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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post These Three Flavors of Ferrari Testarossa Have Distinct Personalities, and Values appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The Second Golden Age of Muscle Is Over, and It Was Better Than the First appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 9 Big Winners from the Big Three in the Latest Price Guide appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post $4.9M Lamborghini Is the Most Expensive Miura Ever Sold appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post These Popular Classics Are Tracking Straight in a Mixed Market 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?

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post What U.S. County Has the Most Camaros per Capita? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 13 Cars That Caught Our Eye at Mecum Indy 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It’s been nearly 10 years since Mazda unveiled the fourth, “ND” generation MX-5 Miata, continuing an exceptional sports car tradition. So enjoyable is Mazda’s two-seater, in fact, that I bought a 2020 Miata RF ND2. (In Zoom-Zoom nerd circles, 2019–23 cars are called “ND2”, referring to the second iteration of the ND generation.) It remains my daily driver. With a revised Miata now out for the 2024 model year, I was keen to sample the ND3’s host of tweaks and upgrades.

Part of the Miata’s appeal these days is that it has no direct competitor. Its closest rival—the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86—has rear seats and no available sunroof. Lotus does not even make a sub-3000-pound car anymore, yet 2300-pound Miatas are still out there roaming the roads.

Although a decade is an eternity in the car business, the Miata still looks and drives like nothing else in showrooms today. It’s agile, tossable, and friendly. For the ND3, Mazda thankfully didn’t mess with success. Small but significant improvements are focused on appreciable areas: the steering rack, differential, and interior. In sum, they make an already great car a little bit better. Rumors are swirling that the next-generation Miata will be either hybrid or electric, which, if true, would render this ND3 the final with Mazda’s 35-year-old formula: a lightweight open-top machine with a naturally aspirated four-cylinder, rear-wheel-drive, and a manual transmission.

The Miata’s last major update came five years ago for the 2019 ND2, when Mazda massaged the 2.0-liter, twin-cam four-cylinder (largely shared with the Mazda 3) to make 181 horsepower (instead of 155 in the 2016-18 “ND1”) and wind the tach up to 7500 rpm (instead of 6800), while also revising the six-speed manual gearbox. In the new-for-2024 ND3, both the drivetrain and overall weight are carryover.

The 2024 Miata is still available in two basic body styles and three basic trim levels, but prices are up slightly. MSRP for the cheapest soft top “Sport” model is $30,170—nearly a grand more than the 2023 version. The retractable hardtop RF body style is not available in Sport trim. The mid-range “Club” soft top (the ND3 I drove) costs $33,670 to start. Our test car also had the optional Brembo brakes/BBS wheels/Recaro seat package, which adds $4800 to the soft-top Club but comes baked into the $41,395 Club RF. The slightly more luxurious “Grand Touring” trim costs $36,390 in soft-top form and $39,165 in RF form. The Brembo/BBS/Recaro trio is only available on the Club, which is a shame if you want a dead-simple Sport or a cushy Gran Touring with a performance punch.

Specs: 2024 Mazda Miata Club

• Price: $33,670 (base); $38,470 (as tested)
• Powertrain: 2.0-liter fuel-injected, naturally aspirated, dual-overhead-camshaft inline-four; 6-speed manual transmission
• Output: 181 hp @ 7000 rpm; 151 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
• Layout: Rear-wheel-drive, two-door, two-passenger convertible
• EPA Fuel Economy: 26 mpg city, 34 mpg highway, 34 combined
• Competitors: Subaru BRZ, Toyota GR86

One of the chief complaints ever since the ND first came out, compared with the fun and flamboyant NA lineup from the ’90s, is that Mazda’s color palette is as bland as a bowl of sawdust. Other than Soul Red, it’s been mostly some version of black, white, or gray for the ND. If you’ve been praying for a handsome British Racing Green or a nice bright blue, keep praying, because Mazda has ignored you yet again. There is a new shade for 2024 but it’s… another shade of gray. Aero Gray, to be specific. Our test car was at least painted Zircon Sand Metallic, a shade added to the roster last year (and featured in our Gas + Stick article); it’s a sharp-looking, sort of muddy sand color with some green in it. Nice, but still somewhat muted for a very happy sports car.

Other changes to the exterior of the 2024 ND3 include new LED headlights and taillights. The daytime running lights, which used to flank the grille, are now integrated into the headlights. There are also new wheel designs and they look good, but so did the old ones. They’re also of the same size and ride on the same Bridgestone tires.

The interior wears the same basic design, laid atop a clean, functional, tight-ish cabin. Mazda uses its share of mass-market plastics and knobs, as well as cheap-feeling removable cupholders, but in concert with the brand’s premium aspirations there are some nicer touches: body-color paint on the tops of the door panels, padding and stitching in the middle of the dash, and chromed gauge bezels. The trim running around the shifter and down the sides of the console used to be plastic, but now it’s stitched and padded. The gauge cluster (tach in middle, speedo on right, analog-style digital readout on left) stays essentially the same but now uses higher contrast graphics that are easier to read, and the rear-view camera benefits from higher resolution. USB-C ports also replace the old USB ones.

By far the most notable interior change, though, concerns the infotainment screen. In the ND1-ND2 the interface was good enough, but the square screen looked like an overgrown, circa-2008 Garmin GPS glued to the top of the dash. The ND3 remedies that with an all-new 8.8-inch rectangular display that’s lower, thinner, better integrated into the dash, and much nicer to read. It’s still operated via touch, with some controls available on the steering wheel or on two small metal knobs behind the shifter.

Mechanically, the two major changes for the ND3 affect steering feel and how the rear end navigates corners. The steering rack is a new unit and the software in the electronically assisted power steering has been revised for both smoother steering and sharper response. At the back, Mazda redesigned the Miata’s conical clutch limited-slip differential. It now more strongly locks the rear wheels together on deceleration to combat oversteer and reduces locking during acceleration to mitigate understeer. This makes for more controllable cornering compared to the earlier, more tail-happy cars. The ND3 Club’s stability control system also adds a new “DSC-Track” mode, activated by a fun little checkered flag button, that raises the threshold of when the system intervenes, without shutting it off entirely. Only the Club model gets DSC-Track.

Entering, or rather fitting into, this car has never been comfortable for everybody. I’m 6’2” and fit alright, but if you’re within a haircut of 6 feet, haven’t had a salad in a while, and/or are more leg than torso, it’s a good idea to try before you buy. Getting in with a helmet (and remaining underneath the top of the windshield) is an additional challenge for the vertically blessed, although there are aftermarket seat options as well as kits to lower the factory chairs. As for the Recaros in our test car, they’re beautiful. With black leather, gray piping, and Alcantara inserts, they look like they’re out of a much more expensive automobile. They’re well-bolstered for track driving as well, but a little tight beneath the shoulders and around the hips of this driver.

There’s no glovebox in an MX-5—just a small cubby between the seats and another, secret cubby behind the passenger’s seat. The storage bin in the console is of limited use. The narrow but surprisingly deep trunk (no spare tire), meanwhile, has enough room for a two-person weekend getaway or a week’s worth of groceries.

On the nice days for which this roadster is intended, operating the soft top is a simple pull on a single central clip, pulling it back behind you, and clicking it in to stow behind the seats. It can all be done in a few seconds from the driver’s seat.

For the not-so-nice days, like the “derecho” storm that slammed Houston in May 2024 with 100-mph winds and three tornadoes, the soft top is reassuringly stout. I briefly got caught out on the road in the derecho, and despite wind and rain that can only be described as biblical, the soft top held tight as a drum. No flapping around, no leaks, and surprisingly little noise. Apart from an actual crash, it would hard to think up a much tougher test for a top, so this one passed.

Jumping straight from the driver’s seat of an ND2 into the ND3 is not a night and day difference, but it is a noticeable one. Steering feel is indeed sharper, smoother, and a little heavier. The change is noticeable at any speed, not to mention from the instant the steering wheel (which is the perfect size and looks great, by the way) moves from center. The new differential leaves the rear end feeling more planted and firmer through an apex, and although Mazda didn’t say it revised the suspension, we wouldn’t be shocked to hear if there were some small tweaks. The car does feel like it’s flatter through the corners. It’s still somewhat softly sprung and takes a bit to settle into the corner. The signature Miata lean/body roll is still there, but it’s less pronounced. All of these adjustments, including changes to the limited-slip, it should be noted, are really only discernible if you’re hitting a corner at about seven-tenths or above.

The slick-shifting, short-throw six-speed, meanwhile, is one of the best manuals around and there’s nothing to nitpick about it. Our test car also averaged a little over 30 mpg in mixed driving conditions, before a lengthy stretch in heavy traffic dropped it into the high 20s.

And while the car does corner more confidently, it’s still easy enough to get the back end to rotate and then use small inputs to keep things under control. This is still a great sports car in which to learn the basics of car control, as overcooking it doesn’t immediately send you into a spin. The dynamics are also entertaining at real-world, law-adjacent speeds on real-world roads. More fun to drive a slow car fast, and all that.

Indeed, 181 hp and 151 lb-ft isn’t a lot, but this is a tiny car and with the roof open, the 0-60 scoot in 5.7 seconds feels quick enough. For reference, that’s around the same output as a Honda S2000 (more about that car later), and the Mazda’s 2.0-liter four is almost as responsive. It likes to rev, really wakes up above 4000 rpm, and should be kept there for maximum smiles.

The Skyactive 2.0-liter isn’t a weak engine, then, but it sure sounds that way. If there’s any significant complaint one might have from behind the wheel of the ND3—and I only have one biggie—it’s the stock exhaust. It stinks. It’s too quiet. What sound does come out of the muffler is more rental-spec Altima than open-top toy. To be fair, not everybody likes their cars loud, but Mazda should absolutely offer an optional sports exhaust.

There are still small, specialist carmakers out there, but a driver-focused car like the 2024 Miata coming from a full-line automaker remains special. That it even exists in the electrified, increasingly automated new car market is a real treat. The closest thing in 15 years is, well, the last Honda S2000.

Thanks to its great reputation, great looks and jewel of an engine, a used 2000-09 S2K in excellent condition is worth about the same as a Miata in brand-new condition. The temptation to cross-shop is there. They have similar performance, similarly good looks, and similarly fine interiors. The Honda has a much sweeter engine, but the Mazda does most other things just as well or better. For the same price, it’s at least a 15-year newer car and thus comes with all the improvements in safety and convenience that have been made since the 2000s, plus a warranty. It’s the sensible choice.

Now, with the past out of the way, let’s end with the future. The next-gen Miata is slated for 2026. It will likely have a hybrid powertrain. What the whole package looks like and how it will be received by the MX-5’s legions of fans isn’t yet clear. What is clear, however, is that the ND3 is one of those “last of” cars. The Miata formula of basic, naturally aspirated four-banger, driving the rear wheels through a stubby manual ends with this car. Inevitably, snobs will call it the last “real” Miata. Good thing it’s the best one, too.

2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Highs: A shape that still looks special, even 10 years later. Lots of little improvements without losing any essential Miata-ness. Still exists in 2024.

Lows: Tight fit for bigger drivers. Quiet exhaust that makes a perfectly good engine sound like a weak one. Color choices remain frustratingly limited. Not much trunk space (duh).

Summary: A noticeable improvement on an already great car, and arguably the best Miata yet. If the next MX-5 is a hybrid, the ND3 also represents the end of a glorious era.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 2024 Mazda Miata Club Review: ND3’s the Charm appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post All-Ferrari Auction Brings These 7 Classics and More to Monaco appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Should You Care About Corvette Pace Cars? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post These 6 Oddball Classics Got a Little Pricier This Year appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Young Buyers of British Cars Favor McLaren and…Rolls-Royce? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post How the Escalade Out-Maneuvered the Navigator at the Dawn of the SUV Age appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This F1 Title-Winning, $8.2M Ferrari Has One Hell of a Resume appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Hybrid Hypercar Market: Have the LaFerrari, P1, and 918 Kept Their Halos? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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. 

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post These Fun, Affordable 21st-Century Cars Aren’t Classics…Yet appeared first on Hagerty Media.

“The number of vomit emojis has definitely gone down,” laughs Marc Davis, founder of Moment Motor Co., about the business’s social media attention. I guess you have to learn to laugh at stuff like that, especially when you’re doing something as drastic (and new) as putting electric motors into old cars. Plus, car people on the internet are quick to judge no matter what you do. The response Davis gets now, though, is a lot more positive, and it’s indicative of the changes in public perception since he started swapping EV powertrains into classic cars in 2017.

Indeed, those changes came big and they came quick. On the new car market, EVs have gone totally mainstream, and electric’s performance and maintenance advantages have become clearer. On the old car scene, the arguments for electrifying classics made by Davis and people like him, mainly that these conversions keep classics on the road long-term and help bring new people into the hobby, have gained more traction and acceptance. As for the electric powertrains themselves, they’ve improved and have become more readily available, while the process of converting a car is now easier. To see how all this happened as well as what the steps are for “de-ICEing” and electrifying a classic, I visited Moment’s shop on South Congress Ave. in Austin, Texas.

Then, to find out if EV swaps are really “soulless” like the skeptics say, I drove three of Moment’s finished builds: A Mercedes-Benz 280SL, a 1966 Jaguar E-Type, and a G-body Porsche 911 Carrera.

Davis’ first career was in the tech industry, but he’s a lifelong car guy who spent weekends tinkering in his garage and building relationships in the classic and hot rod communities. He still love cars of all types, but saw electrification as something new, exciting, and part of the future. Experience from his professional life combined with the passion in his personal life in 2017 when he formed Moment, and there’s a clear overlap between tech and cars. “Our team is mostly made up of either engineers from the tech industry who are passionate about cars or performance cars builders who are excited to work with these new drivetrains,” says Davis. “Everything we do is tracked in modern project management software…Progress is tracked with pictures, hours, descriptions, and detailed updates to the client the whole way through.”

While plenty of shops specialize in a fairly narrow range of makes and models, the goal with Moment from the beginning was being able to convert any classic car to electric power. So far, Moment has completed about four dozen builds, ranging from Porsche 356s and Alfa Romeo Spiders to Chevy Blazers and Toyota pickups. Being versatile was key since Davis knew the market for what they were doing was relatively small.

The technology, even less than a decade ago, was also limited. The first builds were, “and I hate saying this, mostly repurposed golf cart and forklift kind of stuff. It worked but was low-power and simplistic.” There were of course new EVs on the road in 2017, namely Teslas and Nissan Leafs, but the manufacturers wouldn’t sell their powertrains to anybody. The workaround was that as those Teslas and Nissans hit salvage yards, their drivetrains could be removed and repurposed. Even from wrecked cars, these were better than anything else that was available and became Moment’s preferred source of powertrains from later in 2017 until 2021. Then, more recently, as the rest of the new car industry has caught up, there are EV powertrains and components that are functionally equivalent, warrantied, and widely available. That’s what goes into Moment’s builds today.

The facility is located near the end of Austin’s trendy South Congress Ave., and one thing is striking from the moment you arrive there: Despite the ’60s and ’70s vehicles outside and all the cars in various states of assembly inside, the place is quiet. The floors are clean. All the tools you’d expect to find in a place that takes apart cars and puts them back together again are there, but so are wiring, diagrams, a humming 3D printer, electric motors, and batteries lining the workbenches. As for the cars, the sights and smells you expect from a jacked-up Austin-Healey 3000 with its hood wide open simply aren’t there. Neither is this Healey’s tall 6-cylinder engine, nor any drips of oil. In its place is a compact electric motor nestled under the tunnel where the four-speed gearbox used to be.

On the other side of the shop, a 1963 Corvette Split Window rests alongside a ’68 Mustang fastback. Both look like they just got back from a Pro Touring meet, but they’re electric, too. There are also a couple of 911s and an Alfa GTV, as well as several W113-generation (1963-71) Mercedes-Benz SLs. Moment has converted enough of these W113 builds that their process has gotten both quicker and cheaper. Which isn’t to say that any of their builds are quick or cheap. Each takes months, and the cost ranges from $50K–$150K, not including the donor car. Even so, Moment currently has a nine-month wait list.

The wide range of cars in the shop suggests that Moment has a wide range of customers, and they do. Many are traditional car collectors who “see what we do as a way to rejuvenate and enjoy one of their classics in a different way.” They also see clients who have long had an affinity for classic cars but for one reason or another “never had the confidence or desire to keep up with the maintenance,” Davis says. These could be people who inherited a classic car from an enthusiast relative and see electrification as a way to enjoy and preserve a car that’s been in the family, or it could simply be someone who fell in love with a classic and sees electrification the only way to realistically use and enjoy owning it. Other clients are simply very new to classic cars altogether. “They drive new cars and like the simplicity of them; they’re primarily EV owners. Then, they see a perfect old Mercedes or vintage pickup and literally fall in love, but then find out they can own one with a modern electric drivetrain.”

Builds like these, then, bring new people into the old car world. What’s more, they keep old cars out and about in regular use. Many of them might ordinarily sit and suffer neglect if they were left stock. Despite the massive changes and updates under the skin, Davis says “ultimately we’re about preserving these things. We want these cars to be driven, not sitting in the garage. We want to give someone the ability to just go out and go whenever they want.” There’s simply far less to worry about and check for than with a ’60s-era, carbureted gas engine. “In the end we’re putting cars back on the road, driving.” It’s hard to argue with that.

When someone brings a car in for conversion, Moment fully inspects everything and addresses any necessary fixes. “We aren’t a restoration shop, so if the car needs metal work, paint, or repair, we partner with other shops to handle that stage of the process.” Then, they de-ICE the car, removing the drivetrain and fuel systems.

What happens to the old engines? Many owners want to keep them. Many don’t. “We can try to sell them, but you’d be surprised how hard it is. I have a storage unit with far more of them than I expected.”

Next they 3D scan the car, mainly the engine bay, transmission tunnel and trunk to determine where all the new components and drivetrain will have to fit. One challenge is weight distribution, as they want to keep the balance and driving dynamics as close to the original design as possible. Another is simply where to fit everything, as the space under the lines of a ’60s sports car was never meant for things like rectilinear battery boxes. This effort often requires designing and test-fitting brackets, platforms, and mounts to hold everything in place. Meanwhile, the team figures out where to route the high voltage cabling and coolant lines. Understandably, when they’ve converted the same type of car a few times, like Mercedes 230/250/280SLs, the process gets quicker and easier.

After final assembly, Moment tests and tunes the car, sorting out everything from throttle response curves and thermal systems to squeaks, creaks, and rattles—these are still old cars, after all. After enough test miles and tweaking, the finished product goes to the customer, while any new parts created through the process go into a library of chassis-specific components to make future builds easier.

So, how does the finished product actually drive? Of the three electrified classics I’m driving during this visit, the Mercedes-Benz 280SL makes the most sense as a candidate for EV conversion. It’s not surprising to learn that more W113-generation (1963-71) SLs have gotten the Moment treatment than any other car.

The 2.8-liter, 180-hp, fuel-injected, single-cam six that powered this car out of Stuttgart in the ’60s is a fine engine. It’s smooth, stout, well-built. But it was never the star of the show. It doesn’t make a memorable noise. Nobody ever bought a 230/250/280SL for what was under the hood, and most U.S. buyers ordered theirs with an automatic, anyway. Instead, they bought it for the looks—arguably designer Paul Bracq’s magnum opus—as well as the clever “pagoda” hardtop, and the classy, comfortable interior. This was a car for leisurely cruising at moderate to high speed and looking good while doing it, and that’s still the main appeal of the W113 for classic car buyers today. What does an EV swap take away from that experience? Nothing, really. It arguably makes it better.

“I think if you went back to the Mercedes folks in 1967 and said you had this silent, smooth, powerful drivetrain, they’d probably think it was perfect for a car like this,” Marc says as we slide into the SL’s springy seats. And, from the driver’s side, the W113 platform and the electric motor complement each other well. It rides like a normal SL, and it steers like one. In fact, everything feels like the original, except, of course, for the much deeper reserves of power and torque, which push you forward no matter how fast you’re going. The way this example is geared makes low speed acceleration swift but not savage, while speeding up from 60-80 mph is accomplished surprisingly quickly. If any “soul” or “character” has left this SL, I’m not really missing it.

The E-Type, I think, is a tougher sell as an EV. Yes, there was an electric E at the royal wedding, and a U.K. company even makes a drop-in EV kit for Jag’s most famous sports car, but the original XK six-cylinder engine is one of the all-time greats. It powered beautiful cars and won major races for decades. It looks great. It sounds great. Its length and heft dictated the E-Type’s long, lithe, forward-hinged hood, and the twin exhaust pipes tucked under its tail are one of the E’s more distinguishing features. To take all that away, then, removes much of the car’s character, right? Well, yes, but not as much as you might expect.

Getting in, there’s no doubt you’re in an old Jag. The leather smells right. The signature toggle switches on the dash are all there. So are the gauges, except that some offer different read-outs. For the dial to the right of the speedo, which measures kilowatts but has been cleverly designed in the style of the original Smiths tachometer. The only obvious clue to the car’s alternative drivetrain on the inside are the simple up arrow, down arrow and P (Park) buttons where the shifter boot used to be. Some of the batteries reside under the luggage area, but you’d have to lift a panel to find them. On the outside, the only obvious clue is the lack of those exhaust pipes. Somewhat surprisingly, their absence doesn’t take anything away from the XKE’s famous good looks.

A bigger surprise is just how much this car feels like a good-old-fashioned gas-guzzling E-Type on the road. I was afraid it might drive like a twenty-first century roller skate cosplaying as old English sports car, but that’s not the case at all. The tail still squats and the nose still lifts slightly under hard acceleration. Under cornering, you still feel stiffening and flexing through the wood-rimmed steering wheel.

Despite the extra heft and all the batteries distributed throughout the platform, the rear brakes are still inboard as they were in period. Because this example is geared more for highway driving and passing, acceleration from a standstill isn’t startling, but it is immediate and, especially in the ’60s setting of the cabin, feels very quick. The package delivers about 300hp and 375 lb-ft to the Jaguar rear end via a carbon-fiber driveshaft. At higher speeds, rolling into the left lane for a quick squirt of acceleration to pass someone is completely effortless. It’s almost intoxicating, in that over-too-quickly, want-to-do-it-again kind of way. This would be a fantastic car on a short road trip. I did miss that legendary twin-cam six up front, but not as much as I thought I would. A couple of times I forgot about it completely.

Finally, of the three, the 911 Carrera gives the most uneasy first impression as an electrified classic. For 60 years now, the weight of a flat-six mounted in the back has been the most consistent part of a 911’s makeup. But not in this one. This car presents the heft of its batteries more noticeably than the other conversions, and it’s not the traditional distribution as the tail-heavy original. As a result of packaging requirements, Moment had to locate some of the batteries up front, occupying much of the front trunk between the headlights.

The driving experience, then, doesn’t hew to classic 911 dynamics. This car feels heavy, particularly in the steering. Even at high speed, working the steering wheel through twisty bits fires up your shoulder muscles. It’s a contrast to the normally light-on-their-feet, stock 911s of this period.

Notice I said heavy, not slow. Indeed the acceleration feels very quick, and the car very planted. Throwing it into a bend requires less bravery than tail-snappy 911s of yore. Traction and power are very easy to come by. And while it’s not as good as the music from an air-cooled six, the electric motor’s noise coming up the transmission tunnel from behind and between the seats is not unpleasant, and emits more of a growing mechanical whir than the high-pitched electric whine I was expecting.

Speaking of the transmission tunnel, what’s hiding underneath it is this EV Porsche’s party piece. The G50 five-speed that originally came in this car is a fantastic gearbox, so Moment kept it right where it was and adapted it to the new motor. It does take some getting used to—you only really need to accelerate from a stop in second gear (doing so in first is borderline violent and correspondingly brief) and around town or on country roads you can have almost all the fun you want in third or fourth, but it remains fun and satisfying to shift. Also, while you do have to use the clutch pedal to go from gear to gear, you don’t have to do anything with your left foot when you come to a stop because the gearbox isn’t hooked up to a constantly rotating ICE engine. No stalling uphill from a stoplight here.

Like the Jag, the Porsche sacrifices plenty through losing its ICE engine. But it gains plenty, too, and it certainly put a smile on this skeptic’s face.

EV swaps are not for everybody, but I can see why this type of conversion is getting more popular, and Davis sees the future in its as well. “At this point the only downside is cost and perhaps range, but both of these things will only get better over time.” Davis also foresees greater standardization across this corner of the industry, and even complete EV-conversion kits for certain vehicles in the near future, like components specifically designed for electrifying a Tri-Five Chevy or VW Beetle, to name a couple.

No matter what kind of emojis you’re posting when an EV conversion hits your feed, it’s hard to deny that the classic car industry is going through big, quick, interesting changes. Shops like Moment are not only driving those changes, but also keeping the hobby going, and even growing it.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Three Companies Built These Cars, This Company Electrifies Them appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This Saleen Collection Is More Than Just Mustangs 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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

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.

“Collecting” can mean a lot of things when it comes to car-related artwork. It could be a 12-year-old boy with two Ferrari posters on his wall or a multi-millionaire with a warehouse full of Grand Prix posters and hood ornaments—passion is passion. Auto art can be had at any price point. It also doesn’t take up much room, nor does it require any real upkeep the way a real car does. If you have limited space, you can even switch up what you’re displaying at any given time. That’s probably what we’d do with this group of period Bertone blueprint drawings, currently up for auction online in Italy.

According to the listing the 1/10-scale drawings, printed on semi-transparent acetate tracing paper, came from a long-term Bertone employee who kept them in his own collection before giving them to the seller’s grandfather about 40 years ago. They are each supposedly one of only three prints made from a paper master, and they range in size with the largest ones roughly four feet wide.

The group totals 14 drawings and features various (mostly Italian) cars and designers. Two of the largest illustrations show the Lamborghini Miura and Lancia Stratos (both by Marcello Gandini at Bertone). Other Bertone-designed pieces include a Citroën GS, Fiat Dino Coupe, and ISO Rivolta GT. A Lancia Delta (by Italdesign) and an Alfa Romeo Junior Z (by Ercole Spada) are included as well. Finally, there are two renderings of the short-lived postwar Bugatti 101, both signed by Giovanni Michelotti at Ghia.

Different cars, different designers, different sizes. Sounds like a great way to kickstart an automotive art collection. Bidding for the 14 drawings ends on Tuesday, May 7. What they’ll sell for isn’t easy to guess, but that’s the beauty of auctions like this. We’ll find out what it’s worth once people stop bidding.

The post Snag These Bertone Blueprints And Start Your Automotive Art Collection 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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 12 Cars That Caught Our Eye at Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

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?

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post What U.S. County Has the Most Mustangs Per Capita? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This Bristol Racer Had a Face Only a Frenchman Could Love appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This Porsche 908/02 “Flunder” Never Floundered appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 6 Notable Porsches Crossing the Block at Air|Water appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post A Ferrari 308 Taught Me Why Analog Exotics Are Great—And Expensive appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Auction Report: Mecum Houston 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome to This Week on Hagerty Marketplace, a new and recurring recap of the previous week’s most noteworthy cars and significant sales from the Hagerty Marketplace online auctions.

The bulk of cars sold with Hagerty Marketplace over the last seven days come from a collection out of Boca Raton, Florida. Vintage luxury was the dominant flavor, with the occasional Ford hot rod, Cobra replica, and Beetle convertible thrown in for good measure. It wasn’t all Florida flavor, though, as we witnessed some JDM charm crossing the virtual auction block as well. Here are the standout sales:

1969 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Coupe

Sold for $48,150

Mercedes-Benz sold the W111 platform in numerous versions from 1959-71, an era when the company delivered some of its most timeless, handsome models and constructed them like tanks. The two-door 280SE is the arguably best-looking, most well-known, and most highly prized of the series; this two-tone coupe is reportedly a U.S.-market car upgraded to European spec with single-piece glass headlights and removed side reflectors. It moved for solid, condition #3+ (Good) money.

1937 Rolls-Royce 25/30HP Park Ward Landaulette

Sold for $41,302

The 20/25 was the bread-and-butter Rolls-Royce from 1929 to 1936. And although it was technically the entry-level model, it was still a Rolls-Royce. As such, many examples received wild bodywork from premier coachbuilders. This one was skinned by Park Ward of London as a landaulette (sometimes written as landaulet), which is a closed car over the front seats but has a folding roof over the important folks riding out back. It also has a sliding division window, rear jump seats, and vanities. Vintage Rolls-Royces are rarely cheap, but even ones with rare, interesting coachbuilt bodywork like this can be surprisingly inexpensive to buy.

1991 Nissan Figaro

Sold for $17,120

There aren’t many cheaper ways to turn heads than one of these quirky, retro-styled JDM gems. Available exclusively to Japanese customers over three batches in 1991, the Nissan Figaro was deliberately old school with its wide grille, circular headlights, soft curves, thin steering wheel, and vintage-style gauges and switchgear. It was so popular that Nissan sold all 20,000 units via a lottery system. Since turning 25 years old and therefore gaining exemption from U.S. import restrictions, American enthusiasts have gotten to enjoy the Figaro, too.

Figaros were available in four paint colors to represent the seasons: Topaz Mist (autumn), Emerald Green (spring), Pale Aqua (summer), and Lapis Grey (winter). This one wears the wintry Lapis Grey with a white retractable top. Figaros are easy to fall for and their prices are up a remarkable 68 percent over the last five years, but the $17K sale price here shows how unusual, fun cars are still out there at entry-level prices.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This Week on Hagerty Marketplace: Vintage Luxury and Adorable JDM appeared first on Hagerty Media.

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

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.

***

The post Hagerty Price Guide Indexes Show a Market Searching For Equilibrium 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.

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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post GM’s Class of ’59 Stars in Swedish Auction 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 7 Sub-$100K Classics We’d Have Brought Home From March’s Florida Sales 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.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 7 Classics That Offer the Most Horsepower Per Dollar appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The traffic on Oregon 26 approaching Portland’s Vista Ridge Tunnels had just started to get a little heavy when a pickup suddenly changed lanes in front of me. Evidently, they were trying to catch the last exit before the tunnel. Traffic came to a standstill at that precise moment, and when the truck jammed on its brakes, the nose of my 1976 BMW 2002 slammed into his bumper. Because of the height difference, the truck’s bumper smacked the vintage Bimmer straight in the twin kidneys. What had been a nearly perfect, original paint, preservation class 2002 was a write-off. And it happened on my watch.

PTSD is way too strong a term for the after-effects of losing an automobile, but that accident happened almost 20 years ago and it has permanently altered my ability to happily own a preservation class/survivor type of car. It made me shift gears more than just a little bit in terms of what I look for when buying a car.

At the outset, it’s probably important to clarify what we’re talking about.

The term “survivor” gets thrown about willy-nilly. In actuality, it’s a trademarked term owned by the Bloomington Gold Corvette people. Roughly translated, a Survivor should have the majority of its original finishes intact on the body, engine compartment, interior, and underside, and those finishes should be well-preserved enough to serve as a template for restoring a similar car.

Although formally applied only to Corvettes, my ’76 BMW, originally from dry Northern California, met all of those criteria. Its Mint Green paint (actually more of a lime green shade) was totally original, the underside untouched down to the muffler, and the interior, save for a removable dash cover (which saved the dash from cracking) was perfect as well. The thing is, I didn’t think much of it. Even by the beginning of the 2000s, it was still just a nice, used car. It wasn’t until a few years later, when I went to Bloomington Gold boot camp, that I realized what I had, and what was lost on that day in Portland.

About 10 years after the accident, I tried to replace the all-original 2002. As hard as I tried to find a similar car, I just couldn’t. I found a lot of once-rusty repaints, all at several multiples of the $5000 that I paid for the Mint Green car. If perfect, unrestored 2002s still existed, they weren’t being offered on the open market anywhere that I could tell, or at any price that I could afford. I settled on an impossibly clean 1989 325i cabriolet with a five-speed manual. I found it in maybe the most unlikely place to locate a rust-free vintage BMW—Lansing, Michigan. Its Alpine White paint looked like it could have been applied the week before, the Cardinal Red leather interior didn’t even have any wear on the bolsters, and the top looked new. The car showed about 50,000 miles, and I remember wondering if any of those had been joyful, given the owner’s over-the-top obsession about the condition of the car.

As it turned out, this was a fairly prescient observation, because very few of my miles in the car could qualify in any way as joyful. My experience in the 2002 made me hate driving in any kind of traffic. The thought of the smallest fender-bender made me realize that I now lived 2000 miles away from the only painter that I knew who could properly match and blend the car’s ancient but pristine paint. And while I thought it would be fun to throw my kids and their car seats in the back to enjoy a convertible for many lovely Ann Arbor summers, the thought of what their car seats were doing to the perfect Cardinal Red seats (even with two towels underneath each) just ate at me. And then there was their habit of climbing into the back seat not by tilting the seat back forward, but by stepping on the passenger’s seat and the center console. That drove me bonkers.

I was becoming Cameron Fry’s dad—the obsessive father from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off who drove his kid to extreme neuroticism because he wouldn’t let him so much as breathe on his car. That thought was terrifying. I didn’t want to be that guy, the person who raised car-resenting, neurotic kids. I sold the perfect 325i ‘vert’, and replaced it with something the same, but very different.

On a trip to LA, I ran across a Dakar Yellow/Dove Grey 1995 E36 BMW M3 convertible with a 5-speed. The car had almost 100,000 miles on it, not perfect, but certainly not a rat. Most importantly, the rear bumper was a shade off the rest of the car, there was a minor blend in the trunk lid, and the grey leather had been nicely re-dyed at some point. This was a car that had already accumulated some bumps, some stories, and some Carfax notes. But my time with that M3 was long, happy, and worry-free. I loved it, and my kids could climb in and out of it any way they damn well pleased. It was all the more fun this way, and fun is the whole point of this hobby, isn’t it?

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post My Tortured Relationship with “Survivor” Cars appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Between three auctions in Amelia Island this week, 354 collector vehicles were up for grabs. Forty-two of them were worth a million dollars or more, including a barely broken-in Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport (sold for $4,047,500) and a real-deal Ford GT40 Mk I (sold for $4,405,000). The most expensive, though, nearly by a factor of three, was a 121-year-old Mercedes Simplex 60 HP. It has peeling paint and weathered upholstery. It is finished in boring colors and its coachwork isn’t sporty. It has one-third the horsepower of a new Honda Civic and the fuel economy of a freight train. It sold for $12,105,000. What was the big deal?

With cars this old (older than the Wright Flyer, stainless steel, and the toaster in this case), factors like pop culture relevance or nostalgia just don’t come into play. Nobody ever had a Mercedes-Simplex poster on the wall or a Hot Wheels version on their bookshelf, nor did they drive one on PlayStation. Instead, desirability for such motorcars mainly boils down to originality, usability, history, and significance of the design. This car has a hell of a lot of all of that.

Back at the tail end of the nineteenth century, Daimler Motoren Gessellschaft (DMG) was building a series of cars called the Phoenix, which featured one of the world’s first four-cylinder engines. It was selling quite well in France, then the world’s largest market for these new horseless carriages. DMG’s official agent in the French Riviera was a fellow named Emil Jellinek, who also happened to be the Consul General of Austria-Hungary back when the Habsburgs still had a handle on things. Jellinek pushed hard for DMG to build faster and better designs for him to sell and the company, thanks to the talents of designer Wilhelm Maybach, responded with a model called the 35 HP in 1901. Jellinek also had a daughter named Mercédès, and he sold the new motorcars with her name attached. Eventually, he even changed his own name to Jellinek-Mercedes, “probably the first time that a father has taken his daughter’s name,” he said.

Although the famous three-pointed star logo didn’t adorn an automobile until 1910 and the brand we know as Mercedes-Benz didn’t hit the road until 1926, Mercedes cars were already a well-known entity in the 1900s thanks to the 35 HP, 40 HP, and 60 HP series. Because of the company’s priority on “comfort by means of simplicity” in their designs, the cars were known as “Mercedes Simplex” (not to be confused with Simplex Automobile Company, Simplex-Crane, Crane Simplex, or American Simplex, which were all US-based concerns).

Among the Mercedes Simplex’s forward-thinking design elements were its honeycomb radiator, relatively low pressed-steel chassis and low-mounted engine with dual chain drive, scroll clutch, water-cooled drum brakes, and four-speed gearbox. From their first appearance at the 1901 Nice Race Week, the Mercedes Simplex became a favorite among well-heeled sporting gentleman of early 20th century Europe and America. It was fast, but also comfortable and relatively easy to operate both on the road and in competition. That was a novel concept back when the typical racing car looked like a giant roller skate with an engine on top. These Simplexes also established the formula of large and luxurious but also high-performance automobiles that defined Mercedes for the next several decades, and arguably up to today.

The final, 60 HP version of the Mercedes Simplex was the ultimate and best iteration, powered by a 9.25-liter engine with an F-head valve configuration. Capable of 80 mph, it dominated races and speed record runs in period. Just over 100 were built, with five known to survive today, according to auction house Gooding & Co. Famous owners included William K Vanderbilt and Baron Henri de Rothschild.

This one sold new to Alfred C.W. Harmsworth, the British publishing magnate who owned both the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror, and who controlled much of Britain’s newspaper circulation during the early part of the century, including World War I. Called “the greatest figure who ever strode down Fleet Street,” he was titled a Baronet in 1904, a Baron in 1905, and finally Viscount Northcliffe in 1918. He was also an early and avid user of the motorcar, and his Mercedes Simplex 40 HP may have been the first Mercedes sold in Britain.

After collecting this new 60 HP model, he immediately entered it into competition, and the car set fastest times at Nice Speed Week and Castlewellan Hill Climb. He also sent it to Ireland to serve as a reserve car for the Mercedes team at the Gordon Bennett Cup, but ultimately it wasn’t used in the race. Later that year, it went to Paris for a new body by J Rothschild et Fils. Called the “Roi de Belges” body because King Leopold II of Belgium had one of his cars fitted with the same coachwork, it still sits on the Mercedes today.

After Harmsworth passed away, his son John inherited the car, and in 1954 he had it cosmetically restored. It then ran several times in the London-to-Brighton Veteran Car Run—the world’s oldest running motoring event. Only vehicles built before January 1, 1905 are allowed to participate. In 1958 it was shipped to Belgium, and drove in the veteran car parade at the Brussels World’s Fair. Then, in the 1960s, conscious of the car’s increasing value, the family put it in the Beaulieu Motor Museum in Southern England. It stayed at the museum, but remained in the family’s ownership, for six decades. “Single family ownership” is a selling point in many an auction catalogue, but 121 years with the same clan is one hell of a long time.

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, one of the world’s most exclusive driving events.

Gooding’s presale estimate was “in excess of $10,000,000,” and bidding for it in Amelia opened at $5M. Bids then came in half a million at a time until stalling at $10M. A new bidder came in at $10.5M, and the number slowly rose to the $11M winning bid (and $12.1M final price, including fees).

Harmsworth’s Mercedes Simplex is now the most expensive pre-1930 automobile to ever sell at auction.

We’ve said it before, and we’ve heard plenty of others say it: no matter what’s happening in the market—be it boom, bust, or flat as a pancake—the best examples of the best cars with the best provenance will always bring top dollar, regardless of age or era. An overused talking point, sure, but universal truths often are.

The post A 1903 Mercedes Simplex is Amelia 2024’s Oldest, Most Expensive, and Best Car appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Jaguar, as a brand, is on the rocks. That’s the growing sense in the collector car industry, at least. For decades, classics like the XK 120, XK 140, XK 150 and E-Type have been mainstays for dealers, brokers, and buyers, but lately they don’t seem to generate the same market excitement they once did. They are getting harder to sell, and over the past five years many prices are either stagnant or decreasing.

Of course, the market is generally softening from its pandemic-era heights, and this is compounded by demographic shifts that are beginning to favor Radwood-era (1980s and 1990s) cars over their predecessors. This isn’t just affecting classic Jaguars—many carbureted V-12 Ferrari road cars, long-hood (1973 and earlier) Porsche 911s, and Austin-Healeys are also seeing relative slumps. But a surprising number of cars from this era are also seeing an uptick in their values. Porsche 356 coupes, C2 Corvettes generally—and ’63 Split-Window coupes especially—and V-6 Ferrari Dinos have increased in value anywhere from 20 percent to 90 percent over the last five years.

So why does the brand, traditionally so prevalent in the hobby, seem to be getting left behind? This is doubtless a complex question, but in the case of Jaguar, several factors appear to be conspiring to collectively dampen interest in what are some of the greatest sports cars of all time.

Promising Starts

Sir William Lyons, who founded Jaguar between the world wars, was famously good at commercializing genuinely compelling products at prices so low they were scarcely believable. Jaguars were world-class cars, delivering sensational looks and performance while consistently pushing cutting-edge technology and selling in much higher volume than other cars that offered the same. Their on-track record drove this point home: Jaguar won the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in the 1950s (and twice more after that). Only Porsche, Audi, and Ferrari have won Le Mans more times than Jaguar.

Much of that early success came down to engines. In 1948, when everyone else was still essentially warming up their prewar designs, Jaguar released an all-new car, and not only that, it was powered by an engine with twin overhead cams. The car was the XK 120, and its straight-six “XK” engine was so advanced that variants remained in production  for over 40 years. Meanwhile, the XK 120 was so good that in its competition trim as the C-Type, it won Le Mans twice. With the same mechanical bits developed further and fitted to a new, even more stunning, more aerodynamic semi-monocoque body in the D-Type, Jaguar won Le Mans three more times.

In 1961, four years after its last victory of the 1950s, Jaguar was selling all that Le Mans–winning goodness to the public in another groundbreaking and gorgeous new sports car, the E-Type. It was even more advanced, thanks to the addition of independent rear suspension. A few months after the E-Type arrived, Jag put those same technical components into a full-sized sedan, the Mark X.

It’s difficult to overstate the impact of the E-Type. With semi-monocoque construction, a twin-cam engine, four-wheel disc brakes, and fully independent suspension, it was, as Jaguar pointed out in advertisements, the most advanced sports car in the world. No other single car combined all these characteristics at any price: not Porsche, not Mercedes, not Maserati, not Aston Martin, not even Ferrari. And the price of the Jag? Around £2000 in its home market (a relatively modest $46,600 in today’s dollars). That meant it was 80 percent the cost of a Porsche 356, half as expensive as an Aston Martin DB4, and a third as much as a Ferrari 250. It was quicker, faster, and better looking than almost all of them, too. Even Enzo Ferrari famously lavished praise on the car upon its debut, and decades later, an E-Type roadster joined New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

With credentials like these, it’s no surprise that Jaguar sold more than 72,000 E-Types during a 14-year production run. The cars peaked in the 1960s, before American regulations started strangling performance and spoiling their looks. Even so, Jaguar was on top of the world during this period, and it wasn’t only thanks to the E-Type. Jaguar sedans had temptingly similar underpinnings to the sports cars, and if buyers thought those features were advanced in something like the E-Type, they were downright space-age in a sedan. Vast expanses of wood and leather epitomized British luxury, while beautiful and distinctive exterior styling and superb value for money gave four-door Jaguars a unique appeal that no other car in the world could quite match.

Changing Fortunes

And then, everything stopped. Not literally, but Jaguar’s evolution largely did. The 1970s saw the E-Type replaced by the XJS, which was fresh and contemporary but much more grown up. If the E-Type was a sports car with the heart of a Le Mans racer, the XJS was the European version of a personal luxury car. The seminal XJ6 also arrived in 1968, right-sizing the Jaguar sedan formula and setting the world alight, but it remained in production for a full 18 years before being replaced by a car that was really just a 1980s take on the exact same concept. At the corporate level, getting caught up in the woes of British Leyland in the 1970s and eventually being bought by Ford in 1990 did Jaguar few favors.

Little had changed by the early 2000s. Jaguars, despite having contemporary technology under the skin, offered an aesthetic experience that had become anachronistic. They felt like a caricature of olde-worlde England, which gave them virtually no sizzle to youths and younger buyers, who preferred the forward-looking modernity of German or Japanese luxury cars. If those cars were modernist houses of concrete and glass, then Jaguars were Tudors with thatched roofs.

Jaguar set out to reinvent itself by building a new, modern identity starting with the new XF in 2007, followed by other sedan models, entries into the lucrative SUV market, and a new sports car, the F-Type. These cars simply never resonated completely with buyers. Their identity wasn’t strong enough, the engineering and reliability not good enough, and the interiors not nice enough. Unlike Land Rover, who has so effectively modernized the Range Rover while somehow preserving a feeling of Britishness, Jaguar’s post-millennium effort at rebirth lacked the relevance and raw desirability to drive consumers into showrooms in substantial numbers.

Looking forward, it’s unclear (especially given current consumer preferences) whether Jaguar’s assertion of an all-electric future will help or hurt the values of its classic models. Its aspirations to head further upmarket may help the brand’s financial viability, but the impact of any future success on the marque’s past models will depend wholly on whether its execution inserts the kind of passion that brings enthusiasts into the fold.

Struggling for Relevance

Modern consumers have known only two Jaguars: the charming but backwards-looking neo-classical version of the 1980s–2000s, and the modern but ultimately uninspiring rebirth that began in 2007. Unless they consciously seek out classic cars, these buyers won’t be familiar with the greatest Jaguars of all: The ones that did not look fondly toward the past or unconvincingly toward the future, instead descending directly from Le Mans race cars and offering the world’s most advanced motoring experience in a competitively priced, beautiful, contemporary, and authentic wrapper.

One of the troubles for Jaguar’s classics is that their collectibility (and that of all collector cars) is driven by their relevance to enthusiasts. Not enough of today’s enthusiasts associate Jaguar with their core automotive memories—the kind that would drive them to loop back and buy something from a brand they desired in their youth.

BMW provides a stark contrast—the brand retains enthusiastic and growing appeal among collectors. Twenty years ago, a new 7-Series costs much more than an M3. Today, the M3 is worth more. Why? Because many more enthusiasts want a 2004 M3 than want a 2004 745Li. When cars become old enough, the market for them is composed almost exclusively of enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, few Jaguars have set enthusiast hearts alight, even looking back 50 years. There are of course evangelists of the XJS, XK8/XKR, and XJ40/X300/X308 generations of the XJ, and likely other models besides. But we are small in number and a little bit weird. There aren’t enough of us to form an entire new generation of Jaguar fans, especially when other brands have done such a good job of connecting their enthusiast-driven identity to the mainstream. Think Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Land Rover.

As for the classic Jaguars of the company’s golden era, their lack of connection to today’s enthusiasts is compounded by the fact that they sold so well when new. Corvettes of the same period sold in large numbers. Porsches and Alfa Romeos did, too, albeit to a lesser extent. But virtually every model of Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Maserati from the 1950s to early 1970s ranged from a few hundred to barely a few thousand units. Given how comparatively abundant Jaguars are, it takes a larger number of buyers to sustain appreciation, and there just aren’t enough such people in the current market. If they had made a few hundred E-Types or XKs, they’d all be worth at least a million dollars. But they didn’t, and they aren’t.

The Silver Lining

While it’s disappointing to see Jaguar values languish, there are upsides. What made them so compelling against their competitors in the 1950s and ’60s is still true today. They represent great value for money given their intrinsic characteristics, and softening prices make them an even greater value.

If you’ve dismissed Jaguars as “old people cars,” take a closer look at them. And if you’ve seen the light and own one, share it with as many people as possible. Let them hear it, ride in it, and form those memories that will reshape them from a car enthusiast into a Jaguar enthusiast. If Jaguar as a company can’t endear itself to a new crop of car fans, it’s up to those of us who know better to do that work instead.

Regardless of their values, the experience provided by these cars has lost none of its appeal. To look at, ride in, or drive an E-Type is one of motoring’s great pleasures, and it happens to be one of the precious few automotive experiences that is getting more, rather than less, financially accessible.

Derek Tam-Scott is a used car salesman and car content grump.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Do Classic Jaguars Face a Dark Future? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

With the Kissimmee, Scottsdale and Rétromobile auctions behind us, next up on the event calendar is Amelia Island. Three auctions are happening, and we forecast $135M in total sales.

While Kissimmee and Scottsdale are noted for their higher volume, Amelia is a quieter series of sales with consignment lists that are shorter, but also filled with rarer, more significant and higher quality cars, along with a few oddballs thrown in. Between Gooding & Company, Bonhams and Broad Arrow, lots of noteworthy cars are crossing the block this year. Below are the cream of the crop.

1966 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C

In Cobra hierarchy, the big-block cars are naturally at the top. But not all “427” Cobras are created equal, and exact specifications can make a big difference in desirability. They range from cars powered by the higher-volume, road-oriented, police-spec 428 engine at the bottom to the full competition-spec 427 at the top.

This car is one of just 31 “Semi-Competition,” aka “S/C” Cobra 427s. After Shelby failed to secure the 427’s FIA homologation for the 1965 racing season, he was stuck with 31 intended-for-racing finished chassis, which all of a sudden had nowhere to compete. So, he made the pragmatic decision to slap on some basic road equipment and sell them to the public as one of the most outrageous street cars ever made. This one, CSX 3040, impressively retains its original body and drivetrain. It sold in Scottsdale six years ago for $2,947,500 and has a $3M-$3.75M estimate for Amelia.

1988 Porsche 959 SC by Canepa

Any Porsche 959 is special, and the 959s that have been thoroughly upgraded by Canepa in California tend to command a premium price over their factory counterparts. But this 959 also has historical significance, as it was purchased by Nissan, who famously reverse-engineered Porsche’s sophisticated variable all-wheel drive system for its revolutionary Skyline R32 GT-R.

When it went to Canepa for its upgrades in 2019, it only had about 1400 km (less than 1000 miles) on the clock. The transformation, which incudes upgrades that bump the engine to over 800 horsepower, reportedly cost $950,000, and the car has a $3.25M-$3.75M estimate in Amelia. For reference, a stock 1988 959 Komfort has a Hagerty Price Guide value ranging from $900K-$2.6M.

1931 Duesenberg Model J Disappearing Top Convertible Coupe by Murphy

The Model J is certainly in the running for best American car ever made. It’s both magnificent enough and rare enough that it’s noteworthy when any single example comes to market. Even more so when that example hasn’t come to public market or even been seen for decades. According to Gooding & Co., this 1931 Disappearing Top Convertible Coupe is “the very last example known to exist of a sporting body style that had yet to reemerge to the public eye.”

The car passed through several Chicago owners from the 1930s to early 1950s. The first was a relative of the man who founded the Culver Military Academy in Indiana, and a subsequent owner later donated the car to the very same institution in 1959, which is an odd coincidence. The academy made the car available to cadets interested in pursuing mechanical fields, but apparently no aspiring mechanic wrenched on anything too badly, because by the 1960s the Duesenberg was back in private ownership with a family in Chicago. That family placed it in their garage in 1967, and it stayed there until 2022. Brought back to running condition, it has a presale estimate of $2.75M-$3.5M.

1971 Porsche 914/6 GT

Of the roughly 119,000 Porsche 914s built from 1969-76, the vast majority had relatively humble four-cylinder VW power. But Porsche also sold a six-cylinder, 911-powered version called the 914/6 and developed it even further for racing with the 914/6 GT. To make it track- and rally-ready, Porsche added steel fender flares to accommodate wider Fuchs alloy wheels and fitted fiberglass deck lids, rocker panels, and bumpers. Antiroll bars at both ends, 911S ventilated brakes, Plexiglas rear and side windows, an extra front oil cooler, a long-range fuel tank, and competition interior completed the package.

The 914/6 GT was an accomplished car, with class wins at Le Mans and Daytona, the first three places at the Marathon de la Route at the Nürburgring, and the very first IMSA GT Championship. The car up for grabs in Amelia was part of Porsche’s three-car attack on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1971. A clutch failure took it out of the rally, which was eventually won by the little French Alpine A110, but it was later used as Vic Elford’s reconnaissance car for the Targa Florio. It has since been restored to its original Monte Carlo specs. In Amelia, it has a $1.2M-$1.5M estimate, which would put it above the $995,000 Daytona-winning car that sold in 2020 as the world’s most expensive 914.

1904 Gordon Bennet Napier L48

Powered by a 15(!)-liter F-head six-cylinder making 240 hp, this car is reportedly capable is over 100mph. With rear-only mechanical drum brakes and skinny 120-year-old wheels, that sounds terrifying, or exciting, or a little bit of both.

The car is a faithful reconstruction of the 1904 Gordon Bennett Napier L48 “Samson” racer, assembled using the original engine. And quite a power plant it is, represented as the world’s first six-cylinder racing engine. It roared past 100 mph at Daytona Beach in 1905 and set a flying mile record of 104.65 mph. With Dorothy Levitt driving, it also took the Women’s World Speed Record in 1906. It has a $900K-$1.1M estimate in Amelia.

1954 Ferrari 500 Mondial

Though everybody loves the roar of a V-12 Ferrari, the bark of a four-cylinder Ferrari Mondial or Monza took plenty of checkered flags in the 1950s. Designed for Grand Prix racing by Aurelio Lampredi, Ferrari’s first four-banger powered the 500 F2 to World Championships in 1952-53. Later, a detuned version of the alloy four found its way into a sports car called the 500 Mondial (which means “global” in Italian and French). Only a little more than a dozen were built with Pinin Farina bodywork. The battered and burned remnants of a 500 Mondial comprised our controversial  “Sale of the Year” pick for 2023.

The car for sale in Amelia is in much, much better shape. Sold new to Dutch racer Herman Roosdorp, it raced at Spa and Zandvoort in period to decent results, including multiple class wins. It came to the U.S. in the 1960s and has been here ever since, hitting the show field at Pebble Beach in 1978 and racing in historic events. In Amelia, it has a $4M-$5M estimate.

1967 Ford GT40 Road Car

The GT40 was a race car first and foremost, but rules dictated that a road going version exist, too. The GT40 crossing the block in Amelia, chassis P/1069, is one of 31 such Mk I GT40s built in road trim.

Assembled alongside its race-ready siblings at Ford Advanced Vehicles in England, it was first painted Opalescent Silver Blue and fitted with Borrani wire wheels and four Weber carburetors for its “Hi-Po” small-block 289 V-8. Ford earmarked it for the Promotion and Disposal Program and planned to ship it to Shelby American for use among the firm’s field managers, but for whatever reason it wound up as a loaner at a Swiss dealership. 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. GT40s rarely come up for sale and the road-going versions aren’t any different, but Mecum did just sell another Mk I road car in January for $6.93M. The presale estimate for P/1069, meanwhile, is a more conservative but still serious $4M-$5M.

1903 Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP

The likely top sale in Amelia this year is not a late-model Bugatti or an historic Ferrari racer. Nope, it’s a 121-year-old motorcar with no roof, doors or windows, and less horsepower than a new Mitsubishi Mirage. But there are plenty of good reasons why this glorious Mercedes-Simplex has a presale estimate “in excess of $10,000,000.”

Back in the early 1900s, the company known today as Mercedes-Benz Group AG still called itself Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG). Meanwhile, in the French Riviera, an automobile entrepreneur and Consul General for Autria-Hungary named Emil Jellinek was the company’s official agent for the region. He encouraged DMG to build an all-new motorcar, financed the project, and insisted the new automobile be named after his daughter Mercédès. Designed by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler, it was called the Mercedes 35 HP. Although the 35 HP was one of the world’s most advanced cars at the turn of the century, DMG developed it further into the Mercedes-Simplex 40 HP and Mercedes-Simplex 60 HP, all of which helped establish the company’s reputation for high performance, excellent build quality, and ease of use.

According to Gooding & Co., the car at Amelia is one of the 102 60 HP models built between 1902 and 1905, and it sold new to British publishing magnate Alfred C.W. Harmsworth. After a few successful competition outings in 1902, Harmsworth had the car bodied in “Roi des Belges” bodywork by Parisian coachbuilder J. Rothschild et Fils. Remarkably, it is one of just five original 60 HP cars known to survive and still has its original chassis, engine and coachwork. Even more remarkably, it has been with the same family since new.

The post These Are the Best Cars up for Grabs at Amelia Island appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The Amelia Island auctions are around the corner. While there aren’t as many vehicles on offer as the mega-events in Scottsdale, Kissimmee or Monterey, Amelia never fails to bring out quality cars. We like this event for lots of reasons, and one is that there’s a wealth of extremely rare, unusual, or downright odd vehicles to choose from.

This year is no different, and below are the ones to look out for.

1976 GAZ-24 Volga

On this side of the Iron Curtain, it’s fun to joke about communist cars, and there are plenty of worthy targets for our decadent Western ridicule (Yugo, Trabant, etc.). But the Eastern Bloc had some aspirational cars, too, including Tatras from Czechoslovakia and this Volga by Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ) in Russia. Officially known as the GAZ-24 Volga, it sold from 1970-85 as Russia’s premiere luxury sedan.

Designed in the 1960s and launched in 1970, the GAZ-21 has some clear American inspiration in its lines, part Ford and part Plymouth depending on what part of the car you look at. With a 95-hp 2445cc four-cylinder, though, it wasn’t exactly fast. And with no power steering as well as stopping via four-wheel drums, it wasn’t exactly advanced, either.

There wasn’t an options list to speak of, but GAZ-24s did at least come standard with heat/defrost (nice to have in Russia), a radio, and the choice of red, brown or gray interiors. Some were exported, but within Russia the GAZ-24 was something of a status symbol by virtue of its size. When it was released, you had to have a special-use permit to own one. Many were also used as taxis. This one has a $20K-$30K estimate in Amelia.

1954 Dodge Firearrow IV by Ghia

One of the most fruitful automotive flings of the 1950s was the one between Chrysler and Italian coachbuilder Ghia. Some of the wildest and most influential Jet Age concept cars came out of this relationship, including the series of four “Firearrow” two-seaters built in 1953-54. Firearrow I, which debuted at the Turin Motor Show in 1953, was a static show car. Firearrow II through IV were drivable, however. A Firearrow-based two-seater to take on the Thunderbird and Corvette is one of those great ’50s automotive “what-ifs.”

After the U.S. show circuit, Firearrow IV (the last example) sold to its first private owner in Venezuela, and was rediscovered 90 miles from Caracas in the 1980s before being restored in the 1990s. Powered by a 241-cubic inch Red Ram Hemi V-8, it has nifty features like quad exhausts protruding through the rear fenders, a black-and-white diamond pattern on the seats and door panels, and a 16-jewel “Dodgematic” clock set into the steering wheel.

Back in 2007, Barrett-Jackson sold Firearrow IV as a package with Firearrow II for $1.1M. Firearrow III sold in Monterey in 2011 for $852,500, and Firearrow II sold again in Monterey in 2021 for $1,050,000. At Amelia 2024, Firearrow IV has a $1.5M-$2.0M estimate.

1966 Morgan Plus 4 Plus

For the past 60-plus years, almost all Morgans have looked the same. Key word: almost. Occasionally this anachronistic English carmaker steps out of its comfort zone, and the first time was at the 1963 Earls Court Motor Show with the Plus 4 Plus, aka the +4+. While mechanically similar to the Triumph-powered Plus 4 Roadster, the modern fiberglass envelope body of the Plus 4 Plus was a big departure from Morgan’s signature, swoopy style that looks straight out of the 1930s.

If the Plus 4 Plus was outside of Morgan’s traditional lane, it was even further outside that of its customers. Few people wanted one, and just 26 examples sold. This one is represented as the second-to-last Plus 4 Plus built, and was restored in the 2010s.

Citroën DSs by Chapron

A Citroën DS is odd enough, particularly to American eyes where the “Dee-Esse” didn’t sell in large numbers, but there were several special coachbuilt versions of the DS that stand out from the standard sedans and wagons. Among them are this group of four cars on offer from the Mullin Collection. They each have the basic shape of the DS up front and Citroën’s innovative hydropneumatic suspension underneath, but behind the windshield everything is quite different, courtesy of Parisian coachbuilder Henri Chapron.

The “Le Dandy” is a two-door coupe, and although the Le Dandy was offered from 1960-72, just 50 were built. This one sold new to an air transport company in Paris, and has a $150K-$225K estimate.

The 1965 DS19 “Majesty,” meanwhile, is one of 27 built and was 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). At Amelia, it has a $120K-$150K estimate. The 1963 DS19 “Concorde” on offer has a similar notchback rear to the Majesty, but it’s a two-door model. One of 38 built, it also has a $120K-$150K estimate. Finally, the 1966 DS21 “Le Leman” is another coupe out of a very low 27-unit production run, and it also has a $120K-$150K estimate.

1954 Pegaso Z-102 by Saoutchik

In the early 1950s, arguably the world’s most advanced car hailed not from Italy or Germany or Britain or the United States, but from fascist Spain. Pegaso primarily built larger things like trucks and buses, but for a short period built the Z-102 sports car as an image-boost for both company and country in the years after World War II.

Powered by a four-cam all-alloy desmodromic valve V-8 engine with dry-sump lubrication and a five-speed transaxle (impressive kit for the early 1950s), Pegasos typically wore bodywork by Carrozzeria Touring of Italy, Serra of Barcelona, or by Pegaso in-house. Jacques Saoutchik of Paris, known for some truly unusual designs in the 1930s, also bodied 18 Pegasos, including this coupe. In addition to the wild bodywork, odd bits on the car include the dual four-barrel Weber carburetors and the reverse dog-leg shift pattern for the five-speed. Restored in 2013, it sold at auction for $880K in 2016 and has a $750K-$900K estimate in Amelia.

1952 Avions Voisin Biscooter

Another French oddball sold out of the Mullin Collection, this “Biscooter” is a rare post-World War II creation from Avions Voisin. In the prewar years, Gabriel Voisin had used his experience building aircraft to create some of the most memorable cars of the Art Deco era. After the war, though, the car market in Europe was hungry for small, cheap cars rather than large, luxurious ones. He designed the Biscooter using aluminum for the chassis and body to keep the weight down, and gave it a basic drivetrain and equipment list to keep the cost down. Voisin’s new postwar parent company didn’t see the potential, so he licensed the design to a Barcelona company that sold about 12,000 units.

The car in Amelia is represented as the 105h in a series of 15 prototypes, and is powered by a 125-cubic centimeter two-stroke single with nine horsepower and a three-speed manual. Despite the goofy looks and humble engine, it has a $90K-$120K estimate.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The Best Oddball Cars Up For Auction at Amelia Island appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A long-time fixture of the Scottsdale auctions (although technically held in Phoenix), the RM Sotheby’s Arizona auction concluded with nearly $23M in total sales and the highest average sale price of Arizona Auction Week 2024.

Despite that, RM's Arizona auction saw total sales nearly halved from last year, even with a similar number of consignments. The sell-through rate was the lowest in recent memory, and there were fewer headline-worthy cars. Some market observers speculated that RM Sotheby's is saving its best consignments for the upcoming Miami auction in March, but its Arizona lineup nevertheless had the usual intriguing mix of '60s European sports cars, prewar greats, modern exotics, and Porsches, with a smattering of Mustangs and Corvettes as well. We were on the ground in Arizona to look over some of these offerings up close, and they are examined in detail below.

Lot 175: 1984 Audi Sport Quattro

Sold for $665,000

Chassis no. WAUZZZ85ZEA905147. Visually maintained, largely original, #2- condition

White over gray leather, black cloth

Equipment: 2133-cubic-centimeter/302-hp I-5, five-speed transmission, white wheels, Yokohama tires, Recaro seats, factory cassette player, power windows, books, and tools

Condition: Believed to be the only Sport Quattro delivered to Japan. Showing 8809 km (5474 miles). Good paint and exterior plastic with light age. Small paint scrape on the right front wheel. Light but significant wear on the driver’s seat bolsters. Not showroom fresh or anything, but a well-cared-for and seldom-driven example of Audi’s Group B homologation road car.

Bottom line: The Sport Quattro was Audi's first design to fully take advantage of regulations (or the lack thereof) in the Group B era of the World Rally Championship. Compared to the original Quattro that first introduced four-wheel drive to rallying, the Sport Quattro is more than a foot shorter, features carbon-Kevlar body panels, and has wider wheels stopped by brakes derived from the Porsche 917. It's these Sport Quattros, with flames shooting out the exhaust accompanied by chirps and whooshes of their massive turbo, that are among the most beloved Group B-era cars.

Collectors lust after both the rally cars and the easier-to-find-but-still-rare road cars built for homologation. This exact Sport Quattro has played an important part in the Group B market—at this same auction nine years ago, it was a breakout sale for Group B machinery at a $401,500 final price. Prior to that, Sport Quattros and other Group B cars were a very rare sight at auction, and none had ever sold for even half of what this car brought at Arizona in 2015. Surprisingly, it set the benchmark again at Arizona 2024, suggesting that enthusiasm for these 1980s World Rally weapons has not died down.

Lot 129: 1993 Jaguar XJ220

Sold for $472,500

Chassis no. SAJJEAEX8AX220686. Visually maintained, largely original, #2 condition

Spa Silver over Smoke Grey leather

Equipment: 3498-cubic-centimeter/542-hp twin turbo V-6, five-speed transmission, Pirelli tires

Condition: Major service last year. Engine rebuild, repaint, and retrimmed interior done in 2016. It's unclear why that was necessary, since the odometer shows just 6934 km (4209 miles), but the end result is a gorgeous example of Jaguar’s '90s flagship.

Bottom line: This is an XJ220 with a long auction history. It sold for $206,700 at Fall Auburn in 2003, for $154,000 at RM Phoenix in 2009, for $483,500 at RM's Elkhart Collection sale in late 2020, and for $472,500 at RM Sotheby's Monterey in 2021. It has only put another 100 km on its odometer since we saw it in 2021, and it's in the same condition. XJ220s saw a surge in value during the pandemic boom, but it wasn't as drastic as some of the more beloved '90s hypercars, and XJ220 prices have been mostly flat over the past year and a half. Identical auction results for the same car in 2021 and 2024 seem to confirm that.

Lot 159: 2020 McLaren Speedtail

Sold for $2,012,500

Chassis no. SBM23GDGXLW403069. Original, #2 condition

Liquid Blue Silver over blue and gray leather

Equipment: 4000-cubic-centimeter/1035-hp V-8 twin-turbo hybrid, dual-clutch seven-speed transmission, Pirelli P Zero tires, Liquid Blue Silver calipers, 10-spoke diamond cut wheels

Condition: One of 106 built. Like-new condition with 54 miles. Sold new in the UK at a £2.097M ($2.726M) price with a reported $452,075 in options. In the U.S. under the Show or Display exemption.

Bottom line: Billed as a sort of spiritual successor to the McLaren F1 with a similar central-seating arrangement and identical production numbers, the Speedtail has not made anywhere near the same splash as its decade-defining ancestor. In today's market for these two ultra-exclusive hypercars, an F1 can be worth 10 times as much as a Speedtail. The sample size is admittedly small, but about a dozen Speedtails have come up for auction since the model's introduction in 2020. Half of them haven't met reserve, and sale prices have ranged from the low-$2M to mid-$3M range. This one is now the cheapest (OK, least expensive) Speedtail to sell publicly, behind a $2.315M car that sold in Monterey last year.

Lot 102: 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport

Sold for $49,280

Chassis no. 5YJRE1A39A1000697. Original, #4 condition

White over black and red

Evaluation: 215kW/288-hp electric drivetrain, black wheels, Yokohama tires

Condition: Represented with 3500 miles, which is reassuring. Represented with an inoperable battery that needs replacing, which isn't. Good paint and interior. Some blemishes on the wheels.

Bottom line: The first production Tesla as well as the first production EV with lithium-ion batteries, the Tesla Roadster has all the ingredients of a collector car (dynamic chassis, limited production of less than 2500 units, sexy looks). Their prices have risen to the point where they're worth comfortably more than the more conventional Elise from which they borrow their chassis. This example, though, is garage art until someone performs a five-figure battery replacement. Unlike the Toyota engine in the Elise which will last forever if maintained, EV powertrains have a shelf life. Consider this a possible glimpse into the future, then. As EVs become collectible historic vehicles, the chance of them being inoperable may be significant.

Lot 130: 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona

Sold for $632,000

Chassis no. 15229. Recent restoration, #2- condition

Blu Dino over tan and black leather

Evaluation: 4390-cubic-centimeter/352-hp V-12, five-speed transmission, Ansa exhaust, Cromodora centerlock alloy wheels, leather-wrapped steering wheel, Becker Grand Prix radio, power windows, air conditioning

Condition: Restoration by GTO Engineering finished in 2019. Matching numbers. Crack below a front corner of the hood. Otherwise good paint, and this is a really sharp color on a Daytona. Light rip in the upholstery around the right rear quarter window. Lightly scratched window frames. Good, lightly worn interior.

Bottom line: This car was at Amelia Island six years ago, where it sold for $621,000. That was before its restoration, when it was painted red and in #3+ condition. Daytona prices aren't far off from where they were in 2018, so even though the restoration made a big difference in the car's appearance, it didn't, at least in the eyes of a bidding audience, make a big difference in its value.

Lot 153: 1963 Shelby Cobra 289

Sold for $1,215,000

Chassis no. CSX2044. Visually maintained, largely original, #3 condition

White over red leather

Evaluation: 289-cubic-inch/271-hp V-8, four-speed, painted wire wheels, Cooper tires, wind wings, wood-rim steering wheel, Smiths gauges, heater, chromed air cleaner, aluminum rocker covers

Condition: Represented as the first 289 Cobra, and billed by RM Sotheby's as "likely the most obsessively documented Cobra on the planet." Three owners since new, and showing 27,707 supposedly actual miles. The chassis was originally slated to get the 260 engine used in the earliest Cobras, but numerous changes and delays to the original owner's order meant that he got the newer, larger 289. A California scientist, he drove the Cobra for 23,000 miles before knocking a muffler loose and stowing it away in his garage, apparently too busy working on the first Macintosh computers.

The car is now largely original other than a repaint and upgraded carburetor (the roll bar and dual mirrors it originally came with are not fitted), and all the better for it. The cockpit, though, is a bit past the point of patina and is now just tattered. The carpet is faded and worn, the door panels ripped, and the seats both ripped enough that stuffing is coming out on each side. I’d feel nervous just sitting in there.

Bottom line: While this isn't the first Cobra ever (that car sold for $13.75M in 2016), being the first 289 has to count for something, and so does originality considering how many genuine Cobras have long since been restored. The Arizona bidders placed a healthy premium on both, pushing it to a low-$1M price. Healthy, but not excessive. It's above what other early 289s in perfect condition could sell for but still within sight of them.

***

Want a better understanding of what’s driving collector car values? Sign up for the Hagerty Insider newsletter.

The post Auction Recap: RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Bonhams concluded its first automotive auction of 2024 at its usual spot—the Westin Kierland in Scottsdale—with 68 cars selling for a total of just over $12M. More than 40 percent of that total was down to just one car.

Not counting the Covid-complicated Scottsdale auction in 2021, this year saw the fewest Arizona lots offered by Bonhams so far this decade. As usual for this auction, however, there were interesting and unusual cars to choose from, including several scruffy but charming oddballs consigned from the Maine Classic Car Museum and a group of prewar cars from the collection of late author Clive Cussler. Bonhams also sold the oldest car of Arizona Auction Week—a 1907 Mitchell Model E Runabout—for $33,600. And although overall results were down this year, Bonhams sold Scottsdale's most expensive car for the second year in a row. In 2023 it was a glorious 1912 Simplex for $4.845M. In 2024 it was an also glorious but very different 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport for $5.175M.

We were on the ground in Scottsdale this year and looked over some of the sale's most interesting and significant cars. They're written up in detail below.

1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS

Sold for $431,250

Chassis no. 05710. Visually maintained, largely original, #3 condition

Nero over tan leather

Equipment: 2418-cubic-centimeter/195-hp V-6, five-speed transmission, Cromodora wheels, Michelin Defender tires, Momo Prototipo steering wheel, air conditioning, power windows, books, and tools

Condition: Sold new on the West Coast. Represented with a recent drivetrain rebuild. Older, 2015 repaint with numerous small scratches and chips on the nose. Heavy wear to the seats. Several blemishes on the wheels. Engine overhauled in 2015 as well. Driven regularly over the years and used in events like the Copperstate 1000. Never restored but got major attention when necessary. A driver Dino.

Bottom line: In 2024, this is what a driver Dino costs. Pre-pandemic, this money would have bought you the best 246 GTS in the world, but Dinos have come very far since then.

Lot 14: 1970 Volvo 1800E

Sold for $21,280

Chassis no. 18445131472. Visually maintained, largely original, #3 condition

California White over red

Equipment: 1986-cubic-centimeter/130-hp I-4, four-speed transmission, Bendix radio

Condition: Represented with single-family California ownership, and as largely original. Dirty but reasonably well-maintained engine bay. Clean paint and chrome with a few blemishes. Age and scrapes on the wheels. Track scratches on the windows. Remarkably well-preserved interior with only the slightest wear and age present. An honest car that has clearly been used but loved the whole way. It’s still attractive, and as a Volvo 1800 it could very well have hundreds of thousands of miles left in it despite the 129,911 on the odometer. Sometimes "single family ownership" means neglect by at least one generation of that family. Not here.

Bottom line: The 1800E was the last iteration of Volvo's sexy P1800 coupe, with "E" denoting the Bosch fuel injection that feeds the unburstable B-series four-cylinder engine. Volvo 1800s are great classic cars in that they are easy to drive and built like tanks, not to mention having sexy looks. They used to be solidly in entry-level value territory, too. People have caught on to Volvo's best-ever looking car and they're no longer cheap, but they're still a good value. Barely 21 grand for this one, which has had caring ownership and needs nothing serious, shows that.

Lot 59: 1966 Maserati Mistral 4000 Coupe

Sold for $98,000

Chassis no. AM1091118. Visually maintained, largely original, #3- condition

Red over dark red leather

Equipment: 4014-cubic-centimeter/255-hp I-6, Lucas injection, five-speed, Borrani wire wheels, Michelin XDX tires, Ansa exhaust, wood rim steering wheel, added air conditioning, original AM/FM radio, power windows

Condition: Reasonably tidy engine other than some paint peeling off the cam covers. Some rust on the wheel spokes. Cracking and crazing in the paint that is mild but widespread. Heavily worn leather, but there are no rips or cracks and it still feels reasonably soft. Good chrome, brightwork, and weather stripping. Good configuration on a handsome Maserati, but the inconsistent presentation raises some questions not answered in the catalog.

Bottom line: A replacement for Maserati's 3500GT, the Mistral—named after the strong wind blowing from southern France—started the Maserati tradition of wind-themed appellations for its road cars. Maseratis of the '60s are generally undervalued compared to the equivalent Ferraris and Lamborghinis, but a Mistral in this spec and even in mediocre condition can expect a six-figure price. Despite having a reserve, though, the seller was apparently happy to let go of this one at a hefty discount to the new owner.

Lot 10: 1966 Wolseley Hornet

Sold for $7840

Chassis no. WA2S2829260. Older restoration, #3 condition

Glen Green and Spruce Green over Porcelain Green leather

Equipment: Right-hand drive, 1098-cubic-centimeter/38-hp I-4, synchro four-speed transmission, wheel covers, Kumho tires, wing mirrors

Condition: From the Maine Classic Car Museum Collection. Good paint and even gaps but there is surface rust on the door hinges and around window frames. Tidy underneath. Heavy wear on the front seat upholstery. Cute as hell even if a little more awkward than the Mini on which it’s based, and in clean, usable driver condition.

Bottom line: Ouch. This car sold in late 2020 for $25,760 at the RM Sotheby's Elkhart Collection sale, an auction held right in the pandemic boom that was full of above-market, sometimes inexplicably high prices. This result, 66 percent off from the 2020 result, was the opposite. It's half the low estimate and a cute, fun, usable, and dirt-cheap car for the new owner. The Riley Elf/Wolseley Hornet were luxury spin-offs of the original Mini. They're rarer than Minis while also generally being worth less, but not this much less.

Lot 42S: 2022 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+

Sold for $5,175,000

Chassis no. VF9SW3V32NM795009. Original, #2 condition

Black and orange over black with orange stitching

Equipment: 7993-cubic centimeter/1578-hp quad-turbo W-16, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission

Condition: One of 30 built and eight sold in the U.S. Represented with 255 miles. Like new, and pretty much is new.

Bottom Line: After hitting nearly 305 mph with a pre-production model in 2019, Bugatti released these aptly named 300+ models that are supposedly identical in spec to the record-breaking car, albeit wearing speed limiters. This was the first 300+ model offered publicly in America. Another one sold at auction in London in 2022 for £4,195,625 ($4.7M). This was also the most expensive car of the week and is currently the second most expensive Bugatti Chiron sold publicly, after the one-off Chiron Profilée sold for €9,792,500 ($10,690,854) in Paris last year.

***

Want a better understanding of what’s driving collector car values? Sign up for the Hagerty Insider newsletter.

The post Auction Recap: Bonhams Scottsdale 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The original and by far the biggest of the Arizona Auction Week sales, Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2024 concluded with over $200M in total sales. This was a record total, and Barrett-Jackson claimed a record number of bidders in attendance, as well as more than $1M raised for charity.

Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale has been going since the 1970s, but in the 1990s, it became the first collector-car auction to get widespread attention via TV broadcast. For many car folks, your author included, watching Scottsdale in the living room was a first glimpse into the auction world.

In more recent years, the sprawling vendor area at Westworld, which offers everything from 10 a.m. beers and automotive art to guided fishing trips and tattoos (yes, the real kind) has made Scottsdale into an annual destination for thousands of people, many of whom have no intention of buying or even bidding on a car. "Automotive lifestyle event," sounds a bit corny, but it's an apt description. Scottsdale is like spring break for boomers.

For many, it's also the only show in town. There were four auctions in and around Scottsdale this year, but not everybody knows it. Uber drivers, the folks at the hotel, and numerous locals I talked to knew all about Barrett-Jackson. They'd never even heard of the other sales.

Recent years have also seen Barrett-Jackson further embracing restomods and customs. The number of restomods on the consignment list grows every year, but the number of extensively modified classics was particularly striking in 2024. There were numerous rare, interesting, and significant classics, however, that had been mercifully left alone. Some of them are examined in detail below.

Lot 416: 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser

Sold for $49,500

Chassis no. 338656Z118827. Modified restoration, #2- condition

Blue over two-tone blue vinyl

Equipment: 330-cubic-inch V-8, column-shift automatic, Rally wheels, red-line tires, roof rack, custom 2.5-inch exhaust, upgraded suspension, four-wheel disc brakes, R134 air conditioning, power seat, power rear window, three-row seating

Condition: Lots of good upgrades and reportedly 100 miles since its professional restoration. Lovely paint and chrome. Light scratches in the side glass. Delaminating roof windows. Small chips in the front left quarter window. Beautiful wheels and tires. Very clean and fully redone underneath. Very good newer upholstery but original dash and gauges. A really neat Olds wagon.

Bottom line: The first-generation Vista Cruiser debuted in 1964, wearing sheetmetal from the A-body F-85 but riding on a longer wheelbase. Extra headroom and an elevated roof inset with smoked glass panels at the front and sides allowed rear passengers maximum enjoyment of the view (or vista) on a family road trip. If ever there were a practical classic car, it's this tastefully upgraded and improved Vista Cruiser. The Scottsdale bidders certainly saw the charm and usability in it as well as the generally sound condition, and bid it to a strong but rational price.

Lot 409: 1989 Toyota MR2

Sold for $51,700

Chassis no. JT2AW16J6K0157097. Original, #2- condition

Gray over black cloth

Equipment: 1587-cubic-centimeter 145-hp supercharged I-4, five-speed manual transmission, alloy wheels, Cooper tires, T-tops, factory cassette, mud flaps

Condition: Showing 19,295 believable miles, although there’s a mileage inconsistency on the CARFAX. Reportedly owned new by a Toyota executive. There are some chips on the nose but the rest of the paint finish looks great for its age. T-tops are clean and fit tightly with new-looking rubber. Most of the exterior trim looks good other than a crack in the plastic trim on the rear and lightly faded window frames. Clean, like-new interior. Considering the state of most early MR2s, this one is a cream puff.

Bottom line: It wasn't just muscle cars and restomodded trucks bringing the big money in Scottsdale. This doorstop-shaped Toyota may be little, but its stock condition and remarkably low miles made a big impression. We've only seen one first-gen (W10) MR2 sell higher, and that car only brought slightly more at $53,550.

Lot 774: 1994 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Sold for $57,200

Chassis no. 1GCEK14K5RZ230966. Original, #2 condition

Teal Green Metallic over gray cloth

Equipment: 350-cubic-inch, 200-hp V-8, automatic transmission, cast aluminum wheels, factory bed liner, towing equipment, transmission cooler, factory cassette, original window sticker

Condition: 2166 miles and mint.

Bottom line: We're used to 1990s GM pickups being cheap, and that's realistic. Especially in the not-very-rusty parts of the U.S., there are still a ton of them out there on work-truck duty. They're also in that gray area between "used" and "classic," but they are old enough for people to feel nostalgic and this Silverado in its oh-so-'90s teal is as close to a factory fresh example as you're likely to find anywhere. That it has been carefully used rather than worn out by a contractor is the sole reason it sold for this much, which is well over twice the original price listed on its 30-year-old window sticker.

Lot 350: 1978 Ford Fairmont Futura

Sold for $37,400

Chassis no. 8E93T129415. Unrestored original, #2- condition

Creme over Creme vinyl and gold cloth

Equipment: Automatic transmission, wire wheel covers, bench seat, column shift, original radio

Condition: There are some scratches and blemishes here and there, but this is probably the world’s nicest '78 Fairmont, and it shows just 3572 miles. It’s also probably the most significant '78 Fairmont, since it is officially the 100,000,000th vehicle built by the Ford Motor Company. That’s a big milestone although not one many people remember, and it’s where the majority of interest and value exists for this car.

Bottom line: Without its build number, a two-tone beige '78 Ford Fairmont would have been by far the most boring vehicle anywhere on the grounds at WestWorld this year, and that includes the food trucks. But sometimes a simple date, an event or a number can make up the majority of an otherwise unremarkable car's value, and here is a prime example of that.

Lot 1421.1: 1987 Buick GNX

Sold for $231,000

Chassis no. 1G4GJ1170HP449920. Unrestored original, #3 condition

Black over black and gray cloth

Equipment: 231-cubic-inch, 276-hp V-6, automatic transmission, Goodyear Eagle VR50 tires, theft warning system

Condition: One of 547 examples of the GNX, the ultimate-spec, Corvette-beating version of the Regal Grand National. This one shows just 282 miles and still has the plastic on the seats, but it's not the mothballed, showroom-fresh wrapper car that the odometer reading might suggest. Quite the opposite, in fact. It has reportedly been parked since 1988 and is presented as such. It's covered in dust, and there is discolored and cracked plastic at both bumpers. Barrett-Jackson put ropes around it, possibly to keep people from wiping away that precious barn-find dust, but a few people swiped their fingers across it anyway.

Bottom line: This GNX is where "wrapper car" and "barn find" collide. In the end, it seems the low odometer reading trumped all because this is nearly a best-in-the-world price for a car that is very, very far from best-in-the-world condition.

Lot 1070: 1957 Ford Thunderbird

Sold for $220,000

Chassis no. D7FH120143. Older restoration, #2+ condition

Willow Green over Creme

Equipment: 312-cubic inch, 245-hp V-8, automatic transmission, porthole hardtop, power steering, power brakes, power windows, Town and Country radio, Kelsey Hayes wheels, fender skirts

Condition: Body-off restoration by Minter, a big name in the Thunderbird world. The paint is very good, but the overhead lights reveal swirls. The panel fit is excellent and the chrome is very good. The engine compartment is immaculate and the underbody is like new. Inside the car is fully restored and appears like new. Near perfection, but the paint finish is not to the standard associated with the Minter name.

Bottom line: This is not the first time a Minter-restored Thunderbird brought ridiculous money at Barrett-Jackson and it probably won’t be the last. This proves that the Minter name still means something to collectors and they will eagerly plunk down exorbitant amounts of cash to own a car that has passed through his shop.

Lot 1298.1: 1969 Chevrolet Corvette L89 Coupe

Sold for $319,000

Chassis no. 194379S733382. Older restoration, #2- condition

Tuxedo Black over Saddle

Equipment: 427-cubic inch/435hp L89 V-8, M21 four-speed, Rally wheels, side exhaust, T-tops, power windows, Soft Ray tinted glass

Condition: NCRS Top Flight and Bloomington Gold. The paint is showing its age but has no major flaws. Same with the chrome and exhaust pipes. Very clean interior. A solid older restoration on a rare, fast L89 coupe.

Bottom line: The L89 engine option was first available on the 1967 Corvette but was a much more popular (though still uncommon) choice on the 1968–69 cars. It was essentially the same as the highly potent triple-carbureted 427/435-hp L71, but with aluminum cylinder heads that shaved about 75 pounds in weight from the big-block up front. That subtraction in weight came with a big addition to the price, though—nearly $400 on an already expensive car. In 1969, just 390 buyers ticked the box.

L89s rarely come up for sale but there were two '69 cars in Scottsdale including this one. The car offered by RM Sotheby's was a Daytona Yellow convertible, but they were in similar condition. It's hard to argue with the market when two auction cars sell for the same price, and that's essentially what happened here, with $319K for this car and $313K for RM's car.

Lot 1380: 2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring 

Sold for $1,650,000

Chassis no. JTHHX8BH7C1000347. Original, #2 condition

Orange over black

Equipment: 4805-cubic-centimeter, 562-hp V-10, Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, Mark Levinson 12-speaker surround

Condition: One of 25 U.S.-spec Nürburgring cars and represented with 2100 miles. Clean and like new. Made for the Nürburgring, but never driven like it.

Bottom line: Overpriced and a slow seller when new, the LFA is nevertheless a triumph of Japanese engineering and the Nürburgring edition is the top-spec model. These were always expensive cars, but they didn't become seven-figure ones until the pandemic boom. This example sold on Bring a Trailer in 2022 for $1.625M, then went back up on that platform only a month ago to a no-sale with $1.72M bid. The seller must have thought they'd have better luck on Super Saturday at Barrett-Jackson but they didn't. This result suggests LFAs are done appreciating for now.

Lot 1371.1: 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster by Mayfair

Sold for $2,420,000

Chassis no. 154080. Older restoration, #1- condition

Red over beige

Equipment: Right-hand drive, 5401-cubic-centimeter/115–180-hp supercharged eight-cylinder engine, four-speed transmission, Bosch headlights and central driving light, suicide doors, dash clock, aero screens, Mother of Pearl instrument panel, folding windshield, outside exhaust headpipes, skirts, enclosed rear-mounted spare, chrome wire wheels.

Condition: Striking one-off coachwork by Mayfair in London. Formerly in the Imperial Palace Auto Collection, the General William Lyon Collection, and the Don Williams Collection. Shown at Pebble Beach in 2011 and still gorgeous. The leather is lightly wrinkled and discolored and there is a small dimple in the right door handle, but this is still an outstanding Mercedes.

Bottom line: The swoops and flourishes of this Mayfair coachwork are striking, and this car far overshadowed the rebodied (in the style of the factory Sindelfingen Special Roadster) 540K over at RM this week in both appearance and price. In 2007 in Monterey, the Mayfair Mercedes sold for $2,530,000, then for $3,277,500 at Quail Lodge in 2018. At Mecum Monterey last year it was a $2.6M no-sale. It deserved more then and deserves more today, but Barrett-Jackson is a no-reserve auction so it went to a new home regardless of what the seller was hoping for.

Lot 1406: 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing

Sold for $3,410,000

Chassis no. 1980406500225. Concours restoration, #1 condition

Silver Grey Metallic over natural leather with green tartan cloth inserts.

Equipment: 2996-cubic-centimeter, 240-hp I-6, four-speed transmission, Rudge wheels, fitted luggage, Becker Mexico radio

Condition: Bought by the seller in 2020 and treated to a concours restoration by Coachwerks in British Columbia. It doesn't appear to have been used much if at all since completion and looks fresh, gorgeous, and show-ready.

Bottom line: This Gullwing was a somewhat unexpected star among the high-dollar Saturday cars at Barrett-Jackson. 300SLs are staple blue-chip collector cars but base Gullwings are more commonly seen in the $2M range. They're also more commonly seen at the catalog sales like RM Sotheby's or Bonhams. B-J proved the right venue, however, because this concours-quality Gullwing brought a world record price for the model.

***

Want a better understanding of what’s driving collector car values? Sign up for the Hagerty Insider newsletter.

The post Auction Recap: Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Purists used to scoff at the 914. Part Porsche and part VW, it didn’t really fit in either camp. It used to be cheap, too. A bargain, even, especially considering the exotic layout and premium badge. And you could learn to love (or at least like) the looks.

Purists don’t scoff anymore, though—they haven’t for a while. 914s are no longer cheap, either.

Porsche has put out some ugly ducklings in more recent memory (looking at you, 996 and Panamera), but the 914 is arguably their original ugly duckling. Some versions are still attainable, still among the cheaper ways to slide into P-car ownership despite prices doubling in the last decade. Others are downright expensive more than tripling in price over the last decade. But they’re all fun, reasonably practical classics, now recognized as an important piece in the history of the company (well, companies) that built them.

Background

The second half of the 1960s was not the best of times for Volkswagen, at least not at home. Germany had its first postwar recession in 1966, while VW faced more and increasingly sporty domestic competition from Opel, Ford, and BMW. Wolfsburg needed an image boost, and its then current range-topper—the Type 34 Karmann Ghia—was on its way out. Porsche, meanwhile, looked to replace its entry-level 912 model that was also headed for retirement. As part of a development agreement between the two companies, which already shared history going back to the ’40s, VW asked Porsche to develop a model that would kill two birds with one stone. The 914 was that stone, planned around many of the components of Volkswagen’s upcoming 411 sedan but utilizing some Porsche parts and plenty of all-new pieces.

Mid-engine marvel with two personalities

By the late 1960s, mid-engine designs had conquered Formula One, Indianapolis and endurance sports car racing, while road-going sports cars like the Lotus Europa and Matra Djet brought mid-engine mania to the streets. Porsche wasn’t far behind with the 914. Although this was only the third street car ever introduced by Porsche, the 20-year-old company’s sports cars already had a distinctive look. This one didn’t have it. It didn’t look like any VW on the road, either. German mag auto motor und sport put it this way: “the 914 is not exceedingly pretty, but it is functional, low and sporty.” Sports Car Graphic, meanwhile, called it “a pleasant eyesore.” Wearing integrated bumpers and Porsche’s first ever pop-up headlights, the 914 was lower, wider, longer in wheelbase and more aerodynamic than the contemporary 911. It also boasted a lower center of gravity than Porsche’s signature sports car.

The long doors, the rear wheel tucking under the bodywork slightly, and the black lower side panels make it appear even lower. A trunk at each end also makes the 914 more practical than it looks. The removable targa roof panel fits in the rear trunk, while also giving the joy of open-air motoring but also the safety, noise reduction, and at least some of the rigidity of a coupe. The 914 boasted torsional stiffness equal to the contemporary 911 coupe and higher than that of the equivalent 911 Targa.

The 914 made its public debut at the 1969 Frankfurt Motor Show and went on sale for 1970. Nestled behind the driver and between the axles was one of two engines, and with them came two very different personalities.

The lower, mass-market model had a 1679-cc fuel-injected Volkswagen flat-four with 85 horsepower, shifting through a 5-speed manual. Underneath were suspension and steering similar to the setup in the 911, although there were now coil springs in the rear, and disc brakes front and rear. The whole package weighed in at just under a ton. This four-cylinder model, aka the 914/4, was built in full by Karmann, the Osnabrück-based contract manufacturer that had built the Karmann-Ghia and Beetle Cabriolet for Volkswagen as well as various coupe bodies for Porsche. To keep VW happy, these were badged and sold as “Volkswagen-Porsche” at Volkswagen dealerships in Europe. In the United States, which wound up buying most 914s, the 914 sold exclusively as a Porsche through the “Porsche+Audi” distributorship.

There was also a six-cylinder 914—the 914/6—which boasted 125 horsepower despite tipping the scales at only about 100 lbs more than the 914/4. The 914/6 got the Weber-carbureted 2.0-liter engine from the contemporary 911T (then the entry-level 911), different gearing, ventilated front disc brakes, and other upgrades like chromed bumpers and special wheels. The proper Porsche exhaust note with the extra two cylinders is distinctive, but visually there isn’t much to distinguish a 914/4 from a 914/6. One quick thing to look out for, though, is the wheels: a 914/6 has five wheel studs while the 914/4 has four. The 914/6 was also screwed together differently. Karmann built, painted, and trimmed the bodies, but for final assembly the cars went through the same line as the 911s at Porsche in Zuffenhausen. Even in Europe, this version was sold exclusively as a Porsche with no VW badges to be seen.

Reception and changes

With its confusing mixed heritage and high price, the 914 raised some eyebrows when it arrived in the States. It got mixed reviews in the press, too. The main criticisms of the four-cylinder model came down to simple performance per dollar. Most magazine tests found that on acceleration the 1.7-liter 914 was no faster than the old 912, and was more on par with the old 356 from the early ’60s. This was 1970, remember. American drivers were living at the peak of American muscle and were waist-deep in sports cars, too. The game-changing Datsun 240Z was already on the scene. Car and Driver was blunt, calling it “the slowest over $2,500 sports car we’ve tested in several years,” and bemoaning “at low speeds the engine is distressingly weak…and there are never any bright spots in the performance to offset the annoyance.” C/D also took a dig at the interior—”[n]o one else in this price class would dare offer such meager instrumentation,” and another one at the styling—”the fluidity of line of an Erector set project.”

Road & Track felt similarly, concluding that “around town and on winding roads, the 914’s performance can be characterized as rather busy, noisy and torqueless,” but “on the highway, quiet and relaxed.” Sports Car Graphic gave genuine compliments to the impressive outward visibility, and a backhanded one to the acceleration, which “is tolerable for a Porsche, but outstanding for a Volks.” Other critiques took aim at the 914’s vague shift linkage and the non-adjustable passenger’s seat, but there was plenty of praise for the sharp cornering of this low, wide, mid-engine car.

Motor Trend was generally more forgiving, noting that “[h]igh speed cornering in the 914 is an enjoyable experience with mild doses of over- and understeer…although the basic cornering characteristics are neutral…it is a most forgiving car.” Motor Trend also gave 914 its Import Car of the Year award in 1970.

Predictably, the 914/6 got more love. Due to the complexities of Porsche’s relationship with VW and Karmann, however, Porsche was unable to price the 914/6 competitively. Its price was nipping at the heels of entry-level 911s, so comparisons were inevitable. “The main questions,” mused Road & Track, are “How much faster than the four is it? Is it as fast as the current 911T? Is it worth $2,500 more than the four? Is it worth within $500 of the 911T? The answers, respectively, are: Much. Not quite. Yes. No.” Car and Driver concluded “[i]t’s about half the cost of a 911S – and about half as good as a 911S.”

It didn’t help either 914 that in the early ’70s the value of the Deutschmark was increasing against the dollar, so Porsche regularly increased the price to keep up with the changing exchange rates. For the 914/6, that was untenable. Despite promise on the race track, including class wins at Le Mans and Daytona, victory at the Nürburgring’s Marathon de la Route and regular success in SCCA competition, the six-cylinder 914 was dead weight in the showroom. After 1972, Porsche discontinued the 914/6 after selling just 3351 units.

The four-cylinder car, meanwhile, did well. In America, Porsche was selling three times as many 914s as they had 912s. By 1971 it had dethroned the Opel GT as Germany’s most prolific sports car.

Updates to the 914 were regular but minor. For 1972, the passenger’s seat changed from a fixed chair with movable footrest to an adjustable one with no old-fashioned footrest. Porsche also added better soundproofing, and improvements to the 1.7-liter VW that led to better fuel economy. With the 1973 model year the 914/6 was gone with no direct replacement, but the 914 range did add a 2.0-liter model powered by a bored and stroked version of the 1.7. Fuchs alloy wheels came standard on this 2.0 model and were optional in the rest of the range. There were more soundproofing improvements for 1973 as well as a much improved shift linkage, and US cars got two rubber bumper guards to meet new crash rules. Car and Driver liked the 2.0-liter model, calling it “a whole lot better…now up to the level the 914 should have been when it was first introduced,” while Road & Track said, “The 2.0-liter engine is better than the figures show.”

For 1974, Porsche raised the price of the 914 but the 1.7-liter base car had been bored out to 1.8. US cars got rear rubber bumper guards to match the front, and all 914s got new steel sports wheels similar to the ones found on the contemporary Super Beetle. There were also Limited Edition 914s in North America. Marketed to capitalize on Porsche’s domination in Can-Am racing, the special 914s sported either “Bumblebee” (black with yellow) or “Creamsicle” (white with red) paint schemes with a front spoiler, anti-roll bars, driving lights, aluminum wheels, extra gauges, and painted roll bar trim. About 1000 were built.

The 914 sprouted new bumpers in 1975, and US dealers offered a Performance Group option with anti-roll bars, eight-spoke cast aluminum wheels, and a front spoiler. Emissions changes in the US also led to a new exhaust, with California cars gaining a catalytic converter. Tartan cloth seat inserts also became an option, and there was a new range of colors to choose from.

Despite a mixed reception and unfavorable pricing, the four-cylinder 914 was a sales success, with 115,596 built from 1970-76. After the close of 914 production, the 2.0-liter model’s engine lived on in the one-year-only 912E, an interim model that bridged the gap between the 914 and the upcoming water-cooled, front-engined 924.

As 914s aged, they quickly turned into affordable used sports cars. As an entry-level developmental dead end for Porsche, which went in a very different direction with its 924 and 944, the 914 became the de facto (and original) “cheap Porsche.” When we created the Hagerty Price Guide Indexes back in 2009, we naturally included the four-cylinder 914 in the “Affordable Classics” index. After all, really good 914s were worth well under 20 grand then, and driver-quality cars could be had for barely 10. Today, though, it’s a stretch to call any 914 truly “affordable.”

Following the explosion in values for air-cooled 911s that started in the mid-2010s, attention turned to 914s starting in mid-2018 and prices for them surged until late 2021. The much rarer six-cylinder cars, meanwhile, have long had a more dedicated following and more lasting respect in the Porsche community, and their values have been gaining fairly consistently since the early 2010s. The tables have also turned vis-à-vis the 911 that gave the 914/6 its engine. The 914/6’s condition #2 (“excellent”) value of $120K is now higher than that of the 911T coupe ($93,000) and Targa ($86,000).

In general, Porsches and Volkswagens have a broad appeal that skews younger than many 50-year-old automobiles. Not so with the 914, with Baby Boomers making up nearly half of all insurance quotes for 914s, even though Boomers make up less than a third of the market as a whole. This is a bit surprising given that the 914 is a comparatively less pricey ticket into the classic P-car club. Then again, there are also newer, more practical and usable Porsches out there. Boxsters, Caymans, 944s, 968s, and even 996-generation 911s are all out there for similar or less money than what a clean four-cylinder 914 goes for these days.

Looking outside the Porsche camp, there are also lots of classic British and Italian sports cars that have better looks, more personality, and similar performance that come much cheaper than a 914. Is a 914/4 a better car than an MGB? Probably. Is it twice as good, as prices suggest? That's a much harder argument to make.

With time, Porsche's ugly duckling has grown up, even if it never became a swan. The VW stigma has worn off after 50 years and, just as the Dino was eventually embraced by the Ferrari faithful, Porsche people now embrace the 914 as a proper P-car and they pay proper P-car prices for it. After peaking a couple of years ago, though, prices have mostly stayed flat even through the pandemic boom, so they appear to be fully priced for now.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The 914 Is No Longer Porsche’s Ugly Duckling appeared first on Hagerty Media.

With the literal and figurative dust settling from Arizona auction week, we’re looking at standouts among the 2000-plus cars crossing an auction block over the past five days. We do this every time we come to Scottsdale. Last year what got the most chatter was a surprisingly old but absolutely marvelous, impeccably pedigreed 1912 Simplex. At $4.85M it was Scottsdale 2023’s most expensive car, beating out hundreds of younger, faster, better-known, better-looking classics.

The car causing the most buzz this year, meanwhile, is different. It’s surprisingly…new. It’s not the most expensive of the week, either. It’s not even in the top 20. Nor does it have a great story to tell like the Simplex. Instead, what sets this $324,000 Ferrari FF apart (other than its red interior) is that it was a shockingly high, record price for an unusual but usable and enticing model, one that has been poised to take off. Despite its enticing ingredients, the FF is a bit of an oddball and not everybody takes it seriously, but two bidders in Scottsdale really did. Now we are, too.

At the Geneva Motor Show back in 2011, Ferrari unveiled a new, ambitious and fairly risky model – the FF. Like the Ferrari LaFerrari it had a redundant name. FF stands for “Ferrari Four,” so this was the “Ferrari Ferrari Four.” It also wasn’t going to win any beauty contests. While it’s packed with 2010s Ferrari styling cues and while a shooting brake body style is inherently graceful, the FF’s toothy grille and stretched headlights aren’t. Aston Martin DB5 shooting brake or Volvo 1800ES, it ain’t.

But the FF was more than just a not-very-pretty face. First, this was Ferrari’s first production shooting brake body style. It was also the first Ferrari with real, usable back seats, not the laughably small afterthoughts for children found in the back of previous Ferrari 2+2s. The rear seats also split 60/40 for between 16 and 28 cubic feet of storage.

The engine was a familiar F140-series V-12 (although Ferrari’s then-largest displacement production unit at 6.3 liters) and the gearbox a familiar 7-speed dual clutch, but the rest of the drivetrain wasn’t. It had Ferrari’s first-ever all-wheel drive system, which the company called 4RM. This unconventional setup fit a separate 2-speed gearbox to the front of the engine that could send up to 20 percent of engine torque to the front wheels when road conditions called for it.

The result was a 651-hp hatchback that could hit 60 in 3.5 seconds and top out at 208 mph, making it the world’s fastest four-seater in its day. Today, all-wheel-drive vehicles with rear hatches, four-passenger practicality, an exotic powertrain and a premium badge are commonplace. They’re called luxury performance SUVs. But those weren’t nearly as commonplace in the early 2010s when the FF came about. There wasn’t anything quite like it. Road-tripping and grocery-getting usability with the heart, soul, sounds, and speed of a supercar was a big deal. Even better that it was a Ferrari.

But the FF stickered at around $300K. The company only sold 2291 examples from 2011-16 before replacing it with a cleaned-up, improved model called the GTC4Lusso that lasted until 2020 as Ferrari geared up to go full SUV with the Purosangue. In 2022 alone, Ferrari sold more than 13,000 vehicles, so the FF is a fairly rare sight.

It’s also a fairly rare sight at high-end auctions, but if any FF was going to stand out at an RM Sotheby’s auction, it’s this example. “The options list on this car is massive. It has all the right things going for it,” says Alex Ahlgrim, Hagerty Price Guide contributor and modern Ferrari expert.

How massive? First, the Bianco paint is an out-of-range shade of white. The very red interior (it even has red carbon fiber trim) with white accents is special, too, while other options include but are not limited to: red calipers, panoramic glass roof, two full sets of Schedoni fitted luggage, a golf bag, and digital display in the passenger’s side dashboard. According to the auction catalog, these extras added up to $193,785, which brought the total original cost at Ferrari of Beverly Hills to $496,235. “Most FF buyers were forced by the dealer so the builds can be wonky but someone put a massive amount of time into this one,” says Ahlgrim. But despite all that time and money spec-ing out the perfect FF, the car only did 28 miles with its first owner, for a total odometer reading of 90.

In Arizona, the car had a $150,000 – $200,000 presale estimate, which seemed realistic. Most clean FFs sold recently have brought prices in the low- to mid-$100K range, and the model’s Hagerty Price Guide value ranges from $150K in #2 (“excellent”) condition to $182K in #1 (“concours” or “best-in-the-world”) condition. These well-depreciated Ferraris have been much further in the “used exotic” camp than their “modern collector car” peers like the 458 Italia or F12tdf.

But when we put the Ferrari FF on this year’s Bull Market list, we noted that two of the most striking changes in the market over the past decade have been an influx of younger buyers and a shift in preference toward more usable vehicles. The FF, with its combo of everyday practicality with supercar speed and for which over 80 percent of buyer interest comes from Gen Xers or younger, ticks both boxes.

This is the first FF to sell at auction for over 300 grand. Only one other, a one-of-10 Neiman Marcus Edition, had sold for over 200 before. The FF in Scottsdale is exceptional and so is its price. But as we often say, one sale doesn’t make the market. This doesn’t mean that every FF owner’s car is worth $100,000 more than it was last week, and it doesn’t mean the FF has fully shifted from “used car” to “collector car.” But it is perhaps a sign of things moving up, so expect to see more of these cars on the market in the next few months and we’ll see how high they go.

The post Was $324K the Ferrari FF’s Breakout Sale? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The world’s biggest collector car auction, Mecum Kissimmee, got bigger again in 2024. The 13-day mega-sale, which concluded last weekend, offered over 4000 vehicles for the first time (4283, reported by Mecum). For the third year in a row, total sales topped $200M. This year’s reported total of $275M passed well above 2023’s $222M, while the sell-through rate was down from 79% in 2023 and 86% in 2022 to 70% in 2024. As we’ve talked about a cooling collector market, Mecum Kissimmee at least seemed to show signs of stability.

While there is always something for everyone and for every budget in Kissimmee (including an astounding 524 Corvettes ranging from $4950 t0 $2.5M), one segment that made perhaps the biggest impression were the top-tier, Enzo-era Ferraris. Mecum offered a trio of ultra-rare eight-figure cars from Maranello in Kissimmee, something they’ve never done before. One failed to meet reserve on the block and didn’t sell, one didn’t meet reserve but is reportedly being sold post-block, and one sold at a healthy price. The simple fact that these big Ferraris were part of the show is a notable development for this ever-growing sale. That’s especially true considering January’s other big auction event—Arizona Auction Week—which is conspicuously not getting bigger and bigger.

What might have been the top sale in Kissimmee was a 1964 275 GTB/LM Competizione Speciale. Essentially the successor to the 250 GTO, the one-of-three GTB/LM sold at the Monterey auctions nearly 10 years ago for $26.4M but couldn’t get past $23M in Kissimmee and failed to find a new owner. The two other top-shelf Ferraris, formerly in the renowned collection of Dr. Rick Workman, were a different story.

The silver 275 GTS/4 aka the NART Spider was the ninth of 10 commissioned by New York Ferrari dealer and owner of the North American Racing Team (NART) Luigi Chinetti. We hadn’t seen a NART Spider sell at auction in over a decade, and the last one that did brought $27.5M. In Kissimmee, the NART hit $23.5M on the block and was reported not sold, but Mecum currently reports a sale pending for the car at an unconfirmed price. We’ve heard rumors that a $22M offer was turned down, but a post-block sale in the $20M range still counts as a sale, and would be between the NART Spider’s condition #2 (“excellent”) and condition #3 (“good”) value in the Hagerty Price Guide.

The 250 GT California Spider, meanwhile, ticked a lot of the right boxes. As a short wheelbase (SWB) car with covered headlights, it wears the most attractive bodywork in a series of universally gorgeous cars, and it was represented as the very last of the only 106 total Cal Spiders built from 1957-63. Despite its 20-plus-year-old restoration and a color change (delivered with black interior, it now has a tan one), it sold for an impressive $17.875M, which is well above the car’s condition #1 (“concours”) value.

For several years now, we’ve been watching Mecum Kissimmee grow while the Scottsdale auctions, which are older and more established as the first big auction event of the year, have waxed and waned. These Ferraris make for an even bigger contrast between the two.

Mecum hasn’t sold any cars like them before. Last year’s top results in Kissimmee were all in the $1M-$3M range, and so were 2022’s top cars. In Scottsdale, meanwhile, the top car in all the auctions there since 2020 combined was a $6.825M Mercedes-Benz 300SL Alloy Gullwing. The second-highest was a $4.845M Simplex. A grouping of eight-figure Ferraris is typically the kind of thing reserved for the Champagne tastes and budgets of Monterey Car Week. In fact, had they sold not in Kissimmee ’24 but Monterey 2023, the NART (presuming it sold in the $20M range) and the California Spider would have been Monterey’s second and third most expensive cars, respectively.

In 2021 we asked, “Is Mecum the new king of January?” The 2024 numbers push things even further into the “yes” camp.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Eight-Figure Ferraris Crash Kissimmee’s Muscle Car Mania appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Over 2000 vehicles are expected to change hands at the 2024 Arizona auctions at the end of the month. Most of them will be classic muscle cars, vintage trucks, resto-modded muscle cars, or resto-modded trucks (joking aside, there is quite a bit of interesting and high-dollar kit crossing the block this year, which you can read about here). One of the best parts about an auction event this big, though, is the unusual stuff that pops up in between all the mainstream collector vehicles. Scottsdale always brings out some weird and wonderful, and 2024 is no different. Here’s the stuff that caught our eye.

1989 Daimler DS420 Limousine

While Jaguars of the ’50s and ’60s had the whole “Grace, Space, Pace” thing down pat, their Daimler cousins sometimes struggled with that first one. Particularly the 1968-92 DS420, with its matronly body work and its awkward bustle-back trunk, never had much in the way of “Grace.” “Space” was never a problem with the DS420, though, and these English limousines have shuttled around important people for decades.

Including, in this car’s case, Queen Elizabeth II. She reportedly used it on her 50th Anniversary tour of New Zealand in 2002, following the car’s apparent six-figure restoration. It then sold to an owner in the U.S. who is a “devoted DS420 collector,” of all things.

Given Elizabeth’s 70-year reign, there are lots of cars out there with a Queen connection. Prices have been as varied as the vehicles themselves, but perhaps the latest and closest comp was a 1966 Vanden Plas Princess Limousine the Queen used on an official trip to Jamaica. It sold in 2022 for $110,000.

1957 Reliant Regal MkIII

That Daimler limo may have been fit for a queen, but the only thing regal about this Reliant is its name. Built by Reliant, the company best known for its budget three-wheeled Robin and nifty Scimitar sports estate, the Regal was one of the company’s first postwar models. It was also the follow-up to the similarly ironically named “Regent” and “Prince Regent.” Available as a saloon, van, estate or pickup, Regals also came with various engines, all of them tiny. To drive one, all you needed was a motorcycle license, which in Britain was a significantly cheaper way of motoring.

As a Mark III, this one has an ash-framed fiberglass body and a 747-cc side-valve four-cylinder churning out 16 eager horsepower. According to Bonhams there is currently no soft-top included with this tripod, but can you imagine driving it in the rain? For Scottsdale, it has a $10,000-$15,000 estimate.

1969 AMC AMX “Banacek”

Ever heard of a show called Banacek? I haven’t, but I have heard of George Barris, who turned his customizing skills to this AMC AMX two-seater for the 1970s detective series. What started as a standard 1969 390/315hp automatic AMX had its top chopped, windshield moved further back, and its bodywork lengthened with that massive schnoz. The rear is even cooler, with louvers that run all the way down the back window and just keep going, right until they run into the rear bumper. Chrome side pipes, Ram Air scoops, Cragar SS wheels, and tri-color Murano Pearl/Tangerine Candy/Copper paint complete the picture.

If you like oddball AMCs but want something a little less outrageous and expensive, there’s a ’72 Javelin SST Alabama State Police car crossing the block at the same auction.

1961 Panhard PL 17 Sedan

An unusual sight in this country, the Panhard PL 17 was a rather popular car in Europe. Similar to another French people’s car, the Citroën 2CV, the Panhard embraced a front-engine, front-wheel drive layout with its air-cooled parallel twin laid way out in the front of the chassis.

While aimed at the same kind of customers as the Volkswagen Beetle, the PL 17 never made the same kind of financial or cultural waves as the VW. Its 848-cc engine was both smaller and had half the cylinders of the VW, and it was never priced competitively, either. But the Panhard punched above its weight. With 50 horsepower from the top-spec Tigre engine (which this example reportedly has) it made more grunt than a 1192cc Type 1 Volkswagen, and despite their size and the unusual layout of their drivetrains, PL 17s took the top three places overall at the 1961 Monte Carlo Rally. Panhard’s flat-twin engine would also find success on track in small displacement classes, powering Deutsch-Bonnet’s (DB) race cars in Europe and Bill Devin’s earliest race cars here in the States. The PL 17 sedan on offer in Scottsdale has a $20,000-$30,000 presale estimate.

1971 Citroën Ami 8

Like the Panhard, this Citroën isn’t such an unusual sight on a cobblestone street in the French countryside, but it certainly is in the deserts of Arizona. The Ami (which, adorably, translates to “friend”) came about in 1961, and was loosely based on the 2CV. With France recovering well from the war, Citroën perceived a need in the French market for a car that was still affordable but larger, more practical and a little more powerful than its everyman 2CV.

Amis were built from 1961-78 and came in various body styles that included vans, estate wagons, fastbacks sedans and even an extra-odd notchback sedan with a steep, reverse-raked rear window. This one is a 1971 wagon model—one of the more conventional-appearing Ami body styles—that still doesn’t look like anything else on the road. It is represented as an older restoration with a 1998 engine rebuild and 2012 repaint. There is no presale estimate, and we don’t carry the Citroën Ami in the Hagerty Price Guide, but our colleagues in the UK do, at least in saloon form. They currently put a ’71 Ami at between £2000 and £10,000 (about $2500-$12,700).

1960 Hillman Minx IIIA Convertible

Looking a little bit like a ’56 Ford that shrank in the wash, this Hillman Minx is part of a family of mid-size family cars sold in various forms from 1931-70. Part of Britain’s Rootes Group, Hillman was sister-companies with Singer, Sunbeam and Humber, and cars built on the Minx’s platform included the Singer Gazelle, Sunbeam Rapier, and Humber 80. One version even sold in Japan, produced and sold there as the Isuzu Hillman Minx. A left-hand drive MkIIA convertible, the blue one on offer in Scottsdale has a very attainable $10K-$15K estimate.

2006 Hummer H1 Alpha

If you like the look of an H1 Hummer with its monster size and macho angles but the wheels are just a little too…round, then look no further. This one rides on custom Mattracks Tracks attached to upgraded suspension. And if an H1’s 300-hp turbodiesel just doesn’t do it for you, this one also spins its wheels tracks with 500hp thanks to a new turbo and exhaust. Other mods include (but are not limited to) all-LED lights, full WARN recovery accessory kit and 16,500-pound rear winch, brush guard, air lift hooks and bezels, and a windshield light bar hoop.

1952 Beechcraft Model 18

You at least need a driver’s license to actually use almost all the vehicles that Barrett-Jackson sells. Occasionally, you’ll also need a motorcycle license, or for certain car, even a racing license to use them as intended. This auction, however, is one of the rare occasions when you’ll need a pilot’s license.

Sold new by Kansas aircraft company Beechcraft to the Canadian military, this Beech 18 entered civilian use in the early 1960s and reportedly has a detailed history since. The most interesting parts of that history, though, start in the 1980s, with its use in movies and TV shows. It seems this thing was the go-to plane for production companies that needed a ’50s or ’60s aircraft in the background. The credits include episodes of Unsolved Mysteries and House, as well as the films Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight (1994), Terminal Velocity (1994), Man on the Moon (1999), All the Pretty Horses (2000), and even Ford v Ferrari (2019). It has also done commercials for Pepsi, Honda, and Bud Light.

Remarkably, this isn’t the first airplane offered in Scottsdale. Barrett-Jackson sold a 1929 Ford 4-AT-E in 2009 for $1.21M, a 1958 Cessna in 2016 for $66K, and a wild 1954 Taylor Aerocar in 2020 for $275K.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 7 Oddballs (and One Airplane) Keeping It Weird at the Arizona Auctions appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A 1996 Porsche 911 sold for $169,000 this week. Big money, especially when you consider the model’s condition #1 (“concours,” or “best-in-the-world”) value of $138K. At first glance, the car doesn’t seem that special, either. It’s a 993-generation Targa, which in the hierarchy of P-car prices falls below a coupe, but above a cabriolet. It’s a regular two-wheel drive Carrera model with a 6-speed, a desirable combo but not an exceptional one. Polar Silver over Midnight Blue are a similarly nice color combo but certainly not unique. The car also boasts just 26K miles plus tons of documentation and service history, but so what? Low-mileage, pampered 911s are a dime a dozen. Even the “one owner” isn’t anything to write home about. Not on a 28-year-old car, anyway.

In this case, it’s who that one owner is that really counts. Celebrity ownership doesn’t always add value to a car, but in some instances it does. Famous Porschephile Jerry Seinfeld has proven to be one of them, and he owned, then sold, this one. Oddly, though, nowhere in the listing nor in the piles of documentation in the photo gallery is there a single reference to the New York funnyman. The online bidders found out anyway, so why leave out a detail like that?

OK, first let’s get the show references out of the way…No, Jon Voight never owned the car. No, there isn’t a pencil in the glove box. Yes, there’s enough room for George Costanza’s wallet. No, it doesn’t smell like BO. Yes, the seller only accepted USD. No “interesting trades” considered, not even Anthony Quinn’s undershirt. No, the license plate isn’t “ASSMAN.” It is “TRG FLRO,” though, which is pretty cool.

Now, back to the car, which again is a solid, very well-cared-for example but has nothing exceptional or unique about it except the name on the title. The 993, the version of the 911 built from 1994-98, is arguably the prettiest generation of Germany’s sports car. The changes from previous 911s were numerous and extensive, and one particularly relevant to Seinfeld’s car is the layout of the popular Targa model. Whereas previous 911 Targas had a removable, stowable center roof section, the 993 Targa introduced a power-retractable glass roof. It’s more convenient, but also a pricy repair when it breaks. The 993 was the last air-cooled 911, and Seinfeld also bought the very last production air-cooled Porsche—a 993 Carrera 4S in Mexico Blue—in 1998.

As for his Polar Silver Targa seen here, it was listed on Bring a Trailer with an exhaustive (and exhausting) 400-plus photo gallery and equally exhaustive list of maintenance records, but bidding sat open for a full week before comments starting chiming in about the most appealing and attention grabbing part of the car—its owner. These followed Jerry Seinfeld’s guest appearance on the podcast Spike’s Car Radio, during which he casually mentioned “I just put a 1996 Polar Silver 993 Targa on Bring a Trailer…It’s not in the ad, but I’m gonna leak it out…that is the car that I would drive to work when I was doing the series in the ’90s.”

Seinfeld has publicly offloaded some of his Porsches before. Back in 2016, he sold 18 cars at Gooding & Co.’s Amelia Island auction. And he sold them well, with his dozen and a half P-cars earning an average 47 percent premium over their values in the Hagerty Price Guide (HPG). His Bring a Trailer Targa did even better, earning a 56 percent premium over its HPG value. The podcast leak was well-timed, then. One commenter even called it “marketing genius.”

Really, though? Was it? If you’re attaching a famous name to a car in order to help it sell, why not just put it in the listing to begin with? Why, instead of that, would you rely on people to listen to Spotify at just the right time, then put two and two together to bid on the right car with a matter of hours to spare? Maybe he left it out at first on purpose, then just changed his mind and spilled the beans for the heck of it. Jerry Seinfeld (est. net worth: $925M) hardly needs the money, after all.

Regardless, the price here shows that the Seinfeld premium is real, even if it was presented in an odd way and even if, as my colleague Rick Carey says of Steve McQueen’s cars when they inevitably sell for inexplicable sums, “they’re just paying for his butt print!”

The post Sale of Seinfeld’s 911 Has Us Asking: What’s the Deal With this Porsche? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

This biggest month of collector car auctions is upon us. As Mecum’s extravaganza in Kissimmee winds down, we’re gearing up to look west to Arizona, January’s original main event.

As Kissimmee has consistently and dramatically grown over the years, Scottsdale—which is made up of several separate auctions going on during the same week—has been more nuanced. Barrett-Jackson (the original and anchor event in Arizona) has been a constant, other companies have come and gone, and some have skipped years and come back.

This year, talk of a cooling market is on market observers’ lips, and total sales are expected to drop in Scottsdale this year despite a similar number of vehicles on offer. Even so, there are always incredible cars on offer in Arizona each January, and below are the best ones in 2024.

2015 Ferrari LaFerrari

Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar ordered this LaFerrari new, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will be the one selling it at Barrett-Jackson. The “Why Can’t This Be Love” vocalist may have belted out “Black and Blue,” but he ordered his Italian hybrid hypercar in unique cream over cream leather with carbon fiber and black accents, along with his initials on the steering wheel.

Hagar also lyrically complained “I Can’t Drive 55” in his famous black 512 BBi, but apparently he couldn’t drive his LaFerrari much at all. The car has racked up just 1100 miles. “Everyone asks why I am selling it. It’s so fast and so powerful, it’s beyond my skills and abilities,” he told Barrett-Jackson. Respect, Sammy. “It Feels So Good” to tell the truth, and at least you’re a “Good Enough” man to admit it. But even if you have “Dreams” of making this one-of-500 LaFerraris “Mine All Mine,” you’ll need “Big Fat Money” to be the one on “Top of the World” by the time bidding ends. Hagerty Price Guide values for this halo-model Ferrari range from $2.75M – $4.4M.

1965 Aston Martin DB Short-Chassis Volante

“Volante” means “steering wheel” in Italian, but in English it means “moving with light rapidity,” and if you don’t speak Aston Martin, it also means “convertible” in the vernacular of British luxury sports cars. The first use of the Volante name on an Aston was on an interim model in 1965-66, when the company phased out its hit DB5 for the more-refined DB6.

Aston still had extra DB5 chassis laying around after the DB6’s debut, though. Since they couldn’t just slap a DB6 body on top given the former’s shorter wheelbase, they instead built a run of 37 drop-tops that basically have the (more attractive) proportions of a DB5 with a few styling cues from the DB6. Aston fans call them “Short-Chassis Volantes.”

The one on offer in Scottsdale doesn’t have the cleanest resume (color change, converted from RHD to LHD, non-original gearbox), but with a car so rare it’s hard to be picky. Others have sold in Europe for €1,158,600 and €1,805,000. The pre-sale estimate for this one is $1,400,000 – $1,800,000.

1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante

Any Bugatti Type 57 is special, and the factory Atalante coupe bodywork is particularly gorgeous, but this example also led quite a life. One of four factory-built with a roll-top sunroof, it sold new to a jeweler who in 1938 used it to compete in the Rallye des Alps. His mistress served as navigator. The wife didn’t like fast cars, apparently. The car also did the Monte Carlo and Rome-Liege-Rome rallies, and was also owned by French aviator Léon Givon.

It received restoration work in the late 1940s with a new engine, metal roof and different windshield, and its next owner in 1950 took it with him to live in the Belgian Congo. Then, during the upheaval of the Congo Crisis in the 1960s, he used the Bugatti to escape with his family and whatever belongings would fit to Northern Rhodesia. Things have been quieter for this Atalante since. It was re-restored in the late 1970s, but really got the attention it deserved, including reconstruction of the correct sunroof, during a restoration in the late 1980s. It’s been an occasional show car since, and has a $1.5M-$1.8M pre-sale estimate for Scottsdale.

2020 McLaren Speedtail

McLaren billed the 2020 Speedtail as a spiritual successor the company’s greatest hit, the F1. Like that ’90s icon, the Speedtail has cutting edge tech and materials, a central seating position flanked by two passenger seats, and an ultra-exclusive 106-unit production run.

This car is the 69th one built. Finished in Liquid Blue Silver over blue and gray, it’s still essentially new with just 54 miles. Speedtails are worth nowhere near as much as their eight-figure F1 ancestors, but they are still expensive. While a handful have sold for over $3M at auction, the mid-$2M has been more common lately, and this one has a $2.0-$2.5M estimate.

1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster by Mayfair

Like with the Bugatti Type 57, any Mercedes-Benz 540K is special, even more so when it’s a Special Roadster. This one piques our interest, though, since it isn’t one of the factory-bodied “Sindelfingen” Special Roadsters but a one-off job by London coachbuilder Mayfair, who somehow gave the Benz even more swoops and flourishes. The bright hood louvers, fender skirts and frame covers along with the outside exhaust headpipes, and Mother of Pearl instrument panel all make for a spectacular automobile.

We’ve seen the car before, as it sold for $2,530,000 in Monterey in 2007, and there again for $3,277,500 in 2018. It went back to Monterey last year and was a $2.6M no-sale. It’s a no-reserve auction this year at Barrett-Jackson, so it will find a new home.

1968 Ferrari 330 GTS

Basically an open-top version of the 330 GTC, the Ferrari 330 GTS was the successor to the 275 GTS, and is both a prettier and a faster car. It is also exceedingly rare. Ferrari sold just 100 of the Pininfarina-bodied drop-tops, and the one in Scottsdale is represented as the 86th.

You know what they say, when the top goes down the price goes up. In this case, way up. A regular hardtop 330 GTC has a condition #2 (Excellent) value of $575K in the Hagerty Price Guide, but for a 330 GTS it’s $2.4M, and this one has a pre-sale estimate of $1.75M-$2.25M.

1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan by Franay

The Duesenberg Model J is a triumph of American design and engineering, offering world-class luxury and astounding performance for the bigwigs with deep enough pockets to buy one. No surprise, then, that it also appealed to the panjandrums on the other side of the Atlantic.  If the Model J was fit for Hollywood, it was also fit for royalty. Literally, in this car’s case.

After being clothed in this dual-windscreen convertible sedan body by coachbuilder Franay of Paris, it was shown at the 1931 Paris Salon and sold to Queen Maria of Yugoslavia. She reportedly liked it a lot, writing of the “absolute security” at high speed as well as its “grand comfort, remarkable suppleness, and supreme elegance.” By the 1940s, the car had returned to the United States and, after its restoration in the mid-1990s, has been a show car. For Scottsdale, its pre-sale estimate is $2M-$3M.

1963 Shelby Cobra

RM Sotheby’s bills this as “likely the most obsessively documented Cobra on the planet.” That’s reassuring, especially since it is also represented as the first Cobra with a 289 engine, and one with just three owners from new. Ordered new by a computer scientist at Stanford, CSX2044 was originally slated to get the 260, the engine used on the earliest Shelby Cobras. But the owner had inquired about Ford’s new 289 and his numerous changes to the order apparently delayed things to the point that when it came time to plop in an engine, he got the newer, larger one.

Options included a roll bar, seat belts with shoulder harnesses and impact reels, dual mirrors, sun visors, wind wings, heater, chromed air cleaner and aluminum rocker covers for a total cost of $7,297.33. The buyer also fitted larger taillights from a Ford truck and reflective red tape to the rear to make his little roadster more safely stand out on the road at night. After covering 23,000 miles, a muffler knocked loose and the California scientist stowed it away in the garage, too busy working on the early Macintosh computers. It has since left the garage but, other than a repaint and upgraded carburetor, is reportedly just as it left Shelby American in 1963.

While not the first Cobra ever (that car sold for $13.75M in 2016), being the first 289 has to count for something, and since so many genuine Cobras have long since been restored, there’s something special about an original one. CSX2044 has a $1.2M-$1.4M estimate in Arizona.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The Best Cars up for Grabs at the 2024 Arizona Auctions appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Dave Kinney, appraiser and publisher of the Hagerty Price Guide is back to answer select questions from readers. While Dave can’t put a value on an individual car in this column (that’s what people pay him to do in his appraisal business, after all), he can field questions about the appraisal process, how to go about buying and selling classics, and the industry as a whole. Have a question of your own for a future article? Ask in the comments section.

With winter now fully upon us, I’ve received several questions from you about what to do until the skies and the roads open back up for driving season in the spring. As I type this, the weatherman in my area says it’s about to snow. If you’re like me, that means I’m not driving anywhere unless I have to, and a hard pass on driving any of the collector cars in my garage. What’s a car enthusiast to do when snowed in?

Here’s my proposal:

Take the necessary time to fix any paperwork issues you may have with any of your cars. Sounds boring? Sure, but it’s important.

Let’s talk about titles. It rarely represents a problem unless you are selling it, but that time will come. You can ignore a transposed digit, an incorrect address, a misspelling or a lost title for a while, but assuming any of those issues will fix themselves is just wishful thinking.

Maybe you have a 1963-1967 Corvette. If you’re familiar with these cars, you already know that over time the middle digit “S” has become a “5” in a decent number of cars.

On older and more obscure cars, it’s not unusual to have a misspelling of a manufacturer’s name, and often one state may use an abbreviation that another might not. I don’t think of Studebaker as a particularly tough name to spell, but looking back over some previous titles, I have had 3 misspells and 4 abbreviations that I’ve had to address with the DMV. Ah, the DMV, the go-to place for rest and relaxation, amirite?

In some States, it goes by other names or initials, like DVS, MVD, BMV, MVA, RMV or even Secretary of State’s office. I’ve counted 15 different names for the officials in charge of issuing titles, and I’m pretty sure there are a few more. Regardless of the abbreviation, though, it’s where you’ll have to go in order to correct this stuff.

So let’s talk about some practical advice for dealing with the DMV in your state. Your car needs a transferable title to sell it—anything less than that is an impairment on the value of your car. Why? Nobody willingly pays for trouble, that’s why. Without a “good” title, your car might be relegated to being broken up for parts in the worst case. If you sell on a Bill of Sale, in many states they might give you a registration, but not a title. In an appraisal, it is stated that the valuer assumes that your vehicle, or group of vehicles has good, marketable title(s). If we are told as part of our assignment that there is no title, or that there is a problem with the paperwork, that will in most every case have a negative effect on the value.

Please keep in mind this is my practical advice only, laws vary by state, and your results may be quite different. And, yeah, don’t try making the title for your Chevette into one for a Corvette, even if you do refer them both as your “Vettes”. That would be breaking the law. Don’t do that.

Back to the DMV. First rule—be nice. Yeah, I know they might be “faceless bureaucrats” or “worker bees” to some, but guess what? They’re real people with their own problems and personalities, and being nice—even when someone is not telling you what you want to hear—costs nothing. I have been standing in line plenty of times when the person in front loses their cool. It never gets them anywhere, except possibly an escorted tour to the exit.

Another tip that has worked a few miracles for me—come back another day and with a better attitude. Or go to a different branch of the DMV. Go midweek, in the middle of the month when most consumer-facing offices are less busy. I like going for a ride to visit with a friend who lives out in the country and then heading to a smaller branch office where the vibe is more relaxed than in the busy suburbs where I live. Is there a privately owned business nearby that will take the titlework to be processed? Not only will they be likely to tell you the time, costs and forms needed, but they are often experts in getting titlework errors processed. Removing your emotions from the effort might be the very best investment you can make.

The second rule is to have the facts at hand. Your problem, such as the “S” that became a “5” in your C2 Corvette, might be easy to document. If every serial number from that vintage follows a certain formula, take a book (with the appropriate page marked) that shows the DMV staffer exactly that. No books or websites to print out or highlight? Try a notarized statement from a national club, and bring a clear photo and rubbing of the serial number for them to see.

Obviously, different jurisdictions have different rules and regulations they must follow, but there are also a lot of judgement calls that the person on the other side of the counter or desk can help you with.

The third rule is to remember a saying a very wise person once told me. “All the rules always apply equally in each instance and always in the same way… Except for when they don’t.”

Fixing the small stuff now will not only make your car easier to sell when that time comes, it will also give you more flexibility when it comes time to market your car. A marketable, no stories title is what any potential buyer wants, and since you’ve got the next couple of months to sort it out, you might as well get cracking.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Looking for a winter project? Get your paperwork in order appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Rally fans, rejoice: There’s a movie hitting theaters and home screens on January 5, 2024, that’s set right in the thick of the infamous Group B era of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The film, Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia, focuses on an exciting 1983 season that saw two teams separated by wide gulfs in technology and budget, but also by a mere two points at the end of the fight. It will be exciting to see the drama play out on screens big and small, but the story of Audi and Lancia in Group B goes a lot deeper than a movie script.

Since a spotlight is shining on this dramatic (and under-the-radar, relative to the excitement it offered) period in motorsports, now is the perfect time to dive into the history of the series, the cars, and the blossoming market for them now that they have become highly collectible classics.

The “Killer Bs”

The Group B era of the WRC came and went quickly, only lasting from 1982 to 1986. Those five short years, however, are still the most talked-about period in the history of the sport. From Group B’s dawn to its demise after one too many fatalities, the horsepower of top-level rally cars doubled, while rallying saw unprecedented advancements in everything from aerodynamics and drivetrain technology to team management.

Factory-backed teams dumped Formula 1–level money and technical expertise into developing their cars. F1-level cash and tech bought F1-level speeds, thanks to forced induction, light weight, and four-wheel drive. What had been a sport for mostly recognizable, production-based cars now saw some of the most sophisticated and quickest cars on the planet, all on twisty, narrow, multi-surface rally stages that were considerably longer and more exhausting than those in today’s World Rally Championship. As power figures and aerodynamics became more advanced, Group B cars became so fast and their rides so jarring that some drivers suffered from tunnel vision and needed spinal decompression between stages.

The sport only got more popular as the cars got more dangerous. Organizers did little about it, so crowd control issues plagued Group B, with many stages at crowded rallies like Argentina and Portugal bordered not by guardrails or tire walls but by human beings. Nothing stopped spectators from stepping into the road in the middle of a run, and some fans even tried to touch cars as they sped, or even flew, by. The Peugeot and Lancia teams reportedly found hair and blood and even severed fingers in the ducts of their cars between stages, although no fans are known to have tried to reclaim a lost digit.

The savage speed of the Group B cars and the enormous, unfettered crowds that flocked to see the “Killer Bs,” as they came to be known, was unsustainable. The nickname wasn’t just cute wordplay, either—people died. The Lancia of driver Attilio Bettega took his life at the 1985 Tour de Corse (Corsica). At his home rally in Portugal in 1986, Joaquim Moutinho da Silva Santos crashed his Ford into a crowd of people, killing three. There were plenty more minor incidents besides, but the death of star driver Henri Toivonen and his co-driver in another Lancia at Corsica in 1986 was the last straw. For 1987, the sport’s governing body ended Group B and reverted regulations for top-level rallying to the much more pedestrian Group A ones, bringing the most notorious period in the WRC’s history to a close.

How Group B started, and where it’s headed

Group B arose from the FIA’s shuffling of the regulations in 1982. Once it became the top-level racing class, organizers intentionally left the rules vague and open to interpretation in order to lure large carmakers into the classification. What rules there were stipulated this: a fixed roof, two seats side by side, and a minimum weight determined by engine displacement, with forced induction displacement calculated at a multiplier of 1.4x. Finally, manufacturers had to build 200 examples in a 12-month period to homologate the car for Group B, half as many as were required in the Group 4 class that came before it.

The most successful Group B cars were designed first and foremost to win rallies. The carmakers therefore only built road versions because they had to. The road cars were complex, sparsely trimmed, and extremely expensive, especially for what looked like little more than a souped-up Euro hatchback. But they were fast, and remain so even by modern standards. In addition to the raw driving experience they offer, they’re incredibly rare and have a historical connection to one of motorsports’ most exciting chapters. Those are all ingredients of a collector car, but only within the last decade have Group B homologation cars garnered serious appreciation.

It’s no secret that sporty, boxy cars from the 1980s came back into fashion during the late 2010s and early 2020s, and it doesn’t get much sportier (or boxier) than Group B. While the homologation cars were a hard sell when new and their values remained sleepy for years, they now show up at auction or in the showrooms of high-end dealers regularly. Once confined mostly to European markets, they are also reaching American shores, where the cars were never officially sold and where most people only know Group B from watching the cars slide, skid, and narrowly miss spectators on YouTube. Or, in 2024, from when they star on the big screen.

As the historical significance and technical sophistication of these cars gained recognition, their prices got higher, too, with good examples selling deep into six figures. Exceptional cars, especially race cars with wins to their record, have brought over seven.

Another big appeal, despite the exotic nature of Group B cars, is their usability. For Max Girardo, whose dealership Girardo & Co. has showrooms in Oxford and Turin, “collectors are finally realizing these cars are usable, and enjoyable, with many having played an important role in motorsport history. They’re welcome at concours events or, even better, thanks to their road titles you can take them to [a] cars and coffee (and you’ll be the only one with a rally car).” As for the significance, he says, “some of the younger generation are now at a point where they can afford to buy a car they watched as a youngster on a World Rally stage being driven by their hero.”

Concours events, vintage rallies, local shows, and casual weekend drives aren’t usually all possible in one classic. “You can’t do that with an F1 car, can you?” adds Girardo, who regularly buys and sells Group B rally and road cars. “Maintenance is not particularly difficult, but they do benefit from some specialist attention as they all have their own quirks,” he says.

Several carmakers, not just Audi and Lancia, had a go at Group B and their efforts are all increasingly collectible. They include the Ford RS200, which came out too late to be properly developed; the Renault R5 Turbo, an old design merely adapted to Group B specs; and the Austin Metro 6R4, whose creators made the bold but unsuccessful choice of installing a naturally aspirated engine with a larger displacement rather than use forced induction like its competitors. Even the Citroën BTX 4 TC, which was so bad the company tried to buy back and destroy the road cars, is starting to show up at high-end auctions. The Peugeot 205 T16, meanwhile, took full advantage of Group B’s regulations (or lack thereof) and was technically the era’s most successful car with 16 overall victories and two World Championships to its credit. In particular, though, the Audis and Lancias emotionally capture what Group B was all about, and price-wise are the high points in Group B collecting.

The Audis

Audi, having introduced all-wheel drive to rallying and smoothed out its early problems (weight, complexity, reliability), was poised to dominate the early days of Group B. Having raced the Quattro in 1980 and 1981, Audi had already developed the car well. When Group B regulations were announced, the car was further modified to meet them. The Germans won the manufacturers’ championship in the first season of Group B, marking the first title for a 4WD car. The improved A1 and A2 versions of the Quattro took the fight to Lancia in the 1983 season, and Audi continued to improve the car right until the team pulled out in 1986.

After just missing the title to the Italian underdogs in 1983, Audi came back with a vengeance in 1984. The production-car roots of the Quattro always left it with an Achilles heel: The engine sat too far forward in the chassis and compromised handling—a bit of a problem, given how twisty a rally can be. It was nevertheless always competitive thanks to the massive power from the 2.1-liter five-cylinder turbo, consistent improvements in four-wheel drive, and big budgets. Sheer talent from an incredible driver lineup didn’t hurt, either. Audi’s aces included Walter Röhrl, Stig Blomqvist, and Michèle Mouton, the 1982 runner-up and closest we’ve ever come to a female world motorsports champion.

The Sport Quattro, Audi’s new entry homologated for 1984, was the company’s first proper Group B design. Compared to the Ur- (German for “original”) Quattro, the Sport Quattro was over a foot shorter, featured carbon-Kevlar body panels, and had wider wheels as well as brakes derived from the Porsche 917. In the WRC, the flames thrown out of the exhaust pipe, the chirps and whooshes of the massive turbo, and the massive shovel of a front air dam on the later S1 E2 versions also made the Sport Quattro the poster child of the Group B era, and Audi’s dominance in the 1984 World Rally Championship foreshadowed its steamrolling at Le Mans 20 years later.

Audi built a total of 214 Sport Quattros for Group B homologation, and a little over 160 of those were sold to European customers for an eye-popping 200,000 DM—the equivalent of over $70,000, and comfortably more expensive than a Porsche 930 and even some Ferraris. Then again, the Audi was quicker.

In road trim, the Sport Quattro put out a reported 306 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, came with fully adjustable all-wheel drive and anti-lock brakes from the rally version, and could scoot to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds. Another nice thing about the Sport Quattro, according to Girardo, is that “the build quality is the best out of all the Group B road cars and it is the most compliant on the road, so it is the most usable.”

Once they hit the secondhand market, Audi’s old rally cars and the road-going Sport Quattros didn’t come up for sale much until recent years. The results, while never cheap, were still quite modest compared to today. An ex-works rally car sold for $168,000 at a UK auction in 2003, then one sold for €103,500 (about $160,000 at the time) in Monaco in 2008. Even Stig Blomqvist’s 1982 Quattro Rally car sold for just £58,700 (about $105,000 at the time) in London in 2004. And as recently as 2013, a 39,000-km Sport Quattro sold for £115,740 (about $183,000 at the time).

Then, RM Sotheby’s sold a two-owner, 8300-km Sport Quattro in January 2015 for $401,500. That sale set the benchmark for Group B–era machinery, and Sport Quattros have come to market more often and brought a lot more money since. One sold a couple of months later in March for £287,100 ($430,000). One brought £403,200 ($530,000) in 2016, and another one sold for $484,000 at Quail Lodge in 2017. In 2019, another Sport Quattro sold for $434,000 in Amelia Island. In 2022, a 1985 ex-works car sold for £1,805,000 ($2,035,860), but the current record for Group B machinery is a Sport Quattro rally car that actually never raced in anger in period but had one private owner since new. It sold in 2021 at Artcurial Paris for €1,968,000 ($2,368,488), about double its pre-auction low estimate.

The Sport Quattro is also the only Group B homologation special currently in the Hagerty Price Guide, and over the past 10 years, #2 values are up 136 percent to $495,000.

The Lancias

Compared to Audi, Lancia and Abarth (the latter of which did most of the design work) didn’t have much cash to throw around. As a result, their first Group B car, the Rallye 037, wasn’t the technical tour de force that its German rival was. Rear-wheel-drive and supercharged instead of turbocharged, it was by far the more conventional of the two, but it certainly was quick.

The 037 was lightweight and sported a punchy, mid-longitudinally mounted engine based on the unit used in earlier Fiat Abarth 131 rally cars. On mud- or snow-filled rally stages it couldn’t keep up with the Audi, but the 037 cleaned up on tarmac and gravel. Though it was unreliable in its 1982 debut season, it improved tremendously and triumphed in ’83. After that storybook win, however, Audi’s improved ’84 car was simply too much, and the 037, while competitive, was outclassed. The final shining moment of rear-wheel drive in rallying had passed.

Of all the outrageous, fire-spitting cars to come out of the Group B era, though, the Delta S4 might be the most extreme and the most clever, even if it never took home a championship. Even after taking the 1983 title with the 037, Lancia had to admit four-wheel drive was the way of the future. Going back to the drawing board as the 037 dropped down the time sheets behind Audis and Peugeots, Lancia designed the Delta S4 around the Group B regulations rather than adapting it from an existing road car. It may have been called a Delta, but the S4 has almost nothing in common with Lancia’s small family hatchback.

Underneath detachable two-piece composite bodywork, the S4 was built on a tubular spaceframe chassis with double wishbone suspension at both ends and a state-of-the-art three-differential, rear-biased four-wheel-drive system. To combat the lag endemic to many 1980s turbos, Lancia got even more clever and employed the first-ever twincharging system, fitting both a Volumex supercharger and a KKK turbocharger to the S4’s mid-mounted, oversquare, and Abarth-developed 1.8-liter four. The idea was to widen the power curve with the supercharger, giving boost at lower rpm for blasting out of slow corners, while the turbocharger provided maximum power at the top of the rev range.

The car was a winner right out of the box, scoring a 1-2 finish at the 1985 RAC Rally, its debut event. About 500 horsepower was the norm back then, though cranking up the boost provided even more. Legend has it that during testing for the Rallye de Portugal, an S4 lapped the Estoril Formula 1 circuit fast enough to qualify in the top 10 for that year’s Grand Prix.

The Delta S4 is also the car that effectively killed the series. Henri Toivonen, a gifted 29-year-old Finn who many commentators regarded as the only driver capable of taming the S4, was leading the 1986 Tour de Corse rally by a large margin before he went off course and plunged into a ravine on the event’s 19th stage. The fuel tank, unprotected by a skid plate and placed under the seats, burst into flames, and both Toivonen and his co-driver, Sergio Cresto, were killed. It was the Lancia team’s second fatality in Corsica in as many years. Within hours, Group B was effectively banned for the following season. Ford and Audi withdrew from the class immediately, and in 1987 many Group B machines were relegated to rallycross racing.

Like many Group B road cars, the 037 and the Delta S4 were hard to offload when new—the S4 particularly so. The twincharged powertrain with 250 hp in road trim was not enough to offset its 100M-lire price tag and goofy looks. Some Delta S4 Stradales supposedly remained unloved and unsold at dealerships well into the 1990s, which is even more surprising given that Lancia likely didn’t even build the required 200 examples to qualify the S4 for Group B. Number fudging for homologation is not at all unheard of in racing, especially among the Italians, and Lancia may have built as few as 70 S4s.

Like the Sport Quattro, the Lancia 037 had a breakout year in 2015, when a Stradale version sold for €336,000 ($403,704). Then, in 2017, another one sold for a more modest $264,000 but prices went up again when one sold for $451,000 in 2018. More recently, sales have crossed the half-million mark, with Stradales selling for €770,000 ($863,400) in 2019 and €451,000 ($513,147) in 2020. An original rally car fetched €548,320 ($659,903) in 2021, and two Stradales selling crossed the block, one selling for an even $500K in 2022 and the other for $654,000 in 2023. The biggest result for a 037 is the works rally car driven by both Markku Alén and Walter Röhrl that sold for £1,045,625 ($1,179,360) in 2022.

As for the more extreme Delta S4s, Christie’s sold one nearly 20 years ago for the princely sum of £34,075 (about $65,600 at the time). How times have changed. A 2200-km, like-new Stradale (street version) sold for €1,040,000 ($1,166,000) at the 2019 RM Sotheby’s Essen sale, well over its €500,000 estimate. That made it the most expensive Group B car ever sold at the time, and the first to break seven figures. With a few exceptions, the going rate for an S4 in recent years has been a bit ahead of the Audi Sport Quattro, with one selling at Pebble Beach in 2016 for $440,000, one at Quail Lodge in 2017 for $440,000, and one at Quail Lodge in 2018 for $423,000. The S4 that won the model’s debut rally in 1985 sold for £764,375 ($979,164) in 2019, while other ex-works cars sold for €770,000 ($885,115) in 2020, €810,560 ($975,509) in 2021, and £1,636,250 ($1,845,526) in 2022.

Led once again by Lancia and Audi, Group B has recaptured the passion of car enthusiasts. Will the silver screen help further mythologize this era and boost values? We’ve got our popcorn ready to see where these rally monsters go next.

***

Want a better understanding of what’s driving collector car values? Sign up for the Hagerty Insider newsletter.

The post Group B Audis and Lancias are hitting full throttle once again appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Mecum’s annual sale in Kissimmee, Florida, is both the world’s largest collector-car auction and typically the very first sale on the calendar. In addition to moving a lot of metal, this two-week extravaganza helps set market moods for the rest of the year. It’s more than 60 acres of automotive spectacle, with multiple buildings and tent after tent protecting the thousands of auction vehicles from the Florida sunshine and occasional rain. Even if you didn’t bring your checkbook, Kissimmee is worth the trip for the car-spotting alone.

Mecum is celebrating the auction’s 25th anniversary in 2024. In both 2022 and 2023, the sale topped $200M. Though it remains to be seen whether that will happen again this year, the consignment list is certainly full (Mecum is claiming nearly 4000 cars) and full of good stuff, too. Below are the most significant cars we’ll be keeping an eye on.

1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible

Rarity is a relative term in the classic car world, especially in American muscle cars. A couple hundred units might be a pretty good run for a 1960s Maserati, but for a particular pony-car configuration, “a couple hundred” is supremely scarce. A Hemi Cuda convertible, though, is rare by anybody’s definition. Plymouth sold just 14 of the soft-top Hemis in 1970, and just a dozen in ’71. There aren’t many American muscle cars worth seven figures, but a Hemi Cuda convertible is one of them.

Values have had their ups and downs, and this Lemon Twist car sold at Mecum Indy in 2019 for $1.98M before heading to Kissimmee in 2022, where it remained unsold at a $2.1M high bid. Even so, Mecum has a higher $2.5M–$3.0M estimate this time around.

1963 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider

As a short wheelbase (SWB) California Spider with covered headlights, this car is widely considered the most attractive version in a universally attractive series of cars (there are long-wheelbase and open-headlight cars—all are gorgeous) and finished in the classic combo of red over tan.

It’s represented as the very last of the 106 total 250 GT California Spiders built from 1957 to ’63, and according to online Ferrari resource barchetta, it was delivered in red over black. The car stayed with its original Minnesota owner until 1972 before selling to a Californian who paid $4500 (!) for the used, nine-year-old convertible. Eventually restored from 1999 to 2001 and shown extensively since at prestigious concours like Pebble Beach and Amelia Island, it doesn’t have a presale estimate, but an eight-figure high bid is pretty much a guarantee. Our current values range from $12.95M to $17.1M.

1967 Ferrari 275 GTS/4 NART Spider

An even rarer open-air classic than that Holy Grail Hemi Cuda is this NART Spider. While 25 NART Spiders were planned, just ten genuine cars were ever built. One raced successfully at Sebring and one co-starred with Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair. This particular NART is the ninth one made.

Sort of a spiritual successor to the California Spider above, this drop-top version of the 275 GTB/4 was made possible by New York Ferrari dealer and owner of the North American Racing Team (NART) Luigi Chinetti, who commissioned the cars with his wealthy clients in mind. Road & Track called it “the most satisfying sports car in the world” and featured it on the cover, but when a hardtop 275 GTB cost less than 10 grand, the Spider’s $14,400 price was steep even for the bigwigs in Chinetti’s Rolodex.

NART Spiders have only gotten more expensive, however. The last NART to sell at auction was in 2013, when chassis 10709 sold for $27.5M. This Kissimmee car, chassis 10749, reportedly sold to the consignor on the private market in 2014 for $28M.

Harley Earl (1963) and Bill Mitchell (1964) Chevrolet Corvette “Styling Cars”

Other than Zora Arkus-Duntov, the two biggest names in the history of the Corvette are designers Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell. These two “Styling Cars” not only had famous designers as owners, they also came packed with unique features.

GM gave Earl the 1963 car as a retirement present, and he reportedly drove it regularly around Palm Beach in his golden years, even lapping Daytona in it in 1965 when he served as Grand Marshal of that year’s 500. Its metallic blue paint wasn’t available in the showrooms in ’63, and neither were the dual-circuit four-wheel disc brakes—those didn’t arrive until 1964. The passenger’s side gauge cluster with altimeter, accelerometer, and two thermometers is a neat touch, as are the four-branch, polished stainless-steel side pipes. The only thing ordinary about the car is the mid-range 327-cubic inch/300-horse small-block, but at least it’s backed by a four-speed manual. Barrett-Jackson sold it in 1999 for $152,300, then Mecum sold it in 2010 for $980,500 and again in 2013 for $1.65M. Mecum paired it as a single lot with the Bill Mitchell car in 2019, though the pair failed to sell with a high bid of $1.7M. The Earl car has a $750,000–$1,000,000 estimate this time around.

Speaking of Bill Mitchell, he was GM’s design boss when the C2 Corvette came to life in 1963, and since being the boss has its perks, he had a 1964 Corvette specially built to his liking for personal use. The special flourishes are a little more subtle than Earl’s car, but the 327/365 V-8 is more potent, and Corvette spotters will notice the eggcrate grille, unique chromed centerlock wheels, chromed side vents, and six taillights. Blue leather covers not just the seats but also the dash, glovebox, and door panels. For Kissimmee, it has a $500,000–$600,000 estimate.

First (1967) and last (1969) Chevrolet Corvette L88

Selling auction cars as a pair is an unusual and somewhat risky move. The entry point is significantly higher, which naturally shrinks the pool of potential bidders. And it takes a very specific kind of buyer who really wants both cars. Auction companies have pulled this off before, however, and Mecum is trying it with this offering of the first and last L88 Corvettes built.

The L88 hardly needs an introduction, but this special-order race-ready package offered from 1967 to ’69 resulted in the fastest and most collectible of all classic production Corvettes. Not that there was much production: Chevrolet built just 20 in 1967, 80 in 1968, and 116 in 1969.

The Tuxedo Black 1967 car is represented as the first production L88, and it was an SCCA race car in 1967–68, finishing second to a 427 Cobra in the 1967 Runoffs. We’ve seen it at auction before—a $1.55M no-sale in 2007, a $1.325M sale in 2010, a $1.7M no-sale in 2019, and a $1.8M no-sale in 2020.

The Fathom Green 1969 car, meanwhile, is comparatively unremarkable other than its build date, but being the bookend for such a famous part of Corvette history counts for a lot. We’ve seen this one before, too. It sold for $242,000 in 2006, was a $235K no-sale in 2012, sold again for $280,500 in 2013, and was a $430,000 no-sale later that year.

1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe

For someone who needs just one L88 in their garage, this one-of-20 Rally Red 1967 coupe is still plenty exciting. Maybe more exciting, even. It currently holds the title of most expensive Corvette of any kind ever sold at auction, a status it’s held for nearly a decade. Barrett-Jackson sold it in Scottsdale in 2014 for $3.85M. Setting a new benchmark in 2024 seems unlikely, though. Mecum’s estimate for the car this time around is $3.4M–$3.8M.

1948 Tucker 48

Preston Tucker’s ill-fated automotive venture caused a tsunami of publicity in postwar America, but construction of the actual car—the Tucker 48—amounted to a trickle. Just 51 examples were completed in the former B-29 bomber plant Tucker used for a factory. But thanks to the Hollywood-worthy story and innovative features like a rear-engine layout, directional headlamp, and forward-thinking safety-oriented construction, the Tucker 48 is a well-known and highly valued car.

Only one or two Tuckers pop up for sale per year, if that, and this one has never crossed an auction block. Represented as largely original and as having appeared in the 1988 film about the company, it has a $1.7M–$1.9M estimate.

1990 Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe by Singer

Singer Vehicle Design might be the most well-known and sought-after company when it comes to “reimagining” (read: restomodding) air-cooled 911s. As such, the wait list for one of its bespoke creations is a long one. The only real way to skip the line is to buy one of the few Singers that pop up on the second-hand market. It seems a little odd to open up your wallet for somebody else’s bespoke interpretation of a 911, but other people have paid over $1M at auction for the opportunity, and this 7700-mile car has a $1.2M–$1.3M estimate.

1966 Ford GT40

Known for its exploits on track, we usually see the GT40 in multi-colored racing liveries with numbers slapped on its doors. Even rarer than the race cars that got the glory, though, are the 30 GT40 MK Is built for street use. Slightly tamed for normal driving, they came with wire wheels, a nicer interior, and softer suspension.

This one sold new to a buyer in Rome who ordered his Le-Mans-winner-for-the-road with race exhaust and race-spec oil pump. Racing driver Umberto Maglioli bought it in 1968 but it was never raced, and it soon sold on to Germany. RUF, of Porsche modifying fame, eventually treated it to a concours-quality restoration. Though Mecum did not provide an estimate, a Mk I sold at Amelia in 2016 for $3.3M.

1964 Ferrari 275 GTB/LM Competizione Speciale

If it sells, this will be the most expensive car in Kissimmee and one of the most expensive cars sold all year. One of three specially built competition versions of the then-new 275 GTB and essentially the successor to the 250 GTO, this is the sister car to the Ferrari that finished third at Le Mans in 1965. This chassis, however, lived its life as a road car, first in Italy and then in France, where it stayed for 25 years. At some point early in its life, it also had three GTO-style nose vents cut into the bodywork. Eventually, the temptation to take it to the track became too strong, and subsequent owners actively vintage-raced it. It has since been restored and last sold at the Monterey auctions in 2014 for $26.4M.

***

Want a better understanding of what’s driving collector car values? Sign up for the Hagerty Insider newsletter.

The post The Best Cars up for Grabs at Mecum Kissimmee 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

When I was a kid, the bubbly shape of my father’s Porsche 356s made me fall in love with cars. So, too, did the high, happy engine melody and the wind rushing through my hair as I sat on the Speedster’s precarious rear seats (sans seat belts, of course—this was the late ’70s after all). Porsche was a sacred part of my childhood that scored a mark on my heart, but life happened and I never thought I’d be in a position to buy one of my own.

An ember in the form of a neighbor’s 1965 Togo Brown 356C Coupe kept my hopes faintly alive for fourteen years as I passed it almost daily in our apartment’s communal parking garage. It was rough around the edges and it didn’t run, but I never stopped pining for that car.

My Porsche dream reignited after I made a pivot to become an automotive journalist. My resolve growing stronger, I even convinced her to let me to pull it out into the light for a wash. No matter how many times I asked about buying it, though, she demurred. I looked up its value in the Hagerty Price Guide and offered her what I thought would be a fair price considering the work it needed but, in her mind, it should have been worth tens of thousands more. And it would be, if it ran. But a clean 356 isn’t cheap, and values have shot up over 50% from the mid-2010s to today. There was no way I could afford that.

So, I did what a lot of buyers do after getting priced out of their dream car – I looked for alternatives. The 356s spoke to me, sure, but I always loved the look of the early 911s, too. I also knew that the 912 combined the 911 platform with smaller four-cylinder engine of the 356. Just like when it came out in 1965, the 912 offers a more affordable alternative. When I started checking out prices, I saw two interesting things: First, 912 values had recently risen, but not to astronomical heights. Second, I noticed that the bump in 912 prices seemed to have pushed up 911 prices of the same vintage. Or maybe it was the other way around. As those early 911s became more unattainable, the 912s caught the attention of interested buyers like me. Either way, emboldened with this knowledge, I was determined to strike quickly.

I made the mistake of setting notifications from auction websites for 912s. It didn’t take many dings in my email inbox to see that 912s started coming up for sale fast and furious, and with each increasing sold price or “reserve not met” notification it seemed prudent to get on with it if this was something I genuinely wanted.

That urgency sent me to OfferUp, an online marketplace similar to Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, but a lesser-known one. A good friend, who also happened to be a 912 owner, had found some great deals there. My initial search bore little fruit, but I was determined and kept at it until one popped up. It looked incredibly promising. Or, I should say, too good to be true. Sometimes people want to believe something so badly they’ll ignore red flags and reason. Scammers pray on that kind of emotion, and I got hooked. The bait in this case was a 1966 Porsche 912, advertised as a minor project and asking $8500.

After a morning of frenzied back and forth texts with the “seller” (which is a no-no, never give scammers your phone number), I made my way from Los Angeles to San Diego to meet the 912. I’d consulted with several friends, the kind of people who buy cars online as frequently as most people buy groceries, and even they didn’t know for sure if this Porsche was real or not.

I’d spoken to the seller on the phone, but that’s not unusual. He had a California phone number, but that’s easy to fake. The brand-new seller profile and an odd, unsearchable name were two more red flags, and then there was this seller’s demand for a deposit.

Initially, he wanted a $1000 deposit as “more people were interested in the car.” Another no-no. Deposits are a bad sign. Thankfully, at this point my spidey sense finally started tingling. A grand is a big ask. I wasn’t willing to lose that much. I guess it didn’t tingle quite enough, though, because I was motivated and kept going. After a bit of back and forth, we agreed on $200. That was a sum I was willing to part with, and I had to see if there was indeed a Porsche 912 behind door number one.

(Helpful tip: If you do send money to anyone use PayPal. They are the only service that guarantees your money if you get scammed. With Venmo, Zelle, Cash App or others you have no recourse if you’re taken for a ride.)

It wasn’t until halfway to San Diego when a friend, who had come along for the ride, did what I should have done long before getting into this mess. One reverse image search later, we confirmed that the photos I’d been looking at weren’t for a 912 for sale in San Diego. They were actually from an East Coast dealer selling their 912 for $34,000. Tail between my legs, I bought my friend dinner and swore off Porsche shopping.

For about two days.

Another listing popped up, this one on Craigslist. It was a project. The silver paint looked sun-faded, almost like bare metal. There was no indication it ran and not much additional information, but one of my 912 consultants thought it might have promise. If it was a real car, of course. More importantly, the price was $20,000 less than cars I’d seen that were only slightly better-sorted. That would leave room for unexpected repairs.

Too good to be true again? Understandably, I felt hesitant. Fool me twice…as they say.

I contacted the seller, who immediately suggested I come see the car that afternoon. No deposit necessary. I went, and the seller gave me privacy as I inspected the car, including one of my trusty advisors over FaceTime. I didn’t feel pressured. The seller answered any questions he could, hadn’t done anything with the car since he bought it, and didn’t know much about it. He didn’t even know if it ran.

Another red flag? Who buys a car and never tries to start it?

Though it sat in a dirt lot behind a sun-beaten house in the San Fernando Valley—the LA suburb where all automotive rubber goes to die—there were many good things about this 912. The dash was brand new. The tires weren’t that old and held air once filled. The engine had all of its bits, and all of them moved, even if they were covered in spider webs. The crown jewel was that it had a brand-new floor pan. That meant minimal rust repair. Someone before this owner, then, had quit partway through a restoration but had gotten far enough along to embolden me. With each bit of good news I visualized the bottom line to a drivable car shrinking. Still, I tempered my excitement.

When he showed me the title, it didn’t have his name on it. Gulp. How is that possible? He didn’t register it because it was non-operational, and he didn’t want to pay registration while he worked on it. Fair enough, and some of my Porsche friends had apparently done this before, too. This seller was also a real, Google-able person.

No, this wasn’t the 356 of my childhood dreams and it certainly needed a lot of work, but this 912 was attainable. The seller gave me a couple of hours to consider, but within 10 minutes of leaving I called him back and said yes. Bill of sale in hand, I wired the money, picked up the keys and title, then called a tow truck to come get the car. “Holy smokes, I own a Porsche,” I thought as I followed the flat bed home. Then reality descended. What the heck do I do now?

(Read part two of Lyn’s 912 story here.)

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters. 

The post Buying my first Porsche and everything after, part 1 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It wasn’t the original fast four-door, but the Mercedes- Benz 300 SEL 6.3 was an important and bold car for the then-conservative company that built it, and it set M-B down the path of stuffing big V-8s into moderately-sized sedans. One of these Ur-super-sedans sold this week for $66,340 on Hagerty Marketplace. That’s a fair, market-appropriate number given its condition, but a look at the car’s history shows that owning a classic car (especially a Mercedes) is about more than the number on the bill of sale.

“Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3” sure is a mouthful to say (I timed it—it takes 3.18 seconds), but the story behind it is simple enough. During the ’60s, after the company’s withdrawal from racing in 1955 but long before the days of AMG, Mercedes-Benz mostly built solid, well-engineered cars with adequate levels of speed. High-performance wasn’t really in the sauce; the luxury two-seater SL was about as sporty as it got. But Daimler-Benz engineer Erich Waxenberger had the bright idea to take the handsome Paul Bracq-styled 300 SEL sedan (known internally as the W109), throw out its 3.0-liter straight-six engine, and in its place put the oversquare 6.3-liter V-8 (known internally as the M100) from Mercedes-Benz’s massive, oligarchic 600 Grosser limousine. The production version threw in extra luxury like leather, power windows, air conditioning, and burled walnut trim, and the new Benz debuted at the 1968 Frankfurt Motor Show. The only quick ways to tell it apart from the regular old 300 SEL were the slightly larger exhaust pipes and the “6.3” badge at the right corner of the trunk.

Other than some old-fashioned features like swing axles in the back, the 6.3 was an advanced car in the late ’60s. And a fast one, too. Self-leveling air suspension and four-wheel ventilated disc brakes were relatively exotic stuff, while the M100 overhead cam engine, with its mechanical port injection was good for 300 horsepower and 434 lb-ft of torque. In large part thanks to that monster torque figure, the two-ton Benz could scoot to 60 in about seven seconds on its way to over 130 mph. Those were perfectly respectable numbers for a dedicated sports car at the time. For a big fat four-door, they were shocking.

Road testers loved it. Brock Yates called the 300 SEL 6.3 “the most stimulating, desirable four-door sedan to appear since the Model J Duesenberg.” Road & Track titled its test “Merely the Greatest Sedan in the World” and justified it by explaining that “whatever it is asked to do, it does better than almost any other car.” On the interior: “everything has the air of unostentatious good taste and solid workmanship.” On the ride: “on rough roads, the 6.3 is simply miles and years ahead of anything built in the U.S. … and most of Europe.” And as for speed, the R&T guys reportedly took their 6.3 to a run-what-you-brung night at Orange County International Raceway and got three drag runs, good for two wins and one loss. The loss, and one of the wins, was against a 427 Corvette. A few years later at the 24 Hours of Spa, AMG notched its first major race victory with a highly-modified 300 SEL called the “Red Pig.”

All this car came at a price, of course. A new 300 SEL 6.3 in the U.S. cost about 14 grand at a time when many commuter cars cost about two. Even so, Mercedes-Benz was able to sell over 6500 examples worldwide. Now that they’re classics, maintaining the complicated bits like air suspension and the M100 V-8 can be daunting, but through Mercedes-Benz Classic, there is lots of support and most parts are available. In the last few years, the cleanest examples have stretched past $100K, but plenty of usable examples have also been selling in the mid-five-figure range. Not bad for what was a groundbreaking car in its day. Then again, you know what they say about old luxury cars being cheap to buy and expensive to own.

The 6.3 that sold this week is a mostly unrestored but well-kept car finished in the handsome combination of Horizon Blue over Natural leather. It has a sunroof, air conditioning, Becker Europa radio, upgraded wheels and stainless steel exhaust. The car has some hardware, too, having won the Preservation Award at the Misselwood Concours in 2018. It also appears that the person who sold the car this week bought the car at the 2018 Bonhams Simeone auction for $60,480. Against the $66,340 sale price (about the car’s condition #3+ value) they more or less broke even on purchase price.

But there’s more to it than that. The listing boasts $79,000(!) worth of service since 2018. So while this famous sedan can certainly be rewarding to drive, look at and own, this sale is a great example that you have to factor in servicing and repairs when shopping for one. You don’t just have to pay to buy a vintage Mercedes—you have to pay to own one, too. That said, if you find the right car, you can nudge those ownership costs down the road a ways.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post At $66K, this Mercedes supersedan was well-bought, and expensive to own appeared first on Hagerty Media.

After unprecedented growth and routinely broken record prices in 2022, things mostly looked calmer in 2023. That’s not to say the auction market was sleepy, though. Total sales over North American collector car auctions (live and online) observed by Hagerty are likely to fall within two percent of last year’s $3.5B total. The Monterey auctions had their second-highest sales totals ever (after 2022), while online auctions grew over last year in terms of both dollar total and vehicle count.

The super-expensive stuff, however, is still reserved for the large live auctions. Some mouth-watering, wallet-draining cars crossed the block this year; here are the 10 most expensive.

1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB

Sold by Gooding & Co. for $9,465,000

The successor to the 250 Tour de France (TdF) and the precursor to the 250 GTO, the 250 Short Wheelbase (SWB) was a true GT that could be driven to the track, take the checkered flag, and driven back home again. Ferrari built barely 160 examples and they’re all special.

This one lacks race history but makes up for it in originality. A four-owner car, reportedly never before offered for public sale and almost entirely original, it sold for just shy of eight figures but also slightly over its condition #1 (Concours) value.

2002 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Roadster

Sold by RM Sotheby’s for $10,235,000

With just 20 coupes and six roadsters built, Mercedes-Benz’s CLK GTR isn’t just a thinly-veiled FIA GT Championship-winning, 6.9-liter V-12-sporting race car for the road. It’s also one of the most rare modern exotic cars—there are four times as many McLaren F1s as there are CLK GTRs.

They come to auction very, very infrequently, and when they do, each sale price is drastically higher than the last. Eleven years ago, a coupe sold for $1.1M. The last roadster to sell at auction was in 2015, and it brought $1.9M. Then, another coupe brought $4,515,000 in 2018. At $10.235M, this 170-km (106-mile) roadster is the new benchmark until another one of the 26 CLK GTRs comes out of hiding.

2022 Bugatti Chiron Profilée

Sold by RM Sotheby’s for €9,792,500 ($10,691,569)

The word “unique” gets tossed around a little too much in the collector car hobby (how many times have you heard “my Corvenbahn 7000GTN is one of one in Testosterone Blue over Matte Crimson Emu hide with Stereosonic speakers that was built on a Tuesday”), but this Bugatti is truly quite different from the rest. While based on the already-exclusive Chiron, it has a different shape than the standard car as well as special interior features like woven leather for the dash, door panels, and center console.

Bugatti had planned to sell a special version of the Chiron like the Profilée, but when the original run of 500 build slots for the “regular” Chiron quickly sold out, the company canceled the plans and just the one Profilée was completed. It blew past its €4.2M–€5.5M estimate window as bidders battled for a chance to secure the last Bugatti with the acclaimed W-16 quad-turbo engine. In the process, it also became the most expensive “new” car ever sold at auction.

1972 Ferrari 312 PB

Sold by RM Sotheby’s for €12,042,500 ($13,028,780)

It’s a multi-race winning Ferrari, campaigned in a year when the company won its last World Sportscar Championship. It has a Formula 1-derived flat-12 engine so it sounds great, and it doesn’t look half bad, either. In other words, it’s no surprise that this 312 PB was one of the most expensive cars sold anywhere this year.

The final evolution of Ferrari’s “P” series of cars that dated back to 1963, the 312 PB was also one of the most successful of that series. The chassis won every race it entered in the 1972 World Sportscar Championship (Scuderia Ferrari skipped Le Mans that year), and this car was a big part of that effort. It won the Buenos Aires 1,000 Kilometres and the Nürburgring 1,000 Kilometres, and also took second at Sebring and third at Monza.

1957 Jaguar XKSS

Sold by RM Sotheby’s for $13,205,000

Little more than a Le Mans-winning D-Type race car with bumpers and a windshield, the XKSS is one of the prettiest, rarest, and most valuable road cars around. Jaguar built it to offload the expensive cars and parts that littered the factory after it pulled back from factory racing in 1956, and had enough stock to build 25 units. The infamous fire at the factory meant that just 16 were completed.

Like most of the 16 original XKSSs (Jaguar has since completed those missing 9 cars as XKSS “Continuations”), this one sold new to North America but it eventually passed through several U.K. collectors, one of whom snagged the registration plate “JAG 1.”

XKSSs tend to stay in long-term ownership and are rarely seen at auction. The last real one we saw cross the block was in 2017, and that car failed to sell at an $11.9M high bid. This one’s $13.2M final price puts it right within its $12M–$14M estimate range.

1964 Ferrari 250 LM

Sold by Artcurial for €15,771,200 ($17,120,268)

With just 32 built, the 250 LM is a very rare car, even rarer than a 250 GTO. It’s also a pretty car. One of the prettiest, really. It gave Ferrari its last overall win at Le Mans until the company’s triumphant return in 2023. Important and expensive, then, but the sale of this car was surprising not for how high it was—it was surprising for how low it was.

This car, chassis #5901, crossed the block in February, failed to meet reserve at a €20M reported high bid, and then went back home. French auction house Artcurial then brought it out for its own single-car sale in July. At this smaller affair, the high bid that eventually won the car was lower than where bidding opened back in February. In USD, it’s also less than the last 250 LM sold at auction, which was a $17.6M sale way back in 2015. Chassis #5901 boasts its original body, engine and gearbox, and certainly looks great, but it never raced once in period. In the bidders’ eyes, glory (or lack thereof) apparently trumped originality.

1962 Ferrari 250 California Spider

Sold by Gooding & Co. for $18,045,000

This was the most expensive car at the Amelia Island auctions this year by a factor of more than three. And for good reason, as it’s a short wheelbase (SWB) California Spider with covered headlights, which is the most attractive configuration and quite rare with 37 built. It’s also reportedly the only one finished in Azzurro Metallizzato, which is a shame because it’s a stunning color. There aren’t any major market implications here, just a top-quality car deservedly bringing top dollar.

2013 Mercedes-Benz W04 F1

Sold by RM Sotheby’s for $18,815,000

Modern F1 cars have been showing up at collector car auctions more often over the last few years. Top-quality cars with a good history are also bringing more money. With the sport more popular now than ever (thanks Netflix!), modern F1 cars broke into the top three auction sales in both 2022 and 2023. That’s never happened before. In 2022, the car on the podium was Michael Schumacher’s 2003 title-winning Ferrari F2003-GA, which sold for $14.9M. In 2023, it was Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes W04 from 2013, his first season with the team. While another Mercedes—Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1954 W196—is still the most expensive Formula 1 car ever sold at auction, Hamilton’s is now the most expensive F1 machine of the modern era.

1967 Ferrari 412P

Sold by Bonhams for $30,255,000

The most expensive and most beautiful lot of the Monterey auctions, this 412P caused little commotion on the auction block and sold for about what most people thought it would. That said, it’s still an incredible car for an incredible sum of money.

The 412P came about at the height of the Ford/Ferrari wars in 1967. After a disappointing 1966, when Ferrari’s 330 P3 played second fiddle to the GT40, Ferrari clawed back some glory in 1967 by finishing first, second, and third at the Daytona 24 Hours, along with securing the World Sportscar Championship title. While the factory team was racing 330 P3s/P4s, Ferrari built four of these 4.0-liter prototypes to customer specs for private teams and called them 412Ps. This one sold new to British team Maranello Concessionaires and wears the team’s signature red with light blue stripe livery. It had decent but unexceptional results in period with its original body and then with temporarily-fitted spyder bodywork, and eventually made it to the West Coast where an owner registered it for street use(!) before selling it on to somebody for just 10 grand(!).

Total production of the 412 P, 330 P3, and 330 P4 series numbers fewer than a dozen examples, so not many have been seen for sale. One of the P4s, cut up and modified for Can-Am racing in period, came to auction in 2009 and was a no-sale at a €7,250,000 high bid. The last confirmed public sale of one of these beauties was in 2000 when Christie’s got $5.6M for a P3.

1962 Ferrari GTO SII 330

Sold by RM Sotheby’s for $51,705,000

After last year’s shocking $142M sale of a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupe, things came back to normal in 2023, with an Enzo-era Ferrari taking the top auction spot of the year. And what a Ferrari it is.

It’s the first GTO to come to auction since 2018, when a car with less desirable bodywork but a clean history sold for a then-record $48.4M.

This car is one of a handful of cars fitted in-period with a larger 4.0-liter engine, which technically made it a “330 LM” despite its GTO bodywork. After some decent performances as a factory car, though, it was sold to private Italian owners, converted to 250 GTO spec, and then raced as a 250 GTO, hence RM Sotheby’s labeling it as a “330 LM/250 GTO.” It has since been shown in a featured GTO class at Pebble Beach and taken part in the ultra-exclusive 250 GTO Anniversary Tour, so it’s part of the club.

Other GTOs have reportedly sold for more on the private market, but this is now the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction and the second most expensive car sold at auction, ever.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The 10 biggest auction sales from 2023 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

The last time we flipped our calendars over to a new year, we looked back on a 2022 full of record-breaking car auctions, price-guide-breaking sales, and previously-unseen growth for seemingly everything four-wheeled and fun. As we roll our calendars to 2024, things are a little different. Prices are still high in general, and higher than some of us would like. Some cars are still appreciating, but the lines on the graph aren’t as sharp, and quite a few cars actually decreased in value. The Hagerty Market Rating, our measure of overall activity in the collector car market, just dropped for the eighth month in a row. Though this year saw far fewer common trends spanning this massive hobby of ours, several segments offered compelling storylines that stood out to us. Here they are, below.

Momentum among Japanese collector cars appears to be slowing

Japan is the Land of the Rising Sun, of course, and cars from that country have been doing some rising of their own the past few years. Mk IV Toyota Supras are worth roughly double what they were in 2018. So are first gen (AP1) Honda S2000s and (NA) Mazda Miatas. Nissan’s Skyline is on its own monstrous trajectory.

This year, though, hasn’t been as drastic. Of all the Japanese collector vehicles in the Hagerty Price Guide, the average appreciation in 2023 was 4.5 percent. Still growing and still higher than inflation, then, but last year the number was 15.6 percent.

Some Japanese classics have taken a dip. From May 2015 to April 2022 the 1970-73 Datsun 240Z grew 163 percent, but during 2023 that game-changing sports car took a four percent drop. The aforementioned first gen Honda S2000 shed ten percent in 2023, and the third gen (FD) Mazda RX-7 dropped 16 percent.

Some Radwood cars are up, some are down

This segment has some overlaps with the Japanese cars above, and Radwood-era cars (collector vehicles built during the 1980s and 1990s) were another group that spent much of the pandemic boom shooting up, only to slow down during the past 12 months.

Over the course of 2022, all 1980s and 1990s vehicles in the Hagerty Price Guide experienced an average appreciation of 14.5 percent. For 2023, the number is 4.5 percent. Fox-body Ford Mustangs kept up their multi-year growth spurt, with 5.0 convertibles appreciating an average of 15 percent in 2023, while 1991-92 GMC Syclones grew 6.7 percent and 1981-83 DeLorean DMC-12s grew by a movie-appropriate 18.8 percent. On the flip side, 1986-92 BMW M3s dropped 12.9 percent, 1987 Buick GNXs dropped 5.6 percent, and 1987-91 Ford Broncos dropped 12 percent.

Ferraris had a good year

If we ignore Formula One for just a sec, 2023 was quite kind to Italy’s most famous carmaker. Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the tenth time, and its first since 1965. Its Q3 revenue rose 24 percent from a year ago while profit jumped 46 percent. The company shipped more vehicles and its stock (ticker: RACE) is riding high. There’s even a movie about the man himself coming out. As for older Ferraris, they had a good showing in 2023, too. As of Q3, Hagerty’s  Ferrari Market Index saw higher year-over-year growth than any of the other six indices in the Hagerty Price Guide.

At the top of the Ferrari ladder, despite some headline cars falling short of estimates at auction this year, several sales both public and private confirmed that the market hasn’t dropped for Enzo-era Ferraris, especially ones with pedigree. Five Ferraris sold for over $10M this year. Although six brought $10M or more back in 2014, most years don’t see more than one or two, and some years don’t see any. And, after 2022’s shocking $142M sale of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, Ferrari wrested the top auction spot of 2023 with a $51.7M GTO, the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction.

With a wide range of performance, vintage and price point, the overall Ferrari market is nuanced. Naturally, not all the cars move together. Many gained value in 2023. Many of them didn’t. While median #2 (“Excellent”) values for some models like the 1968-73 Daytona (-4 percent), 1975-85 308 (-3 percent) and 2004-09 F430 (-12 percent) took notable steps back, the 1962-64 250 GT Lusso (+7 percent), 1968-76 246 Dino (+6 percent) and 1994-99 F355 (+11 percent) saw sizable gains.

Modern exotics were mixed

Exotic cars from the 1990s and 2000s, particularly the kind with a stick shift between the seats, were all the rage in 2022. We noted record sale prices every few weeks. Monterey saw records break for both the Ferrari F40 and F50, while even underappreciated exotics like the Jaguar XJ 220 gained a following. That car gained 26 percent in value over the course of last year. In 2023, however, not everything with carbon fiber and a clutch pedal was guaranteed to get more expensive.

Some did continue their momentum. Ferrari F50s, which more than doubled in value from mid-2021 to late 2022, saw a 3.5 percent gain in 2023. Lamborghini Diablos, which jumped 26 percent in 2022, gained 18 percent in 2023. Lotus Esprit V8s, which gained 18 percent last year, made an even larger 21 percent gain this year. At the same time, others retreated but remain higher than they were in 2021. Values for Porsche Carrera GTs surged 25 percent from Jan. 2022 to Jan. 2023. From then to now, Carrera GTs are down seven percent.  The rise and fall of Bugatti EB110s is even more stark. These cars shot up 54 percent in 2022, only to fall 15 percent in 2023. Ford GTs, meanwhile, had a modest two percent gain in 2022, and their current median #2 value of $408,000 is actually a few grand lower than it was last January.

Taken as a whole, the supercar market still grew in 2023, but it slowed down.

Modern F1 cars are showing up more often, and for more money

While this is an admittedly tiny, tiny slice of the collector car market, we can’t help but notice the proliferation of modern (early 1980s to today) Formula One cars coming up for sale as well as higher and higher prices for the most significant cars. All this despite these cutting edge computers on wheels not getting any easier to run or maintain. Modern F1 machines took a podium—landing among the year’s top three auction sales—in 2022 and 2023, something that’s never happened before. In 2023, there were two collector car auctions attached to Grands Prix. That has never happened before, either.

It all makes sense. F1 has been the pinnacle of motorsports for a long time, but it is more popular than ever right now. Owning a rare and drivable (albeit with great difficulty) piece of the series has big appeal for certain collectors, and the market for the best modern F1 machinery had a big showing in 2023. Highlights included Michael Schumacher’s 1991 Jordan for $1.63M, Kimi Raikkonen’s 2006 McLaren-Mercedes-Benz MP4/21 for $2.76M and Lewis Hamilton’s 2013 Mercedes-AMG W04 for $18.82M, the new record for a modern Grand Prix car.

Online auctions kept growing, and aren’t going anywhere

Online collector car auctions are sort of like remote work. They were around before 2020, but they flourished and matured during the pandemic, and now they’re here to stay.

During the 2020-22 period, it seemed like there was a new online auction company popping up every other week trying to cash in on the boom. That was no longer the case in 2023 and several of those upstarts are no more, but the space kept growing as people are no longer buying cars from the keyboard out of necessity, but out of convenience.

The post These are the collector car segments that stood out in 2023 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

This 1982 Eldorado isn’t exotic or rare. Cadillac sold 52,000 of them that year. It’s definitely not fast. The gentle float to 60 mph takes over 12 seconds. It isn’t particularly valuable, either—many enthusiasts could easily afford one. Yet there’s a lot to love in this 17-foot sofa of a car. An ambitious design when it debuted, the tenth-generation Eldorado came at a time when driving a Cadillac was a much bigger deal than it is today. In 2023, this ’82 is a curious combination of classic and modern, wrapped in a package that is glaringly of the period that produced it.

And my God, it’s comfortable. With the waterbed-like ride, seats so soft you want to melt into them, and a back seat roomy enough to nap on, this car is more relaxing than an entry-level classic car has any right to be. Spending time behind the wheel of this ’82 Biarritz coupe (which is currently up for auction on Hagerty Marketplace) was a clear reminder that nobody makes cars like this anymore. And the cost of entry for a unique driving experience can be temptingly low.

The “Eldorado” name first came about in 1952, born out of a competition held within the company to find a name for the upcoming concept car that would celebrate Cadillac’s 50th anniversary. Referring to El Dorado, the mythical lost city of gold sought by the conquistadors, the moniker stuck and made it into the 1953 lineup on Cadillac’s top-shelf, limited-production convertible. It then joined the normal production lineup for 1954, and from then on was always either at or near the top of the company’s model range. That meant huge, flashy, trend-setting cars packed to the gills with the latest in comfort and convenience features. The “Eldo” was always a car that made a statement, and that statement was: “I’ve made it!”

By the late 1970s, though, the Malaise era was near its peak. Domestic carmakers struggled to find their way while facing waves of new emissions and safety rules, an ongoing invasion of foreign competition, and consumer preferences that were shifting away from heft and toward fuel economy. Even the king of big, oversized cars—Cadillac—saw which way the winds were blowing. For the Eldorado, Cadillac’s golden boy, the big shrink came with its 1979 redesign.

Sharing the E-body platform with its corporate cousins the Buick Riviera and Olds Toronado, the ’79 Eldorado came in at 20 inches shorter overall, borderline diminutive compared to the elephantine ’78 model. A full foot got chopped out of its wheelbase and it tipped the scales at over 1000 pounds lighter. Still, this was no compact. The ’79 model retained the look of a properly large, two-door personal luxury car, with classic long hood/short deck proportions accentuated by the upwards kick at the beginning of its rear quarter panels. A huge, traditional Cadillac grille dominated the front, and behind it sat not some frugal four-cylinder but a voluminous V-8. Speaking of volume, despite the drastic decrease in overall size, the new Eldo offered more interior and trunk space than its predecessor. “Downsizing” may have a bad connotation, but this was downsizing done right.

Along with the Buick and Oldsmobile, the ’79 Eldorado was also the first American full-size car with fully independent suspension, in this case transverse torsion bars and tubular shocks up front, trailing arms, coil springs, and tubular shocks at the rear, and anti-roll bars at both ends. The four-wheel disc brakes weren’t exactly cutting edge, but in 1979 you couldn’t take them for granted, either.

Ever-evolving efforts to restore power while maintaining compliance meant that Malaise-era powertrains always incorporated a bit of trial and error, and the 10th-gen Eldorado went through a surprisingly wide range of engines over its seven-year production run. Standard for the inaugural ’79 car was a fuel-injected, 170-horsepower 350-cubic-inch V-8 along with the Oldsmobile 350-cubic-inch diesel. The engine lineup stayed the same for ’80, but the gas V-8 grew to 368 cubic inches. For 1981, Cadillac introduced the “V-8-6-4,” a cylinder-deactivating engine that tried to balance power and fuel economy, but ultimately didn’t deliver much of either. A Buick-built 4.1-liter V-6 also came in as an option and powered the first-ever six-cylinder Eldorado, but it didn’t prove a popular choice.

In 1982, the game of musical chairs with engines settled on the new standard: a 249-cubic inch (4.1-liter) V-8 called the HT4100 (“HT” stands for High Technology). The digitally-fuel-injected unit featured iron heads atop an aluminum block. Its 125-horse output (135 from 1983) was shrug-worthy even in 1982, but this adequate engine powered the bulk of Eldorados through 1985, and the final year saw improved block casting. All of the engines drove the front wheels, and drivers selected their gears through column-shift automatics; initially a Turbo Hydra-Matic three-speed from 1979 to ’81, and then a four-speed version from 1982 to ’85.

To justify its high price tag (1983 Eldos started at nearly 20 grand, or around $60K adjusted for inflation) Cadillac paid special attention to the Eldorado’s interior. Full digital instruments are commonplace today but were the stuff of science fiction when they became available on the ’81 Eldo. On the options list was the available “Cadillac Trip Computer” with LED displays for speed, time, radio controls, and remaining fuel in the tank. Electronic climate control was standard. Plush leather and knit cloth were available in a kaleidoscope of colors, and though no real trees were sacrificed at the altar of Eldorado, simulated walnut trim was a nice touch that today seems kitschy but felt premium in-period.

For an added spritz of luxury, Cadillac once again pulled out the Biarritz name. Taken from the seaside resort town in southwestern France, Biarritz originally designated an Eldorado convertible until 1964. The name returned in 1976 as an extra-luxury trim package. On the 1979–85 Eldorado, ticking the Biarritz box decked the roof out in brushed stainless steel—an obvious throwback to the hand-built Eldorado Brougham of 1957–58—while behind the stainless was a landau roof draped in vinyl with a thin vertical light set into each side. Biarritzes also got lounge-worthy, tufted pillow–style leather front and rear. For 1984–85, Cadillac also sold its first drop-top version of the Eldorado in eight years. Available only on the Biarritz and converted by the American Sunroof Company (ASC), this new open-air Eldo surely annoyed the heck out of people who bought the equivalent Eldorado in 1976, believing it to be the “last American convertible” and often paying a hefty premium for that temporary privilege.

For its part, the ’85 Eldorado was also the end of an era, as the 1986 debut of the 11th-gen car shrank even further, lost its convertible option, and wore a drastically different and more compact body. It simply no longer had the look of a big Caddy; if the ’79 car was downsizing done right, the ’86 car was downsizing gone wrong. Perhaps buyers saw it coming, because 1984 and ’85 were the best-selling model years for the 10th-gen, with 154,207 (the vast majority of them coupes) moving over that timespan. Cadillac’s position at the top of the big luxury car market would never be the same.

And now to actually drive this 28,000-mile Biarritz.

Aside from the faux wood, the all-red interior (seriously, almost everything in here is red except for the gauges and switches) feels expensive, and it’s here that the Eldorado’s mix of vintage and modern starts to become clear.

First there are the names, straight out of the 1950s. If an Eldorado Biarritz came out today, they’d probably call it the EB41i or something similarly lacking in imagination. The stainless roof is deliberately ’50s, too, of course, while the tufted seats and pretend wood are pure ’70s. Just the act of sitting in a two-door personal luxury coupe also reminds you that this market segment, once hip and hot, is now all but extinct.

Climbing in the back seat, just for fun, reveals how shockingly roomy it is, and the ashtrays back there are yet another reminder that people used to smoke a lot, and they did it everywhere, even in the back seat of a Caddy.

The long, hinged door handles and the thin, two-spoke, airbag-less steering wheel are other conspicuously vintage features, but the orange glow from some of the digital readouts, like a live fuel-economy reading, is a stark contrast to the other parts that feel so classic.

The feel of setting off in this Biarritz is another meeting of old and new. That HT4100 V-8 is certainly lazy, lacking any urgency whatsoever. But it wafts you forward with enough force for the car to get out of its own way and keep up (just) with modern traffic. It stops surprisingly well for such an otherwise soft car, so commuting in this thing could be a real possibility. I have no idea if the fuel economy readings are accurate, but most of the time it reads 22 mpg. Not bad.

With no transmission tunnel running through the interior, there is plenty of room to stretch out your legs and get comfortable, which really is the point of this car. The ride is creamy-smooth. When you go over a bump, you hear it more than you feel it. Turning produces plenty of body roll, unsurprisingly, but nothing feels numb or disconnected, just softened and smoothed out for maximum comfort. You just casually point that famous wreathed hood ornament in the direction you want to go, and let whatever happens happen. Going out for a drive can be a great way to unwind, but this is calming on another level.

A commercial for this car gushed that the Eldorado has a “special way of moving you, like no other car.” Cheap ad copy at the time, sure, but in the context of 2023, it’s actually quite true. There just aren’t two-door coupes with room for your friends that are so unashamedly soft and comfortable anymore.

For a car that shouted “I have money!” and one that the ads touted was what “dreams are made of” four decades ago, a 10th-gen Eldorado doesn’t say much today—except, perhaps, “I have an appreciation for luxury from a very different era” or “I’m building a slab.” That said, prices for the best examples have risen sharply and even doubled over the last seven or so years. In percentage terms, the rise is striking, but no version of this car is expensive.

The much rarer Biarritz convertibles naturally command a wind-in-your-hair premium, and the condition #1 (Concours or best-in-the-world) price of an ’85 convertible is $50,400, but the #2 (Excellent) value is a much lower $27,600, while #3 (Good) condition drivers can be had in the teens or less. As for coupes, they’re solidly in entry-level territory, or at least what passes as entry-level in 2023. The #2 value for an ’85 coupe is $22,600, and there are plenty of moderate-mileage, moderate-wear drivers out there for four figures. Although the median value for Hagerty insurance quotes on 1979–85 Eldorados is up 29 percent since 2018, it’s still only $12,800. It’s Cadillac-level car for Kia-level coin.

The Eldo’s original buyers were more country club than night club, and the car still appeals to a more mature crowd. Baby boomers make up less than a third of the collector-car market, but they make up nearly half of all Eldorado owners. Gen-Xers remember these cars when they came out, but in general show surprisingly little interest in them. Aside from the stereotypical older Caddy buyer, these cars also have big appeal for rappers in the South as well as for enthusiasts with eccentric taste whose primary interests are style and design history, color schemes, and comfort rather than performance.

Eldorado ownership is generally affordable and straightforward. Most of the mechanical and electrical stuff is available at the big auto-parts chains, and while the various engines used in the Eldo each have their quirks, they’re all known by now and fixable. Trim pieces can be a bit of a challenge to find. Bumper fillers are prone to cracking and discoloration but reproductions are available. For other exterior and interior trim, things get more difficult, so a parts car may be the best bet.

The 1979–85 Eldorado’s moment came at a time of rapid change in the industry. GM threw a ton of money at research and development for this chassis, and the outcome was a car awash in digital technology when such things were truly exotic and clothed in a new and efficient design language. However, it was also a car that retained ties to Cadillacs of eras gone by. Through the first half of the 1980s, this was the ultimate GM two-door car not named Corvette and, like its more sporting colleague, it’s available today for entry-level dollars.

In an era where we’re all in a rush, when cars are faster than ever, and everything seems overpriced, the Eldo is totally different. It’s kind of a silly car, but its complete lack of sporting pretensions, take-it-easy attitude, mild cost of ownership, and opulence per dollar is seriously charming.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The 1979–85 Cadillac Eldorado is slow, soft, and superb appeared first on Hagerty Media.

With Michael Mann’s Ferrari movie hitting theaters in a few days, we’ve been watching the trailer and doing what car people do—car spotting. Set during just a few tumultuous months during 1957, it explores both the personal struggles of Enzo Ferrari and the critical economic challenges facing the automaker at that time. The backdrop, meanwhile, is a golden age of motorsports that produced the most desirable and valuable cars in history.

After combing through the trailer and production information, as well as looking through the actual events, we’ve picked out some of the main cars. And, based on recent private transactions and past auction results brought forward using our Ferrari Market Index, we’ve calculated their values.

It’s also important to note that no eight-figure Ferraris were harmed in the making of this film. Most of the race cars seen on screen are replicas.

Lancia-Ferrari D50: $2,000,000

Although most of Lancia’s great racing moments were with sports or rally cars, the Italian firm had a brief but memorable go at Formula One racing in 1954-55. Designed by Vittorio Jano, the D50 was both clever and beautiful. A dual-overhead cam V-8 served as a stressed member of the tubular chassis for added rigidity, and a five-speed transaxle in the rear improved balance. The most unusual and recognizable feature were the fuel and oil tanks, mounted in pods nestled inside the wheelbase on either side of the driver.

The D50 debuted in late 1954 and started the 1955 pre-season with two victories, but the death of Lancia’s star driver Alberto Ascari when testing a Ferrari sports car, as well as mounting money troubles, led Lancia to offload its whole F1 project to Ferrari. The latter company, along with driver Juan Manuel Fangio, took modified versions of the D50 (now wearing a prancing horse) to the 1956 World Championship.

Of six cars completed in period, only two legitimate D50s are said to have survived. Both are in long-term collections/museums, but a recreation done to exacting standards from original plans and advertised with an FIA Historic Technical Passport sold nine years ago for €812,000 ($1,117,555 at the time).

Maserati 250F: $5,000,000

While the Lancia-Ferrari D50 was an unconventional Grand Prix car, the Maserati 250F was mostly standard practice for 1950s F1 machinery. The inline-six engine, simple tubular chassis, suspension (wishbones/coil springs in front, DeDion axle in rear), and overstuffed-cigar-shaped styling were common sights on many F1 cars during that decade. The Maserati, though, was well-executed, powered by a gem of an engine, and driven by top talent. It was also a prolific car with over two dozen built, and privateers used 250Fs alongside the factory team. 250Fs appeared on the grid from 1954 to 1960, and while they weren’t always at the front, that’s still an impressively long run in a sport known for being at the cutting edge of car design.

The 250F won its first race in 1954, and amassed a total of eight championship race wins, including Fangio’s epic drive at the Nürburgring in 1957. Sir Stirling Moss called it “probably the nicest, most user-friendly F1 car” and “without doubt the finest handling front-engined F1 car I think built by anybody.”

Naturally, it’s not the kind of car that pops up for sale often, but an ex-Stirling Moss, Italian GP-winning car sold for $4.62M back in 2014.

Ferrari 250 GT TdF: $6,500,000

The Tour de France Automobile was a long-distance sports car race held on roads and race circuits throughout, you guessed it, France. It ran annually from 1951 to 1986, and for four years straight from 1956-59 the 3600-mile event was won by Ferrari’s dual-purpose road/race model – the 250 GT. Alfonso de Portago, the Spanish nobleman/race driver depicted in the film, delivered the first of these Tour de France wins for Ferrari. The company didn’t originally call this car the “Tour de France” or “TdF,” but it’s easy to see how the name stuck given the car’s dominance.

Ferrari built between 70 and 80 original 250 GT TdFs. Their prices can range widely depending on history, originality and bodywork, even down to how many vents are behind the side windows. But they do come to market regularly enough to calculate a reliable Price Guide value. They range from $5.7M for a #4 (Fair) condition car to $7.8 for a concours-ready #1 condition example, but exceptional ones have sold for more than that. That ex-Portago Tour de France winner, for example, sold for $13.2M in 2015.

Ferrari 500 TRC: $8,000,000

Widely considered to be the most beautiful of Ferrari’s Testa Rossa designs, 500 TRC is also notable for its engine. Or its engine’s missing cylinders, depending on how you look at it—what’s under that sculpted hood isn’t a wailing V-12 but a barking 2.0-liter four-cylinder.

Four-banger Ferraris like the 500 Mondial, 750/860 Monza and 500 TRC either raced in smaller displacement sports car categories or leveraged reliability to achieve overall wins. And while they lack the piston count of the 12-cylinder cars, they don’t lack one bit of the style. They took their fair share of checkered flags, too. Ferrari built just 19 500 TRCs, and sold most of them to customers. When it was a new, internationally-competitive race car, Ferrari sold 500 TRCs for about $11,000 (about $118,000 today). The last one seen at auction was in 2022, and it brought $7.815M.

335 Sport: $36,000,000

Because the 335 S and 315 S were the focus of Ferrari’s attack on the 1957 Mille Miglia, the main subject of the film, this car will likely see a large share of screen time. These Scaglietti-bodied V-12 sports cars were themselves evolutions of the 290 MM, which had given Ferrari victory in the 1956 running of the 1000-mile Italian race. The 315 S was the 3.8-liter version, with about 355 hp. The 335 S was the 4.0-liter version, with 390 hp.

For the 1957 World Sportscar Championship, both had stiff competition from the new 400-hp Maserati 450S as well as the Aston Martin DBR1 and Jaguar D-Type. For the Mille Miglia, however, early retirements among the Maseratis left Enzo Ferrari in a much more comfortable position. By the final hours of the race, his cars filled most of the top ten spots. Then, just miles from the finish, the left front tire blew on de Portago’s 335 S. He crashed, killing himself along with his navigator Edmund Nelson and nine spectators. Ferrari won the Mille Miglia and the 1957 championship, but it was a tough year for Il Commendatore. As a result of de Portago’s accident, the Mille Miglia would be no more, and the Italian authorities charged both Enzo and the tire manufacturer with manslaughter. The charges were eventually dismissed.

Another 335 S sold at auction in 2016 for €32.075M ($35.7M). At the time, it was the most expensive auction car ever sold in Europe.

315 Sport: $36,000,000

Ahead of the carnage following de Portago’s accident in the 335 S, the less powerful 315 S took the first two spots, with Piero Taruffi (played by Patrick Dempsey) followed by Wolfgang von Trips. It’s Taruffi’s car, number 535 and the winner of the last ever Mille Miglia, that appears on the poster for the film.

Ferrari built just three of these cars in period, and while there are records of 315s selling in the 1990s, that was a vastly different market than today’s. Given the lack of recent data, the closest comparable sale would be the $35.7M 335 S mentioned above.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post What the glorious cars from Michael Mann’s <em>Ferrari</em> are worth appeared first on Hagerty Media.

If the second generation (C2) Corvette is the best Corvette (and it is, just trust me), then surely the 1967 model year is the best C2. And if 1967 is the best C2, aside from some ultra-rare unicorns, the big-block L71 is the best ’67. It’s the cleanest-looking, with that massive stinger hood pointing the way forward, and somehow also the meanest. The triple-carbureted L71’s solid lifters and high compression sounds positively racy, especially breathing through beefy side pipes under the occupant’s hips. It doesn’t take long to see why these cars are so near the top of the collectible Corvette ladder.

The C2 was a massive leap forward for America’s sports car when it burst on the scene 60 years ago after several years of development. Though its drivetrains remained largely the same as 1962’s offerings (four 327 cubic-inch V-8s, now with available in-house Muncie four speeds in place of the Borg-Warner units), the ’63 Corvette was otherwise a very different car. It weighed less than the old C1 thanks in part to thinner fiberglass for the body, but didn’t sacrifice any interior space. Stopping was still by good-old-fashioned drums, but they were beefed up. More importantly, this was the first Corvette given fully-independent suspension—a frame-mounted differential with U-jointed half-shafts were connected via transverse leaf spring out back, while A-arms on coil springs and an anti-roll bar took care of things up front. This was also the first Corvette with an alternator instead of a generator.

Then there were the looks. It’s easy to get desensitized to mass-produced automobiles, and each new generation of Corvette is not without its cheap details and gimmicky flourishes, but the stylists (under the leadership of Bill Mitchell and Larry Shinoda) really hit it out of the park with the C2’s basic shape. The pointed creases at the tops of the fenders, the lines of the fastback, and the sharp lamp-less nose with its nearly hidden grille made it unlike anything on the road in 1963. Or since, really. Car Life magazine noted that “[t]hey are unique, copy no trend and are exceedingly handsome,” while Car and Driver agreed that “it stands out from its European counterparts as having in no way copied them but arrived at the same goal along a different route.”

While it borrowed heavily from GM’s experimental 1959 Stingray Racer, this was the first Corvette designed as a coupe (though the convertible remained available) as well as the first one shaped with input from a wind tunnel. Like later C1s, the new C2 also had quad headlights, though in a first for a postwar American car, the Sting Ray’s were hidden by a rotating assembly. This would become a Corvette hallmark, and last until the introduction of the 2005 C6.

On track, the C2 mostly played second fiddle to the Shelby Cobra, but on the road it was a different story. Certainly in performance if not in refinement, the new Corvette matched most European GT cars. Zora Arkus-Duntov, the engineer behind the C2, boasted that “[f]or the first time I now have a Corvette I can be proud to drive in Europe.” Not everyone on the other side of the pond was so impressed, though, as Britain’s Motor Sport magazine griped that the styling, with embellishments like fake hood vents and split rear window was “as vulgar and over-ornamented as the [Jaguar] E-Type is simple and functional.”

One particular design cue, that split rear window, was divisive even within the halls of GM. Designer Bill Mitchell loved it because it looked good. Engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov hated it because it blocked the driver’s view. Duntov won out as the 1964 Corvette went to a single-piece glass design out back (and got rid of the fake hood vents). Ironically, a ’63 coupe is worth more than the equivalent ’64 today by a wide margin.

Chevrolet sold 21,513 units for the C2’s first year, evenly split between coupe and convertible as well as up 50 percent from 1962. Four 327 engines, three transmissions, and six axle ratios were available. For the C2’s sophomore year in 1964, there were the aforementioned changes to the hood and rear glass as well as fewer ribs for the rocker trim, and improvements to the suspension.

Bigger changes came for 1965. The hood smoothed out and three tall vertical vents came in behind the front wheels. New engines arrived, most important among them being the Corvette’s first big-block, a 396 cubic inch monster rated at 425 hp and codenamed L78. This spelled the end for the 327/375hp Fuelie, the previous range-topper. Few people were enamored enough with fuel injection to spend more money for a slower car than the L78. Injection eventually returned to the Corvette lineup in 1982. Last but not least was the very welcome addition of four-wheel disc brakes, as even the optional sintered-metallic-lined drum brakes of early C2s weren’t up to the task of stopping a big-block. For 1966, that big-block further fattened up to 427 cubic inches and came in either 390- or 425-hp ratings, while the B-pillar on coupes lost its fussy-looking extractor vents.

Which brings us to 1967 …

For starters, a C2 Corvette in 1967 wasn’t supposed to happen—the new C3 was due out that year. Aerodynamic headaches with the next gen’s bodywork, though, resulted in a 12-month delay. By then, the C2 Corvette wasn’t the same fresh face it had been in 1963. The pony car segment exploded, and while Chevy’s two-seat flagship had no direct competitors in the showroom, two upstarts by the name of Camaro and Firebird did offer cheaper ways to go fast. But despite existing in a more crowded field and essentially serving as a carryover, the ’67 Corvette became the best of the breed.

External changes were subtle but enough to easily distinguish the C2’s final year from the rest. A “wolf in wolf’s clothing,” said the promo materials. Most obvious are the five small front fender vents, while a central reverse light above the license plate was added out back. On convertibles, buyers could specify the hardtop with black vinyl covering as was then fashionable, and on 427-powered cars there was a new one-year-only “stinger” pseudo-scooped hood. Ventilated steel “Rally” wheels came standard, while the optional centerlock cast aluminum wheels were now bolt-on and replaced the old spinners for safety reasons. On the inside there was new upholstery, the parking brake handle moved to between the seats, and the cowl on the passenger’s side lost its grab handle. Base price for this final and most refined C2 was $4240.

Technically the top dog in 1967 was the L88 engine option, which essentially got you a slightly stripped track-worthy car powered by a high-compression race engine. But there were just 20 of those built, and today they’re on a different plane of existence when it comes to collectibility. For the average motorist going ’Vette shopping in 1967, the top choices were a trio of 427s, themselves fed by a trio of two-barrel carburetors perched under a triangular air cleaner. This latest “Tri-Power” system detected vacuum through the center carburetor and opened the other two carbs gradually as the throttle demanded more air and fuel. Car and Driver called it “astoundingly tractable” with  an “uncannily smooth engine response … as smooth and responsive as fuel injection.” Since Oldsmobile and Pontiac had discontinued their own triple-carb setups after 1966, this was GM’s only such system.

This range of triple-fed 427s started with the 400-horse L68. For $437.10 buyers could get the L71, which came with solid lifters, 11:1 compression, and a 435-hp/460 lb-ft rating. The L89 option then took the L71’s cylinder heads and swapped them for aluminum, but at $368.65 it was a steep ask and just 16 buyers went for it in 1967.

Car and Driver readers voted Corvette “Best All-Around Car” for 1967, and the magazine called it “the most sophisticated passenger car made in America … and among the best engineered sports cars made anywhere.” Testing a 427 coupe, the magazine also recorded a 0-60 time of 4.7 seconds, a feat that’s still pretty quick today and mind-blowing 56 years ago. That didn’t help sales, though, and in 1967 Corvette sales fell to 22,940, their lowest level since 1964. Maybe people were waiting for the new C3. These days, though, the 1967 stands along with the 1963 Split Window as the most beloved C2 while having its ’63 predecessor handily beat on performance.

3754 L71s were produced—considerably more than the L88 and L89, but not exactly garden-variety numbers, either. When well-equipped, the L71’s sticker could add up to around $6000, or just under $55,000 today. For context, that’s about the price of a nicely-equipped new Camaro SS.

The C2 lasted just five model years, and it remains the shortest-lived ‘Vette so far. It also came in only two body styles, but the available engines, paint colors, interiors and options can be dizzying and create a tremendous amount of valuation variation. Narrowing the focus to 1967 enables a bit more clarity.

To be up front, no 1967 Corvette is cheap nowadays. Excluding the mythical L88, the model year’s average condition #2 (“excellent”) value is $135,000, well above the $94,600 average across the whole C2 generation. Values for ’67s range from $42,700 for a base 327/300hp coupe in scruffy #4 (“Fair”) condition all the way up to $540,000 for an ultra-rare L89 in #1 (“Concours”) condition, while an L71 coupe runs from $97,600 in #4 condition to $231,000 in #1, and an L71 convertible from $95,600 to $265,000.

Options make a difference, though, and this is more true for vintage Corvettes than nearly any other classic car we can think of. Pricing notes for C2s in the Hagerty Price Guide include -10% for a Powerglide automatic (when available), +$5K for factory air conditioning (when available), +$12K for bolt-on aluminum wheels, +$5K for 36-gallon fuel tank, +$1800 for leather upholstery, +$2500 for power steering, and +$2000 for side exhaust.

Like many high-end American cars, 1967 Corvettes took a serious dip with the onset of the Great Recession. They have since clawed their way up past pre-recession levels except for the L71, which has traditionally been among the most volatile as well as the most expensive of the C2s we regularly see on the market. These cars are also, unsurprisingly, favored by the oldest collectors and enthusiasts. Credit the high cost of entry and the 60-year-old build date.

Long held in high esteem among the bowtie brigade, C2s have been valuable for a long time despite their prolific 117,964-car run. It isn’t particularly hard to find a ’67 in the right condition. Many are quite clean. The important part is finding one with the right options for your wants and needs, for the right price. And since certain option combos carry big price premiums, ’67 Corvettes are one of those cars where authenticity and documentation (build sheets, tank stickers, certifications, etc.) are pivotal. With cars this expensive with details that matter this much, ensuring authenticity can be the difference between a car stealing your heart and breaking it. Consulting an expert is one of those things buyers never really regret, and luckily the community around classic Corvettes is big enough that there will likely be just such an expert near enough to either you or the car.

Aside from calling in for backup, things to look out for when ’67 shopping include the usual stuff like rust. The bodywork may not be metal, but nearly everything underneath it is, and rust-prone areas include the main frame rails, between the rear of the doors and the rear wheels, and inner door frames.

One of the more appealing things about owning a classic car built by the General is parts support. Both small- and big-block V-8s are cheap and easy to rebuild. Same goes for the transmissions. Many of the interior pieces are easy to find as well, while the headlights and some year-specific trim pieces are a little harder.

An L71 occupies an odd place in the market. They’re definitely expensive. There are way cheaper ways to get the crossed flags on your keychain, as well as far cheaper means of going much faster. Then again, Corvettes always offer good value no matter what price point we’re looking at—think of what all the other top-level sports cars from the late 1960s (Cobras, Ferrari Daytonas, E-Types, etc.) cost these days. These last, most refined, prettiest, and quickest versions of America’s sports car’s most celebrated era are high up the Corvette food chain because they deserve to be.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post The 1967 Corvette was the best of the best appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It’s December now, and for much of the country that means we’re driving with the heater on. Many of us have also put our fun cars away for the winter or are starting to tackle winter projects. It’s never too early to start daydreaming about sunshine and top-down cruising, however, and the two-seater drop-tops below are affordable ways to do it once spring arrives. All are worth under $25,000 in #2 (“Excellent”) condition in the Hagerty Price Guide, but driver-quality examples of each can be found for even less. Which would you pick, or imagine yourself behind the wheel of, when the weather turns warm?

2000-05 Toyota Mr2 Spyder: $20,500

Since Miatas aren’t allowed (we featured them in a recent run-down of popular Japanese collector cars, and everyone knows they’re a viable contestant in this list), why don’t we start with something similar, but then again very different?

In some ways the third (and final) generation Toyota MR2 lives in the shadow of its more interesting, more ambitious predecessors. Taken on its own, though, it offers similar vibe, performance and reliability of the NB (1999-2005) Miata it once competed against. Its 1.8-liter 140-hp four-cylinder has nearly the exact same displacement and power rating as the Mazda, and the two Japanese budget warriors can be had for a similar price.

Then again, the Toyota also comes in a more exotic-feeling mid-engine layout, and because the Mister Two never really caught on (yearly North American sales averaged about one-third of the Mazda MX-5) it’s a relatively rare sight on the road. With its mid-engine mojo and distinctive buggy-eyed face, it’s sort of like a toned-down, more affordable Lotus Elise.

1989-95 Lotus Elan M100: $23,500

Speaking of Lotus (and Miatas), both Mazda and the then-GM-owned British carmaker went into the 1990s with the same idea—basic, affordable English roadsters were long dead, but people would buy one if only somebody would build it. Looking to fill this obvious hole in the enthusiast market, Mazda looked to classics like the MGB and, ironically, Lotus’s own Elan from the 1960s as inspiration. Then they distilled the concept, added Japanese reliability, and drove off into the sunset with what became the world’s best-selling two-seater.

Lotus, however, took a different approach. The new Elan, aka the M100, used a Japanese drivetrain, which was reassuring. With 165 hp from the turbocharged 1.6-liter Isuzu four and a curb weight of less than 2500 pounds, so was performance. But there were two strikes against this new Elan. First was the fact that the Isuzu four spun the front wheels. The Elan M100 has plenty of defenders who will happily tell you how wonderfully it handles, but purists considered a front-drive Lotus just plain blasphemy. Second was the price, which came in at over twice the price of the Miata that launched at the same time. The Elan was significantly faster and came with a much better interior, but it wasn’t enough to justify the cost. Only a few hundred American buyers stepped up for one, so at today’s values they make for a very rare car with a famous premium badge for not a ton of cash.

1986-96 Chevrolet Corvette: $24,600

The C4 Corvette isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and its values have generally reflected that. But you can’t deny it’s a ton of car for the money compared to the other ’80s and ’90s performance cars that have skyrocketed over the past five years or so.

Technically a C4 coupe is quicker and cheaper than a convertible, and it still offers wind-in-your hair motoring thanks to its removable targa roof panel. Sometimes, though, there’s no substitute for a true drop-top, and C4 convertibles are still remarkably affordable. Aside from the last few model years and special edition models like the Grand Sport or 1995 Indy Pace Car, most L98 (1986-91) and LT1 (1992-96) convertibles can be had for under $25K in #2 condition. If you’re willing to live with some bumps, scratches and miles, however, it gets even better. The #3 (“good”) value for most C4 convertibles doesn’t even push into the teens.

1980-81 Triumph TR8: $23,900

Thinking of a small lightweight English roadster with American-derived V-8 oomph usually brings up the Shelby/AC Cobra or the Sunbeam Tiger. Both of those cars are badass but also downright expensive. There’s another choice, however. One that’s way cheaper and way…wedgier.

In 1975, Triumph started to phase out its old-school TR6 with its body-on-frame construction and wood dash. In its place came the TR7, which was supposed to carry the struggling company into the future. Wedge-shaped cars were all the rage in the mid-1970s, but designer Harris Mann arguably missed the mark with the TR7, which was roundly criticized when new and doesn’t look that great today, either. Early TR7s also had serious reliability issues, and the sub-90-hp 2.0-liter four left them all underpowered. To fix that last bit, Triumph dropped in the all-aluminum 3.5-liter Rover V8 (which traced its roots back to Buick in the 1960s) and christened the new model, naturally, TR8. It was the same basic car, but the much more powerful engine and better build quality were very welcome.

This “English Corvette,” as some called it, was a consistent winner in both SCCA and IMSA racing, while Car and Driver called it “nothing less than the reinvention of the sports car.” But it couldn’t reinvent Triumph. A victim of British Leyland’s collapse in the 1970s and 1980s, the company was defunct by 1984, making the TR8 the last of the traditional British roadsters. Association with the unloved and visually identical TR7 along with the plastic-and-plaid interior kept TR8s cheap for years, and although #2 values are up 52 percent since 2019, these cars still provide good value for the money.

1991-95 Alfa Romeo Spider S4 (base model): $23,400

The original Alfa Spider kept its Italian builders busy for decades, and its 1966-94 production run makes it one of the longest-lasting sports cars ever. It’s also one of a precious few made-in-Italy two-seaters that average enthusiasts can realistically dream of parking in their garage.

The last of the series debuted in 1990 (1991 in the US), and on balance it’s arguably the best of the breed. The looks, chassis, and engine trace their roots straight back to the ’60s, but also featured plenty of upgrades and improvements. In fact, this final generation is sort of like a ’60s classic infused with ’90s comfort and convenience, although some of the older cars’ more interesting quirks were gone. North American buyers could choose from a base Spider or a “Veloce,” featuring luxury add-ons like leather seats, air conditioning, and a cloth top as well as alloy wheels. While Veloce models command a big premium with #2 values stretching past 30 grand, base models come in at a much more tolerable $23,400.

2006-10 Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky: $20,700 / $18,600

“Solstice and Sky” sounds like a lady rap duo, but they’re two of the last true American sports cars that don’t read “Corvette” on their tails.

Meant to be home-grown alternatives to the affordable roadsters from Japan, the short-lived Solstice/Sky pair were casualties of GM’s Great Recession bankruptcy. Still, they sold reasonably well when they were around and remain cheap entries into modern roadster fun.

The Pontiac Solstice first arrived for 2006 with 177hp and 166 lb-ft of torque. To bring up the Miata yet again, the Solstice had it beat on grunt, but at 2888 pounds the Pontiac was also several hundred pounds beefier. The interior was also clad in standard early 2000s GM plastic, but the body looked like nothing else on the road, and that’s still the case today. On track it won the SCCA Showroom Stock B and Touring 2 championships, and then in 2007 a hotter Solstice GXP model arrived with 260 turbocharged horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque as well as a limited-slip diff.

The reskinned Saturn version, called the Sky, arrived for the 2007 model year and its turbocharged variant was called the Redline. All versions of these cars are affordable, but while the Saturn is more conventionally pretty, a Pontiac badge has more cachet than a Saturn one (not a hard thing to do) and is generally worth more. Base Solstices run $16,600 to $19,400 in #2 condition, while a GXP only stretches into the low-20s. The Sky, meanwhile, ranges from $16,400 for a base model to $24,300 for the most expensive Redline.

1997-2004 Porsche Boxster: $22,000

Alas, the “cheap” Porsche is mostly a thing of the past. The 914s, 944s and 996-generation 911s that people used to turn their noses up at have long since gotten respect, and higher price tags as a result. Mercifully, though, the first-gen (986) Boxster, which started at over 40 grand when it was new, has stayed somewhat inexpensive. Sure, it’s not the best-looking P-car, and it has been the butt of many a joke. But you could say the same thing about the 914, and that car’s now twice as expensive as a Boxster.

The 986 is a well-balanced, comfortable, tossable little car. And with one trunk up front and another behind the mid-mounted flat-six, it’s more practical than it looks. In addition to the jellybean styling, the infamous IMS bearing issue tarnished the 986’s reputation a bit, but after two decades many cars have had that issue fixed by now or are unlikely to suffer from it. There are plenty of examples around, and the average #2 condition is $20,800. Stretch the budget a little bit and a Boxster S, which came with a larger engine and over 30 more hp than the base car, sits at just $27K.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post For under $25K, these 7 cool convertibles bring fair-weather fun appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Turn back the clock to about 2000. Now imagine that you’re a car company looking to promote your latest frugal, front-wheel drive, fuel-sipping four-banger hatchback. Naturally, your first call is to a racing outfit to completely re-engineer and beef up the little car, yanking out the four-cylinder up front in the process and stuffing a V-6 in the back. You then rush the car to market, sell it in small numbers at a surprisingly low price (which can’t have been profitable), and run a one-make racing series with it for a few years to promote the regular model.

The plan sounds awesome, not to mention completely unnecessary, but Renault used its Clio hatchback to bring this imagined scenario to life from 2001 to ’05. One of the original track cars just sold this week at a sinister $66,666 winning bid ($69,999 with buyer’s premium), which seems like plenty of rarity and track day fun per dollar.

Renault started selling the Clio in 1990, and while we’ve never been able to buy one here in the States, it is consistently one of Europe’s best-selling cars and is a popular commuter car in South America as well. It’s sort of like a French VW Golf. The second-generation Clio debuted in 1998, and at the Paris Motor Show that year, Renault trotted out a sporty mid-engine Clio hatchback as a concept car. It was a clear reminder of the R5 Turbo rally racers of the 1980s, which were themselves reworked mid-engine versions of the Clio’s predecessor, the Renault 5.

Encouraged by the concept car’s reception, Renault worked with British firm Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) of Le Mans–winning and Jaguar XJR-15 fame to develop the car for two purposes. The first was a one-make racing program called the Renault Clio V6 Trophy series. The second was a road-going version of the racer, and TWR built the early road cars at its facility in Sweden. The entire rear of the Clio was reworked, and the inherent practicality of a hatchback was wiped away by the 3.0-liter V-6 borrowed from the Renault Laguna family car that got dropped in place of where the rear seats and cargo space used to be. A six-speed manual was the only available gearbox, and new suspension (MacPherson up front, multi-link in the rear) was added. A Clio V6 is wider, lower, and longer than the standard model, with a squat stance and big butt. Launched in late 2000 and selling for less than £30,000 in the UK, this pocket exotic seemed like a bargain.

But it wasn’t perfect. The TWR connection was reassuring, and having a big engine stuffed into the middle of small car is often a recipe for fun, but early reviewers were a little disappointed and sometimes frightened. First, the Clio V6 was over 600 pounds heavier than the standard Clio, so despite the 227 hp driving the rear wheels, it wasn’t as much faster than the regular front-driver as you might think. The 0-to-60-mph sprint came in a little over six seconds.

Then there was the scary handling. The engine provides plenty of oomph and makes a nice throaty sound, but it sits high up in the chassis. The high center of gravity plus its short wheelbase made this spunky Clio a bit unpredictable. According to Autocar, the “approach to corners went grip, grip, grip, grip, gone,” and the Clio V6 is “at its absolute best when parked.” Andrew Frankel later remembered that people “always bang on about early Porsche 911s as being the trickiest road cars to drive on the limit, but in my experience they’re not even close. A Ferrari 348 is worse than that and worse than the 348 was that Clio.” Ouch.

After about 1500 Clio V6 road cars sold, a new Phase 2 model came out. Production moved to France at the Renaultsport factory in Dieppe, and a facelift ditched the narrow, grin-like grille for larger grilles split by the Renault diamond in the middle. Improvements to the suspension, stiffer subframes, and a longer wheelbase made it friendlier to drive, while different gear ratios and more power thanks to reworked induction and cylinder head made it a little quicker, too.

Even so, Renault stopped selling this imperfect but undeniably cool car after 2005. Only about 3000 examples of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 models were built. If you’re of a certain age, you probably drove one of these in a video game with your thumbs, but Clio fans in the States will have to keep waiting for the real thing—you can’t import one till they’re 25 years old.

As for the race cars, they effectively replaced Renault’s previous one-make championship, the Renaultsport Spider Trophy series, which wrapped up in 1998 before the Clios debuted at Jarama in 1999 (Renault’s 100th birthday year). Compared to the road cars, the Clio V6 Trophy versions had more power (281 hp) and a six-speed sequential gearbox instead of the standard manual.

If the Clio V6 was a flawed road car, that doesn’t mean that it made a perfect race car. The rear end was prone to hopping and there are plenty of reports of poor reliability, though participants noted good support from Renault, and the series attracted talent like Philippe Siffert and Anthony Beltoise (both sons of F1 greats), as well as current F1 safety car driver Bernd Mayländer. It was also a not-so-expensive way to go racing—a new car for the 2003 season cost €45,800. The series tackled famous European tracks like Monaco and Nürburgring, and even served as a support race for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Trophy car sold this week is represented as #79 of the 159 Trophy versions built by Renaultsport. No race history is represented, but it was imported from Japan earlier this year, and the build date is believed to be 1999. Track-prepped with OMP seats, Sparco six-point harnesses and aluminum pedals, digital dash, roll cage, fire system, brake-bias adjuster, and Cromodora wheels, it does not have a title as it is a track car, but it does have a Japanese-assigned VIN.

Like any race car, this eccentric little French hatchback probably needs sorting before being driven in anger. It does run and drive, though, and looks like a very fun way to annoy some Porsches at your local track day. Hopefully the owner does just that. Since he “can’t wait to see it parked next to my street legal Clio V6 =)” he certainly knows what he just bought.

The same seller sold another Japanese–imported Clio V6 Trophy last year for $78,750. This $67K sale price is closer to what good Phase 2 road cars sell for on the other side of the pond, and seems like a decent value. There are certainly more expensive and slower ways to go racing.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This Renault Clio V6 Trophy is a fun, French track weapon for $70K appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Each December, we put together the Hagerty Bull Market List, our annual selection of the collector-car hobby’s movers and shakers. Basically, it’s a group of 10 or so cars (with the occasional truck and motorcycle thrown in) that the data tells us are poised to grow in value over the next 12 months. This isn’t investment advice per se—rather, an opportunity to point out that, with some due diligence and a smidge of luck, you can experience the joys of the collector-car hobby and maybe get your money back or a bit more when it’s time to sell.

The 2024 group we’ll reveal on December 11 will be the seventh list, so we’ve had plenty of time (and opportunity) to check how our predictive powers panned out.

For each of the last six years, the Bull Market List has assembled a group of cars, trucks, and occasionally motorcycles that we anticipate will gain in value over the following 12 months. We’ve made our selections using data from public and private sales, insurance valuations, and historical trends, along with a dash of intuition. The seventh annual list is nearly upon us, so we took a moment to look back on six years and 62 vehicles picked out as good investments.

Each list presents a wide-ranging group and data that back up their potential for growth but, inevitably, some of the picks have done better than others in market terms. Some surged. Some floundered. Is there a pattern? Slicing up our picks into categories provided some answers.

Nation of origin

Bull Market picks since the debut 2018 List have represented most of the major car-producing nations. The home team has fielded the most selections—22 American vehicles in all, and, in terms of price movement, they’ve averaged a 10.3 percent annualized return. When averaged together, these picks have performed better than the market as a whole; that said, the USA also has some of the widest-ranging results in Bull Market. The original 1984–93 Saleen Mustang has been one of Bull Market’s best with a 27 percent annualized return, while the 1968–70 AMC AMX and 1936–47 Harley-Davidson EL/FL Knucklehead have been some of the worst with 0 percent and -3 percent returns, respectively.

The Germans fared slightly better with an 11.9 percent average annualized return, while cars from the Volkswagen Group posted among the best (1990–94 Corrado with 47 percent, 2000–06 Audi TT with 20 percent) and worst (2007–15 Audi R8 with -4 percent) annualized returns. The Italians averaged a 14.4 percent annualized return, and the oldest choice was surprisingly the best, with the 1968–76 Ferrari Dino notching a massive 33 percent. The Brits did the worst, with a 17 percent return for the 1970–95 Range Rover standing out among the 1948–54 Jaguar XK120 (-1 percent), 2006–17 Aston Martin Vantage (3 percent), and 1983–97 Land Rover Defender (3 percent).

Japanese vehicles had a 13.8 percent average annualized return with the Lexus LFA (23 percent) and Suzuki Samurai (32 percent) making the biggest strides, but surprisingly it was the Swedes that technically did best. We’ve only picked two Scandinavian cars for Bull Market, and while the 1985–93 Saab 900 Turbo posted a market-beating 5 percent annualized return, the 1981–93 Volvo 240 wagon has surged with a whopping 52 percent. That’s in percentage terms, though, as both Swedes are still relatively inexpensive. The median condition #3 (“Good”) value for a 240 wagon is $12,200.

Body style

As the collector vehicle hobby has matured and more generations of buyers have entered the fray, vintage trucks and SUVs have surged in value. Many of them used to be quite cheap, and from that starting point, trucks became the market’s fastest-growing segment for several years. Since 2018 we’ve put 14 trucks and SUVs on the Bull Market Lists, and they’ve had an average annualized return of 12.6 percent. The biggest and the smallest of the pack have done the best, with the H1 Hummer making 20 percent and the Suzuki Samurai making 32 percent.

On average, trucks had higher average annualized returns than supercars, luxury cars, muscle cars, and sports cars. But what about wagons and vans? Even though new-car shoppers in general shy away from vans, and the wagon is nearly dead in America, there are clearly people who still appreciate them. These family haulers had a 30.5 percent annualized return. Yes, we only have three vehicles (1991–96 Buick Roadmaster at 30.5 percent, 1980–92 Volkswagen Vanagon at 14 percent, and 1981–93 Volvo 240 at 52 percent) to go by, but the growth is still striking.

Era

We can also slice up our Bull Market picks by the era in which they were built. What we call “vintage” consists of anything built before 1980, and generally these vehicles have fared OK. Their average annualized return of 9.8 percent beats the rest of the market, which generally averages 3 to 5 percent. Our two oldest Bull Market picks, the 1936–47 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead and 1948–54 Jaguar XK 120, had annualized returns of -3 and -1 percent, respectively. But the Ferrari Dino did 33 percent and the 1965–70 Cadillac DeVille Convertible made 25 percent.

Radwood-era vehicles, anything built from 1980 to ’99, have been a very active segment of the market over the last five or so years. Many of them are making the transition from used to collectible, seeing increasing demand from Gen-Xers or older millennials, or becoming eligible for import to the United States after their 25th birthday. Nearly half of our Bull Market picks since 2018 have come from this era, and in general they have done the best with an average annualized return of 16 percent.

Anything built after Y2K can fit into the “modern” bucket, and in a few instances our picks were still theoretically new enough to still be on a factory warranty. With an average annualized return of 7.8 percent, these vehicles still beat the market as a whole but fared worse than 1980s-90s vehicles and older classics. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (-4 percent) and Pontiac G8 (1 percent) are still great cars with a lot going for them, but they haven’t become market darlings just yet.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Bull Market: What categories climbed highest? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Each December, we put together our annual “Bull Market” list, an annual attempt at picking out the collector car hobby’s movers and shakers. Basically, it’s a group of 10 or so cars (with the occasional truck and motorcycle thrown in) we believe are poised to grow over the next 12 months. This isn’t investment advice per se—rather, our goal is to point out that with some due diligence and a smidge of luck, you can experience the joys of the collector car hobby and maybe get your money back or turn a little profit when it’s time to sell.

The 2024 group debuting on December 11 will be the seventh list, so we have had plenty of time (and opportunity) to check how our predictive powers panned out.

The 2019 list was our second go-round and, like the 2018 list, featured a good mix of classic and modern, car and truck, domestic and import. But, nearly five years on, where do these picks stand relative to the rest of the market, which has an annualized return of 2.7 percent? On average, the Bull Market class of 2018 performed incredibly well, securing an annualized return ten full percentage points higher than the broader market. Only one selection failed to exceed the Hagerty Price Guide’s average, while several saw dramatic increases. Let’s dig in.

***

Biggest hit:

1984–93 Ford Mustang Saleen (27% annualized return)

Only a handful of our Bull Market picks over the years have had a better annualized return than the original Fox-body Saleen Mustang. Although many 1980s–1990s American cars haven’t seen the same level of big growth as their contemporaries from Germany and Japan, Fox-body Mustangs have been an exception. The original Saleens of course used the Fox platform, and were the ultimate Mustang with a warranty at the time. Add in the fact that they were basically SCCA club racers for the street, and Saleens really start to look like the Shelby GT350 of the 1980s. But while a 1965 GT350 in #2 (Excellent) condition was worth $450K at the beginning of 2019, a Saleen Mustang was worth a mere fraction of that. Though they don’t fetch Shelby dollars, Saleens have gotten significantly pricier, with their median #2 value now sitting at about $87,000.

Biggest miss:

2008–09 Pontiac G8 (1% annualized return)

Oof, this was the first (but not only) Bull Market pick to underperform the rest of the collector car market, proving our crystal ball isn’t always crystal clear. The last muscle car from the brand that practically invented the genre, the G8 is essentially flat. Essentially a rebadged Holden Commodore from Australia, the G8 was Pontiac’s second dose of Down Under excitement after the 2004–06 GTO (a rebadged Holden Monaro), but it arrived for the 2008 model year and proved an unprofitable exercise through Pontiac’s demise in 2009.

The high-performance GXP model has the ingredients of a four-door Corvette, with its 6.2-liter LS3 V-8 and available 6-speed manual, and back in 2019 we proclaimed “[v]alues are up 10 percent over last year’s. There’s no downside to this car, and it will never get any cheaper.” Wrong. Just 12 months after the 2019 Bull Market list went out, G8 GXP #2 values dropped by nine percent. They’ve since recovered to a median of $39,600, which is just $1800 more than they were at the beginning of 2019, not counting for inflation.

Honorable mentions:

1991–96 Buick Roadmaster (25% annualized return) and 1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport (4% annualized return)

There are no universal truths in this hobby, as both the best and the worst performers from the 2019 list were modern American cars. The beefy faux wood-clad Roadmaster is both a soft-riding throwback to the family wagons of earlier generations and a tempting sleeper with its C4 Corvette-derived LT1 V-8, so they have an appeal to enthusiasts of all ages. Although values are actually down over the past year, they have clearly made the transition from used car to collector car. The median #2 value was a downright cheap $8600 at the beginning of 2019. At the end of 2023 it’s over double that amount.

Speaking of C4 Corvettes, we picked the Grand Sport (GS) because “[j]ust 1000 examples built in one year means these cars are rare, fast, and distinctive. In a Corvette—in fact, in most cars—those factors add value. Plus, most Grand Sports were treated as collector cars from new, which means lots of low-mileage choices out there.” The GS has ingredients that translate to collectability in Corvettes—and any collector car, really—but this limited-edition ‘Vette still can’t escape the fact that it hails from the C4 generation. The 1984–’96 run of America’s sports car has remained relatively cheap despite nearly all of its contemporaries getting more expensive, and we’re still a little confused about it. The GS actually spent most of 2019 decreasing in value, but has since recovered to a median #2 value of $48,800, about nine grand more than it was at the beginning of 2019.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 2019 Bull Market List: Report card appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Each December, we put together the Hagerty Bull Market List, our annual selection of the collector-car hobby’s movers and shakers. Basically, it’s a group of 10 or so cars (with the occasional truck and motorcycle thrown in) that the data tells us are poised to grow in value over the next 12 months. This isn’t investment advice per se—rather, an opportunity to point out that, with some due diligence and a smidge of luck, you can experience the joys of the collector-car hobby and maybe get your money back or a bit more when it’s time to sell.

The 2024 group we’ll reveal on December 11 will be the seventh list, so we’ve had plenty of time (and opportunity) to check how our predictive powers panned out.

Nearly six years on, let’s take a look at the 2018 Bull Market List—the very first.

Since December 2017, when the Bull Market 2018 selections were announced, the annualized return across all cars in the Hagerty Price Guide (reflective of the entire collector-car market) is 2.7 percent. This Bull Market cohort managed a 10.6 percent annualized return, significantly outperforming the norm.

***

Biggest hit:

1993–98 Toyota Supra (19% annualized return)

It doesn’t feel like “way back,” but way back in 2018 the collector car world hadn’t quite gone totally gaga over ’90s Japanese performance cars, for which the Mk IV Toyota Supra is one of the poster children. The signs were there, however. The first Radwood shows were happening, early ’90s JDM darlings like the R32 Nissan Skyline were being imported in significant quantities, and enthusiasts of the PlayStation generation were reaching an age where they could afford some of their favorite Japanese gems from Gran Turismo.

The Supra wound up being a great choice for Bull Market, with a 19 percent annualized return compared to 2.7 percent for the market as a whole. And although clean, unmodified examples of this tuner favorite have long been hard to find and never particularly cheap, the values from 2018 look almost quaint. The median condition #2 (Excellent) value for a Supra Turbo at the beginning of ’18 was $67,200, and even the most perfect #1 (Concours, or best-in-the-world) Supra wasn’t a six-figure car yet. Today, the median #2 value is $175,000.

Biggest misses:

1993–2002 Pontiac Firebird and 2010–14 Ford F-150 Raptor (5.1% annualized return)

While they both outperformed the rest of the market and proved that our crystal ball at least kind of worked on our first go-round at Bull Market, the last-generation Firebird and the first-generation Raptor were the list’s worst performers by a wide margin.

With the Pontiac, we narrowed in on the Firehawk, a special high-performance model upgraded by tuning shop SLP. When putting together the list, we saw a spike in buyer interest for the special ‘birds and noted that they are “every bit as fun as the old muscle cars but with modern amenities; nothing exotic about the mechanicals.” But even though a Firehawk or even just a well-optioned Trans Am could give the Supra a run for its money between the stoplights, they just never took off like the Toyota did. Their values only outpaced the Price Guide average by 2.4 percentage points, and the median #2 value for Firehawk coupes currently sits at $34,400, about a fifth as much as the Supra Turbo.

As for the Raptor, it conceivably still could have been on the factory warranty when we put together the 2018 Bull Market List. While our reasoning was sound and newer performance vehicles have certainly seen plenty of appreciation since 2018, there are also plenty of newer and better fast trucks out there to choose from now, including two subsequent generations of F-150 Raptor as well as the Bronco Raptor from Ford.

Honorable mention:

1969–72 Chevrolet C/K Blazer (15% annualized return)

Although it was a distant second, the first generation, 1969–72 Chevrolet C/K Blazer experienced an impressive 15% annualized return. Its growth was indicative of the big growth in the vintage truck market during the last decade. Icons like the Toyota FJ40 and first-generation Ford Bronco led the way and, just as it did in the ’60s, the Blazer followed the Bronco’s lead with growth of its own. Eventually, nearly all classic utility vehicles made an upward move in the late 2010s, and before the pandemic boom that began in 2020, vintage trucks were one of the most active segments in an otherwise stable market.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 2018 Bull Market List: Report card appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Napoleon once said, “Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.” Bear with me—this does relate to cars. Because, inevitably, some cars do just get forgotten, even ones that caused a splash when they were new. The 1953 Packard Caribbean was supposed to be America’s “smartest” and “most glamorous” sports car. Packard went bust only a few years later and most people today have never even heard of the Caribbean. Remember the AMC Rambler? Motor Trend gave it “Car of the Year” accolades in 1963. But if you were born after, say, the Carter administration, you’ve probably never seen one.

Obscurity, however, has never claimed the 1970 Chevelle. By any measure, this peak year for Chevrolet’s bread-and-butter muscle car remains one of the most popular automobiles in the hobby, across both budgets and different generations of enthusiasts.

You haven’t been able to drive a new Chevelle off the lot in 46 years. You haven’t been able to drive one of the fast ones off the lot in over half a century. Yet, by make/model, the Chevrolet Chevelle is the fourth-most-insured car on Hagerty policies. Narrowing it down further to year/make/model, the only Chevrolets more popular than the 1970 Chevelle are the 1967, ’68 and ’69 Camaros, and the ’57 Bel Air. That’s a lot of staying power for a 54-year-old car.

There have been plenty of headline-worthy Chevelles from over the years, but it’s no surprise that the 1970 model year cars are the standard bearers for the nameplate from collectibility and valuation perspectives. It was arguably the biggest year for muscle cars as a whole, and the Chevelle came refreshed and ready for a fight. Along with a dramatic restyle, GM finally lifted its self-imposed ban on engines larger than 400 cubic inches in intermediate cars. The monster 454-cubic inch Chevy engine became one of the biggest guns in the muscle car arms race (beaten in cubic inches only by the Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Buick 455 engines), easily larger than the rival 426 Street Hemi or Boss 429, as well as the biggest mill Chevrolet ever threw into a passenger car.

Six years prior, the Chevelle started with more humble beginnings, but its trajectory toward muscle car greatness wouldn’t take long. After its launch in 1964 as Chevrolet’s entry into the burgeoning mid-size segment, the Chevelle slotted in between the smaller Chevy II and the full-size Impala. Almost immediately, increasingly more potent 283- and 327-cubic-inch V-8s found their way into the Chevelle’s high-performance Malibu SS trims. The Chevelle SS, available with the range-topping big-block 396, became its own distinct series for 1966, the year in which the model also got its first significant facelift. The fenders cut forward towards the headlights for a more aggressive, motion-implying front end, and the roof on coupe models swept back more gracefully. Most memorably, though, the fenders got rounder and bulged at each end for the “Coke bottle” styling that became all the rage in the second half of the ‘60s. A more substantial refresh gave the 1968 Chevelle all-new, even more sculpted bodywork as well as a shorter wheelbase.

This was further refined in 1970 with a squarer shape, bobbed front and rear ends, subtly-flared fenders, a more prominent grille, and new bumpers. SS models featured a body-colored bar bisecting the blacked-out grille and a domed hood. These more taut, cleaner lines might have been conservative compared to other muscle cars, but there was no question the Chevelle SS meant business. “We made our tough one even tougher,” the ads proclaimed.

But the copywriters were just as likely talking about the big bent-eights underneath the SS’s domed hood, and the beefed up options that came with them. While the still perfectly potent SS 396 stayed on in two different outputs, the big news for 1970 was option code Z15, aka the Chevelle SS 454. Ticking that $503 box added heavy-duty suspension, power front disc brakes, SS wheels, the 454-cu-in LS5 engine (which was also available in the Corvette) rated at 360 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, and a standard Muncie M21 close-ratio four-speed transmission. An M22 four-speed or three-speed Turbo Hydramatic were also available.

An additional $263 got you the even hotter LS6 engine. A 454 with forged aluminum pistons, forged steel connecting rods and crankshaft, solid lifters, and 11.25:1 compression, the LS6 put 450 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque under your right foot. The one-two punch from these 454s was short-lived, though, as by 1972 the LS6 was canceled, and although the LS5 was still available (except in California), a drop in compression reduced power to 270 net hp.

Muscle car enthusiasts know the well-worn story of emissions legislation, unleaded gasoline mandates, and surging insurance premiums that bled the performance out of performance cars, with a noticeable impact beginning in 1971. Though performance was unbridled in ’70, demand for top-end muscle had already begun to wane—most sources point to fewer than 9000 SS 454s built for 1970, a fraction of the total ’70 Chevelle production that ran into the hundreds of thousands.

Today, though, the past is just context to better appreciate these cars in the flesh. I strolled up to this 1970 SS 454 Sport Coupe, currently listed for sale here on Hagerty Marketplace, and there’s no question that it looks the part. Whereas the scoops, decals, and colors of a GTO Judge or High Impact-painted Mopar embodied the era’s excess, the seriousness of the ’70 Chevelle’s design, especially in Tuxedo Black with broad white stripes, feels more timeless.

As with any muscle car, the option list goes a long way toward shaping a great cruiser, drag strip terror, or something in between. This example left the factory with the LS5 454/360hp engine, M22 “Rock Crusher” four-speed transmission, 3.31 Positraction rear axle, ZL2 cowl-induction hood, Soft-Ray tinted glass, power steering, heavy-duty battery, and pushbutton AM radio.

A $148 option, the cowl-induction hood subtly sets the car apart. Hood pins suggest that this is no ordinary Chevelle, and a vacuum-operated flap toward the cowl flap opens up at full throttle to feed extra cold air to the hungry Holley four-barrel underneath it.

Now, as the ads for this car say, “[t]he performance starts as soon as you’re seated.” The standard bench seat (buckets were available) in the SS puts you in a position few would call “Super Sporty,” but it is comfortable and offers a cool, commanding view of the subtle crease atop each front fender and the big dome in between them.

Of course, the loud parts beneath that dome are the star of the show, hinted at by each fender’s “454” badges but made perfectly clear when you twist the key. Even plodding along in traffic, the big-block growl coursing through the exhaust and rhythmic, urgent idle never let you forget you’re in an old muscle car thrust along by enormous pistons. The angry-sounding engine is the perfect complement to the car’s purposeful looks.

You might expect that implied brawn to present itself in the controls as well, but that’s not the case. The steering wheel is surprisingly thin and almost delicate-feeling, with little feedback and ample power assistance. It takes a decent amount of input before you see actually feel the car begin to turn. The clutch is also reasonably light, and though the beefy Hurst shifter reaching up from the floor does require long and deliberate throws, it doesn’t require much effort to operate.

Road testers in-period found that the LS5 Chevelle would hit 60 mph in around six seconds. Five decades on, the numbers might not be much to write home about, but there’s no questioning the Chevelle’s ability to deliver a visceral off-the-line experience. Mashing the throttle on 7.4 liters worth of carbureted V-8 feels like an occasion every single time. The Chevelle certainly feels quite fast, and it sounds even faster. I have no idea how much benefit the cowl-induction hood truly adds, but the little air-inhaling flap dares you to drop the hammer just for that added visual effect just ahead of the windshield. The more powerful LS6 was a tempting value when it was new and it proved a popular option, but at no point driving the LS5 did I think, “boy this is slow, it really needs a few dozen more horses.” It’s still a beast.

The Chevelle doesn’t stop as well as it goes, but that’s to be expected from a front-heavy 53-year-old big-block muscle car. The power front disc/rear drum combo in this one is perfectly adequate. So, somewhat surprisingly, is the handling. It doesn’t change direction like a sports car (nobody would ever expect it to), but it feels planted around a mild bend. Unlike many of the bigger and softer American cars from back then, it’s not just a boat that floats around corners. Compared to a 1967 Chevelle SS 396, it feels tighter, flatter, and faster, a bit like the older car on mild steroids.

When you settle things down and just cruise, the ride turns quite compliant and, loud exhaust notwithstanding, is quite comfortable. When Hot Rod tested an SS 454 in 1970 it called the Chevelle a “pleasant and very predictable road and highway car.” On the right road and in the right weather, that’s still plenty true in 2023, even if the 10-or-so mpg makes for frequent pit stops.

With body styles ranging from sunny day drop-tops to family wagons, a broad engine lineup that included sleepy straight-sixes and the ground-pounding LS6, and long list of trims and options, the Chevelle market can be overwhelming. Even narrowing the view down to just the peak year of 1970 doesn’t help all that much. Condition #2 (“excellent”) values in the Hagerty Price Guide range from $11,800 for a relatively pedestrian 307/200hp-powered Malibu sedan all the way up to $373,000 for an LS6 convertible. It’s the Super Sport models that top the wish lists of most enthusiast collectors, however, and there the picture gets a little clearer.

Being quintessential muscle cars, 1970 SS Chevelles were caught up in the muscle car boom that preceded the 2008 financial crisis, and were equally part of the bust that followed it. LS6s returned to their pre-recession values the quickest, but the other models weren’t too far behind. Today, the LS5, which is technically rarer than the LS6, is worth roughly half as much and arguably the better value. Prices range from $50,100 for a running but rough car in #4 condition to $112,000 for a concours-ready show car. Add about 15 percent for a four-speed over an automatic, and the usual muscle car rules about matching numbers and as much documentation as possible apply here.

When looking at buyer interest for 50-year-old cars, it tends to skew towards people who remember those cars when they were new or new-ish, like baby boomers or older Gen Xers. Not so with the second generation Chevelle. Despite wearing a badge that hasn’t graced a new car in well over 40 years, buyer interest largely mirrors the collector car market as a whole.

Given the huge range of values already mentioned, plus the absolutely enormous aftermarket support, parts availability, and knowledge base for these cars, there’s a Chevelle for every type of enthusiast. The SS 454s are just king of the hill when it comes to desirability.

In its 1970 road test, Hot Rod also proved prophetic about the Chevelle’s place in the future. “The past is gone. The future may never see a car like this…We savored every moment of this car, for the memory may have to last a long time.” It did indeed have to last a while, a couple of decades, even, but performance cars have long since caught up to and far exceeded the levels of the muscle car era. So while “glory is fleeting” rings true for this old car, what about “obscurity forever?” With the scores of people who buy, sell, race, and restore Chevelles, or just have fond memories in one, not yet. Not even close.

**

To view the Hagerty Marketplace online auction listing for this 1970 SS 454 Sport Coupe click here.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters. 

The post The last great big-block Chevelles won’t be forgotten appeared first on Hagerty Media.

A 1962 Ferrari 330 LM / 250 GTO has sold for $51.7M (including buyer’s premium) at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, adding a few more gold stars to the car’s already impressive resume. It’s the most expensive auction car of the year and the second-most expensive car sold at auction, ever. It could have brought more, and other examples of this Holy Grail Ferrari have reportedly sold for more privately, but for now the car is the most expensive GTO sold at auction as well as the most expensive Ferrari ever sold at auction.

After its announcement in August, the GTO—Chassis 3765 LM—has been the most anticipated and talked about auction car since last year’s sale of a one-of-two 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe. The Merc became the first car to break nine figures, doing so in dramatic fashion with a world record sale at $142M. That record is likely to stand for quite some time, and if the Mercedes was a “once in a generation” sale, a Ferrari 250 GTO is one of those “just a few times in a generation” transactions. Still exciting, still significant.

A Ferrari 250 GTO receives that characterization because, really, it’s a lot more than just a car. It’s on the very short list of eight-figure automobiles, sure, but it’s also one of the most beautiful and influential designs on four wheels and many consider it to have become more art than vehicle. It’s a piece of history, as well: GTOs have an enviable racing pedigree achieved during some of the best years for a company known for entire eras of greatness at the race track. It’s also a ticket to the most exclusive events in the world—no car show, concours, historic race or rally, or museum exhibition is going to turn away a real-deal GTO. The famous GTO “Anniversary Reunion,” where every five years or so a cluster of GTOs meet up in some postcard-worthy region for a drive, is only open to the three dozen GTOs built. Finally, bringing home a GTO means you’ve reached the peak of car collecting: if you’ve had one, there’s little else to hunt down. And they do take hunting. GTOs tend to stay with their owner for a long time, and just three, including Chassis 3765, have come to auction over the past ten years.

Developed for the 1962 racing season, the GTO was homologated (the “O” stands for Omologato) as the latest and greatest evolution of the well-proven and successful 250 GT. Among its many differences from its predecessor, the 250 GT SWB, was its improved bodywork. Aside from being very easy on the eyes, the more aerodynamic body allowed for higher top speed than the SWB, which was useful at high-speed tracks like Le Mans. The 3.0-liter Colombo dry sump-lubricated V-12 engine also sat lower in the chassis, which helped in the corners. Even against stiff competition from the powerful Shelby Cobras as well as E-Type Jags and Aston Martins, the GTO took Ferrari to the top spot in the over 2.0-liter class of the World Sportscar Championship for 1962, ’63, and ’64.

Just two GTOs have crossed an auction block in recent memory before this week, both for all-time record prices at the time. Bonhams sold one with the more desirable Series I bodywork in Monterey in 2014, and despite a fatal in-period crash and a complete rebuild following, it sold for $38.1M. Four years later in Monterey, RM Sotheby’s sold one with the less desirable Series II bodywork but a cleaner history for $48.4M. Behind closed doors and away from the curious eyes of the public auction world, several GTOs have allegedly changed hands at prices ranging from $40M to $90M.

Like the GTOs sold in 2014 and 2018, and like many old race cars, 3765 has a few caveats. The primary factor is that it is one of a handful of cars fitted in-period with a larger 4.0-liter engine—technically, that makes it a 330 LM—despite its Tipo 1962 GTO body. With that engine, Mike Parkes and Willy Mairesse drove it to a class win at the Nürburgring 1000 KM. After that, its three-carb engine was replaced with another 4.0-liter mill for Le Mans, this one fed by six Webers for an estimated total of 390 hp (90 more than the 3.0-liter 250 GTO). At the 24-hour French race, 3765 started 4th but Parkes locked up the brakes early in the race, slid into the sand, and spent half an hour digging the car out with a shovel. Though he got the car going again, a little past the six-hour mark, the engine overheated and gave up.

After those two races with Scuderia Ferrari, it then sold to private Italian hands, was converted to 250 GTO specs and raced as a 250 GTO, hence RM Sotheby’s labeling it as a “330 LM / 250 GTO.” The Targa Florio in 1965 ended in a DNF, but numerous first, second, and third place finishes made 3765 the runner-up for that year’s Sicilian Hillclimb Championship. In 1967, after the GTO’s competitive racing career was over and before they got crazy-expensive, 3765 sold to a California owner who had it painted yellow. In 1973 it sold to engineer and Ferrari Club of America (FCA) chairman Fred Leydorf. In 1985 he sold it to Jim Jaeger of Ohio, who had it restored in the ’80s and owned the car until this week. It has won its class at the Cavaillino Classic as well as awards at the FCA National Concours d’Elegance, Meadow Brook Concours, and at the Amelia Island Concours, and taken second in the GTO class (out of 23 cars) at Pebble Beach. It also participated in the 250 GTO 45th Anniversary Tour in Sonoma, California. So, despite the naming confusion, the people whose opinions really matter appear to have long since accepted this car as a proper 250 GTO.

Auctioneer Oliver Barker opened bidding at $34M, and over the next several minutes bids arrived in $1M and $2M increments until settling at a $47M winning bid, making for a $51.7M final price. A record-breaking Ferrari, then, as well as the most expensive auction car of 2023 by far—well over the $30,255,000 achieved by the 1967 Ferrari 412P sold in Monterey back in August. But not a blowout price, either. As mentioned, other GTOs have allegedly sold for more privately, and if you account for inflation, 3765 actually sold for less than the Series II-bodied GTO from 2018.

It would be a stretch to call anything dubbed a “world record” price and anything that costs nearly $52M a bargain or a good value. But this car does get into the same races, rallies, and events as those alleged $60M, $70M, and $90M GTOs at a hefty discount.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post $51.7M Ferrari 250 GTO is second-most expensive car ever sold at auction appeared first on Hagerty Media.

There’s nothing quite like the anticipation of permission. Whether it’s looking forward to getting that driver’s license at 16, or in this case eagerly awaiting a foreign-market car that’s about to turn 25, it’s hard not to get a little giddy. Thanks to the federal so-called 25-year import rule, foreign-market cars that reach that age become exempt from enough Department of Transportation red tape and regulations (though EPA compliance remains mandatory) that you can register them in the U.S. with relative ease. Every year is a new opportunity to experience a fresh set of cars that become available to American enthusiasts.

The chance to put to pavement cars we’ve only watched with envy on YouTube or driven in pixelated form with a joystick means there’s a good bit of pent-up demand. The desire is even more pronounced in 2024; the class of 1999 was a big year, a cohort of digitally famous cars that have been forbidden fruit for too long. Although honorable mentions like the Daihatsu Naked, the Mitsubishi Dignity, or the Mitsubishi Pistachio have fun names, the selection below includes our favorites eligible to hop on a boat to the U.S. in 2024.

(By the way, the most important car on this list is arguably the R34-generation Nissan Skyline GT-R, but we felt it deserved a deeper look. You can read about it here).

TVR Tuscan Speed Six

TVR of Blackpool, England, has been in and out of business more times than a trap house next door to a police station. If this boom and bust sports car company ever had a golden age, though, it was the 1990s and 2000s under the ownership of Peter Wheeler, a guy who thought ABS and driver aids were silly.

Partly because of that attitude, we never got any of those Wheeler-era gems here in the States, though plenty of us have been lusting after them since Gran Turismo 3. Recently, however, PlayStation pixels have been turning into real-life metal and plastic as ‘90s TVRs turn 25 and trickle over across the pond. The Griffith (which debuted in 1990), Chimaera (1992) and Cerbera (1996) are all legal here now. In 2024, so will the Tuscan Speed Six, which will be the first time anybody over here has seen a Tuscan since the 2001 movie Swordfish. Sure, John Travolta ain’t exactly James Bond, but the car did star in a pretty great chase scene:

Named after its Ford-powered Tuscan predecessor from the 1960s but now with TVR’s proprietary “Speed Six” under the hood, the Tuscan Speed Six debuted in 1999. Although Wheeler wouldn’t let anyone in the automotive press get their hands on one until 2000, once they did, they heaped on the praise. Car magazine proclaimed that “On the right road, in the right weather, the Tuscan is in the 360 Modena or 911 GT3 league.” The aforementioned Speed Six engine started as a 3.6-liter 350-hp unit and quickly grew to 4.0 and then 4.2 liters, while an available “Red Rose” package brought more power plus handling upgrades. Built on a shortened version of the Cerbera’s platform, the 2400-pound, rear-drive Tuscan can hit 60 in around four seconds.

Then there are the looks. Whereas earlier TVRs like the Cerbera and Chimaera are distinctive but conventionally pretty, the Tuscan borders on avant-garde. The deep curves and pronounced waves that touched every surface, the wide dot grid-grille, and the unusual lighting arrangements were unlike anything else on the road in the days of Y2K. As if the lines weren’t enough to grab attention, Tuscans were also available with color shift paint that changed shades depending on how the light hit the car, not unlike the “Mystichrome” paint available on the SVT Mustangs of the same era. The swoops and curves continued to the interior, where the Starship Enterprise-like craziness of the Cerbera’s cockpit got an extra dose of bespoke aluminum switchgear and even a brass-faced binnacle with an LCD display.

The Tuscan Speed Six started production as a targa-top coupe, but we’ll have to wait a few years for the full convertible and the face-lifted and improved 2005–06 model. Fewer than 2000 Tuscans were built in total, and they wouldn’t be easy to live with in America. TVR’s proprietary engines have their quirks as well as short service intervals, and chances are there aren’t any mechanics in your town that know their way around a Speed Six.

1999-02 Nissan Silvia S15

It may live in the Godzilla-sized shadow of the R34 GT-R, but the Nissan Silvia S15, also built from 1999 to 2002, is a similarly significant car available for import next year. Originally only sold in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, the S15 is the seventh, last, and arguably best generation of Silvia, a series of small four-cylinder coupes that dates back to the 1960s. That makes the Silvia an older Nissan badge than either the Z or the Skyline GT-R.

Various versions of Nissan Silvia have sold in the U.S. (we knew them as the 200SX and 240SX) but the S15 never made it. Nissan sold them in “Spec-S” and “Spec-R” variants, with both offering an “Aero” package with rear wing and body kit. The Spec-S serves as the base model, with rear-wheel drive, a naturally aspirated SR20DE four-cylinder, and either five-speed manual or four-speed auto. The Spec-R came with a turbocharger, six-speed manual and helical limited-slip differential, plus beefed up chassis, suspension, and brakes. Nissan’s HICAS four-wheel steering system was an available option.

The Spec-R, then, is the one to look for, but the biggest appeal of these Silvias as a whole is how tunable they are. The S15 platform is light and well-balanced, and while the turbocharged SR20DET makes an impressive 247 hp and 203 lb-ft in stock form, people have gotten 700 hp out of it. Aftermarket support for these cars is huge and they are very popular drift cars, so while finding a clean un- or minimally-modified example from overseas will be difficult, it will likely be a rewarding vehicle when you do.

1999-03 Toyota Crown (S170)

Every few years Toyota updates its line of Crown sedans and wagons, and American enthusiasts looking for subtly cool JDM luxury have been importing them for years now. For 2024, the 11th generation Crown, aka the S170, will join the ranks. It was available with the famous 3.0-liter 2JZ straight-six made most famous in the Supra, in this case mated to a mild hybrid system for silky smoothness rather than speed. Other powertrains included the 2.0-liter 1G-FE, 2.5-liter 1JZ-FSE, 2.5-liter 1JS-GE and 2.5-liter 1JZ-GTE turbo, all dual-overhead cam straight-sixes. S170 Crown sedans were available in “Athlete” or “Royal” trim, and Toyota built a wagon version (or an “Estate” if you’re feeling fancy) from late 1999 to 2007. A full-size sedan built on the same S170 platform, called the Crown Majesta, debuted in September 1999.

A big car by JDM standards, an S170 Crown is similar in size to the contemporary Mercedes E-Class, conservatively styled, and well-built. It’s sort of like the Lexus GS’s cooler, sexier cousin who’s visiting from overseas. Especially in wagon form.

1999-2001 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI

Mitsubishi really isn’t what it used to be, and the current lineup from the three-diamond badge is yawn-worthy. No matter, there are still great cars from the back catalog to get excited about. The rally-bred Lancer “Evo” needs no introduction, and Mitsubishi’s spiciest sedan didn’t arrive here until its eighth generation, but the VI was a significant model in the series and the next in line to be legal for import to the U.S.

Compared to the EVO V, the VI was more, well, evolution than full redesign. The engine was a further development of the same 4G63T 2.0-liter turbo four from the very first Evo, but in the VI it now had a bigger oil cooler and new pistons. Power was (under)rated at 276 hp and 274 lb-ft, put to the wheels with a five-speed manual and all-wheel drive that incorporated an Active Yaw Control (Mitsubishi’s term for electronically controlled limited-slip) rear differential. Bodywork was revised from the Evo V as well, the most noticeable change being the movement of the fog lights further apart in the front bumper.

Announced in late 1998, with production starting in early 1999, the Evo VI was available in “RS” or “GSR” trim, as well as a lighter weight, higher horsepower “RS Sprint” model. Car and Driver tested an Evo VI in 2000, measuring 5.1 seconds to 60 mph and a 13.9-second quarter-mile, and noting that “the Lancer still drives with typical Japanese-car ease” but “on the highway, this thing scoots into gaps in fifth gear with the kind of throttle response usually reserved for Vettes and Vipers—and does so extremely smoothly, thanks to Mitsubishi’s balance-shaft engine.”

The Evo VI also came out in the midst of Mistubishi’s bitter rivalry with Subaru in the World Rally Championship, and probably the most desirable Evo VI is the Tommi Mäkinen Edition. Named for Mitsubishi’s Finnish rally ace who had won four straight World Rally Championship driver titles behind the wheel of a Lancer, Tommi Mäkinen Editions (TMEs) brought the goods: a more aggressive front bumper, embossed Recaro seats, wider Enkei wheels, leather Momo steering wheel and shift knob, a quicker-spooling titanium turbine for the turbo, lower ride height, and faster steering ratio. Sources range from 2500 to about 4100 TMEs produced, and examples have already sold for six figures in Europe. That model didn’t come out until 2000, though, so the still potent “regular” models will have to suffice for 2024.

1999-2019 Pagani Zonda

This one requires deep patience and even deeper pockets but, technically, the ultra-exotic and ultra-exclusive Pagani Zonda C12 came out in 1999. Founded by former Lamborghini man Horacio Pagani, the company seemingly came out of nowhere with this absolute masterpiece at the ’99 Geneva Motor Show and has built some of the sexiest and most exciting cars on the road ever since. Low production and high cost mean that each car is practically unique, but they all share a breathtaking interior, big Mercedes V-12 engine, and carbon fiber construction. While a few Zondas are in the U.S. via the “Show or Display” exemption, they were never officially federalized.

The “C12” is the original Zonda from 1999 and most sources point to there being just three examples sold to customers, so good luck finding one. The same goes for all variants, though. That there are dozens of special edition Paganis is a bit misleading, as many of these were one-offs. In all, about 140 Zondas of all types were built.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Import Like It’s 1999: These 5 forbidden fruits become legal in 2024 appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Coffee, cream cheese, condos, and collector cars all got pricier at the beginning of this strange decade, but they didn’t all follow the same path to get there. (At least for the cars.) Though casual observation would suggest everything from Volkswagen GTIs to Ferrari F40s have skyrocketed only to settle slightly as inflation and the classic car market have begun to slow down, several cars in the Hagerty Price Guide have plotted a different trajectory.

We have reported on the frenzy of 2021–22 as well as the relative calm in more recent months. Prices for some cars, however, sat out the nearly universal appreciation only to gain steam after the peak of the pandemic boom. Some appear to be cases of the substitution effect, where appreciation for one car pulls up the values of a lesser model a few months later. Others are cases of a car being rare enough and sales seldom enough that they just didn’t pop up during the boom period. Either way, here are the late-to-the-party cars that experienced the most significant growth in value.

1952–56 Hudson Wasp

Generally, prices of postwar domestic cars have been sleepy relative to the rest of the market, and Hagerty’s index of 1950s American cars recorded the largest drop of any group we regularly report on this past quarter. The future for this segment of cars is uncertain, as younger enthusiasts haven’t warmed up to them and the potential exists for long-defunct brands like Packard, Studebaker, and Hudson to slowly fade from memory.

This year, however, Hudson’s 1952–56 Wasp experienced a price surge across most conditions and body styles, which include Convertible Brougham, Hollywood Hardtop, Sedan, and Club Coupe.

Does this mean that Hudsons and mid-’50s oddballs are the next thing? Hardly. A few sizable sales were just a bit late to the party, and it’s important to remember that although Wasps are up 25 percent from the beginning of 2022 to today, in pure dollar terms the increases weren’t huge and these are still inexpensive cars. The median #2 value for hardtop Wasps is under $20K.

1971–72 Ferrari 365 GTC/4

In Ferrari math, 2 + 2 = less money, and a four-seater model has long been the most affordable way to get a Prancing Horse on your keyring. Typically, the 2+2 cars are heftier, less overtly sporting, less attractive, and have less raucous engines than their closest two-seat counterparts.

Such is the case with the 365 GTC/4, which shares a similar chassis, engine, and body to the 365 GTB/4, a two-seater known to most enthusiasts simply as the Daytona. Typically, Daytonas have been worth well over twice as much money as GTCs, and today their condition #2 (“Excellent”) values sit at $665,000 and $295,000, respectively. Like most Enzo-era cars, both of these front-engined Ferraris saw a surge in price during the mid-2010s, followed by a drop during the slow market at the end of the decade, and finally a significant recovery upward during the pandemic frenzy. The GTC/4, however, just lagged behind its more desirable and higher-profile cousin by a few months and had less dramatic swings.

1969 American Motors SC/Rambler

There are a few reasons why the SC/Rambler is so cool, but the main one is that it’s the concept of a muscle car distilled to its purest form. It had the biggest AMC V-8 available smushed into the smallest and lightest body. Its sparse list of equipment kept both weight and price down, to the point that it was the only car you could buy for under three grand that came with over 300 hp and a 14-second quarter-mile time. The looks are delightfully campy: a red, white, and blue look-at-me-mobile with decals that say “AIR” with a massive arrow pointing into a mailbox-sized hood scoop.

And yet despite everything the SC/Rambler has going for it, the market for them remained remarkably quiet until well into 2022. Maybe it was the relative obscurity of the long-defunct AMC brand or the low production numbers relative to the well-known muscle from the Big Three, but either way, SC/Rambler prices did almost nothing from 2014 until the first half of 2022.

1990–94 Mitsubishi Eclipse

The first-generation Eclipse and the mechanically identical Eagle Talon and Plymouth Laser (all built at Chrysler/Mitsubishi’s Diamond Star Motors factory in Illinois) are three of the more recent additions to the Hagerty Price Guide. We only track the values of classic and modern collector cars, and until the last few years, these badge-engineered hatchback coupes were neither of those things.

But with interest in Japanese performance cars of the 1980s and 1990s growing by leaps and bounds during the late 2010s and early 2020s, it makes sense that people would start looking to more affordable choices like early Eclipses. Available with all-wheel drive, a 16-valve turbocharged engine, and a five-speed manual, it was a quick car in its day. It was cheap and tunable, too, which can be a deadly combination when it comes to longevity. Clean examples are hard to come by. Although condition #2 values were mostly flat until late last year, they’re up nearly 50 percent since then to a median of $19,900.

1952–55 Bentley R-Type Continental

Aside from having the best butt in the business, the Bentley R-Type Continental was the world’s fastest four-seater in its day, offering 120 mph while not losing any of the hand-built leather-and-wood English luxury that buyers expected from a Bentley. The Autocar called it “a modern magic carpet which annihilates great distances and delivers the occupants well-nigh as fresh as when they started.” Just 207 sold, most of them in right-hand drive for the home market.

The combination of the beauty, sophistication, and comfort of a Rolls-Royce/Bentley with the performance of a high-speed gran turismo has kept R-Type Continentals near the top of the postwar Rolls Royce/Bentley market for a very long time. The best examples became seven-figure cars a decade ago, but more recently prices were rather quiet from the late 2010s until 2022. In Amelia Island that year, a 1954 model with the desirable configuration of larger 4.9-liter engine, center-shift gearbox, and left-hand drive sold for $2.975M at Gooding’s auction, blowing past its estimate and the price guide values of the time. With cars this rare, a single sale can move the market significantly.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post 5 cars that took off after the market began to slow appeared first on Hagerty Media.

It was built on a stretched 427 Cobra chassis, powered by a big-block Ford V-8, and styled by a talented Torinese designer. It competed with the elite European GT cars of the late 1960s, and yet the AC 428 (aka the AC Frua) is more footnote than famous in car history. One of these obscure Anglo-Italo-American hybrids sold online this week for $417,000, and that’s a ton of money. In fact, we’ve never seen one sell for more. Compared to similar all-Italian cars or a later Shelby Cobra with a similar engine, however, it almost looks like a bargain.

The 1960s were a golden age for high-performance long-distance touring cars, including hybrids like Chrysler-powered Bristols and Chevrolet-powered Iso Grifos, and thoroughbreds like the Aston Martin DB5/DB6 and Ferrari 330. AC Cars of Thames Ditton in England had the lovely Ace/Aceca sports cars and enjoyed providing the basis for Carroll Shelby’s Cobra for several glorious years, but it was hard for the company to ignore the lucrative opportunity that the gran turismo market offered. The 428 was AC’s foray into that crowded segment.

In a lot of ways, the 428 made a lot of sense. The tubular chassis, hand-fabricated on the jigs originally used for the Cobras, was a race-proven unit that AC stretched by 6 inches for added space and stability. Independent suspension on all four corners helped keep the car planted. The engine was a 7-liter V-8 borrowed from Dearborn’s Ford Galaxie and rated at 345 hp and 462 lb-ft of torque. Because Italian styling is almost never a bad idea, AC enlisted the services of Pietro Frua, who had penned the Renault Caravelle, the Swiss Monteverdi, and the Maserati Mistral. Frua did recycle a lot of his ideas from the Maserati, to the point that a 428 and a Mistral are difficult to tell apart, but you know what they say about imitation and flattery. The vehicles are both gorgeous.

The 428, then, offered the looks and performance of a Ferrari, the running costs of a Yankee commuter car, the interior trimmings of an English luxury GT, and a legendary race car chassis. Other than complaints of heat seeping into the footwell from the monster Ford engine, the press gushed. Motor said the 428 “surges away into the middle distance with the silken surge of seemingly infinite torque,” and Autocar remarked that it “responds to the throttle like no other car we know and for normal sedate motoring it takes only a touch on the throttle to make the speedometer swing upwards at an unbelievable rate.” But despite all that, it wasn’t exactly a winning recipe. Labor unrest in Italy and challenges securing engines from Ford meant that AC’s two main suppliers were unreliable.

And even when things were going right, the 428 was expensive to build—a common problem with cars bodied in Italy but assembled somewhere else. After finishing the 428 rolling chassis, AC sent them to Frua in Turin. Frua welded on either Spider or Coupe bodywork and then shipped them back to England for AC to trim, paint, and install the drivetrain. These logistical costs resulted in the 428 being comfortably more expensive than an Aston Martin DB6 and roughly twice as much as an E-Type Jaguar. The energy crisis in 1973 also hit Britain fairly hard, and a 16-mpg high-dollar performance car was a tough sell. In the end, only 81 examples of the AC 428 left Thames Ditton.

Most were coupes and most came in right-hand drive. A decent number of 428s also came with a three-speed automatic rather than the standard four-speed manual. Which makes this example—a left-hand drive stick shift Spider with Halibrand wheels—quite special. One of about 30 Spiders, it spent time in the UK and Switzerland before being restored in the U.S. during the 1990s and winning its class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1995. It has the nicks and blemishes inevitable on a 30-year-old restoration, but still looks lovely and to our eyes like a car in #2- (just shy of “excellent”) condition.

Yet it sold for 55 grand over its condition #1 (concours, or best-in-the-world) value in the Hagerty Price Guide. Credit the desirable configuration, and the fact that good examples of a car this rare don’t exactly pop up every week. Almost all of the 428s to hit the market over the past couple of years have been coupes, automatics, RHD, in scruffy condition, or some combination of the above. The closest real comparable sale was a $302,000 Spider that sold at the Monterey auctions in 2021, but even that was a RHD automatic.

Even at this market-leading result, though, it’s a lot of car for the money. Let’s just consider the condition #2 prices of the cars this green-over-tan beauty competed against in 1970. An Aston DB6 Volante is worth $1.25M. The visually similar Maserati Mistral, which has two fewer cylinders and 90 fewer horsepower, is worth $741,000. As for the Shelby, with which the 428 shares so much of its DNA, a 428-powered Cobra is a $1.1M car. Sometimes, the footnotes of automotive history can be the best buys.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This AC 428 is like a half-price Cobra in an Italian suit appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We may be in a “slowing” collector-vehicle market, but when a clean car with both “Nissan” and “Skyline” written on it sells online for $6825, it’s enough to make us lean in close to the screen and furrow our brow. After all, we’ve spent the last several years telling you about how hot the Japanese car market is. It’s “thriving.” It’s “maturing.” “The end of the cheap Miata is near!”

All of that is still true, but deals are always out there, and this looks like a particularly sweet one on a premium JDM gem. There are just a few caveats.

In this country, the Nissan Skyline variant that enthusiasts pay attention to most is the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive GT-R, the earliest version being the R32 built from 1989 to ’94. The car sold this week is not a GT-R. Nor is it an R32. It’s the Skyline that came before the R32, naturally called the R31. It’s also a GTS-X, one of the rear-wheel-drive coupes built on the R31 platform.

While the flagship GT-R models are the most exciting and desirable for American gearheads, “Skyline” has a much wider connotation in the cars’ home country of Japan, where the first Skylines were built by Prince Motor Company way back in the 1950s. After Prince merged with Nissan in the 1960s, the cars wore a Nissan badge, and over the years Skylines have been everything from commercial wagons and commuter sedans to the race cars and tuner favorites that we know and love.

The R31 is technically the seventh generation of Skyline, and it was available as a sedan, hardtop sedan, coupe, or station wagon. And while it shared similar styling with the R30 that came before it, the R31 debuted a number of firsts for the Skyline. Most important was the RB-series engine, the legendary turbocharged oversquare straight-six that powers R32, R33, and R34 GT-Rs. The R31 was also the first Skyline with Nissan’s proprietary HICAS (High Capacity Active Steering) four-wheel steering system.

This one was purchased by the seller in Japan and reportedly spent some time in Dubai before being imported to Canada, where it is currently located. A GTS-X model, it has a 2.0-liter RB20 version of the RB engine as well as the HICAS rear-wheel steering, front and rear spoilers, and two-tone gray cloth sport seats. It’s also, unfortunately, an automatic. But it also presents well, shows no serious mods or signs of abuse, and has just 50,000 km (about 31K miles).

On the one hand, snagging an interesting JDM coupe for $7K seems like a great move. On the other hand, anybody who owns this car is going to have to have a lot of conversations that go like this: “Yeah it’s a Skyline! No, not that Skyline. No, not that one either. No, it’s not a GT-R, it’s a GTS-X. And it’s an automatic. It is a Skyline, though.”

No matter the asterisks, it’s hard to argue with this price. “I think that is a damn good price for any Skyline” says Hagerty Price Guide Editor and self-professed Skyline nerd Greg Ingold. “Its only sin is the fact that it’s not a later version and that it’s an automatic. For context, a grubby R32 Skyline GTS-T (also RB20-powered and RWD) will cost more than this clean R31 went for.” And for somebody who wanted to modify it, the car is a good base and the new owner is already in it for so little. “I’m thinking manual swap and a warmed over RB26DETT [from an R34 GT-R], and you’d have a real sleeper on your hands,” says Ingold. Sounds good to me.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Not even $7000 for this Skyline? appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Buying somebody else’s modified car is a roll of the dice. On the one hand, the odds are pretty good that corners have been cut, important steps skipped, and lower-quality parts used for the sake of a budget. On the other hand, some builds come from a well-known and respected professional shop, or from a perfectionist who spent so much time, attention, and money that there’s almost nothing to nitpick.

At the end of the day, though, someone else’s build is done to someone else’s tastes and preferences, which never exactly match your own, no matter how nice it is. Such is the case with this spectacularly restomodded, Honda-powered 1977 Toyota Celica. The car is hard to fault and easy to like, yet it sold for $64,050, not exactly chump change but surely far less than it cost to put together and another example of how hard it can be to gauge the restomod market.

Toyota introduced the Celica way back in 1970 (just a year after the 240Z) as a two-door, 2+2 coupe that offered driving fun and real-world practicality on a budget, sort of like a pony car in a more compact package. Indeed, the influence of American pony cars is obvious at first glance. The available hatchback version, dubbed the “Liftback” by Toyota, looks like a mini–Mach 1 Mustang. Proven passenger-car mechanicals from the Toyota Carina kept costs down and reliability high, and the contemporary press praised the Celica for being lively if not particularly fast.

Motor Trend called the Celica Liftback its Import Car of the Year in 1976, which speaks to the foundation of this build, but there is a lot less Celica underneath this ’77 coupe’s Nissan R34 Skyline GT-R Midnight Purple III paint than there used to be. Thoroughly and exquisitely reworked over years by the seller, who acquired it in 2010, it has a hefty list of mods to go through.

First is the work of art under the hood, a 2.2-liter F22C VTEC four and six-speed manual from a Honda S2000, which has been fitted with Jenvey individual throttle bodies, J’s Racing tubular header, an a-Spec titanium muffler, and a Koyo aluminum radiator. The instrument cluster and starter button also come from an S2000.

Other additions include staggered-width custom-made 16-inch BBS RS wheels, Wilwood disc brakes, AccuAir suspension, polyurethane bushings, Addco swaybars, fiberglass bumpers, front and rear spoilers, fender flares, Bride bucket seats, Alcantara headliner and rear seats, NRG quick-release steering wheel, audio components from Kenwood, JL Audio, and Audison, and the aforementioned Midnight Purple III paint. According to the seller in this video profiling the car, 98 percent of the bolts on the car are titanium, including the ones holding on the BBS wheels.

The seller bought the car in 2010, sight unseen, out of Oklahoma. The S2000 swap had already been professionally done, but the rest of the car had serious rust so a complete teardown and rebuild to its current configuration took place from 2011–16. It still looks gorgeous, and the attention to detail is impressive, especially things like the fabricated rear bodywork and blended-in fender flares.

A $64K final price isn’t exactly cheap, and it’s about 10 grand more than an absolutely perfect S2000 would sell for, but it’s also almost certainly less than the sum of the parts used to build it, to say nothing of the hours and hours of specialist labor. It’s also less than the $65,100 someone paid for a very clean but all-stock ’76 Celica Liftback model on Bring a Trailer two years ago.

The market for restomods is a tough one to figure out. Some cars sell for big prices, well into the six-figure territory it cost to build them. Certain models—C2 Corvettes are a perfect example—have seen enough restomod builds to create a small, trackable market and generally understood pricing. Most others don’t, and it has us thinking ahead to ten or 20 years from now and how the market will treat older, used restomods that will have been around long enough to be classics in their own right. Regardless, in this case somebody got a badass, fast, very well-done Celica restomod for way less than it cost the seller to put the vehicle together, and that isn’t a bad way to buy a car.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post This ’77 Celica was $64K for someone else’s build appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Back in 1966, $17 a day, 17 cents a mile, an early enough birthday, and a Hertz Sports Club membership got you a sexy and striped 306-horsepower Mustang from the guy who built the Cobra. We’re talking, of course, about the GT350H, an endeavor that got both Hertz and Shelby a lot of great publicity. (The “rent-a-racer” term, however, was not used at the time.) For the program, Hertz order 1000 Shelby GT350 Mustangs and rented them out to thrill seekers and speed freaks all over the country, leading to countless stories and legends of unsanctioned on-track antics before returning to the Hertz counter on Monday. The GT350H is probably the most famous rental car of all time, as well as one of the only rental fleet veterans anyone would actually want to own, and it’s was just the entry point in a long line of fast Fords you could pick up from Hertz over the years. One of them, a Cougar XR7-G, is up for Mecum auction this month.

Once the ’66 GT350Hs had been retired from service and sold off into private hands, Hertz continued to offer Shelby Mustangs at the counter with 1968 and ’69 GT350s as well as 1969-70 Mach 1 Ford Mustangs. By this time, Shelbys were heavier, softer, less overtly sporty, and built in Michigan rather than California. Carroll Shelby had little direct involvement in their production. But bloated or not, a Shelby Mustang was still way cooler than the dowdy sedans in the Hertz lot, and so were the hot Cougars also available from Hertz.

Introduced in 1967 on the same chassis as the Mustang to fill a semi-luxury, semi-sporty gap between it and the Thunderbird, the first-generation Cougar is sort of like a Mustang in a nice suit. But any Bond movie proves beyond doubt it’s still possible to move pretty quickly in a coat and tie, and from 1968–70 Hertz would gladly loan out the Cougars with the sharpest claws: the Cougar Eliminator and the Cougar XR7-G.

While the 1969-70 Eliminator was basically equivalent to the Mustang Boss 302 and Mach 1, the 1968 XR7-G was a one-year only performance model with more of a Shelby connection. Shelby Automotive ran the project and the “G” stands for “Gurney,” as in racer Dan Gurney, who drove the Bud Moore-prepped Cougar in the 1967 Trans Am series. Conversion to “G” trim was carried out at the facilities of a supplier called A.O. Smith in Ionia, Michigan.

At first glance an XR7-G doesn’t look that much different from a normal ’68 Cougar, but there are several details that make these cars special. A special fiberglass hood scoop, hood pins, Marchal or Lucas driving lights, a Talbot racing mirror, XR7-G badges, and special Rader wheels (later recalled because of a defect) distinguished the Shelbified Cougar. A sunroof by American Sunroof Company also offered blue sky views. XR7-Gs also came with a 390-cubic-inch V-8 engine and C6 automatic transmission as well as power front disc brakes, tilting steering column, Whisper-Aire air conditioning, and an accessory gauge pack from Shelby.

Just 619 of these 1968-only Cougars sold, with 200 of them going to Hertz for its rental fleet and scattered throughout America’s airports and train stations. After that, they went on to private owners, sold as used cars through local Ford and Mercury dealerships, with some sources saying they were sold as “demos” or “executive program” cars. (It sounds nicer than “ex-Cleveland airport rental car.”)

The XR7-G up for auction with Mecum in Tennessee this month is one of those 200, is powered by its original “S-Code” 390/325-hp engine and transmission, and has been restored in its original colors of Black Cherry with black vinyl roof over dark red leather. Crossing the block on Saturday, October 14 at Mecum’s Chattanooga auction, it has no presale estimate, but the Hagerty Price Guide puts XR7-Gs at $66,200 in #2 (Excellent) condition or $47,200 in #3 (Good) condition.

The post This Cougar XR7-G Hertz was a rental rascal, now it’s up for grabs appeared first on Hagerty Media.

We’re still about three weeks away from Movemeber, when millions of men fill out their upper lips or beards, partly to raise awareness of men’s health issues and partly for fun. Turn the clock back about 40 years, however, and every month was mustache month. Not just for Tom Selleck and Freddie Mercury, but for guys all over the United States. And quite often, that lip foliage peered out above the steering wheel of a Monte Carlo SS.

Despite the glitz and glamour implied by its name, a Monte Carlo has always been more at home in Missouri than in Monaco, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t cool. Built on GM’s rear-drive mid-size G-body platform—which also included the Buick Regal, Chevy El Camino, Olds Cutlass, and Pontiac Grand Prix—it’s a sporty-looking but not exactly fast piece of “mustache muscle” that can be had on a budget. Surprisingly, though, that budget is a lot higher than it was just a few short years ago.

The first, coke-bottle-styled Monte Carlos arrived in 1970, and by 1981 the Monte Carlo was already in its fourth generation. It was smaller and lighter, but also roomier than the Montes of the ’70s. Although a short-lived Monte Carlo Turbo model offered boosted Buick V-6 power, and despite the Monte Carlo making a lengthy go of it in NASCAR, a more serious performance model was conspicuously absent from the roster. Performance was coming back into the coupe market, however, particularly with the launch of the Fox-body Mustang in 1979 and the all-new Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird in 1982. For 1983, the Monte Carlo caught up when Chevrolet gave it a mild facelift and added an SS option to the lineup. It was the first Monte Carlo SS since 1971.

Buyers could choose between white or dark blue, while a small trunk spoiler, big decals, and Rally wheels let people know you spent the extra coin for an SS. Under the subtly muscular body was a Quadrajet-carbureted 305 cubic-inch small-block with aluminum intake, column shift three-speed automatic, F41 suspension, Goodyear Eagle GT rubber, and an open diff. The price was a little over $10K, and options like power windows and cruise control pushed it to about $12K.

For the 1983 cars, the 305 small-block managed 175 horsepower and 225 lb-ft of torque. Not a tire-shredder, then, but this was 1983, and those numbers were still enough to have fun with in-period. The 1984 Monte Carlo SS brought a five-horse gain and an optional limited-slip differential, while 1985 brought even bigger improvements. While the engine didn’t change, a TH200-4R 4-speed automatic and 3.73:1 rear axle made for livelier shifting and driving than the old 3.42-geared three-speed. New, optional bucket seats and floor shift gave a racier feel than the standard bench seat and column shifter, while optional T-tops let your facial hair dance in the breeze. Silver, black, white, and maroon encompassed the revised exterior color palette while gray or maroon cloth were the interior choices.

For 1986, new five-spoke alloy wheels arrived along with different graphics and a third brake light, while the only other major change over the SS’s 1983–88 production run was the Aerocoupe.

Built for 1986 and ’87 only, it followed the same aero-driven formula of NASCAR legends of the previous generation like the Dodge Daytona, Plymouth Superbird, and Ford Torino Talladega. Built to homologate a more slippery shape in the quest for every last mph on NASCAR speedways, the Monte Carlo Aerocoupe isn’t as extreme as something like a Superbird, but its unusual, sloped rear glass and revised spoiler are certainly distinctive. Chevrolet needed to sell 200 Aerocoupes for homologation and did just that in 1986, but for 1987 the company realized that plenty of folks would want to channel their inner Dale Earnhardt (who also had a mustache, of course) and drive a car that looked just like the Intimidator’s. GM obliged, selling 6052 Aerocoupes for 1987 at $16,325 apiece (about $44K in 2023 money).

The Monte Carlo went into 1988 without major changes, as it was the model’s last year before being replaced by the Lumina. As far as most enthusiasts are concerned, the Monte Carlo story mostly ends there. A new Monte Carlo SS did arrive in 2000, but it was a fat front-driver with a V-6 engine, and despite several special-edition NASCAR models, the Monte Carlos you could buy at the dealership had almost nothing in common with the cars you saw Dale and Jeff driving on Sunday afternoon.

As for fourth-gen Monte Carlos, they were very popular when new and they remain so. Although the faster and more sinister Buick Grand National gets most of the G-body glory in the eyes of collectors today, far more people walked into a Chevy dealership and bought a Monte Carlo. While just 4714 sold in 1983, sales shot up to 24,050 in 1984, then 35,484 in 1985, and peaking in 1986 at 41,164. 1987 brought a still-substantial 33,204, and 16,204 followed in 1988. Total Turbo Buick sales were less than half that.

In addition to a strong supply of cars, Monte Carlos offer plenty of room for drivers who shop at the big and tall store, and lots of parts interchange with other GM cars. Other than rust in a few key areas, leaky T-tops, and amateur-ish, why-on-earth-did-they-do-that modifications on many examples, there aren’t any major issues to look out for.

Mid-’80s Monte Carlos have never been expensive cars. But, surprisingly, they aren’t exactly cheap these days, either. The median condition #2 (“Excellent”) value currently sits at $29,400. That’s 68 percent higher than it was five years ago, and 188 percent more than it was 10 years ago. Generally, the 1985-and-later cars with floor shift, bucket seats, and cooler wheels are more sought after, and you should expect to pay a few percent more for T-tops. Despite that, there’s little variation in value, as an ’83 model is worth $28,100 at the low end while an Aerocoupe is worth $34,400 at the top of the heap.

These numbers are even more surprising when we compare them to the other cars playing for the Chevrolet team in the mid-to-late ’80s. While the ’87 Buick Grand National has moved into an entirely different price point with a #2 value of $70K, the #2 value for an ’87 Camaro Z/28 is just $22,600. And for an ’87 Corvette? Just $18,500.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, especially compared to the Corvette, which is much cooler to look at and will run circles around the Monte. But, as we saw with our comparison of C4 Corvettes and IROC Camaros last year, nostalgia can be a powerful market force when it comes to cars that are nearly old enough to have their own midlife crisis. Combined with the fact that there aren’t a lot of clean and unmodified examples left, it starts to become a little clearer why the best ones are getting more expensive.

Gen-Xers, who came of age when these cars were new, make up 36 percent of buyer interest for 1983–88 Monte Carlos. Millennials make up the same share. They may not exactly remember the ’80s in vivid detail, but they still play into nostalgia for that decade and, like Gen-Xers, buy these cars at a disproportionately high rate.

It’s hard to see values going up much further from here, given the wide variety of other great cars that are available in the $30K range. Which means that, as always, Monte Carlos will be a (reasonably) affordable celebration of mustache muscle.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

Via Insider

The post Values of the fourth-gen Monte Carlo SS are on the move appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Back when Dodge Darts were regular sights on the road, nobody saw them as future collector cars. After all, the Dart was a budget compact first and foremost, the kind of thing your mom might commute to work in, then hand down to you on your 16th birthday. Most 1967–76 Darts had a humble Slant Six or a lethargic V-8 under their square hoods, puttering them from A to B and back to A again.

But the Dart had several sexier, sportier versions, and the plain-Jane reputation of the model is largely what made these sharper Darts so dang cool. Some of them were true sleepers—dog dish hubcaps and boring paint hiding the oversized eight underneath. Others threw off their pedestrian origins and shouted for attention—loud ’70s colors and hood scoops big enough to nap under. Either way, the fourth-generation Dart is yet another example that the combination of little car plus big engine plus low price can be a winning formula. Five decades after they left the showroom, these cars still offer a tempting value in classic American muscle, despite some recent price gains.

A Dart is born

Back in the 1950s, swoopy Jet Age concept cars with flight-inspired names were a regular sight on the American show circuit, and in 1956 Chrysler debuted a concept by Virgil Exner and Ghia called the “Dart,” followed in 1957 by the “Super Dart 400.” Technically, these were the first Darts, but Chrysler threw the first production, Dodge-branded darts at the board in 1960.

At first, market research suggested the name “Zipp” for some reason, but thankfully Dodge went with Dart for its new downsized, low-priced line. In 1963, Dodge updated its Lancer but axed that name and replaced it with Dart. That series lasted until 1966.

The A-body, 111-inch wheelbase 1963–66 Dart was a good-looking car. Its narrow grille flanked by huge circular headlights on the 1965–66 models are lovely features, and they bear a pleasing resemblance to the Chrysler Turbine. It was also a strong seller against stiff compact competition from the Chevy II/Nova and Ford Falcon, but for speed freaks at the dawn of the muscle car age, it was an easy car to overlook. There was only room for a 273-cubic inch V-8 under the hood—big enough for trips to work, but a little disappointing for those short squirts between stop lights.

In 1967, though, when Chrysler revamped the A-body platform (including the Plymouth Valiant and Barracuda), the Dart’s frame rails grew wider, adding room under the hood for more cubic inches. The 273 stayed on until 1969, but the options list lengthened and the Dart joined a new, smaller breed of American muscle cars. The styling, meanwhile, became more conventional with a mildly muscular three-box design. But if its lines were boring, they only added to the car’s appeal as a sleeper.

Cranking things up with the GTS

Across town, Chevrolet was doing quite well with its own compact muscle car, the Nova SS. As it turned out, plenty of buyers (especially young people) had the need for speed but couldn’t scrape together the coin for one of the bigger mainstream muscle cars. Then, as the muscle car years reached their peak and those bigger, flashier muscle cars attracted punishing insurance premiums, compact muscle cars were able to fly under the radar at lower rates for a while. So, late in the 1967 model year, Dodge introduced the Dart GT Sport (GTS) model. Little changed on the outside, but under the compact’s hood was a relatively gargantuan 383-cubic-inch V-8.

Available as a 2-door hardtop or a convertible, the GTS came back for 1968 with a 340-cubic-inch engine, conservatively rated at 275 hp, as standard. The 383 stayed on as an option. Ticking the GTS box on the order form also added Rallye suspension and a high-flow exhaust. The 383 model included beefier torsion bars, a bigger front antiroll bar, and six-leaf rear springs.

To squeeze the 383 in, the exhaust manifolds had to be modified and there was no room for an air conditioning system or a power steering pump, so parallel parking a 383-equipped GTS in the summer would be no fun at all. The 340 is considerably lighter and better balanced, plus it’s not all that much slower. It is, however, worth significantly less, and therefore a more tempting value.

But as tight a fit as the 383 engine was, a few Darts went even bigger. Hurst, the company that made shifters and occasionally dabbled in performance packages, plopped 370-horse 440-cubic-inch engines into a small number of Darts. The famous Chicago dealer Grand Spaulding Auto Sales also sold 50 of its own 440-powered Darts, called the Grand Spaulding Special (GSS).

Rare Darts with big power

In 1969, Dodge also sold a hardtop-only, M-code 440-powered Dart for drag racing, and right out of the box it could run quarter-mile times in the mid-13s. It wasn’t covered by the factory warranty, only came with a three-speed TorqueFlite automatic, and wore drum brakes on all four wheels. Going is more important than stopping in a drag race, after all. A Sure Grip differential also came standard, while 3.55 or 3.91 gear sets were available. While Dodge sold nearly 200,000 Darts of all kinds in 1969, only about 650 left the factory with the 440 engine in 1968 and ’69.

There were Hemi Darts, too, built for NHRA Super Stock drag race competition. They could hit 10s in the quarter-mile and only about 80 were built, making them one of the rarest classic Mopars. They almost never pop up for sale.

Into the Swing(er) of things

Despite its speed, the Dart GTS was a slow seller and Dodge dropped it after 1969. In its place came the Swinger 340, which included a Hurst-shifted four-speed, Rallye suspension, bumble bee stripes, and 14-inch wheels. “For the Smart Swinger…the Dart Swinger,” said Dodge. For those who weren’t of the era, Merriam-Webster defines the term in period as “a person who is lively, exciting, and fashionable,” and though “swinger” might mean something altogether different today, Dodge still saw fit to bring it back for 2023. I digress …

For 1970, the 383 was no longer available in the Dart, and the Swinger 340 became the sportiest available version. Even though the new Challenger got a lot of attention that year, the fast Darts remained popular and still escaped the high insurance rates hammering other muscle cars. Meanwhile, down at Plymouth, the A-body Duster was selling well and Dodge got its own version for 1971. Legend has it that it was supposed to be called the Dart Beaver, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your sense of humor) Dodge went with the name “Demon” instead. The Demon 340 effectively replaced the Swinger 340 as the sportiest Dart that year, and hinted at its speedy pretensions with a dual-scoop matte black hood, hood pins, rear spoiler, and a cute little devil badge on the tail.

Playing up the Dart’s value for money, one ad called it a “nice little piece of news for people who are fiendish about saving” and boasted “when it comes to gas economy, Demon is a regular saint.” For 1972, horsepower was down in the Demon 340, while the devil badge vanished and the hood scoop was revised.

The Dart loses momentum

As the ’70s wore on, the Dart’s story starts to look familiar to any casual student of muscle car history. Tighter emissions rules stripped away performance and high insurance rates made ownership harder, so Mopar muscle dwindled each year. For 1973, Dodge exorcised the Demon and gave its Dart the more church-friendly name of “340 Sport.” Rated at 240 net hp, the Dart 340 Sport was the hottest in the lineup for 1973, while the Swinger lost some of its virility and made do with a 150-hp 318-cubic-inch engine. For 1974, there was a little more displacement with the 360 Sport, rated at 245 hp. But even though the high-horsepower days were in the rearview mirror, Chrysler was the best in the business at getting people to turn their heads with bright colors and loud graphics. The 1974–75 Dart “Hang Ten,” named after the surfwear company, spiced things up with Eggshell White paint, special stripes on the hood, and pinstripes down the body sides ending in graphics of a surfer catching a wave on the tail. On the inside, there were fold-down rear seats with room for a surfboard, bright multi-colored bucket seats, and orange shag carpeting. I don’t know how it could get more ’70s than that.

In 1976, Dodge capitalized on the USA’s bicentennial as a marketing opportunity with the Dart “Spirit of ’76” edition. White paint flanked by pinstripes in red, then blue ending in a profile of an eagle that would make Uncle Sam proud. “Spirit of ’76” decals called out from between the door and the rear wheel as well.

Other than the decals and loud paint, things didn’t get any more interesting for these Disco-era Darts. Sales for 1976 fell to their lowest in years, and for 1977 the F-body Dodge Aspen took up the Chrysler compact mantle. The Dart badge survived in Mexico and South America for a few more years, but the Dart we knew and loved here in America was gone.

The Dart market

When it was new, a V-8-powered Dart appealed to value-oriented buyers who were drawn to speed and fun per dollar. That’s still true today, at least relative to other classic muscle cars. Dart values have tracked mostly steady for quite some time, aside from a slight dip during the 2008–09 recession, a bump in the late 2010s, and a sizable increase during the classic car boom in the early 2020s. Besides the rarest and most exotic performance models, they’re still quite attainable. The median #2 (Excellent) value for 1967–76 Dodge Darts is $14,200, while the average #2 value is $22,500. 1968–74 Chevy Novas, by comparison, carry a median #2 value of $22,100 and an average of $37,800, while 1966–70 Ford Falcons carry a median #2 value of $13,800 and an average of $15,000.

The holy grail of classic Darts, naturally, is the ultra-rare Hemi Dart. Of the few that have come to market, a highly-original Super Stock drag car sold for $330K in 2016, and the same car sold again last year for $302,500. The next step down is the 1968 Dart GSS, which has a #2 value of $119,000. For the factory big-block 1969 GTS 440/375hp it’s $71,400. The Demon 340 and Swinger 340 come in at $42,300, while the 318- and 273-powered Darts are worth significantly less.

Moving further into the 1970s, Darts get even more affordable, and from 1973 on they get downright cheap, with perfect ones not cracking 20 grand.

Surprisingly for a car that’s been around for half a century, the 1967–76 Dart appeals to a broad range of enthusiasts, largely mirroring the composition of the collector car market as a whole. That’s saying something, given the interests of younger enthusiasts and the variety of newer vehicles entering the hobby. Credit the Dart’s low price, unpretentious origins, and customizability.

Whether it’s the terrifyingly fast, hard-to-find big-block Darts or the decaled Darts of the ’70s, these cars are overall affordable and eminently tunable. For those who like to wrench, there are many avenues to personalize and improve a Dart without a lot of coin, and buying one for casual enjoyment won’t break the bank, either.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

Via Insider

The post Want accessible Mopar muscle? Check out Dodge’s ’67–76 Dart appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Like any group of car fans, the writers here at Hagerty have wide ranging and (mostly) good tastes. We have our American muscle guys, our JDM freaks, a couple of Bimmer boys, and of course a few Porschephiles. I, for one, love my underpowered British heaps and euro oddballs. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that the latest Sale of the Week is a damn cool car, even if none of us would ever want to actually own it.

Fascinating eight-cylinder powertrain? Check. Six-speed manual gearbox? Check. Wagon body? Again, check. It even has a lovely color. It’s a 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 wagon, and it sold this week for $11,652. Seems cheap for something that ticks all of those cool car boxes, but there are reasons why it didn’t go for more.

The “B5” generation of Passat came out in 1997, and it received a significant update called the “B5.5” for 2001. These were strange, interesting times at VW. The Germans were buying up premium badges like Bentley and Lamborghini. They even brought Bugatti back from the grave. Meanwhile, company boss Ferdinand Piëch was pulling Volkwagen, the brand of Golfs and Beetles, upmarket with more sophisticated models. Sometimes, a little too sophisticated. The ill-fated Phaeton executive sedan is probably the most famous example of this early 2000s over-engineering, but before that was this truly wild version of the B5.5 Passat.

The star of the show was the W8 engine, and the fact that this thing made it into a family car like the Passat is crazy enough. Sort of like Toyota slicing two cylinders off the Lexus LFA’s V10 and dropping it into a Camry. The W8 was something of a test run for VW’s later W12s used in Bentleys and Audis and the W16s used in Bugattis. Essentially two narrow-angle 15-degree VR4s arranged in a 72-degree V-shape on a common crank, it offered V8 power in a more compact package. Calling it half a Veyron engine isn’t a huge stretch of the truth, but in the Passat the 3999-cc W8 was rated at just 270 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. It did at least garner praise for smoothness and delivering solid oomph on the highway. It’s the only engine with a W8 configuration to ever make it to production, and given the way the car industry is moving, it probably always will be.

The W8 Passat was available in either four-door sedan or five-door wagon body styles, and buyers could choose between a 5-speed auto or a 6-speed manual. All W8s came standard with VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive. Base price was around the $40K mark.

An intriguing car, then. Even 20 years ago an eight-cylinder family car with an available stick was a rare and exciting treat. Writing for Car and Driver back in 2004, our own Aaron Robinson praised the suspension for “keeping the 3918-pound Passat from bobbing like a bath toy over fast-changing cambers, and the cleaver-sharp steering is from the Audi kitchen.” He also noted that “if you can live without rings, spinners or silver stars on the hood, perhaps the W-8 six-speed is worth your attention.”

But just because a car is intriguing doesn’t mean it’s easy to sell. There were contemporary Audis and BMWs that would do everything the W8 Passat could but did it for less money, and they did have premium badge on the hood.

In the end, only 11,000 W8 Passats sold worldwide, and just a tiny fraction of those buyers ordered theirs with a long roof and third pedal. Some sources say fewer than 100 manual W8 wagons came to the U.S., and it’s probably a safe bet to say significantly fewer are still on the road.

This one, though, is. The Blue Spirit Pearl over Flannel Gray leather wagon has 17-inch BBS “Madras” wheels, sport suspension, sunroof, heated power front seats and roof rails, while mild mods include EuroCustoms Tuning engine management software and a cat-back exhaust with four tips to clue you in that this isn’t an English professor’s Passat. Its New Jersey license plate reads “6SPDW8”. Nice.

Now for the not-so-good stuff. It has nearly 150,000 miles, and all the usual chips, dings, wear and tear of a 150k-mile car. According to the seller, the engine was replaced in 2009 after a mechanic dropped a bolt down into the engine block before somebody else started the car. That’s one expensive oopsie.

The car, on the other hand, is not so expensive, and another example of how easy it is to lose money in this hobby. The seller has enjoyed the car for 10,000 miles, but he bought it a year ago for $13,400, and that doesn’t include the maintenance he’s done.

That doesn’t mean there won’t still be plenty more maintenance for the new owner to enjoy. They didn’t sell many W8 Passats, but the Internet is still full of horror stories by former owners and mechanics, and just the timing chains look like the stuff of nightmares. Finding engine parts would be a headache, and of course the rest of the car is a 20-year-old VW, so there’s plenty of stuff to go wrong outside the engine bay, too.

Just like when it was new, this is a badass car. But it takes a special kind of person to actually want to put it in their garage. It’s hard to find that kind of person, in the Hagerty office or anywhere. That’s why it sold for cheap.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

The post Like cool wagons? W8 until you see this $11K Passat appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Quick, what’s the first mid-engine production automobile? Nope, it’s not a Lotus. It’s not a Ferrari, either. Automobili Lamborghini hadn’t even started yet when the little Djet first flew (OK, rolled) out of France in 1962. Plopping in the engine behind the driver has clear advantages in motorsport, and mid-engine design spread throughout the racing world starting in the late 1950s, but the Djet is credited as the first to do it in a regular, relatively affordable road-going sports car.

Built by a company that also made bombs, bicycles, and F1 cars, the Djet is a rare sight anywhere in the world, but it’s especially scarce on the track here in America. That is why we were watching this race-prepped Djet; it just sold this week for $32,550.

A little company called Automobiles René Bonnet primarily built race cars but introduced its best-known model in the summer of ’62, called the Djet. Most were powered by either a 1.1-liter four-banger from the Renault 8 or a Gordini-tuned version of the same engine, mounted longitudinally behind the driver and mated to a Renault four-speed transaxle. The French coupe’s fiberglass body was laid over a square-tube steel backbone frame, not unlike the construction of a Lotus Elan. Like a Lotus, the Djet was light—well under 1500 pounds. It also featured fully independent coil spring/wishbone suspension as well as four-wheel disc brakes—cutting-edge stuff in the early 1960s.

After building fewer than 200 Djets and experiencing some notable success in endurance racing, Bonnet learned what so many other small carmakers have over the years: It’s pretty darn tough to make money building sports cars. So, in late 1964 he sold his concern to Matra (Mécanique Aviation Traction), which was already manufacturing the bodyshells and assembling the cars. An industrial conglomerate, Matra has built air-to-air missiles and guided rockets, but it is mostly known in our hobby for its 1969 title-winning Formula 1 car, its home team three-peat of Le Mans victories from 1972 to ’74, and its oddball road cars like the 530, the Bagheera, and the Rancho off-roader. The Djet, though, was Matra’s very first move into automobiles. The French firm continued Bonnet’s design with few real revisions, mostly just giving it more power from its Renault/Gordini engines. Matra proceeded from Djet I through Djet V, then to the V S, and finally the “Jet 6.”

Nearly 1500 Matra-badged Djets were built until 1967, and the company gifted one of them to pioneering cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin during his 1965 tour of France.

Another one, our feature car this week, is a Jet 6. That name means it has the largest available Renault 8 Gordini engine, at 1255 cc, which Matra claimed was good for 130 mph. The car was reportedly imported to the U.S. about 50 years ago and has a history in SCCA racing—hence the numbers, the dual Weber carbs, the fender flares, the roll bar, and those Cosmic alloy wheels. It also has the usual bumps and scrapes of a racer, plus the paint cracks endemic to old sports cars made out of fiberglass. But it also has the correct seats, a classic Moto-Lita leather-wrapped steering wheel, a lovely wood dash, and nifty stock Jaeger gauges with French text.

After little interest and a high bid that sat at $16K for quite some time, bidding picked up in the last few minutes and ended up at the car’s condition #3 (Good) value according to the Hagerty Price Guide, which seems about right. Others have sold for more in France, but of course they’re better known there. Over here, this Djet represents a heck of a lot of fun, character, and rarity for the money in a vintage racer.

***

Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.

Via Insider

The post Holy Matra-money, an oddball French race car for $33K! appeared first on Hagerty Media.

This summer, a spicy story of automotive identity theft broke in Germany. One happy new owner of a $1.74M Mercedes-Benz 300SL went to register his yellow roadster, only to get the kind of news no car enthusiast ever wants to hear: Another 300SL with the same chassis number was already registered. Authorities assert that a fake car was created using the chassis number from the yellow SL, which hadn’t been to market in decades and was presumed lost. The investigation is ongoing, but noted restorer Kienle Automobiltechnik was searched a few months ago and investigators reportedly started looking for evidence of other duplicates in the shop’s past. Regardless of where the blame for the counterfeit SL lands, the car highlights a rare but cautionary scenario that’s hardly the first one of its kind in the collector-car world.

Colloquially, we refer to our huge (but sometimes surprisingly small) world of collector cars as “the hobby.” Fair enough. It is our hobby. Enjoying automobiles is how many of us make friends and spend our free time, driven by that powerful cocktail of passion and nostalgia. It’s fun, and it’s supposed to be.

But let’s face it: “The hobby” isn’t the same thing as beer-league baseball or knitting. There’s a lot of money involved in classic cars, not just in the values of our vehicles but in the industries built around selling them, restoring them, servicing them, financing them, insuring them, even celebrating them via massive, expensive events. Hagerty’s Automotive Intelligence team estimates that there are 45 million collector vehicles in the United States together worth roughly $1 trillion. In 2022, collector-car auctions in North America alone totaled $3.48 billion.

As with any large, lucrative industry, collector cars are susceptible to questionable behavior, from shady to straight-up criminal, from minor fibs to full-blown fraud. Given the collector-car market’s own complexities, and since most of a vehicle’s value boils down to two things—appearance and history, the latter verified by documentation and occasionally forensic examination—our precious rides can be particularly susceptible to fakery and even to fraud. Things like missing chassis numbers are what Hagerty Price Guide publisher Dave Kinney calls “fertile ground for the criminal mind.”

Think about it. A car can look like a million bucks—literally—but if it is really a well-executed fake with phony paperwork or just a replica, it’s only worth a fraction of that amount.

While the shadiest stuff is rare, it is still common enough that some insurance providers have specialized groups to investigate questionable and suspicious claims. Legal disputes are common enough that there are attorneys who specialize in cases that involve collector cars.

Bryan Shook runs the aptly named Vintage Car Law in Pennsylvania, though his work takes him across the country. Many of the cases he sees don’t necessarily involve fraud, which requires a representer’s knowledge of falsity and has a high burden of proof. Instead, cases involving cars that aren’t actually what they seem are more common.

“When I started in 2005–06,” says Shook, “we were seeing misrepresentations, with a big emphasis on muscle cars with particular option packages. People were passing off clones, like a base-model Pontiac made into a GTO, sometimes even with convincing paperwork and restamped motors.” Those practices aren’t as common today, but “some of those cars have been passed around and sold so many times as real when they’re actually ancient fakes. They can go through multiple sellers without anybody knowing it’s a fake, so there’s identity issues with them today.” Often, an “ancient fake” muscle car won’t be revealed until it’s restored, when things like trim holes from a lesser model or cuts in the body with numbers transferred to it reveal themselves.

“There are restorers who will tell you when they find a problem like that, and there are restorers who won’t tell you, who just want their client’s money. And if they don’t say anything, are they complicit? My answer is yes,” says Shook.

In addition to fakes and clones passed off as the real thing, there’s the issue of cars—and particularly race cars—where two vehicles can claim the same identity. An old joke goes something like: “15 were built, of which just 25 are known to exist.” There are also cases where one car can be changed so much over time that there are questions of its authenticity, à la the Ship of Theseus paradox.

A Jaguar D-Type, chassis XKD530, had an active and interesting life racing not just on the road but also on ice and sand in Finland, and even in the USSR. Years later, after the car had been damaged, one car had been built up around the original front subframe and bodywork, while a second car had been built up around the original monocoque and powertrain. The only real solution, other than a legal dispute, was for one person to buy both cars and restore them back into one, which is what happened in the early 2000s. Eventually, the car sold post-block at Amelia Island in 2015 for $3.675M. For comparison, in spring 2015, a no-stories D-Type in #2 (Excellent) condition was valued at $5M.

Not all such stories have that kind of happy ending, though. A Ferrari 250 Testarossa, chassis 0720 TR, burned up in 1965 when lightning struck the Missouri barn that was storing it. The frame was saved but later discarded in a ravine and eventually sold to an English collector who had an entire car built up around it. Then a second Testarossa frame turned up in Italy claiming the same chassis number. It, too, was faithfully built up into a fully functioning 250 TR and consigned to a Swiss auction in 2001. Before it crossed the block, however, it was slapped with an injunction and pulled from the auction. The result is that the chassis from the ravine is the only one with real claim to be chassis 0720 TR. The other is, in effect, a replica.

Consider also the case of the 1929 Bentley “Old Number One.” It has a spectacular racing history, including overall victory at Le Mans in 1929 and in 1930, but the vehicle also evolved continuously throughout its racing career, was extensively rebuilt multiple times, and was even involved in a fatal crash in 1933. But Old Number One does have a continuous, well-documented history. In 1990, it became the subject of a case in front of the Royal Courts of Justice. The car’s owner had agreed to sell it to a company in exchange for a combination of assets and cash valued at £10M, but the would-be buyer withdrew from the sale after doubting the car’s authenticity. The result of the case was that the car is deemed the “direct descendant” of Old Number One and that no other car can claim its identity.

More common and more nefarious than these edge cases of historic cars is tinkering with paperwork and VINs. This is especially problematic if a VIN is “portable,” as Shook calls it. “On some early cars, a VIN can be just two Phillips head screws attaching it to the body. My 9-year-old son could have that off in three minutes.” Or, on some other cars, “the VIN comes right off with the dash pad, so think about how easily that can be moved to another car.”

Shook also says he regularly comes across private Facebook groups advertising “tin” and “paper,” referring to VIN plates and titles. “There are fraudulent, fake titles being sold on the internet every day.” There are innocent reasons why one might not have a VIN or title, like an old abandoned truck sitting outside or an inherited vehicle that has no documents, but “when there are entities out there just wholesale providing these services without checking on anything, they’re contributing to or perhaps aiding and abetting fraud,” Shook says.

Bigger and higher-profile cases of genuine wrongdoing are rarer, but people have been caught over the years, sometimes to sensational headlines.

In a case from Germany in 2020, the public prosecutor’s office of Aachen brought charges against three men, including a well-known restorer and former Porsche employee, for fraud involving building up Porsche race cars from the ’60s using spare chassis and parts, forging paperwork and race histories, and selling them—sometimes, for millions of euros. The main defendant in the case was alleged to have faked more than 30 Porsches.

Of course, there are also just good old-fashioned scams, in which two parties agree to a sale, the buyer pays for a product, and the seller simply takes off with the money because there was no actual product to begin with. Internet-based transactions, particularly in the last decade, have facilitated this activity. From 2016 to 2018, for example, a group of fraudsters from Eastern Europe and Central Asia duped enthusiasts out of more than $4M. They created convincing ads online for classic cars they didn’t really have and directed would-be buyers to wire money to a transport company that was actually the fraudsters’ own fake shell company. A total of 25 defendants in the Southern District of New York case were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

This isn’t a totally isolated case. More recent scams seen by Hagerty’s Special Investigations Unit team include websites that swipe photos from popular online auction listings, digitally manipulate ones showing the VIN to alter it by a digit or two, and then try to pass the whole thing off as a genuine vehicle listed for sale to lure buyers who may not be doing their homework.

Along with good old-fashioned scams, there’s good old-fashioned insurance fraud. Remember Andy House? Back in 2009, in the early days of camera phones, the Texas salvage yard owner was famously caught on video driving a Bugatti Veyron straight into a Gulf Coast lagoon, leaving the engine running and claiming he was distracted by a (nonexistent) low-flying pelican, before having his $2.2M insurance claim denied. He wound up serving over a year in prison for the act.

Maybe the most famous case of collector-car insurance fraud, however, comes not from a Lone Star auto parts jockey but from English nobility. Charles Ronald George Nall-Cain, aka the third Baron Brocket aka “Brocket the Rocket,” had by the end of the 1980s amassed a collection of a few dozen blue-chip classics through a bank loan and was pulling in revenue by using his ancestral home of Brocket Hall as a conference venue and golf course. But when the early 1990s recession hit, the classic car boom turned into a bust and the big wigs weren’t booking Brocket Hall like they used to.

Then, in 1991, three of Lord Brocket’s classic Ferraris and his Maserati Birdcage, each of which was insured for more than it was worth after the downturn, were reported stolen. The circumstances were suspicious, but nobody found any evidence of wrongdoing. Until 1995, that is, when his estranged wife was being questioned by police about a suspected forged prescription and spilled the beans on her husband’s insurance fraud. The Italian classics had not, in fact, been stolen. Instead, Lord Brocket and his mechanic had destroyed the bodywork while dismantling the rest of the cars and shuffling off the parts to a west London storage unit in hopes of rebuilding them one day. Lord Brocket was sentenced to five years in prison. In the end, he served less than half that time.

There are also cases of trying to get a loan against valuable assets, like cars, that people do not own. Ricky Prince, owner and operator of North Texas Muscle Cars, Inc. padded his financial statements to secure credit with cars he didn’t actually own, including a 1963 Corvette, a ’74 DeTomaso Pantera, a ’67 Chevelle, and a ’38 Ford hot rod. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and money laundering, was sentenced to 36 months in prison, and ordered to pay restitution of $1.46M.