25 cars that collectors seem to be ignoring
The Hagerty Vehicle Rating uses insurance activity, auction results, and private sales activity of hundreds of models of classic and modern vehicles in order to determine which vehicles are outperforming the collector car market as a whole. The latest dive into the numbers has revealed that quite a few cars we still consider highly collectible are now finding their way to the bottom of the ranking. What can we take away from this?
The first thing that comes to mind when looking at the bottom 25 is that there aren’t any real duds. All are desirable coupes, roadsters, muscle cars, and beautifully styled classics. Just take a look at that list: you have British, German, Italian, and American cars from the ’50s to the ’80s, and each one would be a welcome addition to nearly any collector’s stable. What gives?
In the case of the second-generation Pontiac GTO, values have remained rock solid over the last several years, while other muscle cars have continued to climb. Of course, the most desirable versions of GTO, like the Judge, are beginning to push upward, which might mean that the market is passing up garden-variety Goats and is only interested in the rarities.
The same can be said about C4 Corvettes. The standard LT-1-powered coupes and convertibles are holding their value, but the Grand Sports are getting all the attention. Likewise, the Plymouth GTX and Dodge Challenger have both taken a back seat in comparison to the Road Runner and ’Cuda, respectively, although they’re both desirable, restorable, and collectible. Oddly enough, both were also the budget versions of the B-body and E-body compared to the luxurious GTX and longer-wheelbase Challenger.
The real lesson, it seems, is that the Hagerty Vehicle Rating does a pretty good job of finding which vehicles are tearing up the market, but even the vehicles that are cooling down clearly aren’t bad cars and not necessarily bad buys. If you’re a fan of the Big Three and you’d like to add some variety to your stable, you still can’t go wrong with a GTO, a GTX, and a GT350.
