2020 Bull Market List: Report card

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 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 2020 Bull Market List was the third edition, and this class of vehicles has yielded very strong results. This group has benefited from an average annualized return of 14.5 percent, besting the broader collector-car market’s performance (3.5 percent annualized return) by 11.1 percentage points. Even the weakest among them—the first motorcycle to be added to Bull Market—still managed to outperform the broader annualized return of all vehicles in the Hagerty Price Guide. Let’s look at some key picks from 2020.

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Biggest hit:

1990–94 Volkswagen Corrado G60 (47% annualized return)

When it debuted, the $17,900 Corrado was VW’s spendiest machine. This wasn’t merely a warmed-over Golf. Your hard-earned money gave you a slick front-wheel-drive performer putting down 158 horsepower from its supercharged four, a 140-mph top end, along with plenty of room for passengers and their stuff. It was an entirely tossable, competent little car that looked like nothing else in the VW lineup—or really nothing else on the road. A zesty narrow-angle V-6 (dubbed VR6) replaced the force-fed four-cylinder in 1992, but the Corrado was never quite the seller VW hoped it would be, and it was gone by 1995.

When we selected the supercharged Corrado for the 2020 list, we valued #2 (“Excellent”) examples from $5700 to $8000; it was an entirely accessible alternative to sporty Japanese rides. No Bull Market car has ever skyrocketed quite like this V-Dub has, however, and its 47 percent annualized return outperformed the market as a whole by more than 43 percentage points. Today, that same #2 G60 will set you back more than 30 grand. Did you get in while the gettin’ was good?

Biggest miss:

1994–98 Ducati 916 (5% annualized return)

For our 2020 list, we included a motorcycle for the first time. With the sexy Ducati 916 out there in the wild, how could we not? On its debut it was a revelation of two-wheeled design; the Guggenheim Museum in New York included one in its Art of the Motorcycle exhibit in 1998. More importantly, the screaming 916 sold like gangbusters, won four World Superbike titles, and saved the struggling Italian marque.

The 916 wasn’t cheap when new ($14,495) and it held that value well. Back in 2020, our #2 value was $10,700–$13,300. Today we value an Excellent-condition 916 around $15,000, which represents a 5 percent annualized return. Against the market at large from 2020, which has had an average return of 3.5, it’s no loser, but it does remain the weakest vehicle from that year by three percentage points. The consolation, if one is needed, is this: On a lonely road of your choosing, a 916 will smoke 100 percent of the total vehicles we’ve ever featured in the Bull Market List.

Honorable mention:

1984–2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ (18% annualized return)

We recognized three SUVs on the 2020 list—the 1971–80 International Scout II, the 1970–95 Land Rover Range Rover, and the XJ Cherokee. All have made a strong showing of it in the years since, with the Scout posting a 12 percent annualized return and the Rover romping to 17 percent. But it’s the Cherokee that has posted the second-strongest performance of that year’s cohort (after the frankly absurd yield of the Corrado). It’s no wonder people are seeking them out; these Cherokees are loved for their no-nonsense styling and their can-do off-roading chops, their easy maintenance and their immense aftermarket support. There’s a lot to love, in other words.

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