it’s a great-looking car that’s plenty fast, but it’s always been undervalued relative to its rarity (249 built) and the famous name attached to it. Only in the past 10 years or so have prices really started to climb. In Palm Beach two years ago, this one sold for $126,500, which was on the modest side. The 2024 price is a better match for its mileage and condition.

Lot 788: 1961 Renault 4CV Jolly Beach Wagon

Sold for $36,300

Chassis no. 3607757. Cream yellow with yellow and white cloth top over wicker seats. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 747/21hp four-cylinder, 3-speed, hub caps.

Condition: Represented as one of 50 exported to the U.S. and Caribbean, and bought new by the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas. With the same family for the past 40 years and restored 10 years ago. Good paint. Light pitting on the chrome, including on the edges of the exterior grab bars. The wicker is all original and in solid shape aside from a few cracks. The dash and steering wheel are mostly clean, but the ignition around the keyhole is pitted. The top is a little dirty and aged. A perfect beach car with all the charm of a Fiat Jolly but for a lower cost.

Bottom line: Most of coachbuilder Ghia’s beach car, aka “Jolly”, bodies were on Fiats. The Italian cars are better known and more highly prized. Well-restored ones have sold for well over $100,000. But this Renault has all the charm and similar performance, or lack thereof, for a much lower cost. Are there cheaper ways to hit the beach in style? Certainly, but this is still so much charm and fun per dollar.

Lot 767.1: 2020 Porsche Boxster 718 Spyder

Sold for $126,500

Chassis no. WP0CC2A8XLS240606. Chalk with red top over red and gray. Original, #2 condition.

Equipment: 4.0/414hp, 6-speed, black wheels, red calipers, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.

Condition: Showing 8086 miles and no real age or wear.

Bottom line: Six figures for a Boxster just sounds wrong, but the 718 Spyder is not your hairdresser’s Boxster. Essentially an open version of the Cayman GT4, it has aero bits on the body, suspension bits and brakes from a 911 GT3, and a much more powerful engine than the base car. It can hit nearly 190 mph. A 2020 718 Spyder started at a little over $97K, so with options this has always been a six-figure car, and the fact that a high-performance Porsche didn’t depreciate after four years and 8000 miles isn’t really surprising.

Lot 370.1: 1970 AMC Rebel Machine

Sold for $69,300

Chassis no. A0M190Y171202. White, blue and red over black vinyl. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 390/340hp, 4-speed with Hurst T-handle shifter, limited-slip and Detroit Locker, Magnum 500-style wheels, BFG Radial T/A tires, high-back bucket seats, console.

Condition: Decent paint with some scratches and touch-ups on the nose and a spot of surface rust under one of the headlights. Decent chrome, but the rest of the brightwork is original and tired. Clean wheels and tires. Upholstery looks newer while the dash and switchgear looks original, and overall the interior looks good. Inconsistent presentation, but a rare piece of AMC muscle that always makes a statement, and a patriotic one at that.

Bottom line: The Rebel was a short-lived model, only lasting from 1967 to 1970, and for its final year Hurst developed a high-performance version called the Rebel Machine. Based on a Rebel SST, it had the most powerful engine available in an AMC product and was dressed up with red, white, and blue reflective stripes. For 2326 buyers, it was an economical way to get in on the peak of the muscle car craze. They’re still economical, at least relative to their style, performance, and rarity. This result is realistic for the condition of this example.

Lot 791.1: 1996 Nissan Skyline GT-R LM Limited

Sold for $105,600

Chassis no. BCNR33023215. Championship Blue over gray cloth. Original, #2- condition.

Equipment: RHD. 2568/276hp, 5-speed with aftermarket shift knob, alloy wheels, Brembo brakes, aftermarket radio, aftermarket exhaust.

Condition: One of 188 LM Limited GT-Rs. Showing 118,190 km (73,440 miles) but recently serviced and looks quite good with a recent detailing. The paint and wheels are blemish-free. It’s clean underneath and the interior looks great as well.

Bottom line: Built briefly in the spring of 1996, the LM Limited was built to celebrate Nissan’s efforts at Le Mans with the R33-generation GT-R, even though those efforts were unsuccessful after four tries at La Sarthe. All 188 cars got Championship Blue paint, special decals, a carbon spoiler blade, different cooling ducts, and a bonnet lip. This is one of the more valuable variants of the R33 (1995-98). The price here seems a bit modest given the mileage and condition, but this auction was also very light on JDM favorites and the right bidders may just not have been in the room.

Lot 731: 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Mk I Vantage Coupe

Sold for $238,700

Chassis no. DB62805R. Fiesta Red over gray leather. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Equipment: RHD. 3995/325hp, 5-speed, wire wheels, Vredestein tires, wood rim steering wheel, radio.

Condition: Restored in the late 1990s in the UK by RS Williams. Good older paint and chrome. Tidy, visibly but lightly run engine. Lightly aged and wrinkled leather. Older paint. Grimy underbody. Lightly aged restoration on a well-equipped Aston.

Bottom line: This DB6 isn’t perfect and the RHD is a knock to its desirability, but it’s a genuine Vantage wearing a high-quality (if older) restoration by a well-known specialist. It sold for $240,00 on Bring a Trailer just a few months ago in February, with unanswered questions and a lien on the car putting off bidders there. A $240K sale price is very low, low enough that taking it straight to Barrett-Jackson for a flip probably seemed like easy money. But it wasn’t, and given the fee structure of Bring a Trailer vs. B-J, the seller actually lost quite a bit of money here.

Lot 742: 2022 Ford GT Alan Mann Heritage Edition

Sold for $1,292,500

Chassis no. 2FAGP9EW4NH200027. Alan Mann Red, gold and white over black. Original, #2 condition.

Equipment: 213/660hp V6, paddle-shift 7-speed.

Condition: 16 miles, looks new, and pretty much is.

Bottom line: Ford spun off 10 different special editions of the 2016-22 GT, many of them playing on the theme of “Heritage.” The Alan Mann version is a tribute to Alan Mann Racing, the English team that raced GT40s in the ’60s as well as other Ford products like the Falcon, Lotus Cortina, and Escort. Alan Mann also gave the Mustang its first race victory in 1964. Just 30 examples of this special edition GT were produced for 2022. There were seven different Heritage Edition GTs, and whereas base cars typically sell for just under $1M these days, somewhere around $1.2M is more the norm for the Heritage cars.

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Back in 2007, rumors swirled about the “Blue Devil,” an even hairier and more capable Corvette than the C6 Z06 introduced a year earlier. With a name like that had and an already potent 505-hp Z06 to beat, expectations were high. But when Chevrolet turned the first C6 ZR1s loose, those expectations were met. The ZR1 badge was familiar from uber-Corvettes of old, but this was a new, massive leap forward for America’s sports car, and it wasn’t just the supercharged LS9 popping through the window in the hood that made it. The draw of the 2009-13 ZR1 has pulled in a surprising subset of enthusiasts. And while it’s never been cheap, it’s still one of the lowest-priced ways to buy into extreme performance.

By 2009, the sixth generation (C6) Corvette was in its fifth model year and selling well like the C5 before it. The taillights were still rounded—like a proper Corvette—but the chassis and powertrain had reached true world-class levels and was going to have trouble topping itself. The Z06 trim that arrived in 2006 was the lightest of all the sixth-gen cars and brought supercar performance on a budget, but despite the monumental improvements to the Corvette over the previous decade and a half, the C6 platform still had room for more power, and better handling thanks to downforce.

Internally named “Blue Devil” (an homage to GM CEO Rick Wagoner’s alma mater, Duke) the ZR1’s new engine was a supercharged 6.2-liter V8. The target was 100 horsepower-per-liter, but it left the factory with 638 hp and 595 lb-ft. The car could hit 60 in just over 3 seconds and top 200 mph. A front splitter helped keep the ZR1 stuck to the ground, while carbon fiber was utilized for the roof, hood, fenders and rocker moldings to keep weight down.

The power flows through a six-speed Tremec TR6060 manual transmission, which features the familiar and mildly annoying skip-shift solenoid, drivers to skip second and third gear when at light throttle and low RPM so the car could dance around the gas guzzler tax. This is easily fixed by either revving out a few hundred more RPM or installing an aftermarket skip shift eliminator that gives the driver the control over the transmission they paid for.

C6 ZR1s were incrementally improved over their production run, which wrapped with the 2013 model year. The 2012-13 cars, like this 2013 example, available on Hagerty Marketplace, sport improved seats, a new steering wheel design, other interior amenities, and slightly different gearing. Performance Traction Management, GM’s excellent stability control system, arrived in 2010.

With a base car as good as the C6, it’s not at all surprising that the ZR1 was a favorite of many drivers even if it was a slightly scary, even intimidating experience. The massive horsepower and torque numbers also lent to making the car sound far scarier than the driving experience tended to be in reality. The clutch take up is only fractionally heavier than a Z06, which combines with a long throttle pedal travel to make sure if you are only unleashing all 638 horsepower when you really want to.

The rest of the interior has a more premium feel and has aged a lot more gracefully than it’s predecessors, but that’s a low bar to beat. Overall, the ZR1 has a very similar cockpit to the lower C6 trims, with the exception of a manifold pressure gauge residing where the voltage meter sits in lower trims. It’s mainly the driving experience that will tell the driver they are behind the wheel of the top dog C6 rather than bits of flair on the dash.

And that experience, along with the raw numbers, has kept the car relevant and desirable even after a decade and a half. It’s arguably even more relevant now, at least to car enthusiasts. In just the last three years Hagerty’s insurance quote activity for the C6 ZR1 has risen 44%. Gen X and Millennials are the top buyers by generation, which goes against the stereotype of Corvettes being the bread and butter of Baby Boomers.

Our data also shows that overall values for the C6—the penultimate front-mid engine, rear-drive, true manual Corvette—have stayed relatively flat for several years, which suggests they are done depreciating. As for ZR1s, of which Chevrolet sold 4695 examples over five years, high-quality cars have seen notable appreciation while more used driver-condition examples have been fairly steady. Some perfect cars have sold for over $100K, and the original MSRP was in the low-$100K range, but currently the model’s condition #2 (“excellent”) value in the Hagerty Price Guide is $86,800. Not cheap, then, but its supercar speed combined with the ability to take to a Chevrolet dealer for service is hard to ignore. Performance per dollar has always been a big Corvette selling point. The C6 ZR1 simply pushed the performance envelope further than any Corvette before it. That, its relative rarity, and its status as the halo model for an entire generation of America’s sports car mean it never really left the Corvette conversation, and it likely never will.

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Five-year-old Adrienne Peters anxiously waited for dad to come home. Even at that early age, she knew her dad drew cars at work and that he usually came home at night driving something exciting, quite often a shiny new Corvette. But on this day, he pulled up to the family’s home in a big, black GMC crew-cab truck.

“There was something about the truck that I found captivating,” said Adrienne, recalling the beginning of her affair with aggressive black vehicles. “Something special about that truck that I’ve always loved—the presence, the stance,” she added.

It was another aggressive black vehicle that first introduced me to Ms. Peters. Some years ago, at a gathering of car folk on the expansive lawn behind the home of a GM design boss, a matte black Monte Carlo announced its presence with pounding exhaust notes as it came rumbling across the lawn on fat tires, looking like something out of the Mad Max stable.

I was a bit surprised to see Adrienne exit from behind the wheel, but I probably shouldn’t have been, as over many years in Metro Detroit I’ve come to learn that the Motor City car community is a diverse and interesting subculture. Her Monte Carlo was a fascinating work of automotive exuberance, and I’ll get back to that vehicle down the page, but, as I would later learn, the woman behind the wheel was even more interesting.

As I watched, Carolyn Peters—an acquaintance I had previously interviewed for an article about Detroit designers—called out to the Monte Carlo driver, and her words suggested the younger lady was her daughter. Accompanying Carolyn, a designer of automotive interiors and various other works of art, was her husband Tom Peters, a highly esteemed creator of high performance GM sheetmetal. Both Mr. And Mrs. Peters are car buffs who are regularly found behind the wheel of potent domestic hardware.

For a couple of years following that brief encounter, I hoped to learn more about the younger Ms. Peters and her outrageous Monte Carlo. Just recently, I got her to sit still long enough for a telephone interview and a photo shoot.

“It was a lot of fun growing up in a house with parents who were both serious car people and accomplished artists,” Adrienne Peters told me. “My parents’ passion for design extended to the mid-century ranch I grew up in and the art on the walls. But car culture was an integral part of our lives. There was always a cool car in the driveway. On weekends, you would likely find dad in one of his many Ed “Big Daddy” Roth T-shirts, working on intricate scale models of his favorite vehicles. When my parents had their car-designer friends over, I would listen in on their conversations with absolute fascination. I learned about the various eras of car design, design luminaries of the past, form language and much more—all at a very early age.”

Adrienne’s parents encouraged her to follow her passion whatever it might be, and as a young teen, she wanted to follow in their footsteps and design cars. But as much as she liked that role, she claims to have not inherited their artistic ability. So, she set her sights on owning a custom fabricating business, like the Roadster Shop, where she would create cars with steel and aluminum rather than with pencils and clay. She learned basic mechanical skills as she watched, questioned, and assisted her dad as he worked on his ’69 COPO Camaro clone. At 16, she purchased her first car, a ’99 Camaro SS that she equipped with headers, a free flowing (and loud) exhaust, and a cold-air intake system.

She cruised Metro Detroit’s Woodward Avenue, making friends with teens her age who were into muscle cars. She would turn wrenches for anyone who needed a helping hand and she relished problem solving. How many extensions and swivel sockets would it take to fasten the last bolt on that set of headers? She would find a way to do it, working side by side with other enthusiastic young Michiganders. “That was how I got started,” she said. “Working with different personalities and employing various techniques to solve a problem. Skills that translate to any job situation.”

Soon after graduating from high school, she apprenticed at Kustom Creations, an automotive metal fabricating business in Sterling Heights, Michigan. There she learned to form sheetmetal, weld, and create cars with powerful personality.

A car person to the core, Adrienne has owned a number of interesting rides, including a 1978 Silverado with a ten-inch lift, but she had long craved something even more distinctive. She saw an evil-looking ’71 Monte Carlo in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and started looking for a clean example that she could transform.

“I brainstormed the design of a Monte Carlo muscle car with my dad, Adrienne said. We talked about what it should look like inside and out. As we talked, he sketched.”

She bought a clean rolling chassis from first-generation Monte Carlo specialist Leo Konik of Konik’s Klassics and moved it into the shop at Kustom Creations. There, she disassembled the car, sand blasted the frame and coated it with POR15.

“I did as much of the work myself as I could,’ she said, “including welding up a mini-tub frame modification.” Adrienne also put her metal working skills to good use by fabricating an aluminum dashboard. Fitted with Black Autometer gauges backlit with red, the instrument panel is a clean, dramatic piece.

A six-point roll cage was installed by Kustom Creations co-owner Don Roberts, an NHRA-certified welder. Adrienne had at one time hoped to race regularly, and even skipped field day at her high school to attend a road racing training course. While in college, she spent some time at Frank Hawley’s drag racing school, but life has continuously gotten in the way of any serious effort in organized racing.

But with a 462 cubic-inch big-block Chevy, Airflow Research cylinder heads, a Competition Cams bump stick, Edelbrock intake manifold, headers and a 950-cfm double-pumper carb, the Monte Carlo offers plenty of thrills on the street. A turbo 400 with modified gear ratios and a set of 3.73 rear cogs make it a delight to drive, as long as you’re into loud spine-crushing power.

While the Monte Carlo has now been Adrienne’s passion for more than a dozen years, It’s always been secondary to her career goals, and she has relentlessly pursued opportunities in the automotive industry. She started by earning a degree in Business Management at Oakland University.

Though a full-time student at Oakland, Adrienne still found time between classes to help build some very special cars at Kustom Creations. And at age 19, she took time off to attend the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas. “I walked every foot of the convention center, and learned as much as I could about the industry.”

Shortly after graduation, she was hired by Jack Morton Worldwide, a marketing agency, to work on the Chevrolet Racing account. She quickly earned the confidence of her boss and was soon managing a brand experience program at a wide variety of pro racing series events. That role evolved into facilitating Chevrolet’s relationships with racers and the various series management teams.

Her hard work for Chevrolet Racing and the numerous industry contacts she made along the way made her a known player among GM performance executives, and one day she got a call from Roger McCormick, GM’s director of Accessories and Performance Parts Marketing.

“When he asked if I was interested in interviewing for a position at GM headquarters, my whole world kind of stopped,” said Adrienne. She was soon named marketing manager for Chevrolet Performance, her role eventually expanding to include performance parts product marketing and even a stint with the government supplier, GM Defense.

She has had many mentors over the years whom she credits as her inspiration and career champions. In addition to her parents, Jim Campbell, a GM VP on the performance side, Jamie Meyer, her predecessor in the Performance Marketing Manager role, and Kara Brotebeck, her boss at Chevrolet Performance all played considerable roles in Peters’ growth.

And of course there was Herb Fishel, former Executive Director of GM Racing, who said, “Adrienne Peters is blessed with a sixth sense to see a bigger picture and path for achievement. Originating with and fueled by her passion for the racing/high-performance industry, she meets every opportunity with this enthusiasm, and doesn’t lift until the objective is met.”

After putting in the work building her own car from the ground up, working for an agency, and then managing multiple departments for a manufacturer, Adrienne decided it was time to create her own automotive consulting business. She founded Ardent Strategies last year, and now specializes in helping others in the industry share their stories. “It was never just about cars … What really drives the $52 billion automotive aftermarket industry are the stories, communities and innovators behind it,” she says. At 35 years of age, Adrienne already has the background of a seasoned veteran, but those who know her best will tell you she’s just getting started.

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Assigning value to a vehicle isn’t always easy. More than just looking up a year/make/model, it factors in options, drivetrains, even colors. The first and possibly most important factor that enthusiasts go to, though, is condition. As with any kind of collecting, the condition of the object has a massive impact on how desirable and valuable an item is. This is why we use a condition rating scale when evaluating cars in person and updating the Hagerty Price Guide.

While different sources will offer slightly different scales, the industry standard for classic cars is a number 1 to 6 rating. The lower the number, the better the condition. We also use “+” and “-” to add a little more accuracy. For example, if a car is in nearly like-new #2 (“excellent”) condition but has just a handful of flaws, it might rate a #2-. Even within that scale, though, context is important, and there are some misconceptions about certain numbers in the range. Below, we’ll break down the scale and offer some context and spotting tips for each grade.

Condition #1: “Concours”

#1 vehicles are perfect, better than new, and almost never seen outside of major concours events.

These vehicles are, simply put, the best in the world. It would be inconceivable to think of a better example that exists anywhere. Some people misidentify like-new cars in #2 condition as #1 cars, but in reality a true #1 is a cut above simply “like-new.”

Think about it this way: By nature of the fact that most cars are mass-produced, there will always be flaws. It would simply be cost prohibitive to address every paint imperfection or align the panel gaps to millimeter consistency at the factory. A #1 vehicle, by contrast, should be held to this “everything is perfect” high standard. Everything about them should be flawless. Think of a paint finish so clean, it could double as a mirror, panel gaps that are perfectly aligned, and no expense spared using the correct parts, materials during restoration and labor to fit and finish everything.

It is extremely rare to encounter a car of this quality out in the wild, as #1 vehicles are sparingly driven at best. Just exposure to the elements is enough to deteriorate the finish enough to lower the condition rating over time. We label the #1 rating as “concours,” because high-tier, judged car shows are essentially the only place to see a true #1 classic.

Condition #2: “Excellent”

#2 condition vehicles are “like new” inside and out, or close to it.

This constitutes the majority of fully restored vehicles. A #2 can expect to win a local or regional show without too much trouble. To the average enthusiast, it will be difficult to spot anything amiss with the fit, finish, or correctness. It would take an expert to spot flaws, and they may be only technical ones at that. It is common for #2 vehicles to be mistaken for #1 vehicles, but minute details and the time spent on them can make a huge difference in a car’s value.

Most new, showroom fresh cars will fit the criteria of a #2 car. To the untrained eye, the fit and finish may seem perfect, but upon closer inspection even new cars often have orange peel in the paint and uneven panel alignment.

Condition #3: “Good”

#3 vehicles look quite good even from a short distance, but show minor age and flaws up close.

Most enthusiasts have a car that fits into this category. Based on our insurance data and in ratings compiled in person by the Hagerty Price Guide team, the vast majority of collector cars are in #3 condition. This makes sense. Cars are meant to be driven, not sitting in a garage collecting dust. Using a car inevitably creates deterioration of finish, rock chips, hazing paint, interior wear, etc.

While #3 cars show wear, that doesn’t mean they’re worn out. These may be former #2 vehicles with some miles under their belt, or a modern collector car with moderate mileage. At this point, a less seasoned enthusiast might be able to pick out flaws or imperfections in the finish, but they’re not painfully obvious, especially at 10 feet.

Condition #4: “Fair”

#4 vehicles show more significant and visible deterioration than a #3.

On a #4 vehicle, anyone should be able to point out significant flaws, even from a distance. A #4 condition car might have severe fading, blistering, severe chipping or even worn through areas of the paint finish. The interior shows heavily worn and possibly ripped upholstery. Cracks in the dashboard will be apparent. The mechanical components are still serviceable, but there’s a good chance that not everything works perfectly. While the drivetrain should still run fine, the engine might be tired and in need of freshening up. You can drive it, but probably wouldn’t take it on a road trip with confidence.

Modern enthusiasts cars in the #4 range have high mileage and may have been treated as daily transportation for the majority of their life, showing similar signs of a significantly used car. A #4 car may not be a restoration project, but its condition may warrant a cosmetic or mechanical restoration if it deteriorates much further.

Condition #5: “Project Car”

#5 project vehicles are salvageable, but need work before hitting the road.

At this point, we are talking about a project car that can’t be used until it gets serious attention. Whether it’s the stereotypical barn find or family car that has sat outside for years, this type of vehicle will requires significant, often professional attention. It is unlikely that the mechanicals function, but if they do they are in desperate need of a refresh.

On this type of vehicle, it’s easy to spot where metal needs to be repaired or replaced, and paint is significantly damaged and unsalvageable. The interior is likely to be very dirty and deteriorated, almost certainly requiring a complete redo. Most of the major components should all be there but, simply put, everything needs to be refurbished.

Condition #6: “Parts”

Does it get worse than a project car? It certainly does! Sadly, there comes a point where a car is too far gone to financially warrant saving. It would simply be too cost prohibitive to bring it back to life. This doesn’t mean there isn’t some value outside of the scrap yard, though. While the vehicle as a whole may be too far gone, there may be hard-to-find parts worth salvaging, refurbishing, and using for another project.

This is what we affectionately know as a parts car. It’s the hulk you buy to strip for useful pieces, especially those ones that the aftermarket might not produce.

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Director Dennie Gordon’s 2001 comedy, Joe Dirt, has a putrid 9 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I thought it was a pretty fun movie. It ain’t Citizen Kane, but the adventure comedy starring David Spade is silly enough for a few yuks. It’s also a rare Hollywood foray into storytelling for and about blue-collar workers. When released, Joe Dirt grossed $31M. At Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach this year, his Dodge Charger grossed $330,000.

The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona that starred alongside Spade’s mullet-haired, mop-wielding hero protagonist sold for almost exactly its #2 (“Excellent”) condition value of $337,000 in the Hagerty Price Guide. That’s odd for two reasons: one, because the car isn’t a real Dodge Daytona, and two, it certainly isn’t in excellent condition.

In 1969, Chrysler built the Charger Daytona as its first “aero” car, forming a distinctive pointy-nosed and high-winged shape with the high-speed tracks of NASCAR in mind. The Daytona won its first race, the Talladega 500, and notched six total NASCAR wins during the 1969-70 seasons. Its nearly identical successor, the Plymouth Road Runner Superbird, won a further eight races in 1970. Built on the same platform as the ’69 Charger R/T, the Daytona was also available to the public in order to homologate it for NASCAR racing, and 503 of them were built in total. Of that number, 70 received a 426-cubic-inch Hemi engine. The rest got a 440 Magnum. Today, Dodge Daytonas are highly coveted collector cars, but the Mopar aero cars weren’t particularly popular when new.

Apparently the same was true in the Joe Dirt days of 2001. In the movie, his Daytona is far from his pride and joy—it’s a backup plan. Immediately after buying a pristine ’67 Hemi GTX convertible from an old lady (who just killed her husband for only the change in his pocket), Dirt accidentally gets carried away in a hot air balloon and embarks on a series of misadventures. By the time he comes back to retrieve the Competition Orange GTX, the impound fee is over three grand. All he has is $450.

The guy at the impound lot (played by the inimitable Kevin Nealon) takes the $450 and gives him a mostly yellow (but also blue, with some primer) Daytona. It’s rusty, belches smoke, has no door panels, and one of its pop-up headlights is stuck. It’s also packed with ’70s muscle car clichés like a chrome chain-rimmed steering wheel, footprint gas pedal, fluffy seat covers, 8-track player, Cragar wheels, and fuzzy 8-balls in the mirror. Even with all that, though, $450 for a Mopar wing car was a steal even in 2001. For both the GTX and the Daytona, the car pricing in this movie was a little bit of movie magic.

So was the Daytona itself. The only car used for filming, it started out as a stock Plum Crazy over white 1969 Charger, born with a 318-cu-in engine. The engine was reportedly swapped out for a 440 built by drag racer Dick Landy, so it probably doesn’t really spew smoke. Its body panels were swapped for replica Daytona skin, including the 23-inch-tall rear wing, but the patina on the paint and wheels is all stage makeup. This is not a grimy car under the skin. On the contrary, it looks quite nice.

Spade must have liked it. In 2015, he plonked down $900,000 at auction for a real-deal, four-speed Hemi Daytona. (The same one sold for a record $1.43M at Mecum Kissimmee last year.)

A year after the movie came out, according to some online sources, the studio sold the scruffy Charger to a private owner for just $18,000. What Barrett-Jackson sold it for this year is nearly 18 times higher than that.

Here are some other wrinkles. All classic cars today are more expensive than they were 23 years ago, but some have grown more than others. The value curves of the two star cars in Joe Dirt illustrate this point. Today, a 440-powered Dodge Charger Daytona like Dirt’s in #4 (“Fair”) condition is actually worth more than a ’67 Hemi GTX convertible in #2 (“Excellent”) condition like the dream car he lost to the impound lot.

When it comes to cars, putting a price on fame and celebrity is a bit more art than science. Even so, a lot of it boils down to just how famous a car or its owner is, and just because a car was in a movie or owned by a celebrity doesn’t guarantee a big price. For example, Tom Cruise’s iconic Porsche 928 from Risky Business? A slam dunk. Dennis Rodman’s Mustang? Not so much. Certain movie cars are valued more as artifacts than automobiles.

In this Dodge’s case, it’s a car very closely associated with a fairly famous (if poorly reviewed) movie character, so a lot more of its sale price is thanks to screen time rather than quarter-mile time. Finally, in an auction setting, the right buyer has to be in the room at the right time. Most people wouldn’t drop $330,000 on a dumb comedy movie prop, even if they could afford to. But if such a thing were to sell at such a price anywhere, it would be at Barrett-Jackson. And if such a thing were to sell like that to any person, it would be this guy:

The post Joe Dirt’s Filthy, Fake Daytona Sells For as Much as a Real One appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Few cars are as blatantly outrageous as homologation specials. That’s my first thought as I gaze at the massive wing and aero-sculpted fender flares of the 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II before me. One of 502 examples built to push through a host of go-fast bits that Mercedes hoped would help secure the German Touring Car (DTM) championship, this Evo II is as garish as a base 190E is staid. But, as I’d soon discover, to judge the Evo II by its looks alone misses the happy dissonance that makes this particular Mercedes so special.

As I walk toward the driver’s door, my first-impression incredulity mixes with the mythology that has long surrounded this car—how the original 190E 2.3-16 prompted BMW to create the M3, the ensuing knockdown drag-out battles, and the eventual DTM championship captured by Klaus Ludwig behind the wheel of an Evo II—to create some pretty lofty expectations of what it’s like to drive. The Evo II might not be my hero car, but it’s a hero car to many, and I’m about to meet it.

Before delving into the drive, though, a bit on the Evo II’s background…

The 190E, which debuted in 1982, owed its existence to the then-new U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards: Mercedes-Benz needed a smaller, more efficient model to help boost its fleet’s economy. To that end, the Bruno Sacco–designed small Merc was a departure for the company, but a necessary one if it wanted to play in the growing U.S. luxury segment. Despite its size, the W201 (the 190E’s internal chassis designation) adhered to the safety, durability, and luxury standards applied to Mercedes’ full-size cars. Multilink rear suspension—an industry first—contributed to the baby Benz’s handling and stability, and the platform itself was inherently robust. It was an excellent foundation for a small luxury car, but also an ideal starting point for racing.

Though the company refrained from factory participation in racing, a decision that came out of the tragic crash at Le Mans in 1955 that killed 84 people, Mercedes had planned to make the 190E available for privateers in the World Rally Championship. The Audi Quattro’s all-wheel-drive dominance rendered the Benz’s rear-wheel-drive configuration obsolete before it could even enter that series, however, and the company decided to turn to German Touring Car racing. There was one catch—the 190E’s M102 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine’s 136 horses didn’t exactly set the world alight.

To wake up the engine, Mercedes turned to Cosworth, which developed a 16-valve head that upped power significantly, to 183 hp in Europe and 167 in the U.S. The car now had the motivation it needed to take to the track, but to complement the newfound power and round out the new 190E 2.3-16 package, the car received a wealth of additional upgrades. Subtle bodywork tweaks reduced its drag coefficient and lift, and a dog-leg five-speed Getrag manual was fitted, as was a limited-slip differential. Larger sway bars, along with stiffer springs and dampers, made up the major suspension changes, and the steering ratio was quickened.

Privateers took the 2.3-16 DTM racing beginning in 1985 and met with some success—not championship-caliber results, but enough, evidently, to convince BMW to get in on the game. In 1987, BMW rolled out its M3 with full factory support. This move prompted Mercedes to finally get off its duff and commit to its own works effort.

Mercedes debuted the 190E 2.5-16 Evo I in 1989 and quickly sold 502 copies to make it racing-eligible. The larger 2.5-liter engine produced 201 hp, wheel diameter went up to 16 inches to accommodate larger brakes, and the steering got quicker still. The Evo I’s body wore larger fender flares and a more aggressive rear wing, though it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as what was to come. These tweaks still weren’t sufficient, however, as Audi, too, had joined the DTM, and competition was getting ever more heated.

As a result, in 1990 Mercedes introduced the Evo II, the ultimate homologation iteration of the 190E. Revised induction and exhaust, improved engine management, and a 7800-rpm redline yielded 232 horsepower, while 17-inch wheels found their way to all four corners. The biggest change, though, was to the bodywork. The teardrop-look fender flares don’t exactly fit with the Sacco design, and the wing out back looks like a ’90s German interpretation of a Plymouth Superbird. But the important thing was that it worked; the car’s drag coefficient was just 0.29, and Mercedes had the tweaks it needed.

Given the fierce competition, it took a couple years of campaigning, but 1992 would be the 190’s year. In the hands of driver Klaus Ludwig, the Evo II brought home a championship for Mercedes.

More than 30 years hence, the Evo II remains revered. But why? Rarity doesn’t automatically make something special, nor does it guarantee a rewarding experience, especially in the case of limited-run specials primarily designed to get the racing program what it needed to win. With that question in mind, I pulled at the Merc’s door handle and slipped inside.

With the door closed, it’s easy to forget you’re in a homologation car. Everything presents as very standard 1980s-era Mercedes, with materials and finish that reinforce the solid, durable reputation these cars have always enjoyed. Then you look around and begin to notice the details: The bolstered seats look a touch out of place in the otherwise sober interior. The familiar gauge font displays a rather un-Benz–like 7800-rpm redline, and the shifter shows a dog-leg five-speed pattern. Tiny, aero-prioritized side mirrors sprout from the base of the front door windows—the left rectangular, the right smaller, stubby and square, with just enough reflective material to flash the presence of someone diving next to you into a corner. Look through the rearview mirror and you’ll see the window cover that reduces what’s visible out back—DTM rules specified that rear wings couldn’t block the field of view, so Mercedes’ solution was to effectively reduce the size of the window to hide the wing. Clever.

I pull the shift lever toward me and down to engage first. The dog-leg ‘box only takes a moment to get used to, and while the one-two shift is clunky—this is no drag racer—having second and third in alignment makes for straightforward gear changes, and surely helps minimize the potential for money shifts on track. The slide between gates is slightly stiff and the action is somewhat plastic-y, but it’s precise and never feels dainty or fragile. At speed, a healthy rev match helps smooth out notchiness during downshifts.

On the note of rev-matching, the pedals are well-spaced and the footwell offers plenty of room despite the car’s diminutive size. Clutch take-up is smooth, the grab point rather broad.

Once underway, the car immediately feels small—tiny, even. The short dash and upright windscreen, low window-sill height, and short hood punctuated by the three-pointed star at the front all contribute to a feeling of taut dimensions. Visibility is excellent, with the exception of what’s behind you, of course.

A couple miles into my journey, the dissonance begins to take hold. The Evo II does regular car things exceptionally well: It cruises over expansion joints without a care, idles smoothly, and sounds sporty, if not overly eager. This is not the manic, high-strung car the exterior suggests, and I’m reminded that no matter how exotic “homologation special” may sound, the competence of the platform underpinning it still goes a long way toward determining a car’s personality.

Then I lean into it and immediately see what the fuss is about. Around 6000 rpm, the induction noise comes alive, a guttural four-cylinder inhale that only gets better as the revs increase. The engine has plenty of torque lower down, but it wants to play up high and barely lets up by redline. The shifter seems to improve under increased urgency. The suspension setup, soft by today’s over-sprung standards, deftly controls body roll and isn’t the least bit flustered through mid-corner undulations.

It’s the steering, though, that’s the star of the show. Deceptively light, you could be tricked into thinking you were piloting a mid-engined car based on the steering’s weight and the degree to which it communicates. Though Mercedes quickened the steering incrementally from the 2.3-16 to the Evo I to the Evo II, it’s not so sharp as to be twitchy, and paired with the ever-composed suspension, it makes for what might be the most dialed-in, communicative front end of any front-engine car I’ve ever driven.

The beauty of the Evo II lies in its deftness; it’s not a monster you have to wrangle. It’s utterly balanced—communicative but not frenetic. Intense for how engaging it is, but not physically demanding. It asks for your skill, not brute force, and because of that, it’s the kind of car you could drive hard and enjoy for hours on end. And, not that you would, but you could easily daily an Evo II—it didn’t sacrifice any of its abilities as a means of transportation to become one of the most rewarding sport sedans in history.

Unfortunately, there’s a price for this level of fun, and it’s not cheap. Although the Hagerty Price Guide does not carry the Evo II, we do track their sales. Given their comparative rarity, they naturally come up for sale less frequently than their predecessor, the 2.3-16: Over the past five years, 24 Evo IIs have sold at auction, compared to 60 transactions for the much more common 2.3-16. The average transaction price for an Evo II during that time period is $296K. For context, a #2 (Excellent) condition 190E 2.3-16 comes in at $50,800. Values for this platform as a whole are on the rise, however, with the three-year change for the Evo II coming in at +9.7 percent, while a #3 (Good) condition 2.3-16 is up 2.4 percent (and 10 percent since the beginning of 2024).

The peak of the DTM-influenced 190E spectrum is rarefied air, and prices of top-flight examples began to ramp up their trajectory in 2022. The 2.3-16 that Niki Lauda piloted at the 1984 Nürburgring “Race of Champions,” for example, fetched $344,102 at a 2023 RM Sotheby’s sale. A famous butt in a seat couldn’t trump rarity, though, as a 3317-mile pristine Evo II sold at the end of 2023 for $544,000.

Expect this trend to continue for the Evo II, even against market headwinds. The collector status of homologation specials, particularly those from the ’80s and ’90s, is becoming more firmly ensconced with each passing year. Demographics help that cause—72 percent of buyers seeking quotes for the Evo II are Gen X or younger.

Outrageous as it appears, the Evo II’s clinical execution offers a near-perfect drive that I won’t soon forget. This car sits at the confluence of rarity and experience, which has solidified its collector status without question—here’s hoping those fortunate enough to afford one don’t hesitate to put it to use.

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The post Driving the Brilliant 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II appeared first on Hagerty Media.

April 17 marked sixty years since the Ford Mustang’s public debut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The original pony car immediately became a pop-culture and automotive phenom, and it remains one of the most impactful cars in history. Click here to follow along with our multi-week 60 Years of Mustang coverage. —Ed.

There’s a town in Oklahoma called Mustang, with a population of nearly 20,000. There’s another one in Texas, and it has a population of zero as of the 2020 census (for some reason, Mark Cuban bought it in 2021 for $2M). There is not, however, a Mustang County in the United States of America. At least not officially. This got us wondering where it is in the country that Mustangs are most popular. We surveyed our insurance data to find out. The result was this map—hover over it to see which U.S. counties have the most Ford Mustangs per capita.

A dry county named after Civil War general Philip Sheridan, Sheridan County, Kansas isn’t known for much. But it does, according to our data, have more proud Ford Mustang owners per capita than any county in the nation. Kansas in general has relatively high rates of Mustang ownership, as do North Carolina, Virginia, Montana, and North Dakota. As for places like Arkansas, Maine, Louisiana, and Illinois, maybe they’re more into Camaros—stay tuned for future maps. Where does your hometown stack up?

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April 17 marked 60 years since the Ford Mustang’s public debut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The original pony car immediately became a pop-culture and automotive phenom, and it remains one of the most impactful cars in history. We’re celebrating with stories of the events surrounding the Mustang’s launch, the history of the early cars, and tales from owners. Click here to follow along with our multi-week 60 Years of Mustang coverage. -Ed.

Any great piece of automotive literature should make you want to go out and buy whatever you’re reading about. Even if your desire only goes as far as searching the local classifieds, the book should at least inspire a greater interest and appreciation for the subject. Scott McMullen’s book about the rare HiPo 1964 ½ Ford Mustang (K-code) does exactly that.

This is not a coffee table book with big glossy photos. Instead, it reads like a hardback novel that tells the story of why the HiPo (289-cubic inch V-8 rated at 271 hp) Ford Mustangs built in mid-1964 are worth a closer look. Inside, you’ll find black and white photos of cars being built in the factory, close-up color photos of parts that differentiate the 1964 ½ HiPo cars from the other 1964 ½ V-8 Mustangs and regular production 1965s, and an appendix with tables that detail changes in the air cleaners, carbs, exterior colors, and trim combinations.

Scott McMullen’s background as an engineer in research and development means he takes a reassuring, evidence-based approach to understanding these early HiPo Mustangs. His experience restoring cars and examining original cars further helps him explain how Ford’s rush to get Mustangs to market meant there were some variations in the cars built. Preserving those original variations of early K code Mustangs is one of the book’s aims. While maintaining originality is especially challenging when restoring a Mustang, it is an increasingly appreciated and important goal in the collector car world.

Looking at factory photos, understanding date codes, part and engineering numbers, production line notation, and referencing sources like Ford’s Rouge News help untangle the story of why so few HiPo Mustangs were built initially and what makes them different. With 680,989 Mustangs built for the 1965 model year, it is easy to lose sight of the 1964 ½ HiPo cars with all the others. While some people might still agree with the phrase “Mustangs will never be collectible because they built too many,” this book shows why some Mustangs are collectible by even the most stringent of parameters when you look closely.

Once you’re done reading this book, if you can’t find a 1964 ½ HiPo Mustang nearby, you can sate your appetite by watching the segment on Jay Leno’s Garage featuring Scott McMullen and a Guardsman Blue 1964 ½ HiPo convertible. Jay also wrote the foreword for the book, so if it is good enough for Jay, it is good enough for you.

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A corner of the hobby born out of the mid-2000s, restomods just keep getting more popular. It’s easy to understand why. Daniel and Rachel van Doveren, owners of Vigilante 4×4 and JeepHeritage, call them “the perfect blend of vintage charm and contemporary performance.” On a recent visit to Vigilante’s Texas Hill Country shop, we got a chance to test that theory firsthand, comparing one of their recently finished restomods with a meticulously restored, mostly stock example.

Typically built on classics from the 1950s-70s, restomods (usually) combine tasteful vintage looks with modern drivetrains, suspension, and brakes underneath. You get many of the benefits of vintage car ownership (style, interior, driving experience, nostalgia) and fewer of the drawbacks (reliability, performance) all in one best-of-both-worlds package. For some, complete authenticity and “just as it left the factory” is still the only acceptable way of doing things, but the stigma around modifying an old car for usability has greatly diminished, and the restomod movement continues to grow.

But not all restomods are created equal. The designation covers vintage Camaros that have been LS-swapped in a neighborhood garage all the way up to seven-figure, multi-year, show-winning builds. And while restomodding for speed and reliability makes sense in a sports or muscle car, what about an old Jeep?

The folks at Vigilante would argue that although nobody else is doing quite what they do, and certainly not at the same caliber, the appeal of a professionally and tastefully done restomod is just as real in a vintage truck or SUV as it is in anything else. If Icon is the restomod master of Ford Broncos and Singer of “reimagining” 964 Porsches, Vigilante is where you go for a thoroughly reworked, high-end, detail-oriented build of your vintage Jeep. Specifically, the SJ-platform Jeeps, like the original Cherokee, Wagoneer, and Gladiator/J-Series pickups.

Their sister brand JeepHeritage, meanwhile, focuses on the resto-ration rather than the resto-modification of Jeep’s full-size favorites. Although they exclusively performed factory-correct restorations at first, the momentum has completely shifted since starting Vigilante 4×4, and Daniel and Rachel say the vast majority of their work currently is on the restomod side. To get a clue as to why that is, how the restomods drive compared to stock, and why these builds get so expensive (a Vigilante build starts at $295K, for a Jeep), we decided to check out their facility and a couple of their recent builds.

Daniel van Doveren is an absolute Jeep freak, which is to be expected. “I’ve never owned any type of car that isn’t a Jeep,” he says. But he’s not a textbook Jeep freak, either. He grew up in Belgium—not exactly truck-central—but there were enough old Jeeps running around to catch his interest, and he started fixing them up in his teens. Eventually, he started finding Jeeps for sale online in the States, making the trip across the Atlantic, and driving them to port to ship home, and fixing the things that inevitably broke along the way. One of his early builds caught the attention of a European Jeep exec who bought it, and it was during one of his Stateside trips that he met Rachel before a concert in Houston.

They stayed in touch. Then she boldly accepted an invitation to tag along while Daniel drove an old Jeep from Kentucky to Texas. The trip must have gone well because Daniel moved to the U.S., they got married, and then started a business together. After a few years running JeepHeritage and performing top-quality restorations on SJ-platform Jeeps (a rare skill in that particular corner of the collector vehicle hobby), they saw another opportunity.

Not everybody knows how to use or maintain a vintage automobile, which is one of the main appeals of a restomod. They also noticed the growing world of high-end, specialty restomod builders that focus on one or two platforms. They’ll readily admit they found inspiration in what Icon 4×4 has done with first-gen Ford Broncos, “but nobody was doing that with Jeeps,” Daniels says. With that gap in the market in mind, and with countless hours soaking up brand knowledge and fixing Jeeps, they started Vigilante 4×4 in 2021. Since then, customer demand has seen them shift most of their attention and effort to the restomod side of the business. So far, they’ve completed 88 projects and currently do about eight builds per year, but are looking to ramp up to 12. Which is a good idea—their wait list currently sits at three years.

“We don’t really have a typical customer,” says Rachel. “They range from die-hard Jeep people to someone who just happened to see one of the finished builds and fell in love with it.” One Cherokee currently being assembled is on its way to a woman who wants a classic, but also wants a reliable and safe way to drive her kids around. Are there cheaper ways to do the school run? Sure, but if you’re going to spend that kind of money, it’s a way cooler mom-flex than a Cullinan or G-Wagen.

Before starting each build, Vigilante 4×4 speaks with the client about their tastes and potential uses for the vehicle, then guides them through the selection of drivetrain, interior features, etc. Sometimes the donor Jeep comes from the client; other times it comes from Vigilante’s own inventory of Jeeps and parts. Daniel says that, thanks to their reputation in the Jeep community, people call constantly looking to offload unwanted old Jeeps.

Then starts the many-months-long process of transforming a vintage Cherokee or Wagoneer into a six-figure custom. And it is quite the process. Vigilante designed and builds its own beefy custom chassis that fits right to the vintage Jeep bodies but is also strong enough to handle up to 1000 horsepower and integrate with all the modern hardware. Dana 44 front and 60 rear axles turn the wheels, and the leaf springs of old are gone, replaced by Fox shocks and coil springs up front, with a multi-link setup in rear. Keeping it in the Mopar family, Vigilante only uses Chrysler engines under the hood. Most get a Mopar 392-cubic inch Hemi crate engine with 485 hp, which seems like plenty, but the Vigilante chassis will handle a Hellcat Redeye engine, and at least one customer has specified a Viper V-10. Vigilantes can apparently also be serviced at any dealership, just like a new Durango SRT.

The body, meanwhile, gets shipped to Europe for finishing, but otherwise Vigilante is a nearly soup-to-nuts operation, and it’s in the details where the work gets truly impressive. In fixing up Jeeps for most of his life, Daniel knows where the problem areas are, and shares that “there was so much room for improvement in a lot of the original designs.” Some of their solutions are obvious, like the bracketry Vigilante came up with to keep batteries from coming loose while driving.

Others aren’t obvious at all. On an old Cherokee, for example, the original door handles were a bit too close to the body to get fingers comfortably around, so Vigilante designed an extender that pushes them out just enough for easier operation. Original Jeep mirrors tended to rattle, so now they’re machined and fit tighter, with the Vigilante logo subtly stamped into the end of the stalk. Vintage manual window winders can look nice, but cranking them isn’t exactly fun, so Vigilante devised a power window setup that keeps the old winder but raises or lowers the window by flicking it up or down. I wouldn’t have noticed any of these things without having them pointed out, but that’s why they call it attention to detail.

Vigilante also strikes the right balance of offering real improvements while staying true to heritage and having the right look. The steering ratio on the restomods is tighter, so the steering wheel is smaller, but it looks just like a shrunk-down version of the original. The wheels, meanwhile, need to be larger than original to clear the brakes, so they’re scaled-up versions of the originals that look just right in their finish and proportions. No giant, tacky chrome rims here.

Gauges are upgraded but original-looking as well, and the original radio remains in place, but has been rewired to connect to Bluetooth. Shift knobs show the gate pattern of a modern six-speed, but do so in the original Jeep style. The upholstery is of a higher quality than Jeep used, but Vigilante is still careful to get the color and texture right. Many of the improvements and additions that Vigilante makes are also possible thanks to CAD, 3D scanning and 3D printing, which was all far less accessible technology even just a decade ago.

It’s all deeply impressive stuff, and that sky-high price tag is starting to make more sense. But how does this long list of upgrades really compare to Jeeps as they would have rolled out of the factory in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s? To find out, I drove a stock 1980 Cherokee, with very much of-the-period Bordeaux Metallic paint and Golden Hawk graphics, back to back with a 1977 Cherokee four-door that Vigilante has made all-new from the skin down.

The Golden Hawk has gotten JeepHeritage’s Stage Two build, which means “stock platform, impeccable restoration with a couple of upgrades,” including four-wheel disc brakes, tighter steering and a plusher interior, in this instance. It’s nevertheless much as it would have been in 1980, with a 360-cubic inch AMC V-8 and three-speed auto providing motivation. But because it has also had six figures worth of JeepHeritage’s attention, it feels tight as a drum, and clean. There’s no denying you’re sitting in a 40-plus-year-old truck by the look of everything, but conspicuously absent are the squeaks, rattles and funny smells I’m used to experiencing when sitting in a rig of this vintage.

What is familiar is the lazy sound of a Malaise Era V-8 on startup and its gentle waft forward after the also-familiar engagement of an old column-shift automatic. Aside from V-8 burble, there aren’t many other noises coming from the Golden Hawk. It feels like a fresh, well-screwed-together restoration, but it still drives like a Jeep from 1980. Vague steering and a feeling of disconnection from the road, compared to a car, are to be expected. As is the nudge from a crosswind since, after all, the body has the shape (and in this case, color) of a big brick. The AMC 360 was rated at 175 hp when new and it does move the Golden Hawk up and down the Hill Country without running out of steam, but also without real urgency. Nobody gets nostalgic for old brakes, so the big discs are a welcome addition here, taking nothing away from the old school sensations while providing a modern-feeling stopping distance when you need it. This would make a great vintage cruiser for the lake, beach, or slow Sunday drive.

The 1977 Cherokee four-door, meanwhile, is a different animal under similar skin. It has gotten the full Vigilante treatment, which means new chassis, suspension, and 392 Hemi under the old school body. At the twist of an old key, it fires up with a modern growl. After setting off, moving through a few bends and punching it down a few straight bits, perhaps the most surprising thing is how similar it feels to the stock Cherokee. And this is a pleasant surprise. When you hear something has a completely new chassis and drivetrain underneath, part of you expects it to feel like a twenty-first century skateboard dressed in old sheetmetal. Here, though, it just feels like a much tighter, more responsive, and completely dialed in version of the Golden Hawk, on some steroids. If you put on a blindfold and drove it you’d still know you were driving a classic.

That said, the modern power and suspension make everything a lot more exciting. Although there’s no arguing with physics and this is still a tall body-on-frame truck, the steering is far more communicative and precise than the Golden Hawk. So is the ride over bumps and through corners, thanks to twenty-first century suspension. The 392 engine offers plenty of punch and feels fast, but the Cherokee still feels planted and controlled under hard acceleration. It’s not scary, just entertaining. I can’t say the same for one of the Hellcat-powered Vigilantes, but I didn’t drive one of those.

A six-speed manual is a surprisingly popular option for Vigilante 4×4’s customers. Indeed, the majority opt for it. But you don’t need to row your own gears to have fun in this thing. Just like the mostly stock Golden Eagle, this would also be a great way to get around on summer adventures, but each trip would be a lot more entertaining.

Does it feel like a $300K-plus vehicle? After a day, no. Not really. But, after let’s say a week of appreciating all the clever details, the huge list of little improvements and the levels of care that go into each one, I’d probably change my mind.

After seeing Vigilante Jeeps and similar-quality builds up close, it looks like these top-tier, professional restomods can justify their sky-high price tags for a few reasons. First and most obvious is the quality: The fit and finish is superb, everything feels premium and well thought out, and no corner-cutting is visible on a closer inspection. Second is the attention to detail and thoroughness of the improvements over stock, not just in performance and reliability but also in comfort, convenience, usability, and style. Third is striking the right balance between thorough upgrades and staying true to the original vehicle’s heritage, which really isn’t easy to do. Somehow, Vigilante 4×4 manages to do all three.

The post At This Meticulous Texas Shop, There Are Two Ways to Skin a Jeep appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The Hagerty Price Guide has been around for a long time. First published in 2006, its original title, Cars that Matter, contained a much smaller group of vehicles than it does today. American Trucks and SUVs hadn’t yet made the list. Japanese cars were definitely off in the far east of collectible vehicles, never mind their trucks. Even Nissan struggled to find a market for restored Datsun 240Zs in the late 1990s. In the past 18 years, however, the enthusiast vehicle hobby has changed dramatically. A broader array of interests took hold, new generations have entered the market, buying and selling vehicles online became big, and Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40s started selling for six figures.

To better show how the market has changed since 2006, we’re introducing a group of new Hagerty Price Guide indexes. The RADindex and Supercars Index have already been announced. We have one more in the works, but collectible Japanese vehicles are today’s headline. The breadth of vehicles in the index is unusual, but the 19 component rides represent the variety of vehicles Japan has produced for enthusiasts over the past several decades. Vehicles like the 1970-1973 Datsun 240Z are there, along with the 1984-1989 Toyota Pickup, 1990-1997 Mazda MX-5 Miata, 2000-2003 Honda S2000, 2002-2007 Subaru Impreza WRX/STI, but also the 1968-1983 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, 1991 Nissan Figaro, and the 2011-2012 Lexus LFA. Certainly, we could have included some motorcycles, but they’re in the RADindex. Also, as authors Myron Vernis and Mark Brinker demonstrated with their multi-volume set of books A Quiet Greatness, there are many enthusiast Japanese vehicles—far more than could be practicably included in an index. For the purposes of this effort, we picked vehicles with a sufficient history of market data in the U.S. in order to create a representative sample of the Japanese segment on our shores.

Despite picking vehicles with a longer market data history, we still had to start the index in 2017, which is much later than all of our other indexes. This late start is due to 25-year import limits on many of the most collectible vehicles, and public market data for Japanese vehicles was scarce for a long time. However, starting in January 2017, with an index value of $53,473 (the average condition 2 value of all 19 index components), the index is now up 91 percent to $101,999.

Within that set of 19 component vehicles, some have naturally performed better than others. For example, the FJ40 Land Cruiser hit six figures in 2015 but is up only 10 percent since the start of the index. Other vehicles that appreciated sooner and have slowed since are the 2000-2003 Honda S2000, up 52 percent since 2017, and the 240Z, up 87 percent over the same period. Conversely, those early 1990s sports cars like the 1993-1998 Toyota Supra and 1993-2002 Mazda RX-7 are both up nearly 200 percent since 2017.

With the market having changed so much in the past 18 years, what is the outlook for the market for Japanese vehicles? Despite the recent dip, this segment’s trajectory appears strong because so many of these vehicles enjoy very youthful demographics (often around 90 percent of policy quotes are from enthusiasts under 40). We expect Japanese vehicles to continue to have an ever-stronger position in the collector market for years to come.

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The post Introducing the Hagerty Japanese Vehicles Index appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Le Mans is famous for its length. At 24 hours, it’s a long race. At 6 km (3.7 miles), its main straightaway was the longest in the world. The high, sustained speeds achieved there meant aerodynamics were paramount, with cars’ bodywork tweaked and sculpted to squeeze out every last mph. Many streamlined cars took shape, particularly from the 1930s through the 1960s, with Le Mans in their sights. Many were beautiful. The Bristol 450 was not.

The 450 coupe is truly one of the goofiest cars of any kind, anywhere. And despite it winning its class at Le Mans, Bristol figured it was a better idea to scrap it than preserve a piece of history. The English racer had a face only a French car enthusiast could love, and a man named Olivier Boré decided to painstakingly and faithfully recreate another 450 coupe—the one you see here—over several years. It cost £273,635.40 ($338,490) to build. It sold for £172,500 ($213,384) at this year’s Goodwood Members’ Meeting auction.

Bristol Cars was a division of the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It started right after World War II to keep the company healthy, since the RAF would no longer be needing gobs and gobs of fighters and torpedo bombers. With Britain victorious in the war and Germany in ruins, Bristol was also able to quickly acquire the rights to several prewar BMW designs, including the brilliant 2.0-liter straight-six from the 328.

A few years later, Bristol became one of many carmakers seduced by the marketing and promotional potential of winning races. They eyed the 24 Hours of Le Mans, ignoring every other race except for Reims, which mostly served as a test run for Le Mans. They adapted the chassis from an ERA F2 car into a sports car configuration, and built up a coupe body around it. Being part of an airplane company, the designers had easy access to a wind tunnel (a rare privilege in the early 1950s). What they came up with was equal parts slippery and hideous. But with 140-155hp from the BMW-derived Bristol engine and a weight of just 1500 pounds, it could hit 140 mph on the Mulsanne straight. For the 1953 race, though, the new Bristols were out of the running by half distance due to engine trouble.

For 1954, the bodies were revised and still ugly, but smoothed out significantly from the year before. They had plenty of striking features, like the twin fins that run down the roof to the tapered tail, as well as the long hood, scooped and bulged to clear the famously tall Bristol engine. But the proportions were just odd, resulting in a car that looked strange in different ways from different angles. Regardless, Bristol had a much better go of it at Le Mans this time. Although they ran behind an Italian OSCA for much of the race, all the OSCAs were forced to retire and Bristol finished 1-2-3 in the 2.0-liter category and 6-7-8 overall.

For the 1955 race, Bristol further revised the bodywork. It looked a little more conventional, mostly because Bristol had cut the roof off and added a tail fin. For quicker pit stops, Bristol also came up with a multi-barrel wrench for removing and reapplying all the wheel nuts simultaneously. In the race, their main competition was a French Gordini, but again reliability went Bristol’s way and the team finished 1-2-3 in class and 7-8-9 overall. Of course, that success was overshadowed by the ghastly crash on the 35th lap that killed 83 spectators and injured over 120 more. After the 1955 race, Bristol’s managing director Sir George White donated the team’s prize money to a charity set up for the crash’s victims, and the race team shut its doors at the end of the season. Bristol cars were shifting focus from performance toward luxury, anyway.

Only four or five of the 450 Le Mans chassis were completed, and legend has it that Bristol picked the best one, built it up using the best components from all of them, and scrapped the rest. The sole remaining 450, a roadster, still exists.

Meanwhile, Olivier Boré was fascinated with aerodynamic cars and streamliners of old. But, as he told Classic & Sports Car, “the cars that appealed to me were either impossible to find or too costly.” We can empathize, Olivier. Instead of complain, though, he commissioned a Brit named Andrew Mitchell to recreate one of the 450 coupes from the 1954 Le Mans race, nearly from scratch.

They found a Bristol 406 chassis as well as a “12-pipe” engine built to accept the three twin-choke carburetors of the race car instead of the single-choke Solexes of Bristol’s road cars. The race cars used a transaxle but a correct one couldn’t be found, so they used an overdrive-equipped Bristol 4-speed fitted to the engine, and fitted disc brakes instead of the period Alfin drums. Cast-alloy wheels of the same design as the originals were remanufactured. Then, using around 300 period photos, Boré hired 3D engineers to create a 3D image of the car, and a coachbuilder to create a body from scratch in aluminum over the course of two years. Curved Plexiglass windows were remanufactured, and an MGB windshield cut to fit. For paint, Boré brought color photos to Kodak for analysis and applied the period-correct light shade of green, which looks just right on the 450’s frog-like face. An original 450 steering wheel, tach and speedo were located, and fitted into the Bristol’s clearly aircraft-inspired cockpit.

The end result is what Bonhams accurately described as “as close to the real 450LM Coupe as anyone will ever get.” For the auction, its presale estimate was £140,000-£240,000. As someone else’s passion project, it sold for less than it cost to build, but that shouldn’t have surprised anybody, seller included. This whole endeavor was clearly never about money, anyway. Resurrecting a piece of automotive history, even a butt-ugly one, is always a good thing. We’re glad someone brought the 450 back from the dead, regardless of how it looks or what it sold for.

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April 17 marks sixty years since the Ford Mustang’s public debut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The original pony car immediately became a pop-culture and automotive phenom, and it remains one of the most impactful cars in history. We’re celebrating with stories of the events surrounding the Mustang’s launch, the history of the early cars, and tales from owners. Click here to follow along with our multi-week 60 Years of Mustang coverage. —Ed.

When the Ford Mustang debuted sixty years ago at the World’s Fair in New York on April 17, 1964, it became an overnight hit. However, though Ford accurately targeted the up-and-coming baby boomer generation with the car’s avant-garde design and features, the Mustang wore many colors that were more ’50s pastels than ’60s shock. The discrepancy between the car’s image and its colors has complicated the picture for Mustang enthusiasts ever since. Many owners have opted to repaint their Mustangs, while others have sought cars painted in a rare, original shade. Which original colors are most likely to be covered with a repaint, and which original colors are most valuable? Read on.

For the 1965 model year, the Mustang was available in 24 colors (a few, like Pagoda Green, were only available on the 1964 ½ cars). Yellows, golds, blues, turquoises, beiges, reds, and greens were available, along with more common colors like black, white, and silver.

Some of the original colors aren’t especially valued by enthusiasts today—specifically, Silver Smoke Gray and Silver Blue. To reach that conclusion, we reviewed auction data from over 700 sales, going back to 2014, and compared those results to condition-appropriate values from the Hagerty Price Guide, whether the car in question was a six-cylinder or a K-code, a notchback or a convertible. We found that Silver Blue is worth just 5 percent more on average, and Silver Smoke Gray just 8 percent more.

Rarely seen or ordered, Prairie Bronze is worth nearly one-third less on average, and so is Sunlight Yellow. Vintage Burgundy is popular (almost 50 out of the 700 cars in our data set wore it) but typically worth 16 percent less on average. Conversely, Wimbledon White is relatively common (almost 40 transactions) but worth 16 percent more. Twilight Turquoise isn’t as common (about 20 sales), but worth 19 percent more. Dynasty Green is rare, with just three sales in the past ten years, and worth 24 percent more. A car wearing its original Raven Black is also worth a lot, despite being somewhat common (15 sales): This color is worth nearly 30 percent more on average. The prize for the most valuable color goes to the rarely seen, 1964 ½-only Pagoda Green, worn by only one car out of the 700: This color is worth 61 percent more.

If we group together all the colors, whether original or not, we see that yellows are worth the least on average, followed by reds and blacks, which are very common. However, white is more valuable on average, even though it’s frequently used, and so are orange, turquoise, and green. Gold, blue, green, and silver are in the middle.

What original Mustang colors are most likely to be painted over? Surprisingly, Wimbledon White: Though it is worth 16 percent more than other original colors, on average, it is replaced by a different one almost 75 percent of the time in our data set. Silver Blue, Silver Smoke Gray, Honey Gold, and Prairie Bronze are painted over nearly as often. Given the popularity of red in our dataset (150+ transactions), Poppy Red and Rangoon Red are rarely swapped out. Valuable Raven Black is also rarely painted over, as are Ivy Green and Twilight Turquoise.

What colors do owners typically use for a repaint? Red is the most popular shade, picked almost one-third of the time. It is followed by blue, white, black, and silver. Though Wimbledon White is often painted over, it is also occasionally picked as a repaint shade.

Which 1965-model-year Mustang color is most valuable to you?

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After a brief bump last month, the Hagerty Market Rating slipped yet again. The Market Rating has dropped 19 of the 22 months since its 78.22 peak in the summer of 2022, to its lowest value in three years. That said, its current value of 65.41 is still higher than any point in the four years leading up to the Market Rating’s most recent surge.

The Hagerty Market Index, an open-ended stock market-style index of the Market Rating, has dropped 16 consecutive months. This is the longest unbroken losing streak in the Index’s history.

Inflation continues to impact the Market Rating. While the real value of the Auction Median Sale Price has remained unchanged the last three months, holding steady at $29,700, inflation has caused its Market Rating component metric to drop a full point during that time. Its current value of 38.03 is by far the lowest value of the Market Rating’s 14 component metrics and is the lowest this metric has ever been since it was added to the Market Rating calculation in 2011.

The market’s continued slide is evident in auction results as measured against estimates (which is not an input for the Hagerty Market Rating). In March’s Florida auctions, 68 percent of lots were bid below their low estimates, which was significantly higher than the 60 percent for the same set of events in 2023. As one industry expert noted, this growing gap indicates values are falling, as sellers’ aspirations are not adjusting quick enough to buyers’ dwindling willingness to pay. That said, our industry experts aren’t running for the hills, giving the current classic car market an average grade of 50—neither great nor devastating.

This uncertainty in values seems to be causing a disconnect in people’s perception of the real value of their classic cars. While the Hagerty Hundred—a Hagerty Price Guide index comprised of the 100 most insured vehicles—dropped to a 3-year low, the ratio of insured value increases-to-decreases for cars valued under $250,000 saw its biggest gain in nearly two years. This jump in the insured value ratio happened shortly after 14 consecutive months of decreases.

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Broad Arrow Auctions is headed to Southern California next week to sell Porsches to the legion of Stuttgart die-hards assembling there for Air|Water, a new addition to the all-air-cooled-all-the-time Luftgekühlt lineup of previous years. The event focuses on the entirety of the Porsche range, from the very earliest 356s to the bleeding-edge two- and four-doors that comprise the brand’s modern product portfolio.

The Porsche Auction will take place April 27 at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, with 50 machines and more than 40 pieces of automobilia slated to cross the block. The star of the show is undoubtedly the 908/02 Langheck “Flunder” Spyder endurance racer from 1969, but there are plenty of notable lots up and down the docket. Of particular interest are these six.

1964 Porsche 356C Carrera 2 Cabriolet

Estimate: $750,000–$900,000

With plucky little air-cooled pushrod four-cylinder engines to power it, the 356 range carried a lot of water for Porsche, propelling the company from its postwar Volkswagen-ish startup days into the cutthroat sports-car realm of the 1960s.

The final iteration of the model was the 356C, with that very same pushrod four making 75 hp in standard trim, or 95 hp in the SC. Lording over them both, however, was the Carrera 2, powered by a variant of the potent 1500-cc Type 547 engine deployed a decade earlier in the 550 Spyder race car. With twin overhead camshafts on each cylinder bank, the engine contributed significantly to Porsche’s well-deserved “giant killer” moniker. Porsche also built Carrera variants of the 356A and 356B to make good use of the frenetic mills, and by the time 356C production began for 1964, the 2000-cc Type 587/1 Carrera motor produced 130 hp.

Earlier Carreras had been bare bones and track-focused, but by the time Porsche was ready to retire its workhorse 356, there was nothing “stripper” about it. More than 76,000 356s of all stripes were built over the years, and of the 3265 produced as 356C Cabriolets, just 30 were Carreras.

This one was purchased new by prominent California car dealer and race team owner Robert Estes and has always been cared for by owners and specialists best equipped to see to the needs of the intricate four-cam engine. Restored to its original Ruby Red paint job and fitted with a slick black sunroof hardtop (the soft top is also included), this car would anchor any serious Porsche collection.

1976 Porsche 934 Turbo RSR

Estimate: $750,000–$900,000

When the 911 succeeded the 356, Porsche all too happily took that “giant killer” reputation and ran with it. The 911 found quick success on race tracks and rally courses all over the world. As turbocharging entered the fray in the 1970s, ever-increasing speeds necessitated ever-increasing innovation in aerodynamics, in stopping power, in safety, and in handling.

While the road-going, tail-whipping 930 Turbo proved a handful for unsuspecting enthusiasts when it hit the market in 1975, talented racers from the era’s biggest teams—Kremer, Interscope, Brumos, Holbert, et al.—tamed its 934 RSR counterpart to great success in Group 4 GT, SCCA Trans Am, and IMSA GT racing.

This car is one of 31 Type 934 RSRs built for 1976, and it was put into action two days after delivery in a 20-lap race at Hockenheim, where it won in the hands of driver Eugen Kiemele. After entering it in a series of minor European events, Kiemele crashed the car, sold it, and it eventually ended up in England, minus the powertrain. More racing ensued, as did a road registration in 1980. To Italy it went in 1992, then to America, and finally to Monaco in 2010, where its owner commissioned a two-year rebuild by Kremer Racing to 1977 “934.5” specs, which included a more powerful, fuel-injected engine and improved aero, among other enhancements. Finished once again in its original Arrow Blue color scheme, the car should be quite competitive in any event its new owner chooses to enter it.

1988 Porsche 959 Komfort

Estimate: $2,100,000–$2,400,000

Since the debut of the 959, countless media outlets, Porsche wonks, and wide-eyed enthusiasts have drooled over and breathlessly analyzed the technical wizardry and sheer bravado of the supercar. Even today, the 959 does not fail to impress. That it was forbidden fruit on American roads for so long only adds to its mystique.

Porsche produced 266 examples of the 959, in both Komfort trim and the rarer, spicier Sport trim. The Guards Red 959 up for sale is a Komfort variant originally sold to a customer in Japan, where it traversed just 8000 miles in 25 years of ownership. After coming to America in 2015, it went to Bruce Canepa in California, where the 2.85-liter engine was treated to his “Gen 3” upgrades, and the aged, hydraulically operated suspension was replaced with a coilover system similar to that employed on the Sport models. Several service records in the ensuing years indicate proper maintenance on the 959, which now shows fewer than 8600 miles. This is a properly sorted halo car begging to be driven.

1989 Porsche 928 Club Sport

Estimate: $275,000–$375,000

Porsche began its 928 thought experiment in 1971, with the car’s rough shape set a year later. It was a complete departure from the rear-engine bread and butter that had thus far carried the company. The idea was to meet ever-tightening U.S. crash regulations head on (no pun intended), and as a car focused on the American market, a sleek GT with a big V-8 mounted up front made good sense. Although marque loyalists may have thumbed their noses at it when it debuted in 1977, the 928 was generally well received, and over the next 17 years it benefited from Porsche’s deft evolutionary touch.

Long unloved in the collector market, the 928 really found its feet in 2013, and prices on solid S4 and GT models have risen steadily ever since. It’s hard to know how the market has treated the 928 Club Sport, however, because they are truly rare birds; Porsche produced just seven in 1989, including this one.

The M637 Club Sport option shaved nearly 265 pounds from the 928 S4 by stripping the car of many creature comforts, including much of the sound deadening and electric gizmos. The engine gained unique camshafts, a modified ECU, and higher-lift valves, while the magnesium wheels, a smaller A/C compressor, and the exhaust system were all unique to the car. In short, the 928 CS was lighter, faster, and more nimble than a standard car.

This one, with much recent work totaling nearly $70,000, represents a rare opportunity for Porschephiles who thought they had it all.

2005 Porsche Carrera GT

Estimate: $1,400,000–$1,600,000

If German supercars are your thing—and you’ve just lost out on the 959 K above—then maybe this Carrera GT is what you need.

Though Porsche was all-in on the Cayenne SUV and never really had plans to build the Carrera GT, enthusiastic interest in the concept displayed at the 2000 Paris motor show led to a brief production run from 2004 to 2006, during which time 1270 of the mid-engine marvels left the factory. With a race-derived, dry-sump, 5.7-liter V-10, a carbon-fiber monocoque and subframe, racing-style pushrod suspension, and a host of other innovations, it’s no surprise the Carrera GT’s performance was stratospheric, with the sprint to 62 mph coming in 3.6 seconds on the way to a top speed of 205 mph.

This car was owned from new by longtime Porsche racer John O’Steen. The odometer shows just 3601 miles, and the car comes with comprehensive service records, including a host of work performed in the last year.

2023 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Weissach

Estimate: $240,000–$260,000

Rock-n-rollers and fast cars have always made for a great pairing. Such is the case with this 718 Cayman GT4 Weissach, which was delivered new to Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer. The car is loaded with $65,000 in options, including its Paint to Sample Viola Metallic exterior, 20-inch forged Magnesium wheels, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes, and the Weissach Package, which adds a carbon-fiber front trunk lid, side intakes, mirrors, rear wing, and more.

The Cayman has always been a dynamic driver’s car, but the GT4 took things up a notch with its 493-hp 4.0-liter flat-six borrowed from the 911 GT3, which delivers performance to rival the Carrera GT—a top speed of 196 mph and 0–60 mph in 3.2 seconds—for a fraction of the entry fee.

Kramer’s car has covered only 2000 miles, and the winning bidder will take home not only this rockin’ Cayman but a special GT4 track day at the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles.

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Perhaps more than any other car company, Porsche faced enormous change in the period from 1960 to ’70. On the road, the seminal 356 gave way to the definitive 911, and Porsche finally went mass-market with the 914. The changes on track were even bigger.

At the beginning of the ’60s, Porsche raced the pocket-sized, class-competitive, four-cylinder 718. By the end of the ’60s, it had the 12-cylinder, all-conquering 917. The years in between saw a rapid succession of newer, better, faster prototype racers. The 908 was one of them, and it wound up being among the most successful and versatile race cars Porsche ever built. Which really is saying something. Among those 908s, this 908/02 Spyder, up for auction next week, has one of the best résumés of any 908.

In 1968, with the FIA changing the displacement for its Group 6 prototype category to an F1-sized 3 liters, Porsche further developed its 907 (a 2.2-liter car) and adapted it to accept a new 3.0-liter unit. They called the new racer, naturally, the 908. Air-cooled and with two-valves per cylinder, its new flat-eight made about 350 hp for most of its career, and although this was less than the output from some of its F1-derived competition like Ferrari and Matra, the Porsche eight was meant from the get-go to last a full endurance race, not just a relatively short Grand Prix. The 908 was also a very light car, typically less than 1500 pounds.

Early 908s were streamlined longtail coupes. They were drop-dead gorgeous but also unstable at speed, terrifying to drive, and prone to numerous teething problems. Regular aerodynamic tweaks with flaps and appendages changed the 908’s appearance drastically in a short time, but the results for it in the 1968 season were mixed, although Porsche did finish second in the World Sportscar Championship.

In 1969, Porsche was forging ahead with the brand-new 917, but nevertheless further developed the 908 into the 908/02, which was not a coupe but an open short-tail spyder. As it did the year before, Porsche continually tweaked the 908’s bodywork for better aerodynamics. One of the most important trips to the Stuttgart wind tunnel resulted in the Flunder (Flounder) body, nicknamed for its flatter, fishier appearance, including the nearly enclosed passenger area. The new shape debuted at the Nürburgring 1000km and won, notching Porsche’s third straight victory at the event. Porsche also won the World Sportscar Championship in 1969, mostly thanks to the 908, although one of the longtail coupes finished just 120 meters behind the winning Gulf Ford GT40 at Le Mans.

A new version, the 908/03, debuted for 1970, with Porsche aiming to use the more nimble 908 on tracks less suited to the powerful 917. The two-car strategy worked, and Porsche won the World Sportscar Championship in both 1970 and 1971. Rule changes for 1972 left the 5.0-liter 917 effectively banned, and the 3-liter category became the fastest class, but Porsche nevertheless sold off its 908s to customers. Remarkably, a privately entered 908 finished third at Le Mans in 1972, and others were competitive into the early 1980s, by then running turbocharged engines. At the Nürburgring 1000km, a Porsche 908 took the checkered flag in three different decades—four straight wins from 1968–71, and again in 1980.

This 908, chassis 908/02.005, started out as a factory 908/02 spyder. It first raced at Sebring in 1969, then was used as a training car for the Targa Florio, which Porsche won. Later in the year, it went to the Martini International Racing team and for the 1970 season got the more enveloping Flunder bodywork. It raced at Sebring, Brands Hatch, Monza, the Targa Florio, and Spa, where it notched a class win.

For Le Mans, its shape was further revised with longtail rear bodywork better suited for Le Mans’ high average speeds. It was also fitted with a transmission oil cooler (an overheated gearbox forced another Flunder to retire from Le Mans the year before). The Martini team fielded a single 917, done up in its famous blue and green psychedelic livery, along with 908/02.005 plus another 908/02. That other 908 crashed in qualifying, though, and 005 started the race way back in 22nd place. Drivers Rudi Lins and Helmut Marko piloted the spyder quickly and consistently, however, and by midnight they were up to sixth place and leading their class. By late the next morning they were a remarkable second place overall. A wheel nut stuck during two consecutive pit stops and cost precious time, but by the end of the 24-hour slog, they crossed the finish in third overall, still first in class, and won the Index of Performance, an award for efficiency. Martini’s other car, the hippy-fied 917, finished in second. Not bad for a team that had only started racing in 1968. The overall win, of course, went to the Porsche-Salzburg team’s 917, marking Porsche’s first overall win at Le Mans. This 908 was a big part of that effort, and it is even shown in a few scenes from Steve McQueen’s 1971 movie Le Mans as well.

908/02.005’s racing career stopped after its Le Mans triumph, and the car went into several Swiss race car collections before being acquired by noted Porsche collector Julio Palmaz, who also owned the Porsche-Salzburg 1970-winning 917. After going to the current owner in the 2010s, 005 has had significant restoration work, including a complete rebuild of the engine, to get it race-ready.

Porsche built barely 30 908s of all types, and they’re coveted both for their historical significance and for being usable vintage racers, so they don’t pop up for sale often. A longtail coupe sold last June for €1,885,620 (about $2M), and another 908/02 factory car with a similar resume but no Le Mans win sold in Monterey two years ago for $4,185,000. A 908/03 also sold at Monterey in 2017 for $3,757,000, and Bonhams sold this very same 908/02.005 10 years ago for £2,185,500 ($3.4M). This time around, it’s the headline car of the all-Porsche Air|Water auction, and has a presale estimate of $4.75M–$5.75M.

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Two weeks ago, we explored some bright spots in the collector car market following our recent update to the Hagerty Price Guide. We’re back this week to look at some of the cars that didn’t fare as well. Valuation changes continue to be subject to nuanced inputs rather than the more consistently broad market movement we observed two years ago. This selection of cars that saw notable downward movement is no different, but their value losses may portend wider market changes in the future. From the blue chip to the affordable, we’ll have our eyes out to see whether these trends take hold as we head into the driving season.

As always, if you have questions about how we arrived at these changes, you can read more about the methodology behind the Hagerty Price Guide here.

1970 Plymouth Superbird: -24%

They were cars that could have only existed in their particular eras, and would be deemed too crazy to build again (although Dodge has been known to build some pretty wild things). The MOPAR wing cars—the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird—sought to take the NASCAR rulebook to its limits, but would need to be sold to the public as well in order to compete. As with many other homologation specials, the changes made to these cars were purely intended for on-track dominance without regard to street use.

While Dodge would build just 505 Charger-based Daytonas in 1969 (500 being the minimum number for homologation), Plymouth would be far more successful, producing 1,935 Road Runner-based Superbirds the following year. The long and the aerodynamic nose offered poor spatial awareness for street driving, arguably making them a headache to live with day-to-day. Winding the clock forward, that didn’t matter a lick—the Daytona and Superbird are among the most recognizable cars of the Muscle Car era and sought-after centerpieces for serious collectors.

While these cars are usually offered in fits and spurts on the public market over the course of a given year, we witnessed over 20 offered in January alone. That’s a lot, in fact that is too many at one time. Yes, it is possible to have too much of a good thing, and when you are talking about the price point where the Superbird resides, it’s possible to have more cars than buyers. That usually equates to poor sales, and that’s exactly what happened. Both Hemi and 440-6 barrel cars sold for prices massively under market. That doesn’t mean that the floor has officially fallen out on these cars—further market observation, particularly of more typical individual sales spread out over time, needs to happen to confirm that—however, this is a good indication that the top tier of the muscle car market has begun to wane.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88: -19%

Let’s talk Blue Chip collector cars for a moment. These are the best of the best, the most exclusive collector cars in the hobby. Just having a pedigree in your brand isn’t enough—there has to be a sense of pomp and circumstance and genuflection when these cars come up in conversation. While the Chevrolet Corvette is not the first car that comes to mind when talking Blue Chip collectors, the L88-equipped 1967 ‘Vette is one of those cars.

Here’s a quick refresher on the L88 Corvettes for the two or three of you reading this who are unfamiliar with them. Chevrolet offered their biggest and baddest engine to exist in a Corvette to date in 1967. In the form of RPO code L88, a 427 cubic inch big block making a conservatively rated 430 horsepower (true figures are believed to be in excess of 500). The purpose of this engine was to put weapons-grade power in the hands of racers who could afford the nearly $950 option at that time. Out of the three years the L88 was an option, 1967 is the first, the rarest, and arguably the best-looking Corvette to have the option.

Since these cars are out of reach of the average collector—only 20 examples were produced, and costs are well into seven-figures—why do we care about their results? Even the top of the market has implications that trickle down to the more affordable segments of the hobby over time. After years of little activity and sitting high in the market, three examples hit the market at the same time, posting very weak numbers. This caused us to recommend an average of a 19-percent drop across the condition values of ’67 L88s. Softening at the top of the market for 1960s American performance cars indicates that we need to keep a close eye on other, less exclusive Corvettes and muscle cars from this era. Nothing happens in a vacuum, and sometimes it just takes a while to translate to the rest.

1979-1992 Mercedes-Benz W126: -16%

Introduced in the final months of 1979, the second-generation S-class Mercedes is the ultimate expression of the reputation for fit, finish, and reliability that we associate with Mercedes-Benzes from this era. Fitted with everything from a Diesel in the American market to a reasonably powerful V-8 for the time, there are plenty of options and price points to choose from as well.

This platform has long been revered and coveted by enthusiasts, but their values stayed reasonably low until 2020, when wider acceptance and popularity caused them to really take off. This was helped by an abundance of excellent, low-ish mile cars hitting the market and commanding prices that defied logic for a car that was previously merely a solid used car.

What goes up usually comes back down, and while the W126 market is incredibly nuanced—each engine option requires a close look—the general trend is that prices are settling back down. This is especially true with the six-cylinder models. While the V-8 cars are still doing well, the direction is clear: These cars are finding a different footing. The market growth of collector Mercedes from the ’80s hasn’t fully matured, so it only makes sense that some cars will be searching for a new equilibrium as the overall market changes.

1983-1990 Alfa Romeo Spider: -14%

Not as widely coveted as other Italian models but nonetheless important, the Alfa Romeo Spider is Italy’s contribution to the small, sports roadster segment. Produced from 1966 through to 1993, the little Alfa drop top outlasted just about all of its competition, most of which was from the U.K. With the introduction of the third-generation Spider, Alfa Romeo would update the platform for the first time in over a decade with refreshed styling and a change from mechanical to electronic fuel injection.

These cars have remained an affordable entry into Italian motoring, with even the best examples remaining under the $30,000 mark. The problem, though, is ensuring that you find a good specimen. This isn’t necessarily an Alfa problem—it’s a cheap car problem. Vehicles that have remained cheap for a long time are often neglected, as the cost to restore usually exceeds the cost of just buying a good car. Because of factors like this, we’ve witnessed a divergence between excellent examples, which saw minimal movement and fair and driver-grade cars experiencing more of a dip. This is usually a case of buyers getting pickier. This, too, isn’t necessarily an Alfa-specific problem—it’s something that we’ve observed across the market, even if it appears more pronounced in this example.

1995-2001 Acura and Honda Integra Type-R: -13%

In the late ’90s, the Integra Type-R (ITR) set the bar for what a hot, front-wheel drive, sport compact should be, and boy did Honda set it high. It’s the purest form of a front-wheel drive Honda offering Excellent handling, precise controls, and an engine that effortlessly revs to the moon. To this day, enthusiasts who have experienced one are adamant that the ITR is the best FWD car built.

These cars started to catch on about eight years ago within the enthusiast community as solid collector cars. As Japanese cars, led by the Toyota Supra, Nissan Skyline GT-R, and Acura NSX have gained wider acceptance as desirable collectors, prices skyrocketed for the ITR as well, though not quite as high as the others. Perfect, no-mile examples have commanded prices nearing and topping six-figures, with one even hitting $150K. Japanese-market Honda ITRs influenced the market slightly, increasing inventory as they started to trickle in when they turned 25 years old. However, they have become only marginally cheaper than the US-market Acuras.

A quieting market extends to more than the ITR—other segment standouts like the Mk IV Supra and FD-series RX-7 have shown some tells of the market adjusting downwards as well. None, however, have receded as much as the ITR: Its data was less ambiguous that there has been indeed a softening. With one of the original leaders of the surge in Japanese popularity showing weakness, it’s prudent to fix our eyes on the bigger picture. If you have been previously priced out of your dream Japanese car, they may be coming back within reach. Just don’t expect to see prices from 10 years ago.

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In a collection featuring a number of early Chevrolets and Fords, this one stood out. Though it had been decades, I immediately recognized No. 64, a 1914 Chevrolet Series H-2 Royal Mail roadster, as the same car I saw proudly displayed in the showroom of Braeger Chevrolet in Milwaukee back in the 1980s. This early Chevy has a storied history, and is believed by the H Model Register Chapter of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America to be the oldest complete Chevrolet in existence.

No. 64 is part of a Hagerty Marketplace listing of 26 cars from the collection of the late Nashville businessman, Robert A. Jones, and appears to have spent much of its life in the Milwaukee area before joining Jones’ collection in 2003. Its serial number, 64, indicates a build date of mid-August 1913, putting it at the beginning of the Series H’s production run. The model’s success would help secure Chevrolet’s future, and chart General Motors’ course under William “Billy” Durant as well.

Before delving into this particular Series H, it’s worth contextualizing the importance of the model itself. Former Buick co-owner and General Motors founder Billy Durant, along with Swiss émigré Louis Chevrolet, incorporated The Chevrolet Motor Company on November 3, 1911. Other partners included Chevrolet’s brother, Arthur, and investors William H. Little; Buick’s other co-owner, James H. Whiting; and Durant’s son-in-law, Dr. Edwin R. Campbell. Their first Chevrolet automobile came in 1912 in the form of the large, expensive Series C Classic Six tourer. It was just another car few could afford, however, and an inauspicious start, as only five Series C cars were built that year.

Along with the Series C, the group also offered a small car under a separate brand called Little. William Little had been a manager at Buick but started his own firm in Flint, Michigan, building “the classiest of all roadsters.” The Little Four, as this small car was called, garnered few sales—2199 for the calendar year—but its $690 price was at least in Model T Ford territory.  

The following year, in a further effort to kickstart the young brand, Chevrolet announced the 1914 Series H, based in part on the Little Four. Available in two cleverly named versions, the sporty two-door H-2 Royal Mail roadster ($795) and the stylish four-door H-4 Baby Grand touring ($850), these well-equipped cars were a stark contrast to the spartan $700 Ford Model T.

The Series H was powered by a 171-cubic inch four-cylinder powerplant designed by Arthur Mason, who created Buick’s famed “Valve-in-Head” engines years before. With an overhead valve design that produced 24 horsepower, Mason’s tidy four was so advanced it would be used until 1928, and it made the light and powerful Series H cars popular for fairground dirt track racing and hillclimbs.

In addition to the well-liked engine, the Series H also featured a conventional three-speed transmission—as opposed to Ford’s pedal-operated two-speed planetary gearbox—and was the first to display Chevrolet’s soon-to-be famous “Bow tie” logo.

With the Series H, Chevrolet began to find its footing, and Durant’s partnership with Louis Chevrolet was beginning to pay off. Chevrolet had designed and driven the famous “Buick Bug” racers for Durant and David Buick in 1909–1910, and Louis not only brought his mechanical knowledge to the new organization, but Durant also felt his name reflected the “French Type” small automobile he believed America needed. This all played into Durant’s bigger objective: To build enough equity to recapture General Motors, the emerging giant he founded in 1908 and subsequently lost in 1910.

Durant started GM when he merged the automaker he owned, Buick, with struggling Oldsmobile. Cadillac and Oakland (later Pontiac) joined the fray in 1909, as did truck manufacturer Rapid Motor Vehicle Company (later GMC) the same year. Wrote Durant, “I figured if I could acquire a few more companies like Buick, I would have control of the greatest industry in this country. A great opportunity, no time to lose, I must get busy.” Perhaps he got too busy. Durant almost bought the Ford Motor Company, too, but Henry wanted $8 million in cash, not stock, and GM was running out of cash. Durant had purchased 22 companies, including suppliers like the future Delco and AC Spark Plug, in less than 16 months. Fearing bankruptcy, on September 26, 1910, GM’s bankers had Durant removed. 

Undeterred, Durant continued his effort at automotive empire-building. A couple years of strong Series H sales was just what he needed—in 1916 Durant was able to offer five shares of now-attractive Chevrolet stock for a single share of GM. Headlines shouted “Chevrolet buys General Motors,” and Billy Durant was once again the leader of GM. Durant told an interviewer, “My advice to you and all others is to keep working… Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re trying to do now—and do it.” 

More than 100 years hence, there are scant few examples of the car that helped turn Durant’s fortunes around. Time and attrition are natural factors, but add to that the fact that there weren’t many to begin with: The work of late historian, Ken Kaufmann, reveals that Series H production started slowly in 1913—five cars in July, 100 in August—and 5005 Chevys, mostly Series H cars, were eventually built for the 1914 model year. That No. 64 survived likely came down to how it got put to use.

A look inside No. 64 shows a brass tag on the dashboard that reads, “This Automobile is sold by Wisconsin Auto Sales Co.” in Milwaukee. An advertisement in the 1913 Milwaukee Press Club annual publication Once A Year and an another in the 1913 Wisconsin State Fair program places Wisconsin Auto Sales as the state-wide distributor for Chevrolet, and research suggests they sold No. 64 new.

The car appears to have been busy in subsequent years, at least judging by a photo in a 1951 book, The Oldtime Automobile by John Bentley. The image includes Mr. C.J. Hylton, service manager of Milwaukee’s King-Braeger Chevrolet dealership, standing alongside No. 64 (erroneously dated as a 1912 model), the car adorned with painted letters stating that it had been driven 216,000 miles. (That’s a lot of mileage even for a modern car, but Series Hs have been known to cover ground—a member of the H Model Register Chapter has a 1915 Royal Mail documented at traveling over 300,000 miles by 1933.) The car remained affiliated with King-Braeger for decades—the dealer subsequently became Braeger Chevrolet, the dealership where I first saw No. 64 around 40 years ago.

Kaufmann’s research of No. 64 places its assembly in mid-August of 1913, just the second month of Series H production. The car’s rounded cowl and “zigzag” windshield, taken from the Little Four, are further evidence of this car’s early build date, as later models switched to a Series H-specific design. Only two Royal Mails with these features are known to remain: Numbers 64 and 179.

Today, No. 64 presents cleanly in red and black over a black interior, and proudly wears a blue bow tie badge atop its radiator. Though it’s in need of some attention to make it fully roadworthy, the engine happily chugs away after a turn of its crank.

As to the claim of No. 64 being the oldest known complete Chevrolet, there is an older Chevy, a Series C Classic Six in the Reynolds-Alberta Museum of Canada, but it is not complete or restored. There is also a 1914 Series H in the GM Heritage Center known as “Old No. 1,” but the H Model Register Chapter makes it clear “it had a Little Six body fitted onto an H Model chassis and was the prototype for the H Model Baby Grand. It was an advertising prop for the company and not actually the first Chevrolet with a serial number of 001.”

Like a rock, the Series H is the foundation of one of the world’s best-selling brands. It’s not often that the oldest known example of the model that made the company (and in this case, influenced the early direction of General Motors itself) comes available. At a spry 110 years old, No. 64 is ready to represent the beginnings of the brand for years to come.

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April 17 marks sixty years since the Ford Mustang’s public debut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The original pony car immediately became a pop-culture and automotive phenom, and it remains one of the most impactful cars in history. We’re celebrating with stories of the events surrounding the Mustang’s launch, the history of the early cars, and tales from owners. Click here to follow along with our multi-week 60 Years of Mustang coverage. -Ed.

When the very first Mustang galloped onto the car scene at the 1964 World’s Fair, there was nothing quite like the pioneering pony car. It was youthful, sexy, and sporty, but also practical, and surprisingly affordable. It was new. In reality, though, what made this new car affordable was that it wasn’t new at all, at least not under the skin. The bits that made the Mustang go were from Ford’s compact Falcon. The Falcon was already a very successful car, but because of the Mustang’s outsized impact—both automotive and cultural—the new and exciting model immediately stole sales from the old and conventional one, and the bird has lived in the shadow of the horse ever since. Sixty years on and now that they’re both well-established classic cars, how do they stack up in the market?

As the 1950s turned into the 1960s, fins and chrome were proving unsustainable, and American buyers were increasingly choosing smaller, cheaper automobiles. Most of the choices in said smaller, cheaper segment were imported Volkswagens, Fiats, and Renaults. The Big Three responded with their own compacts—Chrysler with the Valiant, Chevrolet with the Corvair, and Ford with the Falcon—for the 1960 model year.

While the Falcon’s main competition, the rear-engined and air-cooled Corvair, was radically new and different for Chevrolet, the Falcon was a safe and conservative choice for Ford. Its unibody construction was somewhat advanced, but otherwise, its layout and styling were conventional. In their two approaches to the same customer, Ford’s strategy won out, with the Falcon easily outselling the Corvair and inspiring Chevrolet to play catch-up with its own conventional compact, the Chevy II.

Ford built the Falcon until 1970, and in typical ’60s fashion offered the model range with a huge array of options like the dolled up Falcon Futura, body styles including two- and four-door sedans, two-door hardtops, convertibles, two- and four-door station wagons, and a sedan delivery. From 1960-65, the Ranchero pickup also moved to the Falcon platform.

Despite the wide range of Falcons available and sales well into the millions, there is one narrow slice of Falcon history that gets most of the attention, and that’s because it spawned the Mustang. Partway through the 1963 model year, the Falcon got a V-8 engine for the first time as a welcome upgrade from the humble Mileage Maker straight-six. Available in the two-door hardtop and convertible body styles, these 1963.5 260-cubic inch V-8-powered Falcon Sprints sold in relatively small numbers (about 15,000), but this is the car that provided the basis for the Mustang a year later, and is mechanically almost identical.

A restyled, squared-up Falcon with horizontal creases down the body sides debuted in 1964, still available as a Sprint model with an upgraded exhaust, a stiffer suspension, and the Fairlane’s 260 V-8. Later in the model year, the 260 was swapped out for the 289, but the Sprint was discontinued after 1965 and so was the convertible model, abandoning the Falcon’s brief but real (a Falcon Sprint won its class at the Monte Carlo Rally) sporting pretensions.

That’s because the Mustang immediately and inevitably cannibalized sales from the Falcon. Even though most Mustang options were available on the technically cheaper Falcon, prices were close enough that most buyers could easily talk themselves into the more exciting pony car. This was true for both six- and eight-cylinder buyers, and convertible Mustangs outsold their Falcon counterparts by 11 to 1. As the Mustang spent the rest of the decade becoming a cultural icon, the Falcon spent its third and final generation from 1966-70 riding on a shortened Fairlane platform and seeing its sales decline.

Six decades after they first started sharing showroom space, mid-’60s Mustangs and Falcons have long since been established as part of the classic car hobby. And the market still treats them differently, though not drastically so. If we measure the number of insured vehicles and go by year/make/model, the 1965 Ford Mustang is the most popular classic car in the United States. What’s the second-most popular? The 1966 Mustang. The 1964 and 1965 Falcons, meanwhile, rank number 426 and 438, respectively. That said, their values aren’t drastically different, if you compare similarly equipped Mustangs and Falcons. Convertibles command a premium in general, as do 289s, and Mustangs have mostly seen more appreciation over the past few years. See the graph below to see how they’ve stacked up.

Average insured values among Hagerty members tell a similar story, with Mustangs commanding a similar premium but with both staying in reasonably affordable territory. For 1965-66 Mustang owners, the average value ranges from the mid- to high-$20K range. For 1964-65 Falcons, it’s in the high teens. As for buyer interest and demographics, there are slight but notable differences there as well. The first generation (1965-73) Mustang mostly tracks with the collector car market as a whole, which is unsurprising since it’s a prolific, popular car with cross-generational appeal despite its age.

The Falcon, meanwhile, skews toward a slightly older crowd despite its lower price, with Baby Boomers making up the largest share of buyers. They remember Falcons when they were new, but the Falcon didn’t have the lasting cultural impact of the Mustang, so its appeal to younger enthusiasts is more limited.

The equivalent Mustangs and Falcons are different cars, sure, but they’re both part of the Ford fraternity and are quite similar under the skin. Value trends for them aren’t too different, either, considering the difference in production numbers and popularity. The Mustang will always win the popularity contest, but the Falcon is still a successful, desirable car in its own right that deserves to be more than just a footnote in pony car history.

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The post Stablemates: How Values of the ’65 Ford Mustang and ’65 Falcon Compare appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Almost 10 years ago to the day, I bought a Ferrari, a 1984 308 GTS Quattrovalvole. For the record, it was blue, not red. It was the second to last in a series of exotic, and semi-exotic cars that I’ve owned on a fairly constricted budget. And, after much thought, I can’t help but conclude it will probably be the last car like it that I buy. Not because it wasn’t a joy to have, but because the market for old-school, DIY-friendly, analog exotics has shot through the roof since that 308 came into my life. Sure, there may be attainable things out there that might be cheap to buy, but that’s where the “cheap” part ends. Are there any choices left?

When I bought it, the 308 occupied a sweet spot that doesn’t seem to exist anymore. I paid 42 grand, a significant amount of money but temptingly good value for something with a Ferrari badge, Pininfarina lines, and a four-cam V-8. In four years of Ferrari ownership, I spent less than $5000 in maintenance, and I drove the car almost 2000 miles a year. Not exactly Kia-level costs, but surprisingly not awful for something with a prancing horse on the nose. It was also a joyfully simple car, and many jobs were a genuine DIY proposition. Hell, Hagerty’s Editor in Chief Larry Webster is restoring the 2+2 version of my car largely by himself, even if all isn’t going according to plan.

Truth be told, I’d love another Ferrari. But even a Mondial, which despite being a Ferrari made plenty of “worst cars” lists, will generally sell for close to what I paid for my much more desirable 308 a decade ago.  Replacing that 308 would be a six-figure proposition today. Not in the cards with two kids rapidly approaching college age.

So, if Ferrari ownership is out but exotics are still on the brain, what about something British? If I’ve owned Magnum P.I.’s whip, why not 007’s? A DB7, DB9 or a V8 Vantage with a manual transmission has always been on my radar. After the Ferrari, I very nearly bought a manual DB7 coupe. I hesitated and finally passed on the car, but a good friend of mine didn’t. He bought a blue DB7, and the cost of ownership in one year was three times what I spent on the Ferrari in four. It wasn’t just the bonkers parts prices. Unlike the Ferrari which had a number of acceptable but budget-friendly work arounds (like the $20 power window switches from the Fiat catalog), you would struggle to find Ford and Jaguar bits that worked for the Aston.

Also, the complexity of a car that was several decades newer meant that there were fewer and fewer things that owners could accomplish themselves. Just changing plugs and coils involved removing most of the intake manifold. Putting it all back together even in a slightly inexpert fashion invited an eyeful of check engine lights. As for that manual V8 Vantage I covet, it comes with the promise of a $7500 clutch job every 35,000 miles or so. By contrast, my Ferrari’s clutch was doable in an afternoon and cost about $900 in parts.  There’s a reason why used Astons remain cheap, and 308 prices have increased significantly.

A Porsche 911 Turbo is a car that has always been on my short list, but I never got around to buying one when they were cheap, not an air-cooled one at least. By 2018, the ship had sailed on inexpensive air-cooled 930s. Granted, these aren’t exactly cheap cars to own, either, but they’re really simple enough. Unless you kill an engine or a gearbox, the day-to-day requirements aren’t stupefying. That’s all moot, though, because by the time I went shopping for one the price to buy a 930 was sky-high. Instead, I bought a 2001 996-generation car, which is of course a more complex automobile than the older 930. The 996 cars are now getting quite old, with lots of little plastic bits that have gone through a quarter century of heat cycles. The stubborn check engine light on mine, for example, was thanks to a plastic secondary air-injection pump failing. At just over $200, the pump itself was a rare bargain. Sadly, installing it involved lowering the engine, i.e., partially removing it. Not fun. Doing plugs and coils was similarly nightmarish and I’d rather not do it again.

With another Ferrari or 911 Turbo out of the running, maybe I’ll go back to the Brits with a Lotus Elise. Elises are a throwback in many ways. They’re uncomplicated, hyper-analog cars that are deceptively easy to live with (assuming you can handle the egress and ingress). Other than camshaft issues on certain years, their Toyota running gear is pretty stout. The only problem is the fact that the window on affordability seems has gotten much narrower. In the last five years, Elise prices have appreciated by nearly 50%. Most of the reasonably-priced cars seem to have salvage titles, the result of minor damage to the super-vulnerable front and rear fiberglass clamshells.

Indeed, the pickings are slim for the usable, attainable exotic, and I’m starting to understand why. Part of the reason why prices for analog exotics have soared so much of late isn’t just nostalgia, or style, or the joy of rowing your own gears vs. pulling on a paddle. A big part of it is what I’ve just outlined above—mere mortals can afford the maintenance costs and even do some jobs at home. By and large, that seems to be who is still buying them today, but with much higher demand for a class of car nobody makes anymore, they seem limited to mere mortals that are slightly more well-heeled than I.

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The post A Ferrari 308 Taught Me Why Analog Exotics Are Great—And Expensive appeared first on Hagerty Media.

“The GT-R is forbidden fruit, and you always want what you can’t have,” said photographer Larry Chen when we interviewed him last year about the impending import eligibility of the R34-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R. He’s right—Skyline GT-Rs have been highly sought-after in the U.S. for decades now, in large part because we couldn’t have them when they were new.

But what about the GT-R that was always available here? Often overshadowed by the enthusiasm for prior generations, the R35 GT-R is nonetheless carving its own healthy path to collector status, as this $160,750 sale of a Canadian-market 2016 Nissan GT-R Nismo highlights.

As with its predecessors, the 480-horse all-wheel drive 2009 GT-R used technology and brute force to put down supercar-like numbers and embarrass cars costing tens of thousands more. It bested the Porsche 911 Turbo around the Nürburgring with a 7:38.54 lap time, and numbers that were achievable by the average consumer said a lot, too: The GT-R regularly achieved sub-12 second quarter mile times and 0-60 sprints under 3.5 seconds. The GT-R’s brutal launches and racetrack poise brought to life the mythical status it achieved in video games, right here, in person, in North America. Finally.

While GT-Rs haven’t sold here in any great number, the enthusiasts who’ve come across them know how impressive they can be. From drag racing and roll racing to hill climbs and road course work, R35 GT-Rs continue to be a force to reckon with. Their 3.8-liter V-6 might not be as well-known as the RB26 that was found in prior-gen GT-Rs, but it’s hard to argue with the newer engine’s ability to handle well north of 1000 hp.

Nissan’s halo car received regular incremental updates after its introduction. Launch control software, suspension tweaks, stronger brakes, interior improvements, and regular power bumps kept the car ever-competitive, at least on paper. As they had done with prior-gen GT-Rs, Nissan injected excitement with added trim levels and special editions over the car’s life. After the Black Edition and Track Edition, Nissan introduced the NISMO Edition, the most brawny iteration to date.

On the exterior, the Nismo’s revised bodywork includes a front splitter, sills, rear wing, and bumper cover, while 20-inch Rays wheels add to the tuner look.

The looks were backed up with adjustable Bilstein dampers, stiffer springs, and revised roll bars, along with additional structural adhesive helped increase the GT-R’s already sky-high capabilities. On top of the cornering prowess, Nissan saw fit to add the larger turbos from its FIA GT3-prepped race cars, bumping horsepower 55 over the base car to an even 600. With these tweaks, Nissan’s engineers managed to knock a full 30 seconds off their original GT-R ‘Ring time—the Nismo managed a lightning-quick 7:08 lap.

According to our valuation team, this particular example comes in at #2 condition. With 3900 miles, it’s no wrapper car, but it is nearly new in just about every aspect. The Hagerty Price Guide values a #2 example at $162K, ever so slightly above this car’s sale, so it transacted just about on market. Commenters (and one of our valuation experts who tracks GT-Rs) noted that they’ve seen similar Nismos listed and selling higher, however. This likely comes down to variables rather than any sort of market trend—these cars got a visual update in 2017 that has proven popular, and of the colors available on 2015-2016 GT-R Nismos, Pearl White, while attractive, is by far the least rare.

That said, any R35 GT-R Nismo is rare indeed. According to GT-R Registry, over 2015 and 2016, only 82 Nismos came to the U.S. and 36 went to Canada, with 582 total being produced in that period. For comparison, 1582 Premium-trim cars were delivered to the U.S. in ’15 and ’16.

Its limited numbers are a large part of what’s driven the Nismo’s collectibility and values: its $162K #2 condition value is 73 percent higher than the Premium-trim GT-R’s #2 value of $94K. The Nismo’s values are on a more aggressive trajectory, too—it’s gained 26 percent over the last three years compared to the Premium’s 17 percent.

Ultimately, this tech-laden, modern rendition of Nissan’s recipe for speed hasn’t taken quite the same path to collectibility as its ancestors, but it’s gotten there just the same. Regardless of generation, though, special-edition GT-Rs continue to be a force in the ever-growing Japanese collector market.

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Mecum Auctions first started coming to Houston in 2012, and the sale has since become a fixture of the spring auction season. It’s always been a fairly large sale in terms of car count and total dollar volume, although 2024 was down slightly in both measures compared to the more exuberant sales of the prior two years.

Classics have traditionally ruled the day here (a Ford GT40 sold for $7M in Houston ten years ago), but the older high-dollar cars were scarce this year, and several of those that were present didn’t meet reserve (a Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing stalled out with a $1.3M bid and 1968 Lamborghini Islero did the same after a $190K bid). In fact, the top seven sales were all modern cars, and Mecum sold a whopping five one-year-old Challenger SRT Demons for a total of $998,250. There was also a ten-vehicle “Texas Movie Car Collection,” including an A-Team GMC van, which added a dose of fun even though all but a couple of the NASCAR cars were replicas.

We examined some of the more interesting cars and significant sales in detail below.

Lot S288: 1998 Toyota Supra Mk IV Turbo Sport Roof

Sold for $118,250

Chassis no. JT2DE82A2W1001377. White over black leather. Unrestored original, #3 condition.

Equipment: 2997-cc/320hp I-6, 6-speed, rear spoiler, power windows, air conditioning, modern Kenwood touchscreen.

Condition: Represented as a one-owner car with 45,013 miles. No visible modifications, but definitely a used car with aged, peeling wheels, dirt and dust under the hood, some small rock chips in the windshield, faded badges, aged brakes, worn seats, and dirt in the carpets. Despite all that, the single ownership and the unmodified condition are enough to make this Supra very interesting to the right kind of buyer.

Bottom line: When they were in their prime, Supras were often heavily modified, driven hard, or cannibalized for their tuner-friendly 2JZ engines. Since becoming rather valuable modern collector cars, though, reasonably clean and unmodified Mk IV Supras command a lot of attention when they come to market, and this one-owner car was no exception. Ten years ago, it might have sold for a third as much as this. In 2024, though, a single-owner Supra, even in slightly scruffy condition, can be a six-figure car.

Lot F64: 1984 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

Sold for $44,000

Chassis no. 1G1AP87GXEN133384. Black and gray over light gray. Unrestored original, #2 condition.

Equipment: 305-cid/190hp V-8, automatic, mud flaps, factory cassette.

Condition: Showing 277 miles that are represented as actual. It does, however, show some age, with a tiny dent on the left front and paint that looks like it has been cleaned and wiped a few too many times.

Bottom line: 277 miles on a 40-year-old car would suggest a perfectly preserved, showroom-fresh specimen, but that’s not quite what this car is. It has changed hands surprisingly often in recent years, and its results seem to vary by how close people inspected its condition relative to its odometer reading. In 2021, it sold on Bring a Trailer for $26,775, then in Scottsdale the following year for $40,700, and again on Bring a Trailer that summer for $28,560. Its most recent result was at Mecum Glendale last year for $30,800, and it brought absolute top dollar in Houston, entirely thanks to the right buyer being seduced by the mileage.

Lot S219: 2005 Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster

Sold for $209,000

Chassis no. ZHWBU26S45LA01699. Giallo Evros with black cloth top over black and yellow leather. Original, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 6192-cc/580hp V-12, paddle shifters, yellow calipers.

Condition: Represented with 19,038 miles. Has a handful of paint chips and a couple more chips in the windshield. The removable cloth top is dirty and wrinkled, likely from poor storage. Leather is wrinkled as well. This car could be a lot cleaner given the reasonably low miles and how expensive it is.

Bottom line: As far as auction appearances go, the third time was the charm for this Murci. It was a $175K no-sale in Kissimmee back in January, and a $160K no-sale at Mecum Glendale last month. Typically, bids don’t go significantly higher after multiple no-sales, but that’s what happened here. It also brought a surprisingly high price given its mileage and flaws.

Lot S113: 1938 Plymouth PT-57 Pickup

Sold for $46,200

Chassis no. 8622841. Dark blue with black fenders over black vinyl. Truck restoration, #2- condition.

Equipment: 201-cid flathead I-6, floor shift 3-speed, hub caps and trim rings, whitewalls, amber fog lights, ship hood ornament, single side-mount spare.

Condition: There are some minor blemishes in the paint and scratches in the bed, but the wheels and tires are perfect, the interior very clean, and the chassis nearly spotless. Given tons of attention, and when was the last time you saw a prewar Plymouth pickup?

Bottom line: Plymouth had an on-again, off-again run of light duty trucks from its first in 1937 until its last in the early 1980s, but they were never big sellers and they’re all a very rare sight these days. So rare that it’s hard to say where the market is for one like this, but the mid-$40K range seems like appropriately strong money given that scarcity. That the same truck also sold at Mecum Dallas in 2017 for $40,150 further confirms that.

Lot S131.1: 1989 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe

Sold for $176,000

Chassis no. WP0JB0936KS050498. Guards Red over black leather. Unrestored original, #2- condition.

Equipment: 3299-cc/282hp H-6, 5-speed, rear vents, modular wheels sunroof, air conditioning, Alpine CD.

Condition: Represented as one of 34 factory slant-nose 930s built for North America in 1989. Reportedly stolen from the dealership when it was new and insurance paid out before it was recovered, so it has a salvage title. Showing 39,075 believable miles. The paint and exterior plastic are a little aged but not bad and don’t show any major blemishes. Good, lightly worn interior.

Bottom line: 1989 was the last year for the original 911 Turbo (930), and was the only year the model got Porsche’s G50 five-speed gearbox instead of the original four-speed. That it’s a 1989 is enough to pique interest, and that it’s a factory slant nose (there are plenty of clones) is even better. But even though the salvage title is from ancient history, it exists and it will follow the car around. Worldwide Auctioneers sold it in 2022 for $212,800, which was a surprisingly strong result, but it came at a noticeable discount here in Houston.

Lot S350: 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe

Sold for $27,500

Chassis no. 6R07T227135. Blue over blue vinyl. Enthusiast restoration, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 200-cid/120hp I-6, floor shift 3-speed manual, wheel covers, Uniroyal tires, vintage-style radio.

Condition: Restored in 2010 and has the original drivetrain. Heavily scratched chrome. Scratched original glass. Aged body trim. Very good paint. Clean wheels. Very good interior.

Bottom line: This is about as basic and bland as a ‘66 Mustang gets, so it’s impressive that someone took the time to restore it, even if there were plenty of corners cut. It’s hard to explain this price, though. Maybe someone who had one just like it back in the day fell in love with it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a stretch to get a 289/200hp or even a ’66 GT for this kind of money.

Lot S227.1: 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish

Sold for $140,250

Chassis no. SCFKDCEP4EGJ01157. Pearl White over beige leather. Original, #2 condition.

Equipment: 6000-cc/565hp V-12, automatic, red calipers, carbon fiber exterior package, Bang & Olufsen stereo.

Condition: Represented with 9786 miles. It could use a light detailing, but otherwise still looks like a new car.

Bottom line: A second-gen Vanquish is a seriously handsome car inside and out, and the pearl paint on this one is spectacular. Alas, it’s still a 10-year-old car, and despite all the shifts in the market over the past four years, the laws of depreciation still very much apply to modern Astons. This one’s MSRP was represented as $325,000.

Lot S123: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro COPO

Sold for $137,500

Chassis no. 124379N709612. Azure Turquoise with black vinyl roof over black vinyl. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Equipment: 427-cid/425hp L72 V-8, automatic with horseshoe shifter, 4.10 Positraction, power steering, F41 suspension, hub caps, Goodyear Polyglas tires, console.

Condition: Represented as one of the last documented COPO Camaros built and with a replacement, but date-code-correct, L72 engine. Nearly spotless engine. Mostly very good paint and chrome. Clean, tight roof vinyl. Imperfect panel fit. Very good interior. A mostly gorgeous, well-equipped Camaro with light age on its restoration.

Bottom line: “Matching numbers” aren’t just a nice thing to have. They make a big difference in value, particularly on high-tier muscle cars that can have lots of minor differences and be relatively easy to clone. That this is a documented COPO built with a 427 from new is a good thing, but its replacement engine saw it discounted to #3 money even though it’s a #2 car.

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The Hagerty Price Guide Indexes—first published in 2009—are a series of stock market-style indexes that average the condition #2 (“excellent”) values of representative vehicles, or “component” cars, from a particular segment. These indexes are updated quarterly and provide an overview of how these segments of the collector car market are performing overall, as well as relative to each other.

Following a massive rally from 2020 to the middle of 2022, the collector car market continues to search for equilibrium. The seven main Hagerty Price Guide indexes reflect this. Since our last update in January, four of the indexes declined, two remained unchanged, and only one increased in value. The decreases recorded this period were some of the biggest we’ve seen over the last four years, although still nowhere near the levels we saw during the major market downturn of 2009.

The biggest decreases were for the American Muscle Car Index (down 5 percent), the Ferrari Index (down 4 percent), and the Blue Chip Index (down 3 percent). The only one to increase was the Affordable Classics Index, and its growth was modest at 1 percent. Below is an overview of each index’s performance so far in 2024.

Blue Chip Index

The Hagerty “Blue Chip” Index of the Automotive A-List is a stock market-style index that averages the values of 25 of the most sought-after collectible automobiles of the post-war era.

Hagerty’s Blue Chip Index decreased by 3 percent from January to April 2024. This was the index’s largest drop since COVID-19’s initial market shock in May 2020. This news may be softened by the fact that just a few cars drove the dip—four cars in this group saw prices fall, while 18 remained flat and three increased.

Most significantly, both the LWB and SWB Ferrari 250 California Spiders retreated 6 percent since January, and the 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertible stepped back 7 percent, which was more than enough to offset the small gains recorded by the Alfa Romeo TZ-2, 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, and 1953 Corvette. Overall, this period’s performance reflects buyers’ caution at this price level. Cars with exceptional provenance receive a lot of interest, while cars with less notable history are a tougher sell.

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British Car Index

The Hagerty Index of British Cars is a stock market-style index that averages the values of 10 of the most iconic British sports cars from the 1950s-70s.

Hagerty’s British Car Index remained unchanged for the second consecutive period and is now 1 percent below where it stood a year ago. The small overall change masks some volatility happening at an individual level, though. Of this index’s 10 component cars, four increased in value, four decreased, and two held steady.

There is no unifying theme that neatly describes these changes. The gainers like the Jaguar XK 120 (up 12 percent), Mk I MGB (up 6 percent) and Triumph TR6 (up 5 percent) span similar eras and budgets as the losers, like the Austin-Healey 100M (down 4 percent), Series I Jaguar E-Type (down 4 percent), and MGA Roadster (down 2 percent). Indeed, despite ups and downs for specific cars, the index is only 1 percent above where it was in 2021. This segment was mostly insulated from the soaring prices of the last few years so isn’t likely to experience an ensuing correction.

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Ferrari Index

The Hagerty Ferrari Index is a stock market-style index that averages the values of 13 of the most sought-after street Ferraris of the 1950s-70s.

Hagerty’s Ferrari Index walked back most of the positive ground it gained in 2023 with a 4 percent fall. This was the first time since May 2020 that the index went backwards, and it now stands 1 percent below where it was a year ago.

More than half of the cars that comprise this index decreased, with high-flyers like the California Spider, 250 GT SWB, and 250 LM all losing between 5 and 6 percent. The 330 GT’s 9 percent decline was the steepest drop in percentage, while the 250 LM’s $1,050,000 hit was the deepest in terms of dollars. The 246 GTS Dino notched a noteworthy slip at 4 percent, marking a slight adjustment to an otherwise lengthy upward march.

The lone increase was recorded by the Daytona Spider (up 4 percent), following a pair of strong public sales for the rare model. As with Blue Chip cars in general, vintage Ferrari buyers are increasingly selective.

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American Muscle Car Index

The Hagerty Index of American Muscle Cars is a stock market-style index that averages the values of the rarest and most sought-after muscle cars.

Hagerty’s American Muscle Car Index fell for the third time in four quarters, with a 5 percent drop. The index is down 8 percent during the last 12 months, and a similar 6 percent over the last 24.

Ford products mostly bucked the negative trend, with the Boss 429 Mustang gaining 9 percent and the Mercury Cougar GTE inching up 2 points (the Shelby GT500 KR convertible disagreed with a 5 percent slip). Chevy’s representation was mixed: the 1970 LS6 Chevelle SS coupe surged 7 percent, the 1968 Yenko Camaro held firm, and the 1964 Impala SS 409 convertible fell 5 percent. Mopar recorded the two biggest drops, with the Hemi Superbird adjusting downward a massive 24 percent, and the Hemi Cuda convertible shedding 7 points.

Muscle Cars were one of the biggest winners from 2020 to 2021, but now they are still adjusting to the market’s new rules. Even as prices ratchet down, this group is still 40 percent above where they were pre-pandemic.

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German Car Index

The Hagerty Index of German Cars is a stock market style-index that averages the values of 21 of the most sought-after cars from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche from the 1950s-70s.

No index has been steadier than Hagerty’s German Cars Index, which has been treading water for four consecutive quarters.

Nearly half of this group’s cars didn’t move a dollar over the last four months, while eight increased and three fell. The biggest rises went to the Porsche 930 (up 10 percent), the BMW 2002tii (up 7 percent), and the BMW M1 (up 5 percent). Those changes and the nominal increase from some other cars weren’t enough to overcome some smallish decreases to more expensive Mercedes, like the 3 percent stumble for the 300Sc Cabriolet, or the 2 percent falls for the 190SL and 280SL.

German cars from the 1950s to 1970s recorded measured but modest gains earlier this decade compared to more modern Porsches and Mercedes-Benzes, which means they now aren’t experiencing as significant a correction.

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1950s American Car Index

The Hagerty Index of 1950s American Classics is a stock market-style index that averages the values of 19 of the most sought-after collectible American automobiles of the 1950s.

Hagerty’s Index of 1950s American Cars continued its streak of modest but reliable downward moves. The index fell for the fourth consecutive period at 1 percent, and is now 5 percent below where it was in 2023. Of the index’s 19 cars, 12 saw no change, two increased in value, and five fell. The index is now at the same value it was five years ago in nominal dollars, although the story looks worse after factoring inflation into the view.

The 1950 Oldsmobile woody wagon took the biggest hit at 15 percent, while the 1954 Buick Skylark and 1957 Ford Thunderbird both stepped back 5 percent. The lone increases were the Chrysler 300C (up 4 percent) and the 1956 Ford Sunliner convertible (8 percent).

This era and style of car still skews towards older owners, and will likely stay that way for quite a while, which is a drag on their appreciation potential. However, Baby Boomers are still very active in the market, which keeps interest in these cars consistent.

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Affordable Classics Index

The Hagerty Index of Affordable Classics is a stock market-style index that averages the values of 13 undervalued cars, priced around $40,000, from the 1950s-70s.

Hagerty’s Affordable Classics Index had a gain of 1 percent during the first quarter of 2024. This is a small recovery after the previous quarter’s 3-percent drop, and the group is still 1 percent down over 12 months.

Of the index’s 13 cars, six rose in value, three slid, and four were static. Notable increases were the Studebaker Lark convertible’s 10 percent climb, the Mk I MGB’s 6 percent gain, and the Datsun 240Z’s 5 percent bump. Volkswagens didn’t fare so well, with the Beetle shedding 4 percent and the Karmann Ghia dropping 2 percent.

Interest has shifted to newer eras of cars, where the same amount of money can secure a car with superior performance and usability. This also means pricing volatility has shifted more towards those eras, meaning this flavor of car carries less risk (and less reward) for now.

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The new Supercars Index is an extension of the existing group of Hagerty Price Guide (HPG) indexes. While those indexes start way back in 2006, some of the supercars in this new index were not yet on sale or were still new in showrooms that year. Instead, this index is comprised of 15 supercars and begins tracking their values in 2013. The values are still drawn from the HPG and still use the average condition 2 value, but unlike the other indexes, many of the vehicles in this index can do at least 200 mph.

The 15 supercars span the 1980s through the 2000s. They come from long-established manufacturers and a couple of upstarts, too. There are four Ferraris on the list, including the oldest supercar considered here, the 1984-1985 288 GTO. Also considered are the 1987-1992 F40, 1995-1997 F50, and 2002-2004 Enzo. There are two Porsches: The 1986-1988 959 and the 2004-2007 Carrera GT, and two Bugattis, the 1991-1995 EB110 and the 2006-2013 Veyron, and two Mercedes-Benzes, the 1998-1999 CLK-GTR and the 2004-2010 SLR McLaren. Also considered are the 1994-1998 McLaren F1, 1991-1994 Jaguar XJ 220, and 2005-2006 Ford GT. Finally, the upstarts include the 2000-2009 Saleen S7 and the 1991-1993 Vector W8. Certainly, more modern, exotic, and faster supercars are out there, but an index must reliably show how the market has changed over time. In the case of the Veyron, the most modern example included is the 2013 model year because the data that the index tracks starts in 2013.

What does the Supercars Index tell us about that market? Like any great supercar, there are two numbers that matter: How much and how fast. The “how much” is the current index value of over $3.9 million, which is the average value of those 15 vehicles in the index. The “how fast” is how quickly it got to that number, which is a gain of 326 percent since inception or an annualized return of nearly 14 percent.

How have some of the individual components of the index performed? The Ferrari F40 is one of the most recognizable supercars, but it was worth $744,000 in 2013, based on the average condition 2 value. They’re now worth $3.1 million in similar condition, a 331 percent gain. Its great rival of the 1980s, the Porsche 959, was worth $482,000 in 2013 and they’re now worth $2.7 million (+547 percent). Not all have appreciated quite as quickly: Bugatti Veyron, Saleen S7, and Jaguar XJ 220 are up 57, 110, and 214 percent, respectively. Also, while the McLaren F1 is worth nearly 10 times more than most of the other vehicles in the index, its 346 percent gain doesn’t distort the index’s performance. Omitting it leaves the index up 313 percent over the same period.

What is the outlook for the Supercars Index? With so many supercars launched in the past 15 years, including the hybrid trinity McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, and Ferrari LaFerrari, these 1980s through 2000s could soon be overlooked. While all of these supercars seem highly collectible today, the steady increases of the index show just how long that’s been true, and it will also help us see how their collectability changes in the future.

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As the seasons change and rain clouds make way for fresh foliage and flowers, it’s easy to start daydreaming about open-air motoring. If you, like us, have been perusing the classifieds for a reasonably priced and fun convertible, these selections might broaden your horizon. Each can be had in #3 (Good) condition for less than $30,000, and offer a mix of performance, cruising capability, classic looks, or a blend of all three. Hopefully, there’s something here that gets your gears turning and conjuring up thoughts of top-down oceanside drives or aimless canyon exploration.

2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP

#3 (Good) Value: $11,600

GM’s Kappa convertibles, sold in the U.S. as the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice, were initially offered with a naturally aspirated, 177hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. It wasn’t long, however, before Red Line and GXP trims, respectively, gave the twins GM’s first direct-injection engine, the 260hp 2.0L turbocharged LNF. GM even offered a tune and a 3-bar MAP sensor to manage more boost and net 290hp. The rare hardtop Solstice is a pricey collectible, but the convertible remains an affordable option. The car’s frequent criticism was its lack of luggage space. However, it does bring a solid chassis, sporty handling, and room for some serious rubber under those curvy fenders.

1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GS-T

#3 (Good) Value: $12,400

The Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Mitsubishi Eclipse offered buyers three flavors of stylish, affordable sport compact as part of the partnership known as Diamond Star Motors (DSM), named for the combined brand logos of Mitsubishi and Chrysler. Unfortunately for Plymouth fans, the Laser never made it into the second generation of the cars, which lasted from 1994-1998, and arguably had the best design. In more bad news for fans of Mopar brands, the Eagle, while available with the same powertrains as the Mitsubishi, was not offered as a convertible. The sole DSM drop-top is the Eclipse, and the GS-T is the most potent, packing a 210hp 2.0-liter turbocharged 4G63 engine.

2012 Chevrolet Corvette

#3 (Good) Value: $22,000

C6 Corvettes are a lot of car for the money, especially the later models that ditched the 400hp, cathedral-port LS2 for the bump in displacement and better breathing of the LS3. The Grand Sport trim, with its wider bodywork, dry-sump oiling system, and track-tuned suspension, is barely out of range for this list, unless you’re in the market for an automatic. For those that insist on three pedals, the standard Corvette convertible comes in well under our price cap, and that gets you a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual trans, and a 430hp LS3 V-8 for a fabulous top-down soundtrack.

1971 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

#3 (Good) Value: $22,900

Despite sharing its underpinnings and powertrain with the VW Beetle, the Type 14 Karmann Ghia managed to look special thanks to its hand-finished body and concept car styling. Marking the end of an era, the 1971 models were the last to use thinner, more elegant bumpers. Enjoy the simple, easy-to-service Beetle drivetrain and ample aftermarket to keep this curvy cruiser running in tip-top shape for very little money.

1957 Ford Thunderbird

#3 (Good) Value: $28,700

The final year of the first-generation Thunderbird brought exclusive styling with subtle fins that make Ford’s Jet Age taillights seem even more appropriate. Inside, a new dash pod with round gauges gave the ‘Bird a sportier look to reflect its boost in power over the previous year’s offerings. The 292-cubic inch, two-barrel V-8 base engine in 1957 is even more affordable, but we picked the 245hp four-barrel 312 version for our list. Both the dual-quad 312 and the supercharged 312 demand a lot more money, but a resourceful hot-rodder could tune up any of the Y-block V-8s to be plenty of fun, fun, fun.

1969 Mercury Cougar XR-7

#3 (Good) Value: $28,800

In 1967 and 1968, Mercury’s upscale pony car still had obvious Mustang roots. In 1969, things changed. Despite sharing a platform and powertrains with the Mustang, the Cougar looked like a different beast entirely, particularly in convertible form. As opposed to the Mustang’s quad-headlight front end, the Cougar’s hidden headlights were a preview of the 1970 Montego. The Cougar is a rare sight compared to a Mustang and its sweeping lines and muscular haunches make it an underappreciated example of Mercury’s muscle car-era styling. We picked a four-barrel, 351-powered example, which should provide ample power for top-down cruising. Both the 390 and 428 engine options fall outside our price range, but that’s OK, as we’re not drag racing with the top down anyway.

1987 Morgan 4/4

#3 (Good) Value: $29,800

Speaking of drag racing, aside from the air-cooled VW, this Morgan is the least likely to show up at your local NHRA test-and-tune to go heads up against the local hotshots. That’s just not its scene. Packing 96hp, this minimalist machine is hand-built for the kind of top-down motoring exemplified by Pre-War British roadsters. Morgan just kept making them that way. Narrow, close to the road, and with the wind whipping around you and the engine buzzing, normal speeds will feel like race pace. The Ford Kent 1599cc crossflow engine was produced for decades and was used in several forms of motorsport worldwide, so there’s no shortage of knowledge and parts available.

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Do you remember Zoom Zoom?

Maybe the more pertinent question is whether anyone’s forgotten it. Mazda’s joyous, playful slogan from 2001 to 2015 wormed its way into countless ears. It promised above all a pure, fun driving experience, and it was more than a cheerful jingle. During this period Mazda took Zoom Zoom to heart, filling their lineup with affordable cars that delivered serious sporting chops and unforgettable personality. None of them did so in a fashion quite as uniquely Mazda as the RX-8.

During its production, but even more noticeably in today’s turbo two-liter-dominated world, the RX-8 approaches nearly everything differently from other sports cars. That ethos is rooted in its engine.

Wankel rotary engines have been in Mazda’s DNA since 1963’s Cosmo prototype. Compact and powerful for its displacement, the engine intrigued several manufacturers but only took off with any real success at Mazda. The company continually improved the design, steadfastly sticking with it for decades. They placed it under the hoods of everything from the entry-level RX-3 to larger sedans like the Luce (known as the 929 in the U.S., though we didn’t get the rotary version), and, of course, three generations of the RX-7. For over twenty years, Mazda built its sporty identity around the rev-happy, punch-above-its-weight rotary sports car.

Though the RX-7 left the U.S. after 1995, Mazda had another rotary ride up its sleeve. Debuting stateside in 2004, Mazda went all-in: The RX-8’s rotary-themed personality was impossible to miss. Design elements of the nose, hood, tail, shifter, dash, seats, handbrake—just about everything references the engine. The athletic RX-8 isn’t beautiful like the final-gen RX-7, but no one would ever call the newer car derivative.

Underneath the curvaceous bodywork runs another bit of Mazda DNA: a perfectly tuned chassis. It wasn’t five minutes into my drive of this 2004 RX-8 (available on Hagerty Marketplace) that I felt fully attuned to the car and ready to push it harder. The sensation is incredibly familiar, like a longer-wheelbase, higher-threshold third-generation Miata.

There’s less body roll in the RX-8 than its smaller sibling, and the handling dynamics are sharp but not snappy—this is an inherently friendly, tactile car. These traits are amplified in this particular example, which benefits from a host of suspension upgrades from brands that will be familiar to anyone who knows a little about the Japanese tuner world—Tein, Racing Beat, and Mazdaspeed (Mazda’s in-house tuner and racing parts entity).

The 9000-rpm screamer of a 1.3-liter RENESIS twin-rotor engine pairs perfectly with this chassis and sounds like nothing else. That’s no exaggeration—a rotary wail, even through factory exhaust, is one of those notes that never stops willing you to push for the redline. And, short of SCCA classes that are friendly to RX-7s and RX-8s, you won’t find yourself in too many scenarios in which another car plays the same song.

If anyone asks how much power the RX-8 has, the proper answer is enough (238 hp). If they ask for the torque figure (159 lb-ft), you can pivot and compliment their loafers. (Those figures are for the manual-equipped cars; the automatics made do with 197 hp and a slightly higher 164 lb-ft of torque.) Truth be told, the car is quick, and from 4000 rpm on up there’s plenty on tap. In accordance with its Zoom Zoom roots, the RX-8’s power delivery gives you more than enough to balance the car with the throttle, but not so much that you think the car is going to bite you.

Inside, the priority on driving experience is apparent in the RX-8’s cockpit and controls. The steering is tight, communicative, and well-weighted; the shifter crisply moves between gears and is short in height and throw. The pedal box offers ample room, the pedals positioned perfectly for heel-toe work. The well-bolstered buckets naturally integrate a rotary-themed triangle hole in the headrest, and successfully balance effective cornering support and long-distance comfort. Ahead of you sits a simple triple-ringed gauge cluster that puts a big tach front and center, and an at-a-glance digital speed readout beneath.

Look past the shallow dashboard, and the car’s lithe proportions enable you to position it with confidence. In your periphery, though, the cabin can feel a bit bunker-like, with the car’s thick C-pillars hampering three-quarter visibility.

Overall, the cabin feels trim and hospitable. The plastics used in the RX-8 hold up reasonably well if they’ve been cared for. They’re of good quality (although there is a bit of piano black swathed on the doors and dash), and the dashboard layout is old enough that it doesn’t have any awkward and obsolete early-screen tech.

The RX-8 will happily accommodate a good-sized grocery run or luggage for a lengthy road trip. The backward-opening rear doors—another departure from sports car norms—provide good access to the second row of seats, which effectively serve as the primary storage area given the trunk’s petite dimensions. Whether its interior is too small or just right is a matter of perspective—the RX-8 will feel positively palatial coming from a Miata or S2000, but tight if you’re coming from a sport sedan. Just how much room do you need in a true sports car, anyway?

Like owners of most Japanese sports cars, those with RX-8s eagerly took to the aftermarket. As such, this is a corner of the hobby that doesn’t necessarily penalize modified cars when they come up for sale, provided the tuner parts are from a quality brand. If you’re looking at an RX-8, do your homework about any modifications, and when you drive the car, make sure it feels buttoned down—a thoughtfully modified RX-8 will bring out the best aspects of the car without sacrificing drivability.

With the oldest U.S.-market cars now 20 years old, the RX-8, once merely a used sports car, is now an emerging enthusiast collector car. In one key respect, that’s a very good thing—these cars appreciate an owner who will keep up on maintenance (making them not altogether different from revered sports cars that wear more prestigious badges). This means tending to the service schedule, checking the oil regularly, and changing/adding it at regular intervals—the RENESIS engine injects oil into its chambers to help lubricate its apex seals. It also means managing little quirks, like letting the engine warm up fully before shutting it down, and periodically—this one will be hard, I know—winding it all the way out. These engines do better when exercised.

Early cars encountered some issues, including failing ignition coils and catalytic converters, most of which would likely have been addressed on a surviving car. Later examples benefited from revisions to the oil injection system that helped increase longevity and accommodate owners who treat the rotary like a piston engine. If you fall in love with the RX-8 (and there’s a lot to love), find one with a solid stack of receipts, then get out there and enjoy it.

While the RX-8 is not yet in the Hagerty Price Guide, Hagerty does insure the model. Over the last four years, there’s been a steady uptick in inquiries, and average values continue to rise (to just under $14K in 2024) even as the market has receded. RX-8 buyers seeking quotes are predominantly millennials at 29 percent, followed closely by Gen X with 28 percent and Gen Z at 26 percent. Today’s buyers saw the RX-8 when new, drove it in a video game, heard that slogan, and have decided to understand for themselves what the excitement’s about.

Even with an SCCA-prepped Miata in my barn and thousands of hours in Mazda products from this era, my drive in this RX-8 was a welcome refresher on what Mazda meant with Zoom Zoom—it was a reminder of how much personality and execution matter. The RX-8 is a car for anyone who values character and loves a good dance partner, and it still lives up to the promise of Mazda’s memorable slogan.

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Toyota had a minor hit on its hands when it introduced the MR2 sports car for 1985. With 112 hp from a 1.6-liter four, the 2300-pound, sharp-edged, mid-engine wonder was quick, agile, reliable, and affordable—all winning ingredients—and it was unanimously lauded by the motoring press and buyers alike. A 145-hp supercharged version available for 1988–89 offered even more smiles per dollar.

When the all-new Mk II arrived for the 1991 model year, it traded creases and corners for a smoother look, and it, too, quickly became a favorite among thrifty driving enthusiasts. The Mk II, or SW20, outweighed its predecessor by anywhere from 300 to 600 pounds but in return got a bit more luxury, sturdier components, and larger engines. It was also just a bigger car, adding nearly 9 inches in overall length and more than an inch in width. The base engine was a naturally aspirated 2.2-liter four shared with the Celica and Camry, which made 130 hp and 145 lb-ft of torque and came paired with either a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual. The sexy option was a twin-cam turbocharged 2.0 liter making a nice round 200 horses and 200 lb-ft, with a five-speed stick the only transmission.

The beauty of the MR2 of (so named for its Mid-engine, Rear-drive, 2-seat configuration) is its underlying Toyotaness. It may look exotic, but it’s not. It’s not poorly made, and not fragile, either. If driven with care and properly maintained like any responsible adult should, there’s no reason not to get an indefinite amount of miles from one. Which, coincidentally, brings us to our Sale of the Week.

This naturally aspirated, 292,000-mile 1995 Toyota MR2 sold earlier this week on Bring A Trailer for $18,112, including fees. Curiously, the last MR2 to sell on the platform, a 1991 Turbo with just 76,000 miles that traded hands on March 22, did so for the remarkably close sum of $18,637. What’s up with that? Why would two stock MR2s, separated by four years of production, 70 horses, 216,000 miles, and two weeks in the market change hands for the same money? Probably because life makes no sense sometimes.

Then again, the bidders interested in our Super White subject car, owned all its life by one family (and by “the dad” for 27 of those 29 years) were clearly impressed by the care lavished upon it all this time. Rarity would seem to be at play, too: In 1991, Toyota sold nearly 4400 MR2 Turbos in the U.S. In 1995, the final year of availability, just 163 normally aspirated cars sold here.

The seller, the son of the car’s longtime driver, was full of praise for the way his dad babied this thing, and the photos—outside, inside, and underneath—all depict a car that belies such heavy mileage. “Shout out to my dad, who appreciates all things mechanical and treated this daily driver very well,” he wrote in the comments, going on to note that the paint is all original and has never even seen a touch-up, and that his dad replaced the timing belt every 60,000 miles. “He installed heavy seat covers on the original upholstery on Mile 6, and he has always kept the engine oil looking like golden honey.” Also, crucially, “no slurpies capsized on the interior” and there are “no petrified chili cheese fries stuffed under the seats.”

Recent-ish work to the car includes a head rebuild in the last eight years, with new engine mounts, valve cover gaskets, and clutch components in 2018, as well as a brake master cylinder replacement, new Kumho tires, an A/C recharge, and spark plug replacement in 2022.

As daily drivers go, this MR2 lived its best life as a commuter on back roads through a SoCal canyon—Highway 241 from Rancho Santa Margarita to Riverside—where it was then parked each day in a warehouse. Dad was an avid weekend skydiver, it seems, and “the trunk was a perfect size for his parachute gear.” Talk about the perfect vehicle for a quite specific use case…

There are of course flaws present (how could there not be?), but we’re talking small scuffs to the driver’s side door handle, some marred paint in the well for the spare tire, fraying in the trunk lining, and a few odd lines in the material of the dash on the passenger side. Oh, and the original key, while included, is useless, “worn down to the nub from 40,000 ignition twists.” But you just know that Dad saw to that: “The ignition was replaced and keyed to the door handles with two new keys about 10 years ago.”

Given its overall condition, this MR2 sold right where we’d expect it to; call it #3+ condition. There is so much to like about this car, beyond its totally ’90s pop-up headlights, T-top roof, and slim spoiler. That it was adult owned by an enthusiast who loved to drive it and appreciated its quality enough to keep it near-perfect, despite such incredible use, makes it an even rarer example of an already rare car. For those unbothered by mileage, it’s a great poster car. For its lucky new owner, like some commenters on the sale noted, we hope it’s only a short time before you get to slap on the 300,000-mile sticker included with the sale, and then keep on going indefinitely.

The post Just How Far Can This 1995 Toyota MR2 Go? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

When did “the hobby” of car collecting really start?

There’s a famous quote, attributed to Henry Ford: “Auto racing began five minutes after the second car was built.” Can we say the same of auto collecting? Did it start as soon as someone bought their second car?

Probably not, and the Ford quote isn’t literally true, either. But the concept and ethos of car collecting, which grew in the 1930s and 1940s, goes back a lot further than many realize. By 1918, when the Western Front was still noisy and long before most popular “classic” cars had even been conceived, an East Coast couple named Larz and Isabel Anderson had already assembled a group of nearly a dozen motorcars. The Andersons kept acquiring cars well into the 1930s, carefully selecting for different styles and purposes, consistently maintaining them, and treating the vehicles almost like the children they never had.

Nobody would have called it a “car collection” then, but the Andersons’ approach to buying, enjoying, and preserving their automobiles is familiar to any 21st-century collector. And the cars are still around today, billed as America’s oldest car collection. It isn’t just their age that’s impressive, either; while not a huge group, the Andersons’ is a curated one that represents nearly every type of period drivetrain configuration and body style. Many of the vehicles were among the most expensive of their type when new. Most importantly, they are all completely original, have never changed hands, and still reside in their original garage, now known as the Larz Anderson Auto Museum. It may be America’s oldest car collection, but no other group of cars in the world is quite like the Andersons’, and 100 years ago it was way ahead of its time.

The Andersons

Larz Kilgour Anderson was born in 1866 in Paris, then raised in Cincinnati. He had the bluest of blue blood. His great grandfather witnessed the Boston Tea Party, was a captain in the Continental Army, and married William Clark’s (of Lewis and Clark) sister. His father was wounded three times in the Civil War and was a good friend and classmate of Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the president. After Larz dropped out of Harvard Law School in 1891, it was through that connection that he snagged a job at the American Legation in London. So began a diplomatic career, and after three years in London he was appointed first secretary of the American embassy in Rome. While in the Italian capital he met 18-year-old Isabel Weld Perkins while she was on her Grand Tour. A flurry of love letters followed, he proposed in Boston later that year, and the couple were married in June 1897. It was a “simply planned and admirably executed wedding,” according to The Boston Globe. Larz and Isabel rode away from the wedding in a horse-drawn carriage. A year later they became enchanted by the horseless carriage.

Although the couple’s collection and museum are now named after Larz, Isabel was arguably the more interesting of the pair. She was certainly wealthier. Born in 1876 to a New England family that traced its Massachusetts roots to the 1630s, she inherited part of her grandfather’s shipping and railroad fortune in 1881, when she was just five years old. Sources vary on the size of the fortune that went to Isabel, but it was well into the millions, and she was groomed for a life in high society in Boston and Newport.

Their Life and Home(s)

After getting married, the Andersons traveled. Together, they went on more than 70 trips to over 50 countries, colonies, and territories, and wherever they went, they acquired art and décor for their homes. They were voracious but also careful and deliberate, an approach they took when acquiring motorcars as well.

Larz’s diplomatic career peaked in the early 1910s. In late 1911, he became the United States Minister to Belgium and, after a year, Ambassador to Japan. The Andersons loved Japan, but after William Howard Taft lost the 1912 presidential election to Woodrow Wilson, Larz resigned and left just a few months after arriving. The Andersons then spent much of the rest of their marriage traveling, collecting, entertaining, and improving their properties.

Isabel, meanwhile, was never idle. Aside from high society life, philanthropy, and traveling the world, she supported progressive causes like prison reform and higher education for women. During World War I, she volunteered as a nurse with the American Red Cross and spent nearly a year near the Western Front. Isabel was also the first woman in Massachusetts to receive her driver’s license.

She was a prolific writer, too, publishing some five dozen works of poetry, nonfiction, short stories, children’s literature, musical theater, and travelogues. In some of her travel books, she devotes entire chapters to motoring, like 1915’s The Spell of Belgium (“Brussels is ideally located for the motorist”) or 1914’s The Spell of Japan (“Motoring is just beginning to be popular in Japan … Only in a city like Tokyo or Yokohama is it worth while for the resident to have a car the year round”).

When they weren’t abroad, the Andersons split time between three East Coast properties. One in New Hampshire was a getaway from society life. Their mansion on Massachusetts Avenue in Washington, DC, meanwhile, was almost entirely for society life and one of the most fashionable addresses on the DC social circuit. Prominent guests included the Vanderbilts, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., John J. Pershing, and Douglas MacArthur, plus a slew of European and Japanese royalty and nobility, including King Prajadhipok and Queen Rambhai Barni of Siam as well as Prince Andrew and Princess Alice of Greece, whose son would go on to marry Queen Elizabeth II.

For summers, there was a second foothold in New England. Weld, a sprawling family estate Isabel acquired in the 1890s, was located in wealthy Boston-adjacent Brookline, Massachusetts. The Andersons had it transformed into something palatial. The main residence, a 25-room mansion at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Boston, more than doubled in size under their tenure and housed various art and artifacts collected on their travels. A glorious Italian garden designed by famous architect Charles A. Platt sat adjacent to the mansion, as did a smaller but equally impressive Japanese garden, cared for by a full-time gardener from Japan. The Andersons’ penchant for collecting extended beyond art and automobiles, as Weld housed one of the largest groups of bonsai trees in the United States.

According to the biography Larz and Isabel Anderson: Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age, between 1900 and 1940 an estimated 200 people lived and/or worked at Weld. The annual budget for the Brookline estate averaged over $200,000 (not adjusted for inflation). In addition to gardens and housekeepers, the Andersons also had a stable of horses, carriages, and cars to look after.

Their Cars, 1899–1918

Almost as impressive as the Andersons’ mansion was their buff brick two-story carriage house on the grounds of Weld. Modeled after the Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire in France, it was built in 1888. This was well before any widespread adoption of the motorcar, so at first the building housed dozens of carriages as well as horses in its handsome wood interior, separating them by elaborate stalls divided by marble panels and labeled with gold-lettered nameplates. The Andersons never stopped keeping horses and never got rid of their carriages, but by the turn of the century they were already enthusiastic early adopters of the automobile. They bought one nearly every year, gave it a name and a motto, kept it maintained by chauffeurs and mechanics, then retired it once it became obsolete. They rarely, however, got rid of anything.

The motoring bug first bit the Andersons in 1898, while they were in Paris. At the time, France led the world in automotive production and use, and these American aristocrats were captivated by the horseless carriages buzzing around the capital city. Motorcars were still very much luxury goods for the wealthy, but Larz and Isabel could very much afford one, and ordered their first car from Cleveland’s Winton Motor Carriage Company as soon as they returned to the States. The Andersons were among Winton’s first customers, and the car was a true horseless carriage with a sparse phaeton body, tiller steering, and simple single-cylinder engine. Since the Winton was their first car, they nicknamed it “Pioneer” and gave it the motto “It Will Go.”

Larz and Isabel ordered their second car in France in 1900 from a company called Rochet-Schneider. Largely a copy of a Benz design with a big single-cylinder engine driven by a leather belt, it also had a strange (and distracting) “vis-à-vis” seating arrangement, in which the passengers rode on the front seat and could either face toward or away from the driver. Theirs didn’t just come with funky seats; Rochet-Schneider provided a chauffeur who moved back to Brookline with the Andersons and lived with them for several years.

Like with many early automobile owners, speed quickly seduced Larz. By his third car, in 1901, he was already racing. The Winton Bullet, which the Andersons nicknamed “Buckeye,” is a 40-hp, two-cylinder racer. Four were built, and another became famous when Alexander Winton raced it against Henry Ford’s “Sweepstakes” car in 1901. Although Winton seized an early lead, the car broke and Henry Ford then used the prize money to start the Henry Ford Company.

With three properties to go between, the Andersons also wanted a car for longer-distance trips, and for this purpose they acquired their first and only steam car. Although the Stanley Motor Carriage Company built steamers in nearby Newton, MA, the Andersons went back to the French in 1903 for something larger, heavier duty, more complex, and much more expensive. Their Gardner-Serpollet had a four-cylinder engine when other steam cars had two, and the company’s patented flash boiler allowed it to come to steam in about 90 seconds, when other steam cars could take about half an hour. It also came with both summer and winter bodywork.

By their fourth car, a 1905 Electromobile from England, the Andersons had every type of propulsion—gas, steam, and electric—in their possession. The Electromobile, nicknamed “Bringer of Happiness” and given the motto “It Goes Without Saying,” was a typical early electric, and similar cars were popular in American cities by this time.

Their next car, however, was not at all typical. The 1906 Charron-Girardot-Voigt (CGV) was almost as much early motorhome as it was early motorcar. The Andersons commissioned it with long-distance travel in mind, and its build was exciting enough to prompt an announcement in a French newspaper, which called it “the most comfortable and most elegant automobile one could imagine.” The rearmost seat converted into a bed, and two smaller seats flipped up for a wash bin. Since these were the days before interstates and rest stops, there was a toilet as well. With dual chain drive and a 75-hp T-head four-cylinder engine, the car could do 75-to-80 mph despite its immense size.

The CGV was the Andersons’ most expensive vehicle: It reportedly cost $23,000 to build. The Ford Model T, introduced a few years later, cost well under $1000. To be fair to CGV, though, Model Ts didn’t come with a toilet.

By 1907, Larz’s 1901 Winton Bullet would have already been obsolete in terms of high performance, so that year while on vacation in Europe he bought a Fiat and had it bodied in New York. The 11-liter, 65-hp six-cylinder made it one of the fastest cars money could buy in 1907, so the Andersons nicknamed it “The Conqueror” with the motto “No Hill Can Stop Me.” An odd flex today, but hills stopped many a motorcar in the 1900s. They again followed up a sporty purchase with something completely different in 1908—a Bailey Electric Phaeton Victoria. With an open body resembling a carriage and early collaboration with Thomas Edison, Baileys were built in Massachusetts and boasted 100 miles of range. Early electrics were often marketed to women because of their ease of operation, and the Bailey was Isabel’s favorite car. Its nickname was “The Good Fairy;” its motto was “Always Ready and Faithful.”

The Andersons went back to the French for their next car in 1910—a Panhard et Levassor—as a formal landaulet city car while Larz was at his diplomatic post in Belgium. In 1911 they bought an example of the Harry Stutz–designed American Underslung, which was noted for its distinctively low chassis and marketed as “The Car For the Discriminating Few” (the American Underslung passed into Briggs Cunningham’s ownership in the 1940s). They went French again in 1912 with their Renault Victoria Phaeton, distinguished by its sloped nose, radiator placement behind the engine, brass accents, and special canework on the sides of the Vanden Plas–built body. A similar Renault went down with the Titanic that same year.

In 1915, the Andersons acquired a Packard Twin Six. In a time when even high-end cars had six-cylinder engines, Packard introduced the first mass-produced 12-cylinder car. Bodied by Brewster & Co. in New York with fairly conservative sedan coachwork, Larz and Isabel bestowed upon theirs the appropriate nickname of “12 Apostles.”

Their Cars, Post-World War I

After the war, when Isabel returned from Europe, their car-buying habits changed. The Andersons chose vehicles that were more conservative in style, with more muted colors and a more utilitarian nature, including multiple station wagons and trucks. The vehicles were generally less flashy and the Andersons were less likely to keep them.

Among the ones they did keep was a 1924 Renault Torpedo that, in contrast to their grand coachbuilt Renault from 1912, was a tiny and lower-priced open car. Next was a 1925 Luxor, built in Massachusetts. Luxor was not a luxury carmaker, and indeed Luxor configured almost all of its cars as taxis. The Andersons may have been the only people to order one for personal use. The final car that still remains with the Anderson collection was the 1926 Lincoln, an expensive car at $5300 that nevertheless wore a conservative sedan body and, like the Renault and Luxor, modest all-gray paint. As a nod to the 16th president, the Andersons nicknamed it “The Emancipator.”

Their Cars as a Collection

Larz died in 1937 at age 71. Isabel donated Anderson House in Washington, DC, to the Society of the Cincinnati (sort of a male equivalent to the Daughters of the American Revolution), and the house still serves as the organization’s headquarters. Meanwhile, she retired to the Brookline estate and seriously reduced expenses. According to their biography, Wealth and Celebrity in the Gilded Age, the estate’s annual budget shrank from $220K to $77K a year. Naturally, the lavish gardens wilted a bit and the majesty of the place diminished. She did not even consider, however, selling off the group of early motorcars, even though many were not in use.

When Isabel passed in 1948, she willed the estate to the Town of Brookline. Unable and unsure how to maintain the entire property, the town turned it into Larz Anderson Park while the mansion, after some years of disrepair of vandalism, was torn down in the 1950s. The carriage house, meanwhile, was still gorgeous. The town turned over its contents to the Veteran Motor Car Club of America (VMCCA), which opened a museum there in 1948 and used the carriage house as its headquarters until 1966. Prominent early collectors like Henry Austin Clark and James Melton were members at the time. Today, 14 of the Andersons’ exceedingly rare, all-original, single-owner, single-home automobiles make up the permanent collection of the museum, which has become a regional hub of automotive culture and pursues its mission of “supporting the community through educational outreach and the preservation of our permanent collection of early automobiles.”

Appreciation for early automobiles and early car collecting started to take off in the 1930s and the post-World War II years. The VMCCA was founded in 1938. The Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) started in 1935 and the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) in 1952, and judged car shows with both clubs grew in popularity during the 1950s. As early as the 1920s, though, the Andersons were already opening up the carriage house for tours and viewings of their “ancient” vehicles. Their originality and preservation were valued long before preservation became a prevailing trend in the collector car hobby, and they were carefully kept even though there was yet little interest in early pioneering automobiles. Evan Ide, in The Stewardship of Historically Important Automobiles, writes that “Isabel spoke of the fact that nearly all styles and types of early car were represented, and that the overall collection told the story of the development of the motorcar.”

Indeed, the automobile advanced more rapidly in the early 1900s than at any other time. Today, a 15-year-old car is still perfectly usable. In 1920, a 15-year-old car was completely outclassed and obsolete. For the Andersons to keep and maintain their early cars was both incredibly forward-thinking and a great service to this little hobby of ours. Thank goodness they did.

The post Did This Progressive-Era Couple Invent Car Collecting? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It’s been an eventful three months, and another update to the Hagerty Price Guide has landed. The unofficial start to the auction season kicked off in January with Kissimmee and Scottsdale, and now that the driving season is upon us, market activity has picked up since the start of the year. While the market overall remains nuanced, there were some clear standouts that gained notable value in the past few months and offered some lessons for where the hobby currently stands.(Read more to learn about the methodology behind the Hagerty Price Guide.)

1953–58 Studebaker Commander Station Wagon: +44%

With its 1953 redesign, Studebaker’s Commander was the carmaker’s top-of-the-line model. Compared to the previous series, the Commander was significantly upgraded, with a stunning and more aerodynamic-looking design. Although the appearance was radical next to Studebaker’s larger competitors, the car’s success would be hampered by poor marketing and the company’s assumption that buyers vastly preferred four-door models; tooling up production to meet that perceived demand would prove a misstep for Studebaker (one of many the brand would make in the postwar period leading to its demise). Unable to meet demand for two-door models, early quality control issues, and an inability to compete with the cheap prices offered by the big three, Studebaker struggled with its customer base.

Since shuttering its doors in 1964, Studebaker has been overlooked by the broad pool of enthusiasts, left to a die-hard group of marque fans to keep the flame alive. The good news today is that their tenacity has paid off. There is very good parts support for a car that is far less common than its contemporaries, and there are more options for buyers who now find station wagons far cooler than they once might have.

A handful of Commander wagons popped up over the past few months, bringing strong and consistent values, above where the market has been historically. Not to worry, though, as these are still somewhat affordable buys; despite a 44 percent increase, a pristine Commander wagon can be had for under $40,000, and a driver-condition example in the $20,000 range. Is this a resurgence of the 1950s independent automakers among enthusiasts? Likely not. However, it does show the strong love for station wagons of all eras and marques—even the ones many of us forgot about.

1985–86 Audi Sport Quattro: +30%

At the peak of Group B’s reign as the most unhinged class of racing, Audi led the way. The Quattro’s all-wheel-drive system changed the game completely, its prodigious grip necessary to put down all the power the turbocharged cars were producing. It would set the standard for rally racing moving forward.

The Sport Quattro was the second iteration of Audi’s dominant Group B racer, and it was shortened and lightened compared to the Ur-Quattro in order to better attack the tight, challenging roads of rally racing. Of course, as with many motorsports series, the FIA required a certain amount of road-legal examples to be produced in order to homologate the model for racing, and the road-going Sport Quattros kept Audi within the rules. With just 214 examples made, they were hyper-exclusive right out of the gate. Add in the fact that they share DNA with the insane rally cars, and you have a car that is highly sought after.

There are many reasons why the Sport Quattro has seen such a big jump in the past few months. These were already expensive cars; a pristine example could run in the neighborhood of $500,000, but that number’s increased yet again. With each passing year, the legend of Group B continues to grow, and it attracts new audiences—and new buyers. As the apex predator of the era, demand for these Audis is on the rise. There is also the fact that we haven’t seen one of these cars hit the market in quite some time, and while a car offered by RM Sotheby’s in January wasn’t a concours-quality example, it blew past the expected price of a concours car. One sale doesn’t constitute a trend; however, when dealing with a pool of just 214 cars, we have to take market examples when they come and make some educated leaps as to where the data are pointing. Right now, the data point upwards. Group B race cars have already sold for seven figures, so the direction their street-going counterparts are taking was only a matter of time.

1984–89 Subaru XT: +25%

Nowadays, the term “sporty Subaru” is synonomous with the Impreza-based WRX and STI. For good reason, too, as Subaru was a force to be reckoned with on the World Rally Championship (WRC) circuit, and the WRX/STI were the closest mere mortals could come to being Colin McRae. But they weren’t Subaru’s first shots at making a sporty car to attract more buyers to the brand. We had the funky and exceptionally rad SVX, and before that, there was the XT.

Now, the XT name might be familiar to some as the sporty version of the Forester, but for a short time, it was actually a car model—a wedge-shaped and weird-looking one at that. It was the ’80s, after all, and anything sporty needed to look like a door stop, apparently. Subaru sure did nail everything about the 1980s with this car. Unfortunately, the Japanese giant managed to sell just under 100,000 of these things, and before long it would be relegated to memory. There are a number of enthusiasts flying the XT flag, however, and recent sales above price guide–appropriate values have driven values jumped a few grand. Despite that, you can still pick up an AWD, turbocharged XT in the neighborhood of $20,000. Will the XT follow the Brat as the latest old Subaru to gain traction in the collector world? Time will tell—they could be simply too wacky and uncommon to gain long-term traction.

1973–77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo: +24%

With the launch of the G-body platform, General Motors effectively cornered the personal luxury market when the redesigned Pontiac Grand Prix and all-new Chevrolet Monte Carlo arrived for 1970. Like it or not, these cars would set the standard for mid-size, sporty cars throughout the ’70s. The A-Body based 1973 Monte Carlo would come out of the gate strong, selling more than a quarter-million cars (over 50 percent of the total first-generation production), and sales numbers would increase from there.

Mid-’70s American cars are a bit like the late, great Rodney Dangerfield: Large, brash, and they just “don’t get no respect.” They’re hobbled by abysmal horsepower ratings, poor gearing, and awful parts support from the aftermarket. But despite all that, they have a certain charm to them. Nostalgia is a strong motivator, and it has a strong influence on what we’re willing to spend our hard-earned money on. While we can’t get in the head of every buyer, it is clear that with a number of strong sales the past quarter, the mid-’70s Monte is receiving some of the appreciation in the collector market that it’s been missing for far too long.

1964–70 Honda S600/S800: +21%

We may not think of it now, but Honda started life as a motorcycle company. That its first car, the S500, was a tiny, sporty roadster seems in hindsight a logical way to step into the world of four-wheeled transportation. These cars and the siblings that followed would solidify Honda as not just a car builder, but also as an engine builder. The tiny engines, (606cc in the S600 and 791cc in the S800) would make decent power for their size, but in Honda fashion they’re best known for their insane redlines (9500 rpm in the S600) and fantastic engineering. Turn the clock ahead three decades after the last S800 left the factory and Honda gave us a worthy successor in the incredible S2000.

Classic Japanese cars occupy a weird space—a few from the 1960s and ’70s, like the Toyota 2000GT and the Datsun 240Z, sit at the front of our consciousness. Others, like the Honda S600/800, have been criminally overlooked. Sure, they may be tiny for American consumers, but they carry everything that makes a sporty Honda so great, and were foundational in establishing how we think of Japanese enthusiast cars. People are taking notice lately, however, judging by the recent sales of two very good examples (one crested into six-figures). While this doesn’t mean that every S600 or S800 is a six-figure car now, it does demonstrate swift-growing interest, and that the S600/S800 are cars to watch.

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The post 5 Cars Posting Gains in a Soft Market appeared first on Hagerty Media.

If Kevin Marti were to run a Marti Report on the VIN for his Dark Brown Metallic 1967 Mercury Cougar four-speed convertible, it would come back as a Lime Frost 1967 Mercury Cougar three-speed coupe. For a lot of people, those might be “walk away” red flags. But Kevin Marti’s okay with them.

“When I was a boy,” he says, “I had an uncle who had a convertible. He drove it to our house one day, and I’d never seen a car that didn’t have a top on it. He took us kids—my brother, my sister, and I—for a ride around the block.” Marti has been hooked on manual-transmission convertibles ever since. “It’s just kind of my thing.”

He bought that ’67 Cougar when he was 16, his first car. “Because it had a roof on it, and because they didn’t make convertibles that year, I cut the roof off.” The day after Marti graduated high school he went over to his girlfriend’s house, borrowed her dad’s circular saw, and that was that. He never stopped to consider a thing like provenance. Or structure, it turns out—without the roof in place, he couldn’t open the doors. “Had to do the Dukes of Hazzard thing to get into the car.” His local Ford parts guy finally convinced him to go buy a junkyard Mustang convertible and strip the essential bits, then the two men put things right. “The doors opened, after that,” he says. “And it even has a power top.”

In this hobby, you cannot account for that kind of history. No chassis tag or fender stamping or VIN plate will have it. What our cars’ various tags and stamps and plates do have, of course, are the facts, a sort of industrial DNA. Nobody understands the intersection of these two vastly different stories better than Kevin Marti, who for the last four decades has made a name for himself in the Ford-shaped corner of our world, first with a thriving parts business and then with his eponymous Report.

“We don’t play with the data,” he says. “The data is as the car got built, not as the car is.”

That, in short, is the elevator pitch for a Marti Report, which itself is the production story of a given Ford, Mercury, or Lincoln built since 1967—all the components, both standard and optional, that went into and onto a car, and when and where that all took place.

Obtaining your own report is a simple online affair, with results available in three to 14 days, depending on the vehicle year and a few other factors, although same-day rush service is available. Marti designed the process for people who aren’t computer savvy, and all you need to get started is a VIN. From there, you can choose from one of three different reports—Standard, Deluxe, or Elite. The $20 Standard Report is the perfect pre-purchase documentation and provides you with all the basic information about production, like the car’s original color, interior, powertrain, and options, along with decoded information from the door tag, so you know that the car you’re looking at is—or is not—as it left the factory. The $55 Deluxe Report equips you with all the above information, plus a depiction of the door tag, details about the dealership that sold the car new, and several significant dates associated with the car, like the order date, the date(s) of assembly, and the date it sold. It also features statistics about the car to put it into context against others that were similarly equipped. Finally, the $300 Elite Report arrives on blue matte board in a 16×20 frame, which displays everything from the other two reports, along with a reproduction window sticker and personalized production statistics. They are often the documentation you see on easels at car shows, and it’s not uncommon to see the facts and figures culminate with “one of one.” We’ll come back to that.

The 67-year-old Phoenician is a mechanical engineer by trade, and he grew up around cars, learning to work on them from his dad, a mechanic. “I guess somewhere around age six or so I started handing him screwdrivers,” he says. Marti spent the first part of his career in R&D for Sperry Flight Systems. In his off time, he says, “I just kept playing with cars and working on them.” In the late 1970s, he bought a second car and then a third, both of which he still owns. (Marti is not one to get rid of cars.) He also started raiding local wrecking yards for original soft bits—battery cables, radiator hoses, and the like—to put on his cars to make them look factory original. “Nobody was doing that kind of stuff back then.”

At shows, other car owners took notice and asked how they could get their hands on similar items. Original parts in yards weren’t infinite, of course, so Marti figured out how to reverse engineer and manufacture them. This was the genesis of a small side business making reproduction fan belts, radiator and heater hoses, and battery cables, and he and the family sold them at car shows. The big change, however, came in 1982.

He’d just finished restoring a Cougar Eliminator, only to learn the stripe kit wasn’t available anymore. “I was distraught, because that’s what helps make that car.” Sperry was a large company that never threw anything away, which made Marti wonder if Ford was the same way. Maybe it had kept the tooling? What ensued was a long series of phone calls, to various departments, to several different people, trying to get some answers. Finally, he learned that the stripe kits had been farmed out to 3M, so he turned his attention there. “This was back in the days when you had to pay for long distance, and I ended up with $150 monthly phone bills.”

After six months of sleuthing, he reached a guy in 3M’s decorative products division. “He says, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got that tooling. I can see it from my desk. But that’s not our property. That’s Ford’s property.’ But he had no idea who I needed to talk to.” Back to Ford he went, until eventually Marti got hold of an MG enthusiast there who understood the pain of trying to track down crucial parts. “He went to bat for me internally and really helped put the deal together,” he says. Marti wrote a check to Ford, Ford issued a purchase order to 3M, 3M manufactured a batch of 50 stripe kits, and shipped them off to Marti.

People who had seen Marti’s pleading ads in issues of Hemmings and elsewhere looking for a stripe kit occasionally reached out to see if he’d ever tracked one down. “As a matter of fact…” came his reply. “That’s really what started the business,” he says. Soon after, he took a call from Shelby parts supplier Tony Branda Performance, in need of ’69 Boss 302 stripe kits. “A little while later, Ford discontinued kits for the 1970 Boss 302s, and so over the course of the next couple of years, I found myself with this reasonably sized side business of selling stripe kits made by 3M off of Ford’s original tooling.”

The entire time, he never stopped restoring cars, for himself and for others, and in amongst it all he got his hands on an original stamping machine for door data plates, fell down a data rabbit hole, and began selling repop plates as well. All from the cramped confines of the Marti family home, with wife Shelli as invested as he was. Often she was stamping radiator hoses at the dinner table, then feeding the family on that same table an hour later.

Disenchanted with corporate bureaucracy at Sperry, Marti left the company around 1985 to focus on Ford parts supply full-time. In the early ’90s, he learned the company still had all of its data, and instantly he saw the benefit for car owners. Marti the engineer had the software experience to decode it. He just needed access. But proprietary information was not the same as rubber hoses and vinyl stripe kits.

“Various departments had to sign off allowing all this to happen, including the office of legal counsel.” Marti knew the lawyers had the potential to be the “is this really going to help Ford?” stumbling blocks. “But there was one lawyer who liked the way we did our business, and he kind of stepped up and said, ‘I can vouch for this guy. He won’t misuse our data.’ He really made it happen.”

As a result of his unique access to Ford’s industrial DNA, Marti developed relationships, then friendships, with many of the people running the company. Edsel is a friend. Bill is a friend. It’s a situation not lost on him. “There’s an interesting dynamic at Ford that doesn’t really exist at many of the other car companies. There’s so much family involvement and pride in the name, and there’s a deep sense of nostalgia because of that. Their name is on the cars and it doesn’t matter if those vehicles are 50 years old. You don’t have that with Chevrolet. And the Dodge brothers aren’t exactly involved with Stellantis.”

Marti acknowledges Ralph Nader’s indirect role in all of this, too. It was Nader’s revealing investigation into the auto industry, and his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which led to the 1966 passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Among other things, it required carmakers to start keeping records of their vehicles and who owned them, for recall purposes. The 1967 model year was the first to benefit from the greater transparency. “Now, it wasn’t indefinite,” says Marti. “Kind of like with IRS tax records, they only had to keep them for a given time, something like 10 years. It just so happened that Ford never got around to throwing them out.”

There was a period early on, Marti argues, that someone might have talked to the powers that be at General Motors or Chrysler, and they could have been issuing the same kind of reports for Corvettes and Camaros, Challengers and ’Cudas. “But life just didn’t go that way.”

As a result, those verifying the authenticity of Chevys and Mopars must do so without the backing of period microfilm or original paperwork. Their certification rests on the physical examination of the car and its telltale signs.

But people manipulate things. People fake numbers all the time. “It’s just that in the Ford world, you really can’t,” Marti says. “You can attempt to. Plenty of people have tried. You can alter the VIN on a Ford, but as soon as someone orders a report on that car, there’s no hiding it.”

Which helps explain why so many Ford owners are proud to display their Marti Reports. Beyond automotive pride, however, there’s a real-world value component. Marti himself has little regard for prices—he’s in it for personal history, remember—but based on discussions he’s had over the years with people who monitor classic car sales, he argues a report “typically adds 10 percent to the value of a car simply because you can’t fake it.” Hagerty valuation data, based upon thousands of monitored sales, largely agrees, especially for first-generation (1965–73) Mustangs. For vintage F-series pickups, the bump is around six to eight percent, while Broncos of any year tend to see a 12 percent increase in value.

Not all Fords are created equal, of course, and Marti has been involved in verifying some serious machinery, including both original Bullitt Mustangs. Hagerty covered one of them, the movie’s “hero car,” extensively in 2018. That car’s owner, Sean Kiernan, originally went to Ford to help with authenticating the car. In turn, Ford sent him to Marti, who was able to go see the car, work with Kiernan, and fully document its history. Kiernan eventually sold the car, and its $3.74M price tag in 2020 made it the most expensive Mustang of all time.

Another search on a rare Ford came from Colin Comer, a classic car restorer, dealer, historian, and former Hagerty contributor, who has ordered hundreds of Marti Reports over the years. In 2016, Comer encountered a 1969 Ford Bronco in a Phoenix wrecking yard that didn’t quite add up. “When I found the Holman-Moody Bronco Hunter, the only thing that proved it was that truck was getting the hidden VIN off the frame and sending it to Marti,” says Comer. “And it came back as a special-build promotional vehicle. That allowed me to connect the dots, and I bought it on the spot. A same-day report that confirms something like that is a crazy value.” Comer spent 2400 hours restoring the Bronco and sold it privately in 2020 for well into six figures.

Now, a truck like the Bronco Hunter is the rolling definition of one-of-one. There really isn’t anything else like it. All too often, however, we see that label applied far and wide to auction listings. So what does it mean? Not as much as you might think, Marti argues. “Okay, so say you’ve got total 1967 production of 497,303 cars, and this many were hard tops. Of those, this many came with this engine. Of those, this many came with that engine-transmission combination. Of those, this many were painted this color… Back then, the way cars were built, there were so many color choices, so many interior choices, so many options available. There were literally millions of combinations, which meant almost every car built was unique in some way.” If you keep drilling down, in other words, you’ll arrive at one-of-one.

Kevin Marti, you might argue, is one of one. He loves what he does, and he loves being able to provide this service to enthusiasts, but he recognizes he can’t do it forever. He and Shelli have four kids, but only one of them is involved in the business, along with a grandchild. The others have their own careers, their own lives, and he’s proud of each of them. “I mean, we forced them all to work here in the summers when they were teenagers,” he says, “but that was just to instill a work ethic in them.” The future of Marti Auto Works doesn’t rest on family legacy—Marti has been working behind the scenes for some time to put a plan in place for both the parts manufacturing and the data business.

“I’ve spent the last 20-some years working alongside an excellent programmer, and we’ve been building this operation to be 100 percent automated, with the goal to make it something that survives my death.” Profits, he says, will be dispersed to worthwhile organizations trying to make the world a better place. Order a report, do some good for people who need it most.

Before all that, however, Kevin Marti has no intention to step away. “I’d like to put in fewer hours so my wife and I can spend more time going on trips,” he says. “But I can’t sit around and play golf every day. I don’t see retirement coming until my brain just doesn’t function properly.”

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I bought my first car when I was 15—a Triumph TR4 so rusty that it more closely resembled an artificial reef than a sports car. I can name the next five or six cars that came after it in roughly chronological order, but after that, the sequence gets really fuzzy. Trying to recall all of my cars simply induces a splitting migraine—I think I’ve owned somewhere over 50 total. A good number of my buys were the result of an impulse not much more cerebral than the one that causes a Venus Flytrap to snap shut on a green bottle fly. Amazingly, I don’t regret many of them.

If I had stayed with my original career in law, maybe I would be a mega-collector with a warehouse or two full of cars. More likely, I would have had some kind of cardiac event in my forties after another fruitless squabble with my partners over something truly meaningful, like raising associate billable hours from 2400 to 2450 a year. The point is that I am a mega-collector; I just enjoy my cars in series, rather than in parallel. My warehouses are the previous and next owners’ garages.

Although Porsches are my real weakness, I haven’t generally been a single-marque person. I get bored quickly, and I have a low tolerance for seeing my car’s twin at any cars and coffee. My quirks have led to some strange and rewarding cars. Exhibits A, B, and C are Jensen Interceptor, Lancia Fulvia, and TVR S1. They’re about as weirdly diverse a group of cars as one could assemble.

When I was about eight years old, I tried to get my dad to buy a Jensen Interceptor. As if the name weren’t cool enough, it had a V-8, a rear hatch with glass that recalled a fishbowl, and a set of tyke-sized rear seats upholstered in leather and worthy of a drawing room. Irresistible! A kid I played hockey with had a dad who was an orthopedic surgeon. He owned an Interceptor. My dad admired it, and was entertaining the idea of buying the convertible version of that car—until the surgeon’s Interceptor caught itself on fire. Fast forward about thirty years, I hadn’t so much as seen an Interceptor in decades when I got a call from an old colleague at Sports Car Market magazine stating that he knew of one that could be had super cheap. Minutes later, I had bought a maroon, Chrysler 440–powered Interceptor. It was nicely built, cushy, and handled better than any car that size with a solid rear axle had any right to. I loved it, although I never went anywhere without a halon fire extinguisher. I then realized I wanted the engagement of a manual transmission, so the Jensen moved on, replaced by its polar opposite, a 1.3 liter, four-cylinder Italian car.

I’d never even seen a Lancia Fulvia until I worked as legal counsel for an auto transport company. TV presenter Donald Osborne had bought one, and we were shipping it. I’d more or less forgotten about the car until 15 years later, in Italy, literally weeks before the pandemic shut everything down, when the idea of owning a Fulvia popped into my head. Well-finished, beautifully engineered, and expensive-feeling, my Lancia was almost Teutonic in quality, while still thoroughly Italian in style. Surprisingly, parts weren’t a problem. I bought one but eventually tired of flogging the tiny V-4 to the redline in every gear to get any performance out of it. I missed the torque of the Interceptor—and then some Mustang owner at a cars and coffee made fun of the Lancia’s comically teeny exhaust pipe. A short attention span combined with some modest insecurity dictated something a little beefier than the delicate Fulvia.

A 1988 TVR S1 popped up at random in my app for AutoScout24, a massive European car listing site. With its British Racing Green paint, tan seats with contrasting green piping, and green wool carpets, the TVR had this Joe-Dirt Aston Martin vibe to it. I had to have it. Within days, the S1 was in a container on its way to the Port of Newark. If the Fulvia had the precision and quality of a manual-wind, 21-jewel Swiss watch, the TVR was a bit more homemade, albeit cooked up by someone who knew what they were doing. The tubular backbone chassis was largely the work of an ex-Lotus engineer, and the fuel-injected German Ford V-6 gave plenty of grunt to a 2150-pound car. Like the Jensen and the Lancia, the TVR let me fly my automotive freak flag high at a time when the car’s garage mate was likely to be a much more mainstream Porsche.

I suppose you can be a lot more deliberate in the old car hobby, have an actual plan beyond the next shiny penny. You can hold onto cars for decades and maybe build some real wealth; you can become, heaven forbid, an actual connoisseur. But in the end, we all get to the same place, and our cars wind up getting dispersed, whether it’s one at a time, or en masse at a big auction with our name in the catalog. For me, it’s always been about impulsivity, the lack of focus. There’s joy in being the untethered squirrel, ready to dart across four lanes for the next parts-shedding, oil-leaking, fat acorn.

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The 1959 model year was a big one—literally—for American automobiles, especially at General Motors. This was the peak of size, flash, excess and tail fins at the General, who toned things down the following year for the more subdued ’60s. A lot of American car folks already know this, but old American cars and their history can be surprisingly popular in countries that didn’t spend the ’50s blinded by fins and chrome.

One of them is Sweden, which has a thriving American car scene. One Swedish collector is auctioning off his collection through the Swedish auction site Bilweb, and although there are some interesting Saabs and Volvos as one would expect, he was also fascinated by GM’s ’59 lineup and snagged one car from each brand—Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac. The auction represents a remarkable snapshot of the height of fins and decadence across the entire spread of GM’s car divisions. Which one is your favorite?

1959 Cadillac Eldorado Seville

Of the ’59 cars on offer, this Eldorado Seville is by far the most valuable, with an estimate of 1.1M-1.3M SEK (Swedish Krona), about $103K-$122K. It’s an original California car that made its way to Sweden in the early 1990s, and got a restoration there not long after. The estimate is in the car’s condition #1 (“concours”) range even though it looks more like a decent #3 (“good”) condition car in the photos. There can’t be many ’59 Caddies in Sweden so a premium for one up there makes sense.

1959 Pontiac Bonneville

For 1959, Pontiac saw perhaps the most radical year-to-year overhaul of any Detroit automaker in the ’50s. The ’59 Pontiac’s split grille foreshadowed the brand’s future styling, and overall shapes were lower, longer, and more open with an increase in glass area. The track also grew several inches for Pontiac’s signature and much-promoted “Wide-Track” stance. The Bonneville, available as a convertible, two-door hardtop, four-door Vista hardtop and four-door Custom Safari wagon, was Pontiac’s top model and came with a 389-cid V-8. This one made the trip up north to Sweden in 2000 and was restored there the same year, and has been in a museum ever since. It looks like a solid driver that has been sitting for a while. Like the Cadillac, it has an ambitious estimate at 320K-370K SEK ($30K-$35K), which is roughly the car’s #1 (“concours”) value in the States.

1959 Chevrolet Impala

The 1959 model year was a big one for Chevrolet as well, with numerous model changes as well as the brand taking the number one spot in the sales race ahead of Ford. Although the Impala had been introduced in 1958, the ’58 Impala was really just a top-trim model on the Bel Air. For ’59, Impala became its own separate series for the first time, with a full range of body styles and engines.

This one sold new in Los Angeles, and was in Sweden by the 2000s. It reportedly needs minor mechanical attention after 20 years of museum display, and has an estimate of 400K-450K SEK ($37K-$42K)—way high for a sedan with a middle-range 283 under the hood, but again might be more reasonable in Scandinavia where Impalas don’t roam in high numbers.

1959 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight

The top of the line Oldsmobile in 1959 was the 98 (Ninety-Eight), offering every standard feature in the Olds lineup, plus a few more like an electric clock, power steering/brakes, and the attractively named Jetaway Hydra Matic Drive. Power came from a 394-cid version of Olds’ Rocket V-8, rated at 315hp and 435 lb-ft. Unlike most of the American cars in the collection, this one has been in Sweden for a few decades already. It has a 320K-370K SEK ($30K-35K) estimate, which is beyond the condition #2 (“excellent”) value for it in the States.

1959 Buick Electra 225

Buick’s full-size luxury car built for over three decades, the Electra was first introduced in 1959. Named after Electra Waggoner Briggs, a Texas socialite who was also the sister-in-law of GM’s President at the time, the Electra and all other ’59 Buicks featured all-new styling not seen on other ’59 GM cars, including slanted headlights, round taillights, and “Delta-Fins” in the back. This one was an Arizona car before moving to Sweden in 1989 and has been in a museum since 2000. It has a 330K-380K SEK ($31K-$36K) estimate.

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Old pickups are still having their moment. They’re increasingly appreciated as usable classics, and their values are generally up and steady, in contrast to the swift rise and subsequent retreat that’s befallen some collector SUVs. At $23,625 including fees, this 1978 Dodge W150 Power Wagon sale shows the health of the overall collector pickup market, and suggests that Dodge might have a value edge compared to its Ford and Chevy contemporaries.

Sitting atop 32-inch tires and wearing a recently added Macho graphics package and black accent wrap, this ’78 looks period-perfect and ready to enjoy. The seller reports that he bought the truck from its original owner, and that the 63K miles on the odometer represent the actual figure.

W150s featured full-time four-wheel drive, and as a consequence, they often ended up as plow vehicles or living a similarly work-oriented life. Many rusted away, but careful attention over the years enabled the survival of this example. The cab mounting points and floor pans are particular weak points on this model, but listing photos show the former in good shape and the latter having been addressed. Minor rust appears on along door edges in photos, but none of it looks concerning.

Under the hood resides a 318-cubic inch, 145-horse V-8. Dodge offered a wide variety of power plants in these third-generation pickups, and while this one isn’t the strongest, it should be plenty for tooling around and hitting the occasional trail.

Inside, the rig is outfitted with niceties like split seats with a fold-down armrest, a tilt steering column, and carpeting. (Having spent a fair amount of time working on my cousin’s W150, I was immediately smitten with these fancy accoutrements—we’ve added carpeting to his truck, but I’m going to see if we can find these seats somewhere.)

Our valuation team rated this Power Wagon as a solid #3 (Good) condition truck, the kind that would be right at home putting on miles while still looking good at a local show. This sale beats the corresponding Hagerty Price Guide condition value—$14,600—by a solid $9000, showing how a properly preserved vehicle with attractive options can still fetch a very healthy price, even in a slower market.

Compare this Dodge’s transaction with the condition values of similar Fords, though, and $23K starts to look like a steal. A #3 ’78 F-150 half-ton 4×4 comes in at $27,200—the strongest number among comparable trucks from the Big Three.

Chevy’s K10 half-ton is a more earth-bound $17,400, square between this Dodge’s condition value and its sale price. Is this Power Wagon worth $6K more than the Chevy? Your answer might depend on what camp you’ve chosen, but given the Mopar’s extra visual punch, the premium isn’t surprising.

This macho green bruiser managed to thread a valuation needle—it outperformed its fellow Dodges and came in under the market-leading Ford. Twenty-three grand isn’t cheap, but it’s still a solid entry point for a collector vehicle. Let’s hope the new owner enjoys it, and takes a few photos in a similarly attractive setting.

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With a new world record sale on Bring A Trailer of $109,200 including fees, the Honda S600 has officially entered the hall of collectible Japanese legends. The 1965 roadster in question had an exceptional pedigree: A comprehensively restored example that won best in show at the 2014 Japanese Classic Car Show in Long Beach, California, it had also been displayed at The Petersen Automotive Museum. But all S600s are special: effervescent to drive, advanced for their time, and of outsized historical importance.

The diminutive S600 casts a long shadow. Not only was it the first production car exported by the brand, but the coupe also was developed in a way that speaks to the speed with which Honda was reacting to the rapidly changing automotive industry in Japan. Launched in 1964, the design of the S600 is impressive even today: fully independent suspension at all four corners, a curb weight of under 1600 pounds, and an all-aluminum, 606cc four-cylinder engine with a redline of 9500 rpm and a power output of nearly 100 hp per liter.

In its day, the S600 should have shocked the world with its capability. But this was the mid-1960s, long before the fuel crises of the ’70s would send buyers flocking to Honda dealerships. Though fictional, the Mad Men episode “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” captures the sense of the bemusement with which U.S. buyers must have received an export-specification S600: His firm having won the chance to compete for Honda’s planned automotive business, Roger Sterling mentions the sky-high redline of the little Honda, a figure to which Don Draper responds with, “What?” The S600 is dismissed as more motorcycle than car.

But that is the importance and the appeal of this tiny roadster: It is the bridge between Honda’s early motorcycle success and the brand’s ascendancy as an automaker. At the same time, S600 embodies the mercurial nature of Soichiro Honda, the founder of the company. The sports coupe wasn’t the first passenger vehicle produced by Honda. With most of Japan’s population getting around via bicycle or train in the 1960s, the company first built the T360, a tiny but practical pickup truck. Dr. Honda, however, wanted more.

A longtime racing fan even before WWII, Soichiro wanted Honda to build a sports car. Shown next to the T360 in 1962, the S360 prototype roadster was a bold effort. The color of its paint involved a rather public fight: Honda wanted his first sports car to wear bright red. At the time in Japan, red and white were reserved for emergency vehicles. Soichiro wrote newspaper columns about how ridiculous this restriction was and generally made such a nuisance of himself that the Japanese government relented. The production version of the S360, the S500, launched in a bright crimson that remains Honda’s official corporate color.

You could call the S500 a production car, but with just over 1300 made, it’s as rare as a Ferrari F40. The S500 also suffered from various mechanical issues due to the high-strung nature of its quad-carbureted 531cc engine, which made 44 hp at 8000 rpm. After a year, the S600 arrived with a bored-out, 57-hp version of the same engine, now supported by reworked cooling and oiling systems.

Honda’s sports car wasn’t perfect yet. In the summer of 1964, journalist and founder of Japan’s Car Graphic publication Shotaro Kobayashi bought a brand-new S600 and shipped it to Europe. The official purpose of the trip was for Kobayashi to attend Honda’s first foray into Formula 1, at the Nürburgring, but he also turned the expedition into a 7500-mile tour of all things automotive in Europe. Kobayashi hit up Monza and Spa, crossed over the Alps, stopped in at the Porsche factory to see the then-new 901 (later 911), and even managed to let Colin Chapman have a go in the S600.

On the way back from the German Grand Prix, disaster struck. Piston three seized and the connecting rod went through the block. The culprit was a torn hose leading to one of the four Keihin carburetors. Luckily Honda just so happened to have a replacement engine in Belgium. (Rumor has it that Honda was so worried about the failure of Kobayashi’s well-publicized trip that the company had a car tucked away, on standby.) A reinforcement was applied to all subsequent production cars to prevent this tearing.

Honda built roughly 11,000 S600s between 1964 and 1966, with periodic revisions for greater reliability. Each one had that 9500-rpm, four-cylinder hummingbird of an engine, and vestigial motorcycle features like twin chain drives, one for each independently sprung rear wheel.

On the road, the main experience is a lack of inertia. If properly set up and tuned—something perhaps best left to a motorcycle mechanic—the four-cylinder engine doesn’t so much crank as it does switch on like a modern Honda generator. The curb weight is near that of a Lotus Elan, although the suspension is a little softer. The brakes are drums at all four corners, but shedding speed is easy with so little weight on the move.

Recalibrating your brain to the sky-high rev range takes some getting used to. The tendency is to short-shift at 7000 or even 8000 rpm; to have the most fun, you learn to keep your foot in it. Placing the car on the road is ridiculously easy, as it’s ten inches narrower than an original Miata, and anyone over six feet tall will loom out of the cockpit like one of Richard Scarry’s anthropomorphic bears driving a shoe car. Everything in a S600 smells and looks like the 1960s, but the car drives as you hope it will: like something far more modern.

The temptation is to liken the S600 to the equally revvy S2000, but you have to put both cars in context. The 21st-century screamer is the product of a fully mature Honda, a company that was still pushing the engineering envelope, but one that had an established global market share and broad product portfolio to back it up. The S600 was breathtakingly audacious in its time, and the way it screams through those quad-carbs near redline lets any S2000 know that Grandpa Honda is not one for a quiet retirement.

Soichiro’s follow-up to the S600 was the larger, front-wheel-drive Coupe 9, which ended up being a bit of a disaster in terms of company morale. The boss kept changing the car on the production line, and the engineers eventually rebelled. The later N600 hatchback (and of course the Civic), which was most Americans’ introduction to four-wheeled Honda products, was a lot more practical and easy to live with day-to-day.

S600s did make their way outside of Japan, arriving in Europe as official exports, and also into Canada. Canadian cars were sold through motorcycle dealers, and the first batch was likely shipped to Toronto in the summer of 1965. S600s are not common in Canada by any means, but since keeping one on the road requires some pretty skilled mechanical knowledge, and because parts were hard to come by in the pre-internet age, barn finds are not unheard of.

The other way to get into a left-hand-drive S600 is via Okinawa, which remained under U.S. administration until the late 1970s. There, unlike in mainland Japan, cars drove on the right side of the road. There’s also a strong following for the S600 in Germany, buoyed by specialists like Michael Ortmann.

Arguably, the S800 that followed the S600 is an easier collectible to own and keep on the road: Later models ditched the rear chain drives for a more conventional axle. You can also get a later S800 with disc brakes up front, although you can also fit the discs to an earlier S600.

With values solidly established, bagging a bargain S600 is probably off the table these days. Finding and restoring one is a theoretically more accessible path, but these little cars are so delicate and precise that a lot of patience is required. The S600 might be the grandfather of the Honda Civic, but it’s not a Honda Civic.

Against contemporary Japanese icons of the 1960s, the S600 punches well above its weight. It is less outlandish than the Mazda Cosmo, thought the Honda equals its Japanese compatriot for technological advancement. An S600 is nowhere near as rare and expensive as a Toyota 2000GT but shares its elegance and restraint.

The S600 offers a genuinely unique driving experience, a thrill that is laced with Soichiro’s maverick glee for speed. Six decades later, the coupe is a clear link in the bloodline running between the Super Cub and the NSX. The first car Dr. Honda sent out into the world may have been tiny, but it left a mark.

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Usually, when the Mustang and Camaro find themselves in a story together, they’re duking it out in a head-to-head comparo. This time, though, we don’t plan to spend too much time pitting them against one another. Instead, we’ll explore how their trajectories—from when they were hot new pony cars, to affordable used performance cars, to emerging classics—provide context for how we think about collector cars and their values.

Back in 1987, the Camaro IROC-Z rolled out an optional 5.7-liter, 225-horse L98 V-8 to combat the top-dog Mustang GT, which featured the same horsepower figure from its 5.0-liter V-8. The Chevy’s MSRP came in around 18 grand, depending on how many boxes you ticked, while the Ford dealer asked you to fork over a more frugal $15,000 for its GT pony. Those numbers may sound cheap, but in today’s dollars, they equate to nearly $50K for the Camaro and just over $41K for the Mustang.

Then, of course, came depreciation. Both models sold well, meaning rarity wasn’t a factor in their values on the secondary market. Also, people flogged them as intended, and a market heavy with well-used examples drove overall values down. What’s more, while all that stoplight tomfoolery was taking place, inflation silently marched on. The IROC and GT got cheap—seriously cheap, when compared to their original MSRP.

That brings us to the first point: Inflation doesn’t sleep. Collector cars can be a good investment from the right point in time, but that point is rarely ever when they’re new. This is especially true for cars that were produced in significant numbers, like the Mustang and the Camaro. (It’s not a universal truth, but even the Ferrari 250 GTO was comparatively “cheap” at one point.)

As we all know, if you wait long enough, factors can conspire to bring values back up: Time winnows the number of excellent-condition vehicles on the road, and buyers who lusted after the car that ruled their high-school parking lot get to the point where they can afford a pristine example. As the above chart shows, though, the value boost doesn’t typically happen overnight—even for two shining examples of storied nameplates.

With that in mind, the inflation-adjusted MSRP gives us another metric to assess current market value. Is $25K for a ’93 Mustang considered expensive? Or is it actually a good value? People will answer those questions differently, but if that $40K+ itch you wanted to scratch 37 years ago is available at a discount, even a shrinking one, that car for that price is still an appealing proposition.

And now for a little bit of comparison: Against inflation, the two cars have fared similarly over the last four years. Back in January 2020, the Camaro was worth 55 percent of its inflation-adjusted MSRP; today it sits at 88 percent of that number, an increase of 33 percentage points. The Mustang moved 30 points, having sat at 28 percent of adjusted MSRP four years ago compared to 58 percent now. Measure from a decade ago, though, and the IROC has gained considerably more than the GT.

The IROC’s stronger trajectory, and the fact that it’s close to crossing over its adjusted MSRP value, suggest that between these two, it was the first to cross from used car to collector car. (The pace of that transition speaks to the car’s appeal, but its unfortunate effect is that a good one is getting tougher to afford.) The Mustang, on the other hand, still represents better value in real dollars, and relative to its initial cost.

Regardless of which side you’re on, comparing against inflation-adjusted MSRP does provide a solid visual for how these ’80s warriors are maturing into revered classics.

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The post How the ’87 Mustang GT and Camaro IROC-Z Take on Inflation appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We love breaking down data in different ways here at Insider. Recently, we decided to look at value through a different lens: cost per horsepower. A healthy discussion ensued, with many of you sharing that you’d gladly pay a little extra for a trimmer body style, a high-performance package, or a V-8.

To our lengthy spreadsheets we returned, playing with the filters to yield a fresh list. This time, we set the threshold at 300 hp and looked only at two-door models. To keep the selection affordable, we restricted ourselves to cars that cost no more than $15,000. We didn’t want to just be talking about rough examples, either, so all values you see here are for vehicles in #3 condition—well-maintained, driver-quality cars, in other words.

The choices vary wildly across the decades. First off, no car in the Hagerty Price Guide from the ’80s meets these criteria. Sports cars with 300 horsepower existed in the ’80s, of course, but none are cheap, as defined here. The same is true for the 2010s: Powerful two-doors abound (hello, C7 Stingray), but they’re well into the $30,000 range. We had to head back to 2010 and Ford’s Mustang (315 hp, $13,600) to meet each of our thresholds. A smattering of foreign cars from the ’90s and ’00s fit our filters, but none show up in any prior decade. Together with how expensive ’80s cars have become, this won’t surprise any good student of automotive history.

In general, you’ll find the richest selection of two-door classics with 300 or more hp in the 1960s or in the 1990s through the 2000s. To make sure no decade is under-represented, we’ve chosen two from each decade—excluding the ’80s, for the reasons listed above.

Without further ado, here are 10 affordable two-doors, most of them with V-8s, and all with 300 or more hp.

2005 Ford Mustang GT

Horsepower: 300

#3 value: $14,800 (convertible)

Mustangs from the S197 generation, especially those that predate the 2010 facelift, are some of the most accessible ways into 300+ horsepower. Even better, both the coupe and convertible variants of the GT model (the entry-level V-8) can be found for under $15K: Droptops are just a skosh under that figure, but the coupes from 2005–09 are only $12,600 in #3 condition. The V-8 got you a host of upgrades from the base V-6 car, plus the glorious exhaust note that’s worth the price of admission in and of itself.

2008 Nissan 350Z Roadster

Horsepower: 306

#3 value: $11,600 (Base)

Bucking the usual trend of coupe versus convertibles, the soft-top version of Nissan’s 350Z is the one that’s more affordable. Horsepower varies across the model years, and even among the trim levels until 2007, when Nissan decided to put the same 306-hp variant of its VQ-series V-6 in all of the cars. Redline increased by 500 rpm, to 7500, and fuel economy ticked up, as well. The only downside is the additional cost of the performance goodies: If you want the limited-slip diff, stability control, or cruise control, set aside another two grand and look for the Enthusiast trim. But if you want simple, top-down sporting fun? The base 350Z is your champ.

1999 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 Coupe

Horsepower: 305

#3 condition value: $12,400

The fourth-gen Camaro follows the general rule that when the top goes down, the price goes up. If you’re on a budget, you can work this to your advantage: a 1999 Z/28 coupe with a manual transmission and the 5.7-liter, 305-hp LS1 goes for $12,400, while the droptop is $20K. (Those who know these cars agree that 305 hp is quite conservative.) This model year also marked the arrival of a Torsen diff for the Z/28 model. Though it ultimately went away after 2002 because of a new head-impact crash standard, the F-body Camaro Z/28 is a stylish, modern, and affordable avenue into the legendary nameplate.

1998 Mercedes-Benz SL500 Roadster

Horsepower: 315

#3 price: $14,800

It’s hard to imagine a stronger contrast between the two foreign-make cars on this list, though both are roadsters. As we noted in our buyer’s guide for this generation (R129) of SL, this luxurious, over-engineered German roadster hails from the cost-is-no-option era of Mercedes-Benz product development. Both elaborate and stout, this 315-hp, V-8-powered droptop is a ton of car for $14,800. This model year is a bit of a sweet spot: Just two years prior, that M119 engine received individual ignition coils, lighter pistons, and a five- rather than a four-speed automatic. A year later in 1999, Mercedes swapped the M119 for the M113, a single- rather than dual-overhead cam V-8 that made 13 fewer horsepower.

1970 Mercury Marauder

Horsepower: 360

#3 condition value: $13,600

Unlike many of the cars on this list, the ’71 Marauder doesn’t require you to give up its highest-spec engine to stay under fifteen grand. Marauders equipped with the 429-cubic-inch, 360-hp Cobra Jet cost just $13,600 today, and even those with the X-100 package are just $15,200. (Ticking that box added a host of options: automatic transmission, rear fender skirts, two-tone paint, leather upholstery, and alloy wheels.) Dripping with power and luxury, this personal luxury coupe nonetheless didn’t sell that well, but that just means if you show up at a car show with one today, there probably won’t be anything else like it.

1971 Pontiac Grand Prix

Horsepower: 300

#3 condition value: $14,300

If you dig the ’71 Grand Prix, you don’t just like beak—you like boattail, too. Though not as dramatic as Buick’s Riviera of the same period, Pontiac added the distinctively molded rear deck lid to its personal luxury coupe in ’71. As has been well-told, the ’70s weren’t the best time for big power numbers. Compression began dropping after 1970, the industry method for calculating horsepower changing from gross to net in 1972, and the one-two punch of emissions regulations and fuel crisis impact all conspire to explain why all of the sub-$15K, 300+ horsepower cars from this decade hail from 1970 or 1971.

The best deal for the most powerful Grand Prix is the higher tune of the standard, 400-cubic-inch engine, which squeaks into this list with 300 hp. The 455 was reduced from 370 to 350 hp for ’71, and costs over twice as much today: $32,000 for an example in #3 condition.

1965–69 Avanti II

Horsepower: 300

#3 condition value: $13,000

Looking for something powerful but off-beat? Check out the funky fiberglass Avanti II, designed by Studebaker and powered by a Chevy 327 V-8. Available in a wild array of colors, both inside and out, the Avanti II (1965–69) is surprisingly affordable for such an oddball. Values are essentially flat across the production years: a ’65–67 model carries a value just $200 higher than its ’68–69 brethren. These Avantis, produced after original maker Studebaker closed its factory in ’63, reached production thanks to a pair of car dealers from the brand’s home town of South Bend, Indiana, who bought production rights to the model name and a bunch of spare parts.

You’ll pay another 10 percent on top of the Avanti’s #3 value for factory air conditioning or a four-speed … but since that value is $13,000, you’re still under $15K with one or the other desirable add-on.

1968 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Holiday Coupe

Horsepower: 310

#3 condition value: $11,300

Offered across 50 years, the 88 was the top-selling Oldsmobile in the ’50s and the ’60s. As of the 1967 model year, the 88 received a facelift, adding more beak and more fender flare. The following year ushered in some subtle but elegant changes: the center section of the grille was changed to body color, and the turn signals were no longer squeezed in between each pair of round headlamps. The 1968 model year was the last that “Delta” would denote a trim level on the 88; afterward, it was absorbed into the name of the model.

The 88 may not be as coveted as other names of full-sized ’60s performance—Chevrolet’s Impala SS, Ford’s Galaxie—but the ’68 year in particular is one of the best deals for a handsome, powerful muscle car, especially if you forgo the convertible and its $4000 premium: The 425-cubic-inch V-8 made way for a 455-cubic inch mill, adding 10 horsepower, for a total of 310.

1959 Lincoln Premiere Coupe

Horsepower: 350

#3 condition value: $13,700

Totally new for 1958, with unibody construction, the Lincoln Premiere immediately established itself as large and in charge—not only in luxurious appointments and overall footprint, but in engine displacement: Both the ’58 and ’59 model years were powered by a 430-cubic-inch V-8, though power dropped from 375 to 350 hp as of 1959. Hardtop sedans were the most popular, and those from ’58 and ’59 both qualify for this list, with #3 values of $13,700 and $12,000, respectively. We’d dare to say that the Thunderbird below, with its separate grille and headlights, looks a bit more modern: But if you want the most luxurious car made by Ford in the ’50s—and if your budget doesn’t stretch to a Continental Mark II—there is no substitute for the Premiere.

1959 Ford Thunderbird Coupe

Horsepower: 300

#3 condition value: $13,900

If you’re looking for ’50s glamour and a recognizable model name, the second-gen Thunderbird offers a lot of bang for your buck … especially when you consider that the 1959 coupe is nearly $12K cheaper than the convertible, even when both are equipped with the 352-cu-in engine. Touted in a 1959 brochure as the “newest” version of Ford’s “famous Thunderbird V-8,” this four-barrel powerplant from the FE family was the second-largest engine available for 1959, which saw the introduction of the 430-cu-in MEL V-8. If you’re a big fan of the MEL—we are—consider adding $700 to your budget and buying a ’59 coupe with that engine: You’ll gain an extra 50 hp.

If you’re strict about your $15K budget, however, you may need to do without A/C: The factory-installed option carries a 10 percent premium in our price guide, and even if you go the modern route, and shop the Vintage Air catalog, you’re still looking at $1900 before labor.

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The post 10 Cheap Coupes with 300+ hp appeared first on Hagerty Media.

There are a few ways to look at the original Lexus SC. One is through the lens of brand history. The SC was Lexus’ second-ever model. If its original LS 400 was the smash-hit debut album, the SC was the also-excellent but definitely overshadowed follow-up. You could look at it, too, as the first Japanese luxury performance coupe to shake up a German-dominated segment, just as the LS 400 had done for the big fancy sedan market. You could also see it as an unfortunate dead end, as its 2001 replacement was a completely different—and a less-enthusiast-oriented—automobile.

Finally, you could consider its underpinnings, available 2JZ engine and five-speed manual, and decide it’s a dressed up, fancy Mk IV Toyota Supra at a (in today’s market) discount price. That was my thought process back in 2018 when I bought an SC 300 as a fun-ish daily driver. No matter how you approach it, though, the 1992-2000 Lexus SC is an interesting, very good and sometimes forgotten modern collector car that’s not exactly cheap, but definitely not expensive, either.

As the 1980s turned into the 1990s, anything and everything Japanese was still riding high, and the country’s economic bubble was still very much inflated. Toyota had introduced its Lexus luxury brand in 1989, and its debut model—the LS 400—was a Japanese executive sedan that was better, cleverer, cheaper, and ultimately more reliable than the European competition of the time. A natural next step was for Lexus to take the same philosophy and tackle the luxury coupe market. The result, introduced for the 1992 model year, was the SC (“Sport Coupe”).

Largely styled at Toyota’s Calty Design Research center in California, the SC abandoned the sharp edges of the previous two decades and foreshadowed the rounder edges of the ’90s. There are almost no straight lines anywhere in the SC’s body (“round as round can be,” Car and Driver called it) other than a character line running down the sides, and the shape is a fairly slippery one with a drag coefficient of 0.31. The designers started from scratch, working with plaster molds, scanning them, and digitally manipulating them with a computer. All advanced stuff 35 years ago, and the end product is undeniably handsome if not sexy. “Every inch of the Lexus coupe was designed to exhilarate you…even when you’re not moving,” said one commercial.

The inside was all proper luxury car fare, including leather, wood trim on the dash, cruise control, power windows and seats, and an optional 12-CD changer in the trunk. Long, heavy doors were made less ungainly by a novel hinge design that allowed them to swing both outward and forward (about three inches). ABS discs did the stopping. Power steering was standard.

A Toyota-badged version called the Soarer sold in Japan, while much of the SC’s platform was used for Toyota’s upcoming Supra. All were built at the company’s Motomachi factory.

As for the drivetrain, SCs came in both six- and eight-cylinder flavors. But this wasn’t like choosing between a Z/28 and a base V-6 Camaro—for the Lexus buyers, selecting a six or an eight yielded a legend under the hood either way.

First introduced was the SC 400, which got the same famously robust 4.0-liter 1UZ-FE V-8 from the LS 400 sedan. Rated at 250 horsepower and mated to a four-speed automatic, it was enough to push the coupe to 60 in under seven seconds. Then, in the summer of 1992, Lexus introduced the SC 300, which got a version of the 3.0-liter 2JZ straight-six, the engine that became the darling of JDM lovers and tuners all over the world thanks to the Supra. Unlike Supra buyers, though, SC 300 buyers had no option for a twin-turbocharged 2JZ, and had to make do with a naturally aspirated version rated at 225hp and 210 lb-ft. Still, they had some consolation in that they could choose a five-speed manual, and stick-shift SC 300s could accelerate roughly as fast as the auto-only SC 400. When they came out, the SC 300 started at nearly $39K, and the SC 400 at nearly $43K.

While it didn’t get the same gushing reception as the LS when it debuted, the SC still got good press. Motor Trend gave the SC 400 Import Car of the Year for 1992, while Car and Driver concluded: “The SC400’s goal is to blow a hole through the blue-ribbon market for sports/luxury coupes…Can you say ‘bull’s-eye?'”

As the Lexus range expanded through the rest of the decade, the SC did receive some significant updates, though none resulted in dramatic change. For 1996, a redesigned front grille and bumper were added along with side skirts and rocker panels, while the SC 400 gained another 10 horsepower. New taillights and a modified spoiler were added in a mid-cycle refresh as well. For the 1998 model year, both engines got VVT-i (variable valve timing), boosting the SC 400 to 290hp. By the end of the decade, however, their designs were older and their price tags higher (a 1999 SC 400 started at $55K, over $100K in today’s dollars), while general interest in coupes was waning in America at the dawn of the SUV age. The second-generation SC, called the SC 430, was an all-new design with a hardtop convertible body and none of the sporting pretensions of its predecessor. It doesn’t have the same kind of following or respect in the enthusiast community as the original. In all, Lexus sold 82,538 first-gen SCs, split between 49,538 SC 400s and 33,000 SC 300s. Only 3883 people ticked the box for a five-speed.

The rarity of the manual transmission, and the prices at the time, were what attracted me to SC 300s almost exactly six years ago. A rear-drive coupe with a memorable engine, a stick shift, and a nice interior for way under ten grand? What’s not to like? One popped up that looked solid and drove well but was a little rough around the edges. When a car’s that rare you can’t be too picky, and I knew it was never going to be my forever car, so I bought it.

My Teal Mist Metallic SC turned out to be a great daily. In non-turbocharged form, the 2JZ delivers more of a smooth run of power and nice noise than anything urgent, but it’s plenty to have fun with. The ride is quiet and the car is softly sprung. The steering is a bit soft and noticeably boosted; it feels very ’90s in that regard. There is a surprising but manageable lack of headroom for a 6’2” driver, while the two back seats are small but decent enough for most passengers. Trunk space is surprisingly tight at 9.3 cubic feet.

It’s a solid GT car that’s fun when you want it to be, dignified the rest of the time, and that’s it. I liked that it wasn’t trying to be anything else. I liked this car a lot, but didn’t love it. When one too many things broke, I sold it on for about what I paid for it.

Today, survivorship is decent for the SC. The people who bought these cars new paid a lot for them (mine had a car phone, so you know the original owner was super-important) and because they’re Lexuses, after all, they tend to last a long time. But as ’90s Japanese coupes with rear-wheel drive and interchangeable Supra parts, plenty of SCs have been tuned and drifted.

And just because it’s a Lexus doesn’t mean it never has problems. SCs do have their quirks. SC 400s have their power steering pump mounted above the alternator, which will cause issues if the pump leaks. The hydraulically actuated fan on the SC 400 is also prone to failure, and aging original 1UZ engines are known to leak oil. The ECUs on both models can also suffer from leaking capacitors. These cars also get body rust, particularly around the rear wheel wells, above the windshield, and around the sunroof. Inside, the seats are prone to tearing and door panels get loose, while those clever door hinges wear out and result in a sagging, hard-to-open door. The digital screens are old LCDs and they can leak to become illegible, while lights in the gauge pods tend to dim and burn out. The regulators for the power windows are also a common failure, and a pain to fix. My SC had a couple of the above issues when I bought it. Eventually, it had all of them.

We don’t cover these cars in the Hagerty Price Guide, and the closest comparable car we do cover is the naturally aspirated version of the SC’s much more famous cousin—the Mk IV Toyota Supra. Depending on model year, those cars range from $22,900-$27,600 in #4 (“fair”) condition to $85,600-$91,400 in #1 (“best-in-the-world”) condition. One look at SC sales, however, and it’s clear that the Lexus comes much, much cheaper.

If you can find one, an excellent SC will set you back about as much as a rough, high-mileage non-turbo Supra. Since 2016, well over 100 SCs have sold on both Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids, with the average price coming out to $14,500 for SC 300s and $13,200 for SC 400s. Later, rarer model years and particularly cars with VVT-i engines, tend to be more desirable. Clean, well-maintained, lower-mile SC 400s have sold for over 20 grand in a few instances. There does appear to be a five-speed premium for SC 300s, with a 17K-mile stick-shift car selling for $26,513 last December and a one-owner stick shift for $29,190 in 2021. Another one-owner five-speed car with 52K miles sold this year for $27,300. The most expensive example of either we’ve seen so far, though, is surprisingly an automatic SC 300 that was nevertheless exceptionally clean and sold for $32,550.

Although we don’t currently track values for SCs, we do insure them. Given that it’s a ’90s Japanese performance coupe, buyer interest for it skews surprisingly toward older enthusiasts, but then again this car was tailored to a more mature audience from the get-go. Insured values are mostly in the $11K-$12K range.

There aren’t any obvious signs of the SC market making drastic changes any time soon. Since it was something of a developmental dead end and didn’t make a huge cultural impact, it doesn’t have the same name recognition or enthusiast community as many of its contemporaries. It’s also not easy to find clean, unmodified examples. If you can, though, you’ll be rewarded with an enjoyable ’90s GT car for a fraction of what it cost new.

The post 1992-2000 Lexus SC: More Than Just a Supra in a Fancy Suit appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The Pontiac G8 GXP didn’t get the 15 minutes of fame it deserved. In fact, it barely got a chance to bow and make an introduction before the spotlight was switched off and the curtains dropped. But for those paying attention, its time on stage was a marvelous moment of four-door V-8 glory.

Those who still remember and appreciate the G8 GXP take notice when one of the 1829 units produced comes up for sale, and for good reason. Fast, engaging sport sedans had long been the purview of German manufacturers, but beginning under Bob Lutz’s tenure in the early 2000s, General Motors decided to try its hand in the segment. Cadillac’s CTS and CTS-V emerged, and then Lutz announced that Pontiac, too, would be getting in on the game. GM’s Australian subsidiary Holden would reskin its ground-pounding Commodore and export it to the U.S. as the Pontiac G8 starting in 2008. With 415 horses from its 6.2-liter LS3 V-8, an available six-speed manual, and excellent handling, the G8 GXP was the ultimate iteration, and it debuted to strong accolades.

“The 2009 Pontiac G8 GXP is just the sort of four-door Corvette Americans have long prayed for, with sharp steering, fabulous response from the four-piston Brembo brakes, exceptionally balanced and neutral handling, and a simple and classy look to the interior layout and trim—all for a price that undercuts that of a comparable BMW by $20,000,” glowed our own Aaron Robinson, writing for Car and Driver in November 2008.

Robinson went on to add that he wasn’t sure that this car, or even GM itself, would be around much longer, and as such, fans of capable sedans shouldn’t dawdle on their way to the Pontiac dealership. It was announced a scant five months later that Pontiac would soon shutter.

Given their limited sales, G8s of any kind are a rare sight, but the GXP’s ultra-short run means they come up with even less regularity. As a result, those of us who have soft spots for the General’s fast, understated sedans perked up when this example, a 67k-mile manual-transmission car owned from new by Richard Griot of Griot’s Garage, got listed on Bring a Trailer. Selling for $31,237 including fees, it shows as a clean, well-maintained example.

The car presents nicely inside and out, with gleaming black paintwork over a black and red interior that appears to be in excellent condition for its age (hardly a surprise, given its original owner’s business). A stack of receipts from late 2023 documents new fluids, plugs, tires, brakes, alternator, battery, valve cover and oil pan gaskets, and more. To seal the deal, its Corsa mufflers made for a properly aggressive tone in the driving video.

At 67k miles, this isn’t an example you keep cooped up; and with all that recent work, it’s ready to be driven and thoroughly enjoyed.

This car can trace its existence to Lutz himself, and not just for the GM boss’ decision to bring the model up from Down Under. Included in the photographs is a copy of an email correspondence between Griot and Lutz regarding initiating the order of the car.

At $31k, this G8 GXP landed a little north of its #3 (Good) condition value, right about where we’d expect for a very nice example with this mileage. The six-speed manual carries a 15% premium. Good luck finding one—only 846 were made (regular G8s and V-8-equipped G8 GTs only came with a six-speed automatic). Also, these cars never got truly cheap—we do rate #4 (Fair) condition cars at $17,200, but we’ve observed that a lot of these G8s, especially the GXPs, have been very well-maintained, and therefore regularly transact around where we saw this one sell.

Generally, these cars went to enthusiasts who picked them up for at least one of two reasons: First, they really understood what a performance gem they were, and kept them in fighting shape. Second, they saw the writing on the wall for Pontiac and wanted to get the last great V-8 car from the brand, and preserved them as a matter of pride. As a result, it’s often mileage more than condition that appears to be the primary factor in the sale price of G8 GXPs.

Ultimately, Griot’s GXP ticks a lot of boxes. It’s a poignant last hurrah for a storied American brand known for performance. It’s a perfect blend of condition and mileage—something you could drive proudly and frequently. And boy, will it put a smile on your face when you do. Well sold, and well bought.

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The post At $31K, This Is a Shining Sale of a Pontiac G8 GXP appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A few years ago, I was at a cars and coffee, walking down a row claimed by a British Car Club. An owner of a super-clean Lotus Evora caught me checking out their car and came over to tell me about it. “Less than 2000 miles,” was the first thing he said. “Nice,” I responded, but the conversation didn’t go much further—I didn’t know what else to say. I appreciate that others enjoy keeping a car factory-fresh, but the allure of keeping miles off a car has always escaped me—instead, it’s always seemed natural that distance covered equates to adventures and memories.

I can’t be the only enthusiast of high-mileage vehicles. After all, Matt Farah’s million-mile Lexus LS400 earned tons of well-deserved media attention. Bill MacEachern’s 800k-mile 1976 Porsche 930 Turbo is a revered feat of automotive endurance. These high-mileage stories, along with a few recent sales, got me thinking: Surely we have data at Hagerty that show which cars are appreciated specifically for their ability to rack up miles. Among those figures, I had a theory that I’d find that some people are willing to pay more for vehicles with extensive history or extremely high mileage. It was time to dig into the numbers and find out.

Rolling through the Numbers

I assembled the hundreds of thousands of auction transactions in our database that have odometer data and set about determining the parameters of my search. 300,000 miles was the benchmark—you’d be surprised how regular 200,000 miles is these days (even my daily driver Toyota is about to roll over 250,000). I also tightened the net to exclude vehicles that no longer had their original engine. High-mileage enthusiasts would care about originality—the pride is in the maintenance and the longevity, after all. That disqualified some impressive survivors, like this 603k-mile 1990 Toyota Pickup, but it did help hone the data set to the cream of the high-mileage crop.

This left just under 150 vehicles sold on online auctions dating back to 2015. A quick caveat: Auction sales are admittedly not a complete view of the market, but they provide data we can see. There’s no question other models, like Cummins-powered Dodge Rams and Power Stroke–equipped Fords are racking up the miles and commanding good money, too—they just tend to transact privately, where mileage and other details are often unavailable.

The 300K+ Club

That filtered the data to our finalists. For anyone who appreciates a long-lived ride, this list is probably not very surprising.

All of the top high-mileage cars come from Japan or Germany—countries with a reputation for overbuilding their vehicles, at least when these particular models were constructed. Mercedes-Benz still offers high-mileage awards, with the million mark as its highest threshold. In fact, Mercedes was so confident in the reliability of its cars that it installed the industry’s first six-digit odometer on the 1971 350SL. It would take nearly 30 years for the rest of the industry to completely forgo the old five-digit odometer.

The only car from a non-German or Japanese manufacturer with three or more sales above 300K miles is the Volvo 1800—not surprising considering one was driven over 3.2 million miles. The model tied two other German cars (the BMW E28 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz W124) and two other Japanese cars (Honda CRX and the third-gen Toyota 4Runner) with three each. The Volvo 240, a favorite of our media team, would have made the list if it weren’t for a few engine replacements.

Tied for first are the FJ60 and FJ80 Toyota Land Cruisers, which, if you’re at all familiar with these trucks, is not shocking. These vehicles were designed with one purpose—to last forever in the harshest environments on earth. This is from a company who overbuilds everything to begin with: Over 42 percent of the vehicles in this data set are Toyotas. This isn’t limited to their trucks, either—some of their sports cars have racked up some serious mileage. Recently, this 388K-mile 1993 Toyota Supra Turbo sold for $52K after fees, and this 421K-mile 1991 Toyota MR2 sold above our #4 value at the time. Clearly, bidders weren’t turned off by the astronomical mileage, and maybe they were even bidding because of it. More on that in a moment.

In third place is the Mercedes W123. While offered in a variety of body styles and engines, the only ones we saw make it past our mileage threshold were diesels, mostly 300s and a couple 240s, with eight of the 11 wearing a wagon body. The Mercedes 300TD wagon has a reputation (rightfully so) as one of the longest-lasting cars ever built. In fact, the car with the highest mileage on our list is a 1979 Mercedes 300TD, which was driven 782K miles by the time it sold in 2021. The only issues reported at the time of sale were that the A/C didn’t work and the cruise control would sometimes kick off. That’s it.

Fourth place finds a tie between the 100-series Toyota Land Cruiser and the first-generation Toyota 4Runner (combined with the pickup it was based on). In a few years, it’s likely that the 100-series Land Cruiser will sit at the top of this list—we have seen 51 transactions of vehicles with between 200,000 and 300,000 miles.

High Mileage Means…A Higher Price?

Having identified which cars occupy this rare air, I set out to determine whether there’s a market premium for extreme high mileage. Since mileage usually correlates to the sale price of a vehicle, I plotted price vs. mileage and added a linear line of best fit between the two. If we see “extreme-mileage” vehicles more often sell above this line, then there is likely a premium. For this, we only included sales since 2023 so we won’t have to adjust for a fluctuating market.

Looking at sales of our top three vehicles—the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 and FJ80, and the Mercedes W123—the one with the least convincing data is the FJ60. Let’s start there.

There is a clear trend line where price decreases as mileage increases—as expected. Plenty of examples with a lot of miles sold above this trend line, but this 1988 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ62 with 373,358 well-documented miles sold for $26,250—an outlier sale. That was a higher sale price than 43 percent of the FJ60s in the chart with fewer miles. One thing that made this Land Cruiser so desirable was that it had been owned for 35 years by a single family, who took exceptionally good care of it.

This trend becomes much more clear when looking at the next generation of Land Cruiser, the FJ80.

Here, we see two high-mileage outliers above the price vs. mileage line. The first one, a 467K-mile 1997 Land Cruiser sold for $17,295—higher than 40 percent of the FJ80s with lower mileage on this chart. What’s even more surprising is this truck was involved in a collision with another vehicle in 2014, and it doesn’t have the desirable triple-locking differentials. A 519K-mile 1995 Land Cruiser pulled in an even higher price at $18K—just under our #3 condition value.

The smaller data sets in the scatter plots illustrate specific examples, but if we expand the view to look at all FJ80 transactions regardless of time or mileage, and group them into mileage brackets, an interesting trend emerges:

As expected, median sales price falls as the mileage bracket gets higher. But, when mileage surpasses 400K, there is a significant bump in median sales price (+39 percent). You could argue that these auctions sites will be more strict with the overall quality of the vehicle as the mileage moves into this range, which could be contributing to the higher sales prices. But, going back to the scatter plot and comparing vehicle to vehicle, extreme high mileage looks more like a selling point and less like a liability.

Compare this 519k-mile 1995 Land Cruiser to another 1995 Land Cruiser with “only” 256k miles. Both are the same model year, both have three locking differentials, and both were sold on the same auction site within the same year. While the 256K-mile one has half the mileage of our outlier, it sold for 42 percent less ($10.5K vs. $18K). You could argue the condition is slightly better on the high-mileage example, but not enough to account for such a high premium. Besides, if a collector is concerned with mileage, they would likely have been scared off by 256,000 miles, much less 519,000. The bidders left in auctions like these are not only unafraid of high mileage; they appear to see it as a bragging right. When rarity corresponds to collectibility, there are much fewer 500K-mile Land Cruisers than 200K-mile ones, and bidders seem to be responding.

We saw this same phenomenon in the FJ60. Examples with over 400K miles had a median sale price above ones with between 300K and 400K, but at only a 2 percent premium. However, there was only one sale with mileage above 400K, so I decided to exclude the chart from the story.

The same phenomenon presents itself in our final vehicle—the Mercedes W123. For simplicity, we’ll stick to just the 300TD wagon—the most common W123 in our high-mileage list.

This time, it is actually two sales of the same car only a couple months apart. This 422K-mile 1982 Mercedes 300TD was bid to $12K after fees, but the winning bidder failed to pick up the car. It was then relisted two months later, where it was bid up another $1300 to finally sell for $13,387—higher than half the cars with lower mileage in our data set. This proves that the first sale wasn’t a fluke, and instead may have drawn more attention to this 300TD with such extensive history.

Again, this trend wasn’t just seen in our reduced dataset. When expanding to include all 300TD wagon sales, the median sales price for cars with 400K–500K miles is 16 percent higher than ones with 300K-400K miles and six percent higher than 300TDs with half the mileage at 200K–300K miles.

There is, however, a limit to this madness. While 300TDs with 400K–500K miles sell for a premium, this is not true for vehicles with more than half-a-million miles. To be fair, the two cars with over 500K miles are well over that bar. This 632K-mile 1984 Mercedes 300TD was in pretty rough shape when it sold in 2022. Even so, its $8558 final price was 10 percent over #4 condition value at the time, proving it still sold better than other cars in similar shape. Same story with the 782K-mile 1972 300TD mentioned earlier. While it was in better shape overall, you can’t argue that three-quarters-of-a-million miles might place it as a #4 condition car. However, its $9579 final price was 50 percent over the our #4 condition value at the time.

Long May That Odometer Turn

I might not have found a fellow traveler in the owner of that low-miles Lotus, but when I reached out to Jessica Dickinson, the woman who bought that 782K-mile 1972 Mercedes 300TD Wagon (which she has affectionately named Bella), I discovered someone who shares the idea that the right car can be a long haul companion.

“You see, my family has a bit of a history with rock-solid Mercedes with more miles on them than you can shake a stick at,” she shares in an email. “So when I stumbled upon this absolute treasure of a 300TD on Bringatrailer.com, boasting mileage that would make your head spin, well, I just couldn’t resist.” When she won the auction, she got a one-way ticket from her home in Asheville, North Carolina, to Phoenix to pick up the 300TD.

“Armed with nothing but a cigarette lighter fan and a cooler packed to the brim with ice and beverages, and a tank full of fuel, Bella and I set out on the journey of a lifetime,” says Dickinson. “We cruised down Route 66, cutting through the desert heat like a pair of outlaws on the run, well more of a jog, she is a non-turbo diesel after all. Up I-70 we climbed, into the majestic Rockies, with Bella purring along like a champ. And let’s not forget the endless stretches of corn country, where the only thing sweeter than the scenery was the sound of Bella’s engine humming beneath us.”

The two made it home, and Dickinson shares Bella with friends, encouraging them to make their own memories. The numbers bore out my idea about a niche affinity for high-mileage cars, but at the end of this journey, it was the people who proved the passion.

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Twenty years after it debuted, the hatchback that defined the template for the top-dog Golf in the U.S. is no longer cheap. VW’s Mk IV R32 is, more clearly than ever, a bonafide collector car. Even in a market that continues to cool, this all-wheel-drive hatch is red hot, forging its place in the pantheon of 2000s classics.

A lot has happened since 2004, the only model year that VW offered this über-Golf in the United States. To refresh your memory: That year, Mark Zuckerberg launched TheFacebook.com. Shrek 2 landed in theaters. The Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on Mars. And Volkswagen allocated 5000 examples of the hottest hatchback it had ever made to the United States.

Stateside car enthusiasts already knew how much fun a VW hot hatch could be. In 1983, we met the Mk I Rabbit GTI, a 90-hp, four-cylinder featherweight that put a grin on your face every time you tossed it down a curvy road. Enthusiasts fell in love with the GTI for the quality of its steering, the balance of its chassis, and its understated practicality.

As of its fourth generation, which arrived in the U.S. for the 1999 model year, the sportiest Golfs had grown bloated. VW compensated for the increased heft and size with more power, including a 174-hp, VR6-powered model called the GLX, but reviews were scathing: Car and Driver wrote that the GLX “leaned in corners like a torpedoed frigate,” and declared the howling from its sidewalls “a defilement of the memory of the original hot-hatch Rabbit.” The 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder GLS that VW added for 2000 wasn’t any more aggressive.

With the R32, Volkswagen finally got the recipe right for a more substantial Mk IV. VW didn’t simply add power: It added an all-wheel-drive system derived from another Volkswagen Group product, the TT 3.2 quattro, lowered the suspension by an inch, and added huge, 13.1-inch front brakes. Like the GLX, the R32 was powered by a naturally aspirated VR6, VW’s narrow-angle V-6, but in the R32 it was enlarged to 3.2 liters, the largest displacement for any production Golf to date. Tuned to 240 hp, the VR6 in U.S.-market cars was backed exclusively by a six-speed manual. (European market cars got a dual-clutch automatic, the first of any production car.) Aluminum pedals, König sport seats, a dual exhaust, and a set of 18-inch, 15-spoke alloy wheels ensured that the car felt, looked, and sounded like something special. The front suspension bushings and spindles borrowed from the TT brought the handling in line with the expectations set by the original GTI: Car and Driver called the R32 “the funnest ‘Audi’ VW has ever sold.”

Though it was not the most powerful of the cheap, fun competition, the R32 set itself apart in restraint and maturity. Unlike the competition from Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Honda, the sportiest Golf wore neither wing nor scoop. A three-letter badge or a stripe of red had been sufficient for the GTI, and the R32 was extreme only by the restrained standards of the Germans: With a gaping lower air dam, badges for the grille and trunk, and darkened taillights above a dual exhaust, it radiated a quiet confidence. 20 years later, the softly flared fenders and chunky door handles communicate that same maturity, dipped in 2000s nostalgia.

That nostalgia, coupled with attrition and low production numbers, is a huge reason behind the skyrocketing prices of the R32. These cars were so fun to drive that many people did just that, without regard to the rock chips or wheel rash or fender-benders that cause today’s most discerning R32 collectors to recoil. As of 2020, the average mileage of all R32s offered on Bring a Trailer was over 73,000, with many closing in on 150,000 miles. Because immaculate R32s are hard to find, the best examples have sold for increasingly eye-watering prices: $65,100 for an 1800-mile car in August of 2020, $61,950 for a 20,000-mile example in November of 2021, then $104,000 for a 97-mile one in February of 2023.

One hundred grand?

For a 97-mile car with a shower cap still on the steering wheel, yes. The best-condition cars (#1 and #2) have appreciated at a more aggressive rate than their driver-quality (#3 and #4) siblings. This bears out a pattern we’ve observed in the entire collector-car market: The value gap between the best-condition cars and the less-perfect rest is widening, in large part because it’s getting more expensive to bring a lesser-condition car up to snuff.

Values for the R32 peaked in the summer of 2023, even as the market continued to fall from its 2021 heights: In July, the Hagerty Market Rating, which evaluates the activity of the broader collector-car market, posted its largest single-month drop in over three years. The R32 cared not: The value of a #2 (Excellent) condition example jumped from $35K in April of 2023 to $54,600 in July. As of this writing, values for #1 and #2 cars have found a new normal, with average values remaining stable at $73,300 and $54,600. #3 and #4 condition cars retreated $3000 and $2300, respectively, from July to October of last year, though as of January, 2024, those figures are holding steady.

The divergence of values between the best cars and the rest has a silver lining: Well-worn examples have not appreciated as much as their low-mile brethren. If you’re willing to show some TLC to an example that is rough around the edges, you can still find an R32 in the $20K range, and even a #3 (Good) condition car with minimal needs sits at 30 grand. Our suggestion, for R32 fans on a budget? Don’t chase perfection: Invest enough in the car to make it the delightful driver it is, shop freely from the catalog of standard Golf and VW Group parts (only a few interior trim pieces are unique to the R32), and have fun. And, not to take away from this exclusive hatch, but there is always the Audi TT 3.2 Quattro, which fields the same driveline, albeit in a different tune; it’s available for far less.

Enthusiasts are lining up to realize their dreams of the early 2000s: Quote counts for the R32 are steadily increasing. Buyer demographics skew heavily to the generations that coveted them when new, or to young buyers who look back at them with reverence: Gen X and younger account for 88.9 percent of the interest of these cars. (For context, these buyers represent 63 percent of the broader collector-car market.) Never mind the fact that TT 3.2 Quattro has a similar driveline and costs less: There is a special something about this 2000s hatchback.

Coveted by a young demographic, and riding a wave of 2000s nostalgia, the R32 isn’t looking like it will get cheaper. The days of the perfect, $30K R32 are gone; but VW’s hottest Mk IV hatch is here to stay.

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The post The Cheap Mk IV R32 Is Dead. Long Live the R32 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

I belong to several car clubs, all of them marque-specific. In many cases I am both a dues-paying member and a follower of the club’s online activity, be it on Facebook, Instagram, or X. I follow these mostly to get a feel for events, new purchases, things offered for sale by other members, or general levels of interest.

Many, if not most, groups bring a lot of joy to their members and fulfill their intended purpose: To bring people together over the shared love of their rides. The best clubs foster enjoyable, instructive interactions through educational, fun events and publications, and provide access to great sources of information or hard-to-find parts. And that’s the whole point of a car club, right? They should all be like this.

Frankly, though, they aren’t. Some groups can best be described as a total mess. There are issues in this part of the hobby that are widespread enough that they need to be addressed.

As an appraiser, I hear horror stories of all kinds. They range from the mundane-but-annoying stratification of models for no reason—”the cool people all have the Utopian Turtletop, only a loser would bring their Mongoose Gatorhead—” to the outright inappropriate: Misuse of funds, or “friends and family” rules for club resources. If you can think of a face-palming example, it’s happened: Club literature gets borrowed for research, only for it to find its way to eBay after someone “forgets” to return it. A club refuses to help with authentication/certification of a car because one of the club bigwigs is still sour that he wasn’t able to buy the car first. I could go on.

And then there are the personalities. Many of us have attended in-person club meets and felt like strangers in a strange land. Once you’ve ventured into Clublandia, these are a few of the people you might meet:

• The “Gatekeepers,” loosely identified by three attitudes: 1) “My car is better than yours,” and its corollary, “your enthusiasm for a different segment of car culture isn’t legitimate because it’s different from mine.” 2) “You (and your car) shouldn’t be in this club at all.” 3) “I don’t need to hear any of your thoughts or ideas; I’ve been a member of this club for 30 years.”
• The “Experts.” They know exactly how Ferdinand, Henry, Enzo or whomever built each and every car, and that there were never, ever any deviations from the options, colors, hose clamps or chrome on anything they made. “Experts” are unwavering in their expertise (such as it is) and in their knowledge of the rules.
• The “Downers.” They get pleasure in squashing your hopes, dreams or aspirations without ever giving any positive advice.
• The marque and model “Chauvinists.” They’ll say “the [insert make] was the best marque in history and the [specific model this guy owns] was the only truly exceptional one.”

None of this behavior is acceptable, and none of these folks is making his or her club better by acting that way, so how do we fight back?

The answer is to get involved.

Sure, you could ignore things you don’t like. A car club isn’t a homeowners association. It’s optional. Don’t like the events but enjoy the magazine? Skip the former, read the latter. Don’t like anything about the club? You could quit. After all, open events like local cars and coffees got popular precisely because of their lack of gatekeepers, experts, and rules.

If you’re in a problematic car club, though, the better choice is to become an active member. Very active.

Talk to other members and see if your concerns are their concerns, too. Fight to fix what’s wrong, even if it’s one small piece at a time. We’ve all heard “be the change you wish to see in the world.” This could be your “be the change” moment.

It might be impossible to fix everything, and backlash is possible—online and in real life. When that happens, remember the traits of a healthy club, and let that guide your behavior. Give out helpful advice when you can, give a thumbs up to a new car or member even if it’s not a car you love, and generally have a positive attitude. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

At the end of the day, a car club is supposed to be about a shared passion, education, making friends, and most importantly, having fun. It’s up to us—the members—to do our part to keep clubs at their best.

The post Problems within Your Car Club? Don’t Walk Away—Get Involved appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The Hagerty Market Rating has finally stopped—or at least paused—its free fall. After a 10-month losing streak, the Rating increased a quarter of a point this month. This is the largest single-month increase in more than a year and a half, and the new rating of 66.1 is the highest since December 2023.

Despite the Hagerty Market Rating’s slight climb this month, its corresponding open-ended index (which excludes the subjective expert sentiment poll) continues to fall, and provides another view of how much the market has swung. Since its peak in December 2022, the Hagerty Market Index has dropped nearly 21 points after decreasing 15 consecutive months.

The same four component metrics that moved up last month are up again this month. However, this time they were enough to sway the Market Rating in a positive direction.

With a surge in average sales price, the Private Sales Activity metric saw its largest single-month increase since late 2021, when the market was in a buying frenzy. For owners who kept their cars, they continue to be more likely to increase the insured value of their vehicles. The ratio of insured value increases to decreases for “broad market” vehicles (valued under $200k) has moved up two months in a row, following 14 months of continuous decreases. This ratio is still very much in a positive direction: For every call Hagerty gets to drop the insured value of a vehicle, 8 members call to increase their insured value. This ratio for vehicles valued over $200k didn’t fair as well, with its component metric falling 2.2 points—taking its biggest hit in over a year.

The overall economy continues to push off a recession. The macroeconomic indicators we track for the Market Rating have increased for the fourth month in a row. In similar fashion, optimism among our industry experts has increased to its highest point since last summer—quoting many positive sales results from the auctions in Florida last month.

Correspondingly, the raw numbers behind the Auction Median Sale Price metric finally stopped decreasing. However, due to inflation, this metric was in the red this month. Its 0-100 rating dropped 0.67 points to 38.66—its lowest value since this metric was added to the calculation in 2012.

In fact, all metrics we measure had to fight the highest monthly inflation (+0.4%) in the last six months, so the small increase in the Market Rating this month came as a surprise. Enough metrics were able to overcome these headwinds to achieve the overall uptick, but for some, inflation negated any progress they made. For example, the real value of the Blue Chip Index, which consists of the average #2 condition value of the Mercedes Gullwing and its 24 closest peers, rose 0.03% this month to $2,578,533. This minor increase was unable to outpace inflation, and the 0-100 rating for this metric dropped 0.09 points to its lowest value in ten years.

For the most part, the component metrics of the Market Rating are still falling. Only four of 14 saw an increase this month. It’s very likely that the uptick seen in the Market Rating this month will be short-lived, but only time will tell. We will continue to watch the market as the driving season approaches.

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The post The Collector Car Market’s Slide Has Stopped—For Now appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Last year, Gooding & Co. made to the top spot in Amelia Island in terms of total sales. It maintained that distinction in 2024, notching nearly $12M more than Broad Arrow and nearly 10 times as much as Bonhams.

Among the usual array of rare 911s and Enzo-era Ferraris at Gooding Amelia was a select group of rare French cars from the Mullin Museum collection. While many of that collection’s more noteworthy and valuable offerings are crossing the block at a dedicated auction being held by Gooding at the museum next month, it was nevertheless a good appetizer—particularly for fans of Citroën and Avions Voisin. The star of the sale and the week, however, was the glorious (and enormous) 1903 Mercedes Simplex 60 HP that brought the only eight-figure price in Amelia this year. The Mercedes, and some of the other most interesting cars from Gooding & Co. Amelia 2024, are outlined in detail below.

Lot 49: 1976 GAZ-24 Volga

Sold for $25,760 (estimate: $20,000-$30,000)

Chassis no. 0365550; Engine no. 0578941. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Light Gray over red vinyl and cloth

Equipment: 2445-cc I-4/95hp, four-speed manual, wheel covers, radio, tool kit, owner’s manual.

Condition: Fully restored, very good paint, brightwork, and panel alignment. The underbody is aged and greasy. The interior has been redone, however some parts appear original. An interesting Soviet automobile that looks good from a distance but needs a few items addressed.

Bottom Line: Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) built this car, officially known as the GAZ-24 Volga. It sold from 1970-85 as Russia’s premiere luxury sedan. It has some clear American inspiration in its lines—part Ford and part Plymouth—depending on what part of the car you look at.

Neither fast nor advanced, it was nevertheless something of a status symbol in Russia, partly by virtue of its size, and partly because when it was introduced, you had to have a special-use permit to own one. Is it collectible? Depends on who you ask, and maybe you have to be a bit eccentric to want it, but this one probably couldn’t have hoped for more money than it brought here in Amelia.

Lot 130: 1989 Ferrari Testarossa

Sold for $348,750 (estimate: $350,000-$450,000)

Chassis no. ZFFSA17S000080096. Unrestored original, #1- condition.

Rosso Corsa over tan leather.

Equipment: 4943-cc H-12/390hp, five-speed, Michelin tires, power windows, air conditioning.

Condition: Just 211 km (131 miles) and represented with recent belt service new tires, and rebuilds of the fuel and brake systems. It does look showroom fresh, and the recent service is reassuring since this car has spent almost all of its existence sitting still. Buyer is paying for the odometer reading here.

Bottom Line: This car popped up on Bring a Trailer a year ago and was bid to $294,000 but didn’t sell. That seemed like all the money in the world for a no-mile Testarossa, but the Amelia bidders were even kinder to it and the seller wisely let it go. At this price and despite the recent servicing, every fresh tick of the odometer may bring pangs of guilt.

Lot 160: 1965 Citroën DS19 “Majesty” by Chapron

Sold for $207,200 (estimate: $120,000-$150,000)

Chassis no. 4426002. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Metallic Gray over tan leather.

Equipment: 1911-cc/74hp, column shift four-speed, wheel covers, Becker Mexico radio, division window, Jaeger dash clocks front and rear, twin rear ashtrays, heated mirrors, Connolly leather.

Condition: From the Mullin collection. Restored in the 2000s. One of 27 Majesties built by Chapron. Ordered new by René Gaston-Dreyfus. Specially ordered with shorter front doors, extended rear suicide doors, power privacy panel, clock, power windows, fog lights, Becker Mexico radio, heated mirrors, and of course dual rear ashtrays (this was France in the ’60s, after all). A few scratches in the front bumper and pitted right headlight bezel. Good paint. Lovely interior showing barely any wear. The best appointed of the four Chapron-bodied DSs here, and in good usable condition.

Bottom line: There are several coachbuilt versions of the “Dee-Esse” that stand out among these already distinctive cars. Four of them, courtesy of the Mullin Collection and Parisian coachbuilder Henri Chapron, were on offer at this auction. This was the cleanest example of the bunch, as well as the roomiest and arguably the most handsome. Citroën enthusiasts aren’t a huge group but there were enough of them attracted to this auction by the numerous DSs and Traction Avants on offer here and they bid this aptly named “Majesty” to a big price.

Lot 163: 2005 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

Sold for $467,000 (estimate: $275,000-$325,000)

Chassis no. ZFFAA54A050142651. Original, #2+ condition

Azzuro California over Blu Scuro leather.

Equipment: 5748-cc V-12/532hp, six-speed manual, Silver calipers, Pirelli tires, books, tools, car cover.

Condition: One of 199 built with a six-speed manual. Represented with just 6308 miles. Gorgeous and like new.

Bottom Line: With rare colors, low mileage and a 6-speed manual, this car is at the very top of the food chain for Ferrari’s often overlooked 2000s four-seater. At a $467,000 final price, though, nobody overlooked it in Amelia. This is a record price for the model, besting the previous record (set by the same car) at Monterey in 2020 by 44 percent.

Lot 121: 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4

Sold for $2,920,000

Chassis no. 09689; Engine no. 09689. Unrestored original, #4- condition.

Red over black leather.

Equipment: 3286-cc V-12/320hp, five-speed, centerlock alloy wheels, Moto-Lita leather-wrapped steering wheel, fog lights.

Condition: Originally finished in Blu Chiaro and bought new by racing driver Jo Siffert. One owner for the last 50 years and in barn-find condition. It’s aged, with pitted chrome, cracked paint, filthy wheels and tires, and lots of dirt and oxidation underneath. Small dent in the hood. The leather looks good but the carpets are soiled. A barn-find GTB with a famous original owner, and therefore a rare, exciting opportunity for the right buyer.

Bottom line: This kind of money could have bought a freshly restored 275 GTB/4 instead, but this result still makes sense. First, there aren’t many 1960s Ferraris in this kind of freshly discovered condition, and that’s enticing to certain buyers. Second, its first owner won F1 Grands Prix, Daytona, Sebring, and the Targa Florio, and he bought the car right in the middle of his successful career. It’s already an expensive car, but it’s now up to the new owner to decide whether to keep it as is, restore it, or somehow try to preserve it while bringing out the original Blu Chiaro paint.

Lot 9: 1984 Peugeot 205 T16

Sold for $274,000 (estimate: $225,000-$275,000)

Chassis no. VF3741R76E5100189. Visually maintained, largely original, #3+ condition.

Metallic Gray over black leather with black, gray and red cloth inserts.

Equipment: 1775-cc I-4/197hp, five-speed, cassette stereo, power windows.

Condition: Very good paint showing minimal deterioration. The underbody shows very little aging. The interior exhibits little use, but small things like the steering wheel and seat bolsters show usage. A reasonably well maintained 205 Turbo 16.

Bottom line: While not as celebrated as the Audis and Lancias, Peugeot’s Group B rally car was technically the most successful one of the era. All Group B era machinery has garnered appreciation in recent years, though—for example, this car last sold here in 2018 for $156,800.

Lot 36: 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spyder

Sold for $3,635,000 (estimate: $2,500,000-$3,000,000)

Chassis no. 15277; Engine no. B1724. Visually maintained, largely original, #3 condition.

Verde Bahram with black top over beige leather.

Equipment: 4390-cc V-12/352hp, five-speed, Borrani wheels, air conditioning, Becker Mexico radio, books, tools, and Marcel Massini report.

Condition: One of 121 genuine Daytona Spiders and reportedly one of five in this color. Repainted black at some point, but returned to its original shade more recently and otherwise original. Odometer shows 7827 miles that may very well be actual. The paint presents well overall with only a small bit of spidering on the passenger’s side hood vent. The bumpers have some scratches to the finish and the rear reflectors and taillights have finish wear and pitting to the bezels. The engine compartment is aged and dirty. The air conditioning belt is disconnected, suggesting the AC doesn’t function. The interior exhibits some wear to the seats, but overall interior aging is not excessive. A decent-looking Daytona Spyder that shows its age.

Bottom line: While far from a perfect car, this Daytona Spider brought very strong money thanks in part to its rare color and its commendable preservation. Daytona Spiders also seem to be in high demand—Broad Arrow sold a restored blue example good but imperfect condition for the similarly expensive final price of $3,305,000.

Lot 30: 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series I Spider by Pinin Farina

Sold for $3,995,000 (estimate: $4,000,000-$5,000,000)

Chassis no. 0434MD; Engine no. 0434MD. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Red over brown leather.

Equipment: 1985-cc I-4/170hp, four-speed, painted Borrani wire wheels, Dunlop Racing tires, tonneau cover, woodrim steering wheel, Veglia gauges.

Condition: One of 14 Pinin Farina-bodied cars. Raced in period at Spa and Zandvoort. Matching numbers drivetrain. Tidy underneath but has some dirt in the wheel spokes. Good paint. A few very shallow dents in the body ahead of the windshield. Lightly aged interior. In current condition, it’s ideal for racing, and has already been accepted to Mille Miglia events. Any 1950s racing Ferrari is a significant, special car, and even the four-cylinder models have long since been recognized for their important place in the company’s history.

Bottom line: Our 2023 sale of the year was a $1.875M pile of twisted metal that used to be a 500 Mondial. Once its long restoration is finished, it will both look and be worth something like this car, which is already running and ready to race.

Lot 128: 1903 Mercedes Simplex 60 HP by J. Rothschild et Fils

Sold for $12,105,000 (estimate: “In excess of $10,000,000)

Engine no. 2924. Visually maintained, largely original, #4 condition.

Green over dark green leather.

Equipment: 9236-cc/60hp, four-speed, dual chain drive, wood artillery wheels, water-cooled rear drum brakes.

Condition: A Brass Era masterpiece and among the first automobiles to wear the Mercedes name. Ordered new by British publishing magnate Alfred CW Harmsworth, it set fastest times at 1903 Nice Speed Week and Castlewan Hill Climb. It was then fitted with the current coachwork, “Roi Des Belges,” named for the king of Belgium who ordered a similar body for his own car.

Cosmetically restored, run in the London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Run in the 1950s, and participated in the veteran car parade at the Brussels World’s Fair. Went into the Museum in Beaulieu in the 1960s and stayed there for 60 years while remaining the Harmsworth family’s ownership. Paint is coming off the chassis and suspension, and the finish is flat. The leather is cracked. Dull finishes are everywhere. But arguably better for it. Impressive in its preservation and historical significance.

Bottom line: If you asked the average person what the most expensive car here is, few would pick this 60-horsepower car from 121 years ago. But it is the costliest by nearly a factor of three. To recap, this is one of the oldest cars in the world called a Mercedes. It was one of the fastest and most exclusive cars of its day. It’s one of five surviving examples of its type. Its first owner was the country’s largest media mogul and its bodywork was fit for a king, literally. It has been owned by the same family since the reign of Edward VII. It retains its original chassis, body, and engine. It is also eligible for London-to-Brighton (pre-1905), one of the world’s most exclusive driving events. No matter what is going on in the collector car market, the best examples of the best cars with the best history will always bring top dollar.

The post Auction Recap: Gooding & Co. Amelia Island 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Upon its 1996 introduction, you would have been forgiven for confusing the Nissan Stagea with any other practical, marginally sporty midsize family wagon on Japanese roads. It did, however, benefit from a mash-up of parts borrowed from both the staid Laurel sedan and the decidedly more exciting Skyline. And, as a competitor to the Subaru Legacy and Toyota Caldina wagons, the Stagea came with a variety of silky-smooth straight-sixes that ranged from a normally aspirated 2.0 liter to a 2.5-liter turbo, with both rear- and all-wheel-drive available. With room for the kids and a week’s worth of groceries, there was little to complain about. There was also little to make the Stagea stand apart from its rivals.

Enter Autech, Nissan’s performance subsidiary. It wasn’t long before the firm began tuning the wagon to within an inch of its life, and the result was the fire-breathing Stagea 260RS. This limited-production beast lost nothing in practicality but gained everything in eye-popping performance. You could still haul the kids and the groceries, but by the end of any spirited ride, there’d probably be vomit all over the back seats and the cargo area would look like the aftermath of a food fight.

Autech engaged in some focused massage to turn the Stagea into the 260RS. Into the engine bay went a RB26DETT, the twin-turbocharged 2.6-liter six borrowed from the R33-generation Skyline GT-R. It made 276 hp (nearly 150 more than a base Stagea and 45 more than one equipped with the 2.5-liter turbo) and 271 lb-ft of torque, with power sent through a five-speed manual transmission to the permanent ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive setup, which included a rear limited-slip differential, also cribbed from the GT-R. The hits kept coming, though, as Autech also incorporated the GT-R’s nimble Super-HICAS four-wheel steering system, in addition to upgrading the suspension and adding a front strut brace and rear stabilizer bar. They also fit Brembo brakes and 17-inch BBS forged alloy wheels, plus a body kit with a deep front valance, side skirts, and a rear spoiler. The result is a car broadly considered to be a Nissan Skyline GT-R wagon, one capable of making the 0–60 sprint in 5.7 seconds.

Production was limited to just 1734 examples, all right-hand drive, and all built from late 1997 to early 2001 in two periods (Stage 1.5 and Stage 2), which differ largely in cosmetic “facelift” terms. The car’s combination of practicality, mind-blowing performance, and rarity made the Stagea 260RS something of a cult classic, which helps explain its inclusion in nearly every iteration of Gran Turismo since part 2.

America began welcoming them to our shores as each successive model year turned 25. Our Sale of the Week, this 1998 Nissan Stagea 260RS Autech, crossed the Pacific last year, and on March 12, it sold on Cars & Bids for $37,500.

According to the GT-R registry, this car was the 1051st model built, the 65th of 748 Stage 2 cars. Finished in Pearl White over a black and gray interior, its metric odometer reads 173,500 km (about 107,800 miles). The seller claims to have purchased the car in Japan in 2022, then waited a year to import it before titling it in Georgia. Aftermarket upgrades made by the seller include a Kakimoto racing exhaust, a NISMO strut brace, and 18-inch RAYS wheels, plus a bunch of minor exterior and interior bits. Recent work includes replacement of the valve cover gaskets as well as the timing belt and all accessory belts.

The seller made it clear that given the car’s import status, it may not fly in every state, so caveat emptor and all that. The seller also provided no fewer than 220 photos, so it’s not hard to gauge the car’s overall condition. It is far from pristine, and in most areas it’s not even clean, with dust, dirt, staining, and what looks to be pet hair throughout the interior, which itself is an interesting mix of suede up front and leather in the back. The exterior is straight, dent-free, and rust-free, though there are some minor paint scuffs throughout. This is all stuff you might expect from a family wagon driven in a manner that dumps the groceries, and we’d peg this one in #3 (Good) condition.

Now, we don’t feature the 1998 Nissan Stagea 260RS in the Hagerty Price Guide, but we do the 1998 R33 Skyline GT-R, and in similar condition we price them at about $54,000. Other recent 260RS sales (there aren’t many) seem to fall into the $30K–$50K range based on condition and mileage, so this result seems par for the course. And when compared to that GT-R valuation, it’s quite a bargain.

Fast wagons will never not be cool. When they happen to be far cheaper than the supercar on which they’re based, it’s hard to go wrong. Driving a RHD car on our roads might have its inconvenient moments, sure, and parts availability may present some challenges—particularly the body kit bits—but mechanically you can find much of what you need through Nissan Heritage. And the growing network of JDM specialists cropping up as more and more cars make their way over will only help matters.

So, congrats to the winning bidder. First order of business should be a thorough detail, but then go have fun with it. Just try not to spill stuff.

The post This Nissan Stagea 260RS Is a Fast, Cheap Hauler appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Bonhams has held an annual Amelia Island auction at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club since 2015. Typically, it has the most diverse Amelia offerings in terms of era, genre, price, and condition. This year continued the theme, but while this has never been a giant sale, 2024’s event was noticeably smaller in terms of car count and results.

Although this sale lists a full range of classics up to modern exotics like this year’s Porsche Carrera GT and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren offerings, the Bonhams Amelia highlights are typically prewar (and sometimes pre-WWI and pre-WWII). 2024 saw a Packard and a Cadillac, both powered by V-12s, but the top lot and the best car of the bunch was a 1904 Gordon Bennett Napier racing car. Though most of it is a reconstruction, it is built around the original, glorious 15-liter engine. The Napier and other interesting cars from Bonhams Amelia Island 2024 are outlined in detail below.

Lot 80: 2007 Honda NSX-R GT by Spoon

Sold for $368,000 (Estimate: $240,000-$280,000)

Chassis no. NA28000095. Competition car, original as-raced, #3- condition

Blue and yellow over black

Equipment: 2977-cc V-6/440hp, six-speed manual, Volk Racing wheels, carbon fiber wing, slotted brake rotors, Plexiglas windows.

Condition: Purchased directly from Honda Racing in 2007 and built for circuit racing to celebrate Spoon Sports’ 20th Anniversary. Third in class finish at the 2008 Macau GP. Race car condition with flaws in the paint as well as quickly applied decals and tape in places. There is a lot of body-colored tape on the driver’s door. Scratches in the windows. Nothing special condition-wise and its race history is nothing to write home about, but it’s still a badass build of a badass car by one of Japan’s most famous tuners and racing outfits.

Bottom line: Spoon isn’t as well known here as it is in its home country, but JDM and particularly Honda fans are very familiar. Late in the day at a Bonhams auction that was heavy on prewar and other traditional classics felt like an odd placement for a JDM favorite like this, but bidders nevertheless showed up for it. The result is well over estimate and a record price for an NA2-generation NSX.

Lot 26: 1961 Morgan Plus 4 Super Sports

Sold for $100,800 (estimate: $100,000-$125,000)

Chassis no. 5020; Engine no. TS82252. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Black with black top over red leather.

Equipment: 1991-cc I-4/135hp with dual Webers, four-speed, burgundy wire wheels, Continental tires, Girling front disc brakes, badge bar, rear-mounted spare, banjo steering wheel, wind wings.

Condition: Represented as the 15th of 104 built. Sold new in New York City. Restored by specialists in the 2000s. Good paint that’s slightly showing its age and use. Lovely interior with very light wear on the driver’s side. Clean underneath. An ultimate spec Classic Morgan that should get Morgan people excited, should there be any in the bidder seats. Also, surely faster than it looks.

Bottom line: The Plus 4 Super Sports was a factory-tuned model with a warmed over engine fed by dual Webers, clothed in aluminum body panels for a nearly 200-pound drop in weight, and stopped by Girling front disc brakes. After building 100 for homologation purposes, Morgan scored class wins at both Sebring, Spa, and Le Mans. The result for this one is appropriate for the model, but considering its status as a homologation special for a winning racer, it’s also remarkable value for money.

Lot 7: 1978 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40

Sold for $72,800 (estimate: $100,000-$140,000)

Chassis no. FJ40271607; Engine no. 2F249051. Recent restoration, #2+ condition.

Olive with beige top over saddle vinyl

Equipment: 4230-cc [ENGINE TYPE]/135hp, 5-speed, All Terrain T/A tires, added air conditioning, fog lights.

Condition: Restored by The FJ Company. Very good paint. Perfect top. Fresh wheels and chassis. Beautiful interior. Better than new.

Bottom Line: Deservedly, it brought top dollar for a soft top FJ. The freshness and quality of the restoration on this Land Cruiser stood out among the scruffier offerings at Bonhams Amelia and was appropriately rewarded for it.

Lot 6: 1978 Porsche 928

Sold for $35,840 (estimate: $40,000 – $50,000)

Chassis no. 9288201012. Visually maintained, largely original, #3 condition

Oak Green Metallic over tan, Pasha interior

Equipment: 4474-cc V-8/219hp, five-speed, phone dial wheels, Yokohama tires, Halogen headlights, Pasha interior, power windows, Sony cassette.

Condition: Sold new in Canada and showing 177,544 km (110,321 miles). Supposedly has had refurbishment work recently including a repaint in the original color, a replacement five-speed, engine service, refinished wheels, and refurbished seat bolsters. Well kept paint. Clean wheels and newer tires. Mild cracking in the dash top and pillar trim. The interior is original, showing wear and mild discoloration. Certainly no show car, but Oak Green over Pasha should get Porsche nerds very excited.

Bottom line: Or, perhaps not. Barrett-Jackson sold this car two years ago for $38,500—driver money at the time, and it wasn’t rewarded in Amelia even at a more Porsche-centric sale. The buyer here paid market price for a driver-quality 928 but the bonus is that it’s more distinctive than most.

Lot 85: 1915 Saxon Model A

Sold for $10,080 (estimate: $15,000-$25,000)

Engine no. 7884. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Green with black fenders and black top over black.

Equipment: 85-cid, 12-hp L-head four, three-speed transmission, two-wheel mechanical drum brakes.

Condition: Fully restored to reasonably high quality quite a few years ago. The paint, wheels, and interior display general age but no major issues or causes for concern. It has been sitting as a display for a few years, but this is a reasonably simple car. Reportedly the fuel system needs reconditioning, but it may not need much else.

Bottom line: Based in Detroit, Saxon was a successful volume seller of basic little cars like this in the early- to mid-1910s, but it was a short-lived marque. This is probably one of the best ones remaining, and other than some basic sorting, it looks ready to go. And at barely 10 grand, it’s such a fun little neighborhood runabout for so little money.

Lot 75P: 1904 Gordon Bennett Napier L48

Sold for $742,000 (estimate: $900,000-$1,100,000)

Engine no. 1320A. Reconstructed, #3+ condition.

Equipment: 15L/240hp six-cylinder, two-speed transmission, painted wire wheels, rear brakes.

Condition: Re-creation built in the 1980s around the incredible original 15L engine. One of the first cars to go 100 mph and one of the first fitted with a six-cylinder engine. At Daytona Beach in 1905, it set the Flying One Mile World Record of 104.65mph (or, 106.64mph), making it the first car to record 100 mph on American soil and the first British car to crack the 100-mph barrier. Shows some blemishes and scars from use, and some uneven paint finish, but all appears appropriate. It’s an impressive car even if it isn’t all original, and it’s the star lot of this auction.

Bottom line: And it was, unsurprisingly, the most expensive lot of the auction by well over $300K, despite falling well short of its presale estimate.

The post Auction Recap: Bonhams Amelia Island 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Ask enthusiasts the first thing they think of when they hear “Dodge Charger,” and they’re bound to mention Hellcats or reference the 1968-70 second-generation cars, which were popular in their own right before securing everlasting fame through starring roles onscreen in Bullitt and The Dukes of Hazzard. Chances are slim, though, that the first-generation Charger would come up among any but the most die-hard Mopar fans.

It might be well-hidden in the shadows of the high-flying second-generation and 700+ horse modern siblings, but when properly equipped, the first Charger was able to hold its own on street while offering up design elements and an interior that set it apart from other intermediate-sized muscle of the period. Today, the first-gen car is more affordable and more rare than its more popular ’68-70 successor, and provides a chance to differentiate from what’s become the Charger mainstream.

In the early ’60s, Dodge was looking to liven up its image, and to showcase its upcoming 426-cubic inch Hemi engine. The 1964 Dodge Hemi Charger concept was born, a two-seat roadster built off an existing two-door Polara. Unfortunately, the Hemi suffered from some early production issues, so the car didn’t get one in time for its national tour. It did, however, succeed in creating some buzz for the brand.

That same year, Plymouth rolled out its Barracuda, which was immediately overshadowed by Ford’s launch of the Mustang. Eager to get in on the game, Dodge sought a smaller, youth-oriented model of its own based on the Barracuda, but parent Chrysler Corporation said no—it’d have to make do with an intermediate-sized model instead.

While plans for that car began to get underway, the Charger nameplate first graced a production model in 1965 as a sporty trim level on the “senior compact” Dart. Only 480 Dart Chargers were made, all in yellow (although there is some evidence that one silver car exists), all sporting 273-cubic inch V-8s. In an era when cars received constant visual updates, the Dart’s 1963 redesign was already showing its age, so Dodge teased the upcoming model’s new look with the Charger II concept ahead of the production car’s unveiling.

Come 1966, Dodge finally got its sporty coupe. The new Charger was based on Coronet underpinnings and shared much of its front bodywork (along with suspension and brakes) with that model, but was set apart by a striking, large fastback, hidden headlights, and a clean full-width taillight. The swept roofline was distinctive and eye-catching among the more mundane three-box intermediate-size designs of the time, though its looks wouldn’t be considered as sleek, or ultimately as brand-defining, as its 1968 successor.

Beneath that roof, Dodge went upscale, sporty, and practical. The Charger’s instruments—four large, blue-backlit gauges—were an exciting change from single-sweep speedometer found in the Coronet. It utilized bucket seats front and rear, along with a center console that stretched the length of the seating area. (The console size would be reduced the following year to help with ingress and egress). Rear buckets weren’t a regular occurrence back then, and they helped separate the Charger from more pedestrian intermediate coupe offerings. Like other fastbacks that were emerging around the same time, those back seats and rear console could fold down, creating a substantial cargo area over seven feet long—Dodge even called it a sports wagon in its advertisements.

Under the hood, Dodge offered a spread of V-8s: an entry-level 318-cubic inch mill, a 361, 383, and the range-topping 425-horse 426-cubic inch Hemi. All but the 318 (which came with a three-on-the-tree if you wanted a manual) could be had with a console-mounted four-speed manual; the Torqueflite three-speed auto was available across the whole lineup. In 1967, an additional 383 replaced the 361 and a 440-cubic inch engine was added.

Car and Driver was nonplussed with a 383-equipped Charger they reviewed in their February, 1966 issue, stating, “[t]he Charger is a good automobile, make no mistake about it, but we had somehow expected more when we first got behind the wheel. Maybe it’s because the sporty styling conjured up the fantasy of all sorts of exotic engineering underneath.”

The review has a point—the Charger was effectively a dressed-up Coronet, but, at least on paper, the strategy wasn’t all that different from Ford’s formula for the Mustang, and everyone knew how that worked out. On paper and in execution can be two very different things, however, and like Car and Driver, the public showed only a modest interest in the Charger. Only 37,344 units moved in 1966 and a mere 15,788 sold in 1967.

Dodge was quick to cure this sales flop, though—the 1968 redesign was an instant hit, sending sales flying to 96,100 units. Along with the more attractive—if less daring—bodywork, Dodge simplified things, too, ditching the rear buckets and their folding mechanism, carpeted storage area, and other interior characteristics intended to frame the Charger as a more premium offering.

The public’s muted response to the first-gen Charger back then is reflected in its values as a collector car now, especially relative to the second-gen car. A ’67 with the vaunted 426 Hemi comes in at $119,000 for a #2 (Excellent) condition example; a ’68 in the same condition with the same engine is $39k more. For less powerful engines, the delta is less drastic—there’s a little more than an $8k difference between the ’67 and ’68 high-performance 383s, for instance—but it is present across the board. All first-gen Chargers experienced a valuation bump during the pandemic, but they have stayed flat since.

Despite playing second fiddle, our data show that first-gen Chargers are seeing an uptick of among Gen X and Gen Z, and quote count overall is steady. Value trends and quote count paint the picture of a collector car with a limited but committed audience.

Given modern standards, no potential buyer would be disappointed by the lack of performance differentiation between the first-gen Charger and the more plain Coronet—people buy this car because they appreciate the experience it provides. Dodge took a chance with this initial Charger, and although they ultimately had to make corrections to ensure the its viability, the ’66-’67 model remains an intriguing and thoughtfully created classic. The handsome if imperfectly proportioned design either appeals or it doesn’t; and along with its more upscale and specialized interior, it’s very much a different kind of car than subsequent models. If you’re looking for a Mopar model with a little more flair, or a Charger that marches to a different tune, the first-gen Charger might be right for you.

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The post Sometimes Overlooked, Dodge’s 1966-67 Charger Charts Its Own Path appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Even if your tastes tend toward other eras, it’s hard to dispute that the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s produced some of the most memorable machinery in the history of our hobby. That time period had just about anything an enthusiast could ask for: Design, innovation, experimentation, and, of course, variety.

British sports cars, ’50s fins, muscle cars, the dawn of Porsche’s 911, a heyday of passionate Italian models, the birth of the SUV, the characterful beginnings of Japanese cars … the list could go on nearly indefinitely. That array largely explains just how dominant that era is when it comes to what people choose to spend their money on.

Tallying up the sales from the last five years of online and live auctions, we find that 14 of the top 20 highest-grossing model years were within the 1955-1975 window. Vehicles made in 1967 and 1969 led the way, with each of those model years raking in more than $500M.

Breaking down the raw numbers, this 20-year period represents 16 percent of the model years considered but accounts for more than 39 percent of the $15B+ spent on collector cars from 2019 to now.

This era is also home to the greatest density of the most valuable cars. Twenty-two of the top 30 most expensive cars ever sold at auction were produced within this timeframe. Couple these high fliers with the sheer quantity of more attainable classics from this period that remain incredibly popular, and there’s yet another reason why this era’s momentum makes sense.

(Note: We always appreciate the thoughtful commentary provided by our readers. In response to a comment below, we’ve added this subsequent description and chart.—EE)

With consideration to the fact that some recent sales of truly expensive machinery may have outsize influence on overall sales numbers in the above chart, and to get more into the meat of the curve of each year’s numbers, we lopped the top and bottom 10 percent of sales from each year’s total. The outcome is very similar—peak years shift slightly, but the thrust remains the same—this twenty-year period is the strongest in the hobby. (As an aside, our analysts did not seek out the mean sale price for each year—another suggestion from our commenter—as that begins to get into a discussion of values as opposed to where people are spending their money. Your author tends to agree with the commenter that ’80s and newer models would factor more strongly in that equation, but we digress).

One of the most frequently discussed questions in the industry is whether enthusiasm for these cars will flag as generational preferences evolve. While it is possible for once-illustrious models to lose their stature and become more affordable, values are likely to taper more dramatically for models on the fringe of collector status: For instance, enthusiasts younger than baby boomers don’t value the Pontiac LeMans the way their predecessors did, but the GTO is still a blue-chip car. More broadly, however, mature market segments tend to stabilize and become less volatile over time. (We’ve observed this phenomenon with prewar cars.) Also consider that because the 1950s–70s has stood as a megalith in the hobby for so long, its staying power will protect it from quickly fading.

If anything, other segments may come up to similar heights. McLaren F1s continue to be talked about as the next Ferrari 250 GTO, and as demonstrated in the above chart by healthy sales of cars from the ’90s to today, the rise of one era does not necessarily have to come at the expense of another.

So, just like the local classic rock station that occasionally sprinkles a Soundgarden or Nirvana song in the mix of Led Zeppelin, Rush, and The Who, there might be a few new additions, but you can rest easy—the originals aren’t going anywhere.

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For decades, the concept of complete restoration has been considered the ideal form for the best cars in the collector car hobby. The notion of preserving cars—keeping them as original as possible, or in their in-period as-used state—may have been pioneered by the likes of Briggs Cunningham in the mid-twentieth century, but it really only gained traction within the last 25 years. Preservation classes are now welcome on the concours lawn, but for the most part restored vehicles still command the most value. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule: Two strong sales of Ferrari Daytona Spiders at the Amelia auctions uncover a scenario in which preservation ruled the day.

Before diving into the subject cars, some context: the Daytona has long been a mainstay of the Ferrari collector market. As the last two-seat front-engine V-12 car till the 550 Maranello’s 1996 debut more than 30 years later, the Daytona was the ultimate iteration of Maranello’s brawny, traditional-layout GT car. It also stood at a pivot point for the brand, using the classic long hood, short deck sports car architecture Ferrari road cars were known for up to that point while also stepping toward the angular, fresh design cues of the budding supercar ’70s. As a result, the Daytona sold well when new and was quickly welcomed as a collector car when the Ferrari boom gathered steam in the late ’80s.

Correspondingly, the market put a premium on Daytonas, particularly the 121 factory-built Spiders. Later models tend to be more prized, and at $2.35M for a #2 (Excellent) condition 1973 example, the Spider is about 3.5 times as valuable as its tin-topped sibling (in large part due to the high count of coupes made—1284, which was a lot for a Ferrari of the era). Prices for both have retreated slightly in the last few years, but the rarity of factory Spiders has helped maintain their status among Ferrari collectors.

While Daytonas of any kind aren’t auction stage regulars, Spiders naturally show up less frequently than coupes. This year’s Amelia auctions were graced with two. Broad Arrow featured a meticulously restored, well-optioned 1973 example, while Gooding brought a supremely-preserved 1972 car that, aside from a 2015 repaint in its ultra-rare original Verde Bahram hue, was incredibly original and showed just 7827 miles. Both sales were strong, each handily exceeding the $3M mark—well above the #1 condition Hagerty Price Guide values for each, to say nothing of their condition-appropriate values. But the preserved ’72 nabbed 10 percent more—about $330,000—when all was said and done.

It’s certainly not for anything lacking on the part of the restored car, Broad Arrow’s 1973 Daytona, which sold for $3,305,000 including fees (about $1M over its #2 condition-appropriate Hagerty Price Guide value). Completed in 2018 and wearing a respray of its original shade of Blu Dino Metallic paint and a completely new interior, the car received a thorough mechanical and cosmetic renewal.

It ticks the boxes that collectors look for, too—the car is Ferrari Classiche certified, features sought-after options like a Becker Mexico stereo, and retains its manuals and tool kit. Post-restoration hardware includes a Best in Show at the 2018 Concorso Ferrari in Palm Beach, Florida, and an Amelia Award in the Scaglietti Production Class in 2020. According to our analysts, aside from very minor details like slight fogging on the gauge lenses and hints of use on the interior (use is never a bad thing, of course, but any wear is noted when our team grades a car’s condition), this Daytona was a near-poster-child pristine example of a recently restored car.

Gooding’s ’72 Daytona might not have had the restorative attention received by the Broad Arrow car, but its appeal lies in that it’s not only one of the very few near-original Spiders that remain, it’s in very good condition to boot. Our analysts rated it as a #3 (Good) condition car, noting that it appeared as a quality example showing some age. The sole update, a 2015 repaint to its original green from a previous black respray, had some minor spidering on the hood, the bumpers showed slight scratches and pitting, and the engine bay needed a thorough cleaning. Inside, the original seats and dash are in remarkably solid shape, which may be attributable to the car’s low mileage. Daytona seats were notorious for early wear, with many having been reupholstered by the early ’80s.

Gooding noted that the car was one of just five Daytona Spiders finished in green, and suggested that it might be the only Verde Bahram metallic-over-beige Spider to ever leave the factory. This striking combination along with its condition and originality sent bids sky high, and it sold for $3,635,000 including fees, just short of the Daytona Spider record of $3.72M set in 2014.

In this circumstance, rarity is the primary factor that helped blunt the edge that restoration typically has over preservation, and its impact is twofold. First, scant few Daytonas exist to begin with, but combine that with a unique and desirable color combination that takes a car from one of 121 to potentially one of a few, and a car’s level of restoration becomes less significant in the overall consideration of its value. That’s especially true when “preserved” isn’t just a marketing word for “in tatters” and the case in point is in very attractive, usable condition like this one.

Second, you can’t re-preserve a car, and with time, fewer such examples exist as they are either restored or succumb to age and the elements. In this instance, there are so few Daytona Spiders in this near-original condition that the fact it has been repainted in its original seldom-seen color was not a mark against it. The increasing rarity of preservation examples among any given data set, whether Daytona Spider, long-hood 911, Corvette, or otherwise has itself become a valued attribute.

Ultimately, these two sales demonstrated that the market accepts more than one path to achieving top-flight value.

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The post Restored vs. Preserved: 2 Distinct Daytonas Yield a Similar Outcome appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Broad Arrow returned in 2024 for its second year as the official auction of the Amelia Concours d’Elegance. By all measures, it was a more successful auction the second time around. Total sales were nearly twice as high and the sell-through rate was 13 points higher.

Among the highlights were a 2022 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport for $4,047,500, a real-deal Ford GT40 for $4,405,000, and a Hennessey Venom F5—introduced to the block by John Hennessey as the first F5 offered at public auction—for $2,205,000. We examine the other most interesting cars from Broad Arrow Amelia 2024 in detail below.

Lot 103: 1995 Honda Integra Type-R

Sold for $50,400 (estimate: $40,000-$60,000)

Chassis no. DB81100632. Original, #2- condition.

Championship White over black with red stitching.

Equipment: 1797-cc I-4/197hp, five-speed, white wheels, air conditioning, aftermarket Pioneer head unit.

Condition: JDM model imported here in 2019. Showing 33,718 km (20,951 miles). Very good paint and body, the engine compartment shows little aging from use and the interior is near immaculate. A beautifully cared-for Type R sedan.

Bottom Line: The Integra Type-R came to this country only briefly, badged as an Acura, and only in two-door hatchback form. The model has a longer history abroad, and now that the earlier Integra and similar Civic Type-Rs are eligible to import here, they’ve been making their way over. Even if this example is a less desirable sedan, its relatively low mileage and clean, stock condition were enough to impress the bidders at the Ritz. This is a strong price for it.

Lot 236: 1982 Lancia 037 Stradale

Sold for $588,000 (estimate: $500,000-$600,000)

Chassis no. ZLA151AR000000106. Recent restoration, #2- condition.

Spartan Black cloth with red piping.

Equipment: 1995-cc I-4/205hp, five-speed, Abarth steering wheel.

Condition: One of 207 Stradale versions. Restored in 2017 by ex-factory Lancia technicians. Very good paint. Clean wheels and tires. Factory panel fit. Very good interior. Nothing overdone, just a very well presented road-going example of Lancia’s first Group B World Rally weapon and the last rear-wheel drive car to win the WRC.

Bottom line: While some of the actual rally cars as well as some perfectly preserved Stradale versions have sold for more, this is still a solid price. Bonhams sold it in 2018 for $451,000, but this result reflects both inflation and the growing interest in the wild machinery of the Group B era.

Lot 244: 1961 Jaguar E-Type SI 3.8 Roadster

Sold for $246,400 (estimate: $225,000-$275,000)

Chassis no. 875231. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Black with black cloth top over black leather.

Equipment: 3781-cc I-6/265hp, four-speed, wire wheels, outside bonnet latches, welded louvers, wood-rim steering wheel, Blaupunkt radio.

Condition: One of 385 roadsters with flat floor, welded louvers, and outside latches. Matching numbers. Was a 100-point JCNA show car…in 2001. Today there are no major issues, but there is condensation behind the headlights and marker lenses, the top shows wrinkling as well as stretching around the top frame, scratches in the side glass, and some wear to the switchgear. The configuration is desirable and its condition mostly good, and though the top-quality restoration is reassuring, its high-scoring concours appearance is from so long ago that it is of diminishing relevance.

Bottom line: Gooding sold this car here six years ago for nearly $320K, but E-Type prices haven’t moved all that much since then, and this one’s restoration has aged. This is a fair result, all things considered.

Lot 288: 1962 Volvo P1800

Sold for $95,200 (estimate: $75,000-$125,000)

Chassis no. 4451. Recent restoration, #1- condition.

Equipment: 1778-cc I-4/100hp, four-speed, wire wheels, dash clock.

Condition: Restoration finished in 2020. A rare, very early, Jensen-built P1800. The panel fit isn’t perfect but the rest of the car is. Likely one of the best in the world.

Bottom line: In the early days of Volvo’s first volume-selling sports car, the company didn’t quite have enough capacity, so it contracted Jensen in the UK to assemble the first batch of P1800s. The early ones had plenty of issues so Volvo canceled the contract, moved production back home, and renamed the model 1800S (S for “Sweden”). Many of the Jensen-built cars rusted away decades ago. Seeing one is rare enough, and seeing one get the royal treatment in terms of restoration is even more special. This car brought an expensive price, but it deserved to.

Lot 257: 1973 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider

Sold for $3,305,000 (estimate: $2,800,000-$3,200,000)

Chassis no. 16857. Older restoration, #2- condition.

Blu Dino Metallic with black top over beige and black leather.

Equipment: 4390-cc V-12/352hp, five-speed, Borrani wheels, Becker Mexico radio, air conditioning, power windows, tools.

Condition: Ferrari Classiche certified, Massini Report, best in show 2018 Concorso Ferrari in Palm Beach, Amelia award for Scaglietti production class in 2020. Good paint overall, with no serious damage age to the finish from use. The chrome appears redone and presents well. The windshield trim has a small blemish on the right side, and there is excessive sealer squeezed out from the top trim piece where the convertible top meets the windshield frame. The engine and underbody are clean, fully restored and present well. The interior only hints at minor usage, however the gauge lenses appear old and partially fogged from age. A beautiful restoration with few things to nit pick.

Bottom line: Just 121 genuine Daytona Spiders were built. This one sold out of the Don Davis Collection in 2013 for $1,650,000, but the market for them is different, and surprisingly high, today. Gooding sold another Daytona Spider in a rare color for a very similar $3,365,000 earlier in the week. One surprisingly high price can be an outlier, even on rare cars that seldom come up for sale. Two is a more reliable suggestion of where the market is.

Lot 229: 1967 Ford GT40

Sold for $4,405,000 (estimate: $4,000,000-$5,000,000)

Chassis no. P/1069. Older restoration, #3+ condition.

Opalescent Silver Blue with white side stripe over black.

Equipment: 289-cid V-8 with quadruple Webers, five-speed, Borrani wire wheels.

Condition: One of 31 Mk I GT40s built in road trim. Wound up at a Swiss dealership in period. The dealership’s owner, who also ran the Scuderia Filipinetti racing team, had the car painted and held onto it for the remainder of 1967. By 1968, though, it was back in England, road registered, and served as a test car in the British car press. After several owners and multiple repaints, it raced in historic events through the 2000s and 2010s, and has finally been refinished back in its Opalescent Silver Blue.

Good older paint, there are some light swirls to the finish but not overly deteriorated. The right rear wheel center lock has peeled chrome, the engine and underbody show use and have some deterioration of finish and light oil film. The interior shows use as well, with a rip to the drivers seat. It’s a vintage-raced car that has held up well.

Bottom line: Genuine GT40s rarely come up for sale and the road cars are no different, but Mecum did just sell another blue Mk I road car this January for $6.93M. The difference is down to minute details, but in the GT40 world, minutiae counts for a lot.

The post Auction Recap: Broad Arrow Amelia 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Although January is the busiest month on the auction calendar, early March isn’t exactly sleepy. The first weekend of this month, there were four auctions in Florida (OK, a couple of them happened on February 29), with everything from new exotics with delivery miles to a 1903 Mercedes changing hands. Our team took a look at all the public sales from Florida and then we gave each of us a theoretical stack of $100k to spend. These were the cars we would have taken home. Which would you pick—or did another sale catch your eye?

1963 Ford Galaxie 500 NASCAR, $70,000

First of all, I have no idea what I would do with this thing, but who cares? I want it! This 1963 Ford Galaxie 500 NASCAR is just too cool! It’s a survivor and has the scars to show for it, and names like Bobby and Donnie Allison on the list of drivers just adds to the cool factor. I think the selling point for me was when they fired it up and drove this behemoth onto the turntable at the Ritz. The noise was intoxicating. I think it would fit snugly in my one car garage in town and would be the perfect means to make new “friends” in my neighborhood on the days when I start it.—Greg Ingold, Hagerty Price Guide editor

1971 Alfa Romeo Montreal, $50,400

After picking a string of big-block C3s, I’m going to change things up with this 1971 Alfa Romeo Montreal. It’s an Italian V-8 coupe with a dog-leg transmission that came in well under our price threshold. Plus, just look at that wonderful Marcello Gandini design. How can you not love those semi-hidden headlights? I’ve only got about five minutes of seat time on one of these, but I still remember the little V-8 sounded amazing. If I had this in my garage, I would suddenly have all kinds of excuses to drive to Malibu, Ojai, and any other destination that happened to be on the other end of a canyon road.—Brandan Gillogly, senior editor

1991 Mercedes-Benz 300TE AMG 3.4-24, $75,040

Since Brandan took my first pick, I’ll happily settle with this backup—a 1991 M-B 300TE AMG 3.4-24. $75k might seem like a lot for a W124 wagon with 106k miles on the clock—and it is. In fact, this is the second-highest sale for a W124 wagon ever. Then again, it’s a steal compared to the top W124 wagon sale of all time, this 1988 300TE 6.0 AMG nicknamed “The Mallet” that sold at RM Sotheby’s the same weekend for $467k. Inline-six or V-8? When we’re talking about an 84% discount to drop two cylinders, I’ll take the inline-six every time. Besides, there is only a 34 horsepower difference between the two and 276 horsepower is more than enough for this early-merger AMG sleeper. The only downside is that the rear facing jump seats are missing.—Adam Wilcox, senior information analyst

1965 Jaguar E-Type SI 3.8 Coupe, $56,000

My pick is the stereotypical red with black interior Jaguar E-Type that Bonhams sold for $56,000 at Amelia. However, this one is not quite so typical. It comes from someone who’s owned it for 46 years. The car needs a refresh to get it running and driving, and possibly a lot more, but we got $100K to play with, so there’s still $44,000 in the budget! That should at least cover the cost of getting the engine out and dropping the rear subframe. Besides, it is a neat late 3.8-liter car with some features overlapping with the later 4.2L versions. The interior is nicely worn but not too scruffy. Once it runs and drives, it’ll be a great, usable E-Type that can extol the virtues of the brand on the open road.—John Wiley, manager of valuation analytics

1951 Chevrolet 3100 “Five-Window” Pickup, $47,600

I was in the room when this ’51 Chevy hit the block, and couldn’t help but text my wife. She’s into flowers—each year, we plant over 400 dahlias in our front yard, along with a bunch of others that serve as accents to fill out bouquets. We’re not really in the market for an old truck, but if we were, this would be the perfect flower delivery vehicle.

This 3100 appears immaculate, and should have no problem chugging around the back roads with some carefully-packed bouquets in the back. And, at a final price of $47,600 with fees, we’d have plenty left over for a mountain of dahlia tubers (and some go kart parts for me).—Eddy Eckart, senior editor

1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale by Bertone

It’s always a fun exercise after big auction weekends (or weeks, or months) to spend fake money on real cars. Several from the March sales strike my fancy, including a 7000-mile 1997 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 that sold for $64,400 at Broad Arrow. I’d love to have it, but its long-term owner went to great pains to keep that immensely complicated, oft-overlooked Japanese sub-supercar in mint condition, and all I’d do is drive the pants off it, break things, kill its value, and then try to off-load it in a few years for a fraction of the price. There are no winners in that scenario.

Instead, I’m putting my money into a 1962 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale that sold for $67,200 at RM Sotheby’s Miami sale. There are no bad lines on this Alfa, and I fully appreciate its understated BAT concept-car DNA. It comes from the long-term ownership of a knowledgeable Alfa Romeo collector who took great care of it, and it certainly appears to be in very fine shape inside and out. It hammered sold for $30K under the low estimate, and about $40K under our #3 (Good) condition value, which I can only guess was because of its replacement (but correct) engine, although that still feels like a big penalty here. Hey, not my problem! I’ll take a cheap gorgeous Alfa any day of the week.—Stefan Lombard, senior editor

1977 Ferrari 308 GTB, $86,800

I remember when a decent 308 cost 25 grand. Sure, I was in middle school, but I still remember. In my mind, these should still be the cheap ticket to a set of Ferrari keys. Alas, there’s no such thing as time travel, so I’ll just have to accept that 308 prices are very different these days (up 251% over the past 10 years).

The 1977 308 GTB sold by Gooding & Co. this month seems like a good choice. An early steel-bodied, carbureted car, it’s a GTB so it doesn’t offer the wind-in-your hair driving of the targa-top GTS, but it’s both rarer and better-looking. It’s also a well-maintained, three-owner car and its 33,000 miles are low enough to be reassuring but not so low that it would be guilt-inducing to put more ticks on the odometer. The $86,800 sale price would have been shocking to middle school me, but in 2024 it’s right at the car’s condition #3+ value.—Andrew Newton, senior auction editor

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The post 7 Sub-$100K Classics We’d Have Brought Home From March’s Florida Sales appeared first on Hagerty Media.

By the time the new-for-’69 Triumph TR6 arrived in showrooms, it was already an old soul. In an era when many of its contemporaries had made the leap to unibody construction, the TR6’s body-on-frame architecture could trace its DNA back to the TR4 of 1961, and, if you looked hard enough, even further back to the 1953 TR2. In its bid to update the Michelotti-styled TR5, however, and to help disguise (quite literally) its ancient roots, Triumph called on Germany’s Karmann coachworks for an impromptu glow-up.

The result was a visually taller, more upright design, where—outside, at least—only the doors and windshield frame carried over from its predecessor. Underneath, it was business as usual, with the TR5’s chassis, powertrain, and suspension largely unaltered.

Many marque purists abhorred the new look, but the result spoke for itself: Triumph moved nearly 92,000 TR6s through the end of 1976, including 13,702 fuel-injected cars, mostly for the U.K. market, and 78,147 carbureted variants, most of which came to North America. Chassis number CC82276U, our Sale of the Week, was one such TR6 destined for these shores. On March 6, it sold on Bring A Trailer for $23,887, including fees.

There’s a lot to be said for a stellar color combination, and this TR6, finished in Damson over tan, speaks volumes. Now, much like every color in a J. Crew catalog or the paint section of Home Depot, Damson says nothing on its own, because what the heck is Damson? Metallicky maroony strawberryish is one way to put it. “One of the finest reds you will ever see on a sports car” is how one of BAT’s commenters pegged it. However it’s best described, it does look absolutely fetching in the online photos, especially when set off by the rich tan of the interior.

The Damson, the tan, and more were part of a $25,000 refurbishment done in 2011 by Her Majesty’s Auto Service (has there ever been a better name for British shop?) in Rhode Island, a year after the seller bought the car. The work included stripping the TR6 to bare metal, minor rust repair around the lights, then a full repaint. All chrome was redone, and the seats were rebuilt and reupholstered, with new carpets installed and the wooden dash replaced. The torquey, 106-hp 2.5-liter straight-six and its twin Zenith-Stromberg carbs were still in fine fettle at the time and received only new hoses and wires, a tune-up, and fresh fluids.

One of the great attributes of a hybridized selling/social media platform like Bring A Trailer is the input from folks who have made a hobby out of following sales like this one. For starters, the initial listing contained several factual errors about the car: It was dubbed maroon over chestnut, said to be fuel injected, and claimed to have air conditioning and a cassette player. None of these things were true, and all were flagged in the comments by those in the know. To its credit, BAT was quick to react, and within hours the text was updated, with thanks to those who pointed out the inconsistencies.

More importantly, however, was the invaluable input provided by one commenter in particular, “traveler501.” This user was local to the Florida seller and asked to come by to see the car in person. Three days later there appeared in the comments an incredibly forthright assessment purely for the benefit of those bidding.

“The owner isn’t a ‘car guy’ and to some extent doesn’t know what he’s got,” they wrote. “I was surprised to find that the owner has a 6-inch stack of receipts showing a remarkable amount of work done, not just body and interior, but going over all the mechanical stuff thoughtfully and just tidying up what was needed, leaving the rest original.

“Driving the car was also a nice surprise. It sounds good, rides well, front end is tight, it shifts and downshifts readily.… I have had both low- and high-mileage TR6s in the past and this honestly feels like a well-cared-for 80K-mile car. Btw, when driving it, the temperature gauge went to exactly center dial and stayed there, and the oil pressure, fully warmed up, was 70 or slightly higher psi at 2000 rpm, 50 psi at idle.”

If you are not a car person but are selling a car person’s car to car people, those are precisely the kinds of important details you probably won’t know to mention.

The TR6 is not perfect, of course. As noted in the listing, the odometer is stuck on 79,000 miles, which the seller reckons happened about 300 miles ago. Perhaps more concerning to interested parties is some bubbling beneath the paint on the hood. Given its Florida locale, it would be easy to assume that salt air has begun to rear its ugly head, which might cause nervous, faraway bidders to think twice. Au contraire! says our helpful friend on the ground. “It’s not rust. My best guess is that there were some tiny droplets of contamination in the air that were absorbed into the primer on just the hood (perhaps it was painted off the car?). They caused the paint to raise in tiny blisters … maybe .1 inch in diameter and .050 inches high. They’re scattered here and there on the hood, easy to miss visually if you’re not looking for them, and stable (haven’t changed in 13 years)….”

Again, it’s hard to put a price on this kind of unbiased scrutiny, and few cars that cross the online auction blocks of the world are subjected to it. Other commenters, and the seller, were grateful for added information.

In the old-car hobby, we often talk about “finding your tribe,” that group of like-minded souls who share a passion for a given marque or model and are always willing to bend over backwards to help a fellow member. Thanks to the efforts of one person—who wasn’t bidding and seemed not to have any skin in the game—that’s exactly what went down in the days leading up to this car’s sale.

In the end, this lovely TR6 sold to an excited buyer in San Diego, its result smack-dab in between our #2 (Excellent) and #3 (Good) values, which is exactly where it belonged. It is a great car—and a great deal of car for the money, given that all the expensive stuff is done. The new owner should be in store for many years of trouble-free driving adventures.

Well sold, well bought, and a great reminder that kind-hearted enthusiasts are everywhere, always willing to lend a hand, just because they can.

The post This TR6 Sale Is a Triumph for the Hobby appeared first on Hagerty Media.

In the week or so that follows any major auction, Hagerty’s team of analysts break down specific sales and looks for broader trends or observations that might be coalescing. From last week’s Florida auctions, a few factors suggest that despite all the market movement in the last 18 months, the core focus of the collector car hobby remains healthy. What’s more, trends that may have shown growing momentum in the go-go market of 2021-22—like the rise of modern supercars—have indicated some signs of softness. We dig into some of these outcomes from Florida below. For a more detailed account of top sales and segment movement, check out our Florida March auctions recap.

Cars from core eras are still in demand

As the demographics of the collector car market evolve, the concern that older classics may fall by the wayside continues to be a topic of conversation. While there is some evidence that may be happening among certain models, reports of the death of old cars have been greatly exaggerated. Broadly speaking, the market for cars over fifty years old is very diverse and healthy. Few alive today had a 1903 Mercedes-Simplex image on their wall as a kid, but it was the most expensive car at the March Florida auctions. It’s not just one car, either—models from the ’50s and ’60s made up a huge chunk of the value that exchanged hands last weekend.

Quick flips are increasingly risky

Not too long ago, many people came to think of classic cars as money printers. It wasn’t all that unreasonable a concept—for cars bought in 2021-22 and then sold in the first three months of 2022, the average return was seven percent (that’s just the average—a raft of cars saw much more dramatic growth during this period). Those days are over. The median return on a car bought at auction during 2023-24 and then sold in 2024 so far is zero percent.

Buyer discipline continues to carry the day. We observed that across all segments in March’s Florida auctions—special examples would transact (and sometimes at very strong prices), but bidders were more guarded with their paddles overall. This means that quick monetary gains in the collector car market are much harder to come by now, and dealers aren’t guaranteed to make a quick buck.

Our analysts have also observed a change in buying and selling behavior among repeat sales: During the pandemic, there was a prevailing theme of dealers and flippers picking up a car at live auction and then making their profit by selling it online. We’re beginning to see the opposite, and not just because the attendance is back at live auctions. With an ever-increasing number of cars available online, pressure to sell at no reserve, and buyers holding back, it’s now a bit easier to score a deal online.

Super- and hypercar struggles

Not every limited-edition hypercar is a sure-fire bet. We have observed some depreciation in this segment as manufacturers keep churning out the next one and the next one. Buyers could be getting hesitant that these cars are guaranteed investments. On top of that, so many are low-mileage, nearly in-the-wrapper examples that in this market it appears buyers have to really want that particular car in order for it to move. Of the 13 2010+ supercars bid above $1M, only four made it beyond their low estimate. The McLaren P1, one of the cars at the center of a flurry of hypercar activity early in the last decade, went 0 for 2 across the block. Only one of four Lexus LFAs—a darling car with a meteoric rise in the last few years—sold at this past week’s auctions.

Despite some big hits and misses, the Porsche market was rational

As stated in our auction report, there were some high-profile Porsche no-sales, along with a couple of transactions that had to be completed after the auction. This appears, at least in part, to be a continuation of rationality in the Porsche market that we reported on in December. Porsche buyers have gotten very particular, but when they identify something they want, they’re willing to pay up for it. That enthusiasm is reflected in the data: The median condition-appropriate premium vs. the Hagerty Price Guide for Porsches was 13 percent, which is greater than the 10 percent median for the sales overall.

The post What We Learned From Florida’s March Auctions appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We track thousands of cars for the Hagerty Price Guide. Values range from four figures to eight, and performance ranges from single-digit horsepower to over a thousand. If you’re looking for the most bang for your buck, you might be wondering what’s the most amount of factory-rated horsepower you can get for the least amount of money. We wondered that, too, so we dug into the data, looking at horsepower ratings relative to condition #2 (“Excellent”) Hagerty Price Guide values.

For reference, the list of worst deals in terms of cost per horsepower includes, predictably, a Ferrari 250 GTO. For each of that car’s 300 ponies you’ll pay over $213K. A McLaren F1’s horses cost $35K each. Improving the ratio dramatically but still not a bargain, Porsche 911 Carreras from the ’80s cost more than $400 per hp, and a Corvette C5 Z06 costs $95. Way down the ladder, the cheapest power in the collector car market comes in around $25–$35 per horse.

A few themes emerged—big coupes and sedans figure prominently, as do cars that find themselves adjacent to truly lusted-after models. And, as always with data, there’s a result that technically answers the question without addressing the spirit of the effort. With that context, here are seven cars that offer some of the cheapest horsepower out there.

1970 Buick Wildcat

Buick’s 455-cubic-inch V-8 is a torque monster, and power is ample, even accounting for 1970’s gross (rather than net) horsepower ratings. The 370 horses the 455 cranked out in the ’70 Wildcat is quite a bit, no matter how you’re measuring.

At $10,200 for a #2 condition example, this personal luxury coupe is stylish and relatively affordable. The Wildcat may be Buick’s best answer to this question, blending the traditional image of what makes a classic car with a solid $27-per-horse ratio. With that said, you can get a 315-horse 455 in a 1971 Buick Estate Wagon, and at $7800 for one in #2 condition, that model tops our list with the most affordable ratio of all: $24.76/hp.

1996–99 Ford Taurus SHO

Ford’s four-figure factory hot rod with a Japanese heart, the first-generation Taurus SHO has long been one of the cheapest ways into a modern classic that’s fun but still practical. The first-gen car is cheap, but in terms of pure ponies per buck, it’s not quite the bargain that is the third generation.

When that Taurus came out in 1996, it embraced the melted jellybean style of the 1990s and early 2000s and was both bigger and softer than its predecessors. It also only came with an automatic. Even so, the Yamaha engine under the gentle curves of that hood was now a V-8 (with a block by Cosworth, no less). It wasn’t a good seller, and Ford canceled the SHO when it introduced the fourth-gen Taurus. The SHO’s V-8 is rated at 235 hp, which isn’t anything to write home about, but the car’s #2 value is just $8000. That comes out to $34 per horsepower.

1962–70 Chrysler 300 Sedan

Chrysler’s 300 badge spans nearly 70 years, lots of very different cars, and several price points. The original “Letter Series” Chrysler 300s are some of the most attractive and collectible American cars of the 1950s. The modern one, which finally ended production last year, offered performance and luxury at an attainable price. And, as Katt Williams says, it “do look like a [Rolls-Royce] Phantom … until a Phantom pull up.”

Falling in the middle are the “non-letter series” cars of the 1960s. A full-size model that comes as a four-door hardtop, two-door hardtop, or convertible, it’s also a model whose values have been pretty sleepy in the market. This is particularly true of the sedans: Over the past 15 years, their values haven’t kept up with inflation. Values for some model years have appreciated just 11 percent in that period. That means they’re cheap today, with #2 values around 10 or 11 grand.

Since they came with the same 383-, 413- and 440-cubic-inch V-8s as the sexier, more valuable two-door models, sedans offer more bang for the buck. Some of the later 440/350-hp and 440/375-hp cars have pricier ponies at $35 or $36 per hp, some of the 413/360-hp and 383/315-hp cars can be had for as little as $31/hp.

1985–88 Cadillac Cimarron (V-6)

The Cimarron is the polar opposite of the Ferrari GTO in almost every way, including the way the dollar-to-horsepower ratio is skewed. Technically, the Cimarron offers more power per dollar than almost any car on the road because, it’s just so cheap. The median #2 value for this gussied-up Cavalier that the ads called “The Cadillac of Smaller Cars” is just $3600. Final-year 1988 models, though, hit a wallet-stretching $4100.

Later ones got a 125-hp V-6 and nifty (now retro) digital gauges, and from a bang-for-buck perspective the 1986–87 models are the sweet spot. They’re just $29/hp.

1996 Pontiac Firebird/Chevrolet Camaro (V-6)

Trans Am, WS6, Firehawk, Z28, SS—those are the names fondly remembered by F-body fans and the models most sought after now that they’re modern collector cars, but the bulk of fourth generation Firebird/Camaro production were base models with a V-6, which came in both 3.4- and 3.8-liter displacements.

All V-6 Camaros and Firebirds are cheap, but in terms of bang for buck the 1996 Camaro and Firebird V-6 coupes take the cake. They’re rated at 200 hp and their condition #2 value is $5500, which comes out to $27.50 per pony.

1970 Chrysler Newport Sedan

The fifth-generation Newport came out in 1969, adopting the fuselage styling that characterized full-sized Chryslers for the next few years. It’s handsome, roomy, and comfortable. But don’t take it from me, take it from Willie Mays (in the commercial above).

While it lacked the decals and High Impact paint colors that made Mopar muscle cars so flamboyant, the Newport nevertheless came with muscle car grunt, as a 440/375-hp V-8 was available. Today, the 1970 sedan model with that engine brings serious power for not-so-serious money. Its condition #2 value is just $10,600, which comes out to a little over $28 per hp.

1992–97 Cadillac Seville STS

The ’90s weren’t Cadillac’s golden age, but the STS (“Seville Touring Sedan”) did win Motor Trend’s Car of the Year in 1992, and from 1993 the model got the 32-valve Northstar V-8 engine, which offered up to 300 hp.

An STS cost 40 grand or more in its day, but the #2 value for one now is typically under nine grand. Depending on year, it come out to about $30 per hp.

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By 1965, Ford was pushing its Total Performance concept in every vehicle from the fuel-sipping Falcon to the range-topping Thunderbird. While the tie-in to Ford’s motorsports efforts was obvious, Total Performance also included the notion of durability, practicality, value, and luxury. Perhaps there was no better example of the breed than the full-size Ford Galaxie for 1965, and its premium LTD trim level for those seeking performance in its totality (as it were). The sales brochure suggested these Galaxies were “the most changed cars you’ve seen in a decade.”

That’s not marketing hyperbole, as a new 3-link rear suspension utilized a Panhard bar and replaced the clumsy leaf springs of the era with a modern coil setup. The Galaxie’s new 15-inch wheels with lower profile tires were harder to find outside of luxury cars of the era. But what made the 1965-68 Ford Galaxie so special was a body-on-frame design that eschewed the notion that stiffer is always better. Opting for a strategic flexibility program that implemented torque boxes and rubber body mounts all the way back in 1965 was certainly something to talk about. It was another example of Total Performance, especially when it came to reducing NVH levels.

And all the hard work from Ford’s designers and engineers deserved an advertising campaign that proved the point. Working with trusted advertising parter J. Walter Thompson, the hardtop 1965 Galaxie 500 LTD became famous for being quieter than a Rolls-Royce, mostly because of the revised suspension and radical frame. The design was unique in the Ford lineup, as even the Lincoln Continental still used leaf springs at the rear, with a unitized chassis lacking the LTD’s balance of stiffness, flexibility, and NVH reduction technology.

The new 1965 Galaxie sold as well as it rode, besting the prior year’s sales by over 55,000 units (978,429 in total). There were six body styles (pillared sedan/coupe, hardtop sedan/coupe, convertible, station wagon), and trim levels offering luxury (LTD), higher performance (XL), or posh practicality (Country Squire Wagon). A wide range of engines, from a new 240-cid inline six (a descendent of Ford’s legendary 300 inline six truck motor) to the rare 427-cid V-8 (available with a four-barrel carb or dual quads), made the Galaxie a full-size vehicle for every taste and budget. But 1965 was only the start of something special, as sales skyrocketed to over one million Galaxies (1,034,930) the following year.

The 1966 Galaxie was restyled with softer contours that belied the hard-nosed performance with the newly available 428-cid Thunderbird V-8 with 345 horsepower. Dubbed the “7-Litre” Galaxie, it slotted between the relatively tamer 390 (315 horsepower) and the radical 427 (425 horsepower) V-8 engines. The 7-Litre trim could be had with the fire-breathing 427, but these days enthusiasts typically reference the 428 as the 7-Litre or call out the 427 directly.

Values for the second-generation Galaxie do vary somewhat year to year, but the selection of ’66 Galaxie trims below do afford a representative sample. Regardless of trim, 427-equipped cars occupy the top spots, with less-powerful engines rendering the cars they’re in considerably more affordable. While available in every body style, the 428-powered 7-Litre hardtop coupes in #2 condition are now valued at $60,000, much closer to the 390 ($34,300) compared to the 427 ($141,000). Across the board, though, even in a flatter market, values are stable for entry-level Galaxies and on the upswing for the more powerful examples. Four-speed cars command a 10 percent premium, and, if you’re seeking the looks of a Galaxie at a significant discount, six-cylinder cars tend to be worth about 20 percent less than the lowest value V-8.

The Galaxie is a popular 1960s choice across all ages. Insurance quotes sought from Gen X owners are up three percentage points over the last five years, and five percentage points in the same period among both millennials and Gen Z. Between the interest among younger enthusiasts and the sheer number of Galaxies made, we can expect to see them being enjoyed for years to come.

The 1967 Galaxie received even softer styling than the 1966 model, and all the same engines were available (but lacking the 7-Litre moniker). A revised dashboard sported an integrated “Stereo Sonic” tape player where the 1966 had it mounted below the dashboard. Mandated safety features also applied to the Galaxie, from a padded horn button with an energy-absorbing steering column, to a dual bore master cylinder. For 1968, the final year of this body style, Ford gave the Galaxie new front and rear fascias, side marker lights, and horizontally arranged headlights. Concealed headlights were available on the LTD and sporty XL, and the base V-8 transitioned from the 289-cid to the 302-cid small block V-8.

And that’s where it should end, but Ford took this winning template to the next level. An entirely new platform for 1969 had a track “as wide as a Cadillac”, more front head and leg room than Chrysler’s Imperial, and a design that’s “even quieter than the LTD that was quieter than a Rolls-Royce.” Rarely does a trim level create a legacy with such gravity, and by 1974 the LTD actually killed the Galaxie brand beneath it.

And the LTD name was still associated with a Rolls-Royce throughout the Malaise Era, a time when a vehicle’s luxurious attributes took precedent over performance. (Though the downsized LTD was “as quiet as a Rolls-Royce” and no longer superior to the iconic English saloon.) So perhaps the 1965 Ford Galaxie was ahead of its time, and three decades of subsequent Ford flagship sedan history owe it a debt of gratitude.

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World records can be wild feats of courage, exhibitions of mental fortitude, or the outcome of years of patient practice. They can also be a person concussing themselves by breaking open 49 watermelons with their head. Or marvels of engineering that carefully coordinate the movement of 48 pistons into a functional machine. Both the melon mashing and the multitudinous-piston motivation are real world records, and one of them can be yours if you play your cards right—no head slamming required.

This 48-cylinder creation—the official record for vehicle engine with the most cylinders—is the manifestation of Briton Simon Whitelock and is an exercise in solving problems to build the absurd. The project started in 1999 and seems to have been constructed in a typical UK workshop, which is to say a small shed packed full of stuff. Whitelock has posted videos of the build on a YouTube channel, and they are fascinating to watch.

Sixteen Kawasaki KH250 bikes, which were three-cylinder affairs, contributed their engines to this build. The original cases were cut to remove the transmissions and then welded together, forming inline-eight engines that were then stacked and lined up using large aluminum plates at either end. With three inline-eight two-stroke engines on each side, the rear mounting plate aligns the engines so they could be linked with a gear drive that feeds into a BMW K1000 transmission, and subsequently a shaft drive to power the rear wheel.

The front end is sourced from a Honda Goldwing, and the frame is more or less built around the engine. What looks like the fuel tank on top is actually a cover for the ignition and throttle cables, while a cylindrical aluminum gas tank is tucked down the center of the engine. A small fuel pump pushes fuel up to six carburetors that are mounted on manifolds at the front of the engine. Alongside the carbs sit the ignition systems, which are a mix of car and motorcycle parts.

The whole thing is a bit absurd, but we couldn’t help but be amazed when the massive engine—by our math it displaces 4200cc, or 256 cubic inches—fires to life. There is no way a human is going to kick start such a beast, and an electric starter might not have the oomph to keep the engine turning while the cylinders begin to fire.

That’s why Whitlock employed a donkey engine—a smaller second engine solely assigned to getting the six crankshafts spinning. A two-stroke mill pulled from a scooter, it’s linked to the output shaft by a one-way clutch and uses a slight gear reduction to get everything up to speed before it is shut off. The factory throttle tube’s choke lever has been repurposed to be a throttle for the donkey engine so the handlebars are still fairly tidy considering the complications happening behind it.

And yes, it does ride under its own power. In reality, though, running it for longer periods of time is likely a fool’s errand, as cooling all the cylinders appropriately would take even more engineering prowess than this build has already exhibited. Regardless, if you find this 48-cylinder wonder as intriguing as I do, you can raise a paddle and bid (its estimate is $51k-$76k) to make it yours late next month at the Bonhams Spring Stafford Sale in the U.K.

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The post What Has 48 Cylinders, 2 Wheels, and 1 World Record? This Motorcycle. appeared first on Hagerty Media.

One of the most diverse collector car auction weeks in history has wrapped, with $183.8M trading hands across 468 vehicles offered spanning 121 years of automotive history, leading to the highest sales total for the March Classic Auctions. RM Sotheby’s was notably absent from Amelia Island this year, instead opting to hold a two-day auction the same weekend in Miami. However, we will include this auction in our writeup as part of the March Classic Auctions, as the sale nonetheless helps inform the market.  

Main Themes:  

• This weekend set a record total for the March Classic Auctions at $183.8M, exceeding the previous record of $177.7M set last year 
• 119-year span in the top ten sales – the collector car market shows collectability isn’t bound by age  
• Wide range of big sales, from new hypercars to turn of the 20th century racers   
• The median final price to condition appropriate Hagerty Price Guide value was +10 percent, down from +15 percent last year.   
• After 16 months of softening market activity extending into late 2023, with encouraging results from the March Classic Auctions and January sales, the market has turned the corner. 

Highlights:  

• A 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP ‘Roi des Belges’ sold for $12,105,000, becoming the most expensive pre-1930s car ever sold at auction.   
• A 1967 Ford GT40 Mk I road car sold for $4,405,000.   
• The first 2022 Hennessey Venom F5 to be offered at public auction sold for $2,205,000.  
• A 2005 Ferrari 612 with a gated manual transmission sold for $467,000, setting a record for the model.  
• A 1988 Porsche 959 SC Reimagined by Canepa set the record for a 959 road car at $3,085,000.   

Top Sales  

The weekend’s top sale was Gooding’s 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP ‘Roi des Belges’, which brought just over $12 million, making it the most expensive pre-1930s car ever sold at auction. A 1967 Ford GT40 Mk I road car took the second spot at $4,405,000, and a 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa followed closely behind at $4,295,000. A 2022 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport set a record for the variant at $4,047,500—the 119-year range of vehicles in the top 10 shows car collectors aren’t bothered by age.   

Porsche Market Pauses   

Only one Porsche made the overall top 10—a 2018 918 Spyder Weissach Roadster that sold at Gooding for $3,525,000. Another one, a 1988 Porsche 959 SC Reimagined by Canepa, was a strong sale, setting the record for a 959 road car at $3,085,000. Other Porsche sales were less confident even though March has long been associated with significant Porsche sales. Two notable early Porsche racers didn’t sell on the block, instead transacting after the auctions concluded: The 1959 Porsche 718 RSK Spyder at Broad Arrow and the 1961 Porsche RS61 from Gooding, which sold for $3,100,000. 

What’s more, some Porsches that crossed the $1M threshold did not quite meet expectations. A 1996 Porsche 911 Remastered by Gunther Werks sold for $1,022,500 after reaching a high bid of $1.15M and not selling on Bring a Trailer in late 2023, while a Porsche Reimagined by Singer went unsold with a $1,225,000 high bid. RUF, the only Porsche modifier considered a manufacturer and comprising its own class at Amelia on Sunday, went 4 for 6. The top sale was a 1998 RUF Turbo R selling for $1,517,500 in Miami. However, these modified Porsches had a lower sell-through rate than their stock counterparts—67 percent vs. 81 percent.   

Stability Returns   

Stability has returned to the collector market, and results show a less speculative nature. The median return on a car bought since 2020 and sold this week was zero percent. The median premium to Hagerty Price Guide condition-appropriate value fell to 10 percent this year from 15 percent last year, indicating a return to rationality. This resurgent stability brings traditional classics to the forefront, and a shift in priorities to how much joy and passion the vehicle can provide to a collector rather than return on investment.   

Prewar Performance  

It wasn’t just a few big sales. Overall, the prewar segment performed in line with or better than vehicles built after World War II. 82 percent of prewar cars sold, while the sell-through rate for postwar vehicles trailed at 80 percent. This is the first year since 2019, when the brass-era Don C. Boulton Collection was offered at Bonhams, where prewar cars had a higher sell-through rate at the Amelia Auctions. Postwar cars performed worse compared to auction house estimates as well. 75 percent of Postwar cars sold with a hammer bid below their low estimate, while only 69 percent of prewar cars did. On top of that, prewar cars were twice as likely as postwar cars to sell above their high estimate (16 percent vs. eight percent). Even as car collectors get younger, with most not even alive when these cars were new, there is still a tremendous appreciation for these antique automobiles.     

March Classic Auction Results through March 3rd, 2024 

Listed below are the raw results Hagerty Automotive Intelligence team members witnessed during live auctions, as well as after-sales reported to Hagerty by the auction companies. Results may not include all post-sale deals that have occurred. These numbers include the appropriate buyer’s premiums. 

Overall through Sunday from all auction companies 

• Cumulative Total: $183.8M 
• 383/468 lots sold: 82% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $479,899 

2023 Cumulative Results through Sunday 

• Cumulative Total: $177.7M 
• 389/453 lots sold: 85.9% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $456,792 

Overall Top 10 Sales from all auctions through Sunday: 

1. 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP Roi des Belges sold for $12,105,000 (Gooding & Company) 
2. 1967 Ford GT40 Mk I Road Coupe sold for $4,405,000 (Broad Arrow Auctions) 
3. 1953 Ferrari 250 Europa Coupe sold for $4,295,000 (RM Sotheby’s)* 
4. 2022 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport Coupe sold for $4,047,500 (Broad Arrow Auctions) 
5. 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider sold for $3,995,000 (Gooding & Company) 
6. 1930 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Disappearing Top Convertible Coupe sold for $3,855,000 (RM Sotheby’s)* 
7. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider sold for $3,635,000 (Gooding & Company) 
8. 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach Roadster sold for $3,525,000 (Gooding & Company) 
9. 1990 Ferrari F40 Coupe sold for $3,360,000 (RM Sotheby’s)* 
10. 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider sold for $3,305,000 (Broad Arrow Auctions) 

*Miami                                                                                                      

Results broken down by Auction Company: 

GOODING & COMPANY 

• Cumulative Total through Friday: $66.2M 
• 106/126 lots sold: 84% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $624,253 

2024 Top 10 Sales: 

1. 1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP Roi des Belges sold for $12,105,000 
2. 1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial Spider sold for $3,995,000 
3. 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider sold for $3,635,000 
4. 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder Weissach Roadster sold for $3,525,000 
5. 1961 Porsche RS61 sold for $3,100,000  
6. 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 Coupe sold for $2,920,000 
7. 1931 Duesenberg Model J Murphy Convertible Coupe sold for $2,645,000 
8. 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Coupe sold for $2,260,000 
9. 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster sold for $2,012,500 
10. 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Coupe sold for $1,985,000 

2023 Cumulative Results 

• Cumulative Total: $72.7M 
• 148/155 lots sold: 95% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $491,055 

BROAD ARROW 

• Cumulative Total through Saturday: $62.6M 
• 136/149 lots sold: 91% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $460,394 

2024 Top 10 Sales*: 

1. 1967 Ford GT40 Mk I Road Coupe sold for $4,405,000 
2. 2022 Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport Coupe sold for $4,047,500 
3. 1973 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider sold for $3,305,000 
4. 1988 Porsche 959 SC Reimagined Coupe sold for $3,085,000 
5. 2021 Lamborghini Aventador Sian Coupe sold for $2,645,000 
6. 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster sold for $2,260,000 
7. 2022 Hennessey Venom F5 sold for $2,205,000 
8. 2020 McLaren Speedtail Coupe sold for $2,067,500 
9. 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe sold for $1,545,000 
10. 1938 Mercedes-Benz 540K Norrmalm Cabriolet sold for $1,435,000 

*Does not include lots sold post-auction 

2023 Cumulative Results 

• Cumulative Total: $28.6M 
• 82/108 lots sold: 76% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $348,797 

BONHAMS 

• Cumulative Total through Thursday: $6.7M 
• 52/79 lots sold: 66% sell-through rate 
• Average Sale Price: $129,297