Do classic car owners stay loyal to their brand for new car purchases?
We all know that car collectors can be a fiercely brand-loyal bunch: just ask any vintage Mustang owner what they think of Camaros. Yet we wondered to what extent, if any, this carries over to new car purchases. Hagerty policy data provides some answers. In order to insure an enthusiast vehicle with us, an owner needs to state what car they use as a daily driver. The daily driver doesn’t need to be a new car—but very often it is. Using our policy data that listed a 2018+ daily driver, we sorted those to identify the most popular enthusiast vehicle for each. To zoom in on the brand loyalty question, we only considered people with one classic vehicle on their Hagerty policy (because, naturally, someone with 50-cars might have say, a Ford and a Chevy).
The most popular new vehicles overall shouldn’t surprise anyone—pickups, crossovers, SUVS.
The most popular luxury vehicles are the Cadillac Escalade, followed by the BMW X5, Audi Q7, Cadillac XT5, and Volvo XC90. While not in sequence, they all slot between the top 40 and 55 daily-use vehicles.
Now, let’s look at brand loyalty. Turns out, Chevrolets really like to travel together.Here are the top classic vehicles for people whose daily driver is a new Chevrolet Silverado:
- 1968-1982 Chevrolet Corvette C3
- 1967-1969 Chevrolet Camaro
- 1968-1972 Chevrolet Chevelle
- 1967-1972 Chevrolet C/K Series Pickup
- 1955-1957 Chevrolet Bel Air
Blue Oval folks are more willing to cross enemy lines. For the Ford F-Series, the top five are:
- 1966-1977 Ford Bronco
- 1968-1982 Chevrolet Corvette C3
- 1967-1969 Chevrolet Camaro
- 1965-1966 Ford Mustang
- 1967-1972 Chevrolet C/K Series Pickup
The least loyal, surprisingly, are Ram truck owners, as the top 5 are:
- 1967-1972 Chevrolet C/K Series Pickup
- 1965-1966 Ford Mustang
- 1967-1969 Chevrolet Camaro
- 1968-1972 Chevrolet Chevelle
- 1984-1996 Chevrolet Corvette C4
An important caveat here is that there simply are more old Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes floating around than there are Barracudas, vintage Chargers, and Road Runners.
Although most enthusiasts seem quite practical when it comes to their new car purchases, a good number list what many would consider an enthusiast vehicle as their daily driver. New Porsche 911s are common, but so are the Audi RS5 and the BMW M5. If that’s their everyday wheels, what is the Sunday driver?
Among people driving a new Porsche 911 every day, many have another 911 (Carrera 3.2, 993, or even a 912) as their other car. In some cases, a W113 Mercedes-Benz SL is the second car, but in other cases, the E39 BMW M5 is their weekend ride. Or even an R32 Nissan Skyline.
Miata is Always the Answer, but what if it is just half of the answer? And which half? Among those that keep a newer Miata as their occasional use vehicle, almost nobody has just two vehicles. For the few that daily a newer Miata, the occasional use vehicle is often a vintage British sports car. For many, it seems the answer is either only a Miata, or it is less than half of the solution.
Among folks that ride a newer Harley-Davidson or BMW motorcycle every day, the second vehicle is often a vintage muscle car or vintage truck.
So, what is your ideal two-vehicle garage? Silverado and ’70 Chevelle? F-150 and a ‘66 Mustang? Porsche 911 and (whisper it) a manual transmission BMW M5? Harley-Davidson and a ’79 Camaro? Leave your picks in a comment below.
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I think for where I live my two vehicles would be a new ’23 Z06 for spring/summer and a classic Land Cruiser (80 series I think) for fall/winter.
All my collectables are GM, but I bought a 2020 Charger Scatpack because GM had nothing to offer in an exciting and good looking sedan. Ford and the foreign builders didn’t have anything I like either. Dodge stood alone in looks and performance and won me over. I can’t say much of anything new in the car world has any styling anymore. It is sad to watch the styling direction the automotive industry has gone over the last 60 years. Everything looks the same now.
In the garage I have a 1979 Grandprix for the weekends. Next to that a 2009 Impala SS for more comfortable trips. A 2005 Silverado sits outside for driving in bad weather.
Since my classic car is a ’66 Pontiac, I’d find it hard to stay brand loyal with a new car purchase. 🤔 I’m partial to Dodge trucks, so guess if I was going to go with a 2-car garage pair-up, it’d be a new Ram 2500 to accompany my LeMans (GTO clone).
Though my first car was a 67 beetle all of my cars for the next 40 years were Jap. cars RX7 RX8 626 Acura TLs Nissan Pathfinder and Armada. My weekend cars now are 3rd&4th gen Vipers Oh yea, I still have my 2000 Mazda B4000 4×4 and 6 Jap motorcycles from 1973 to 2012s. I dont really consider myself brand loyal but I do still have my favorites. Mostly ford Mustangs 69-70 the most.
We favor the Buick line with my fun car being a 1965 Riviera GS and my wife’s car a 2019 Enclave. My daily is a 2022 Honda Ridgeline.
I really cross brand lines (and oceans). My classic is a 1964 Mercury and my daily is a 370z.
My current daily driver is a ’64 Chevelle more door. The other not quite daily Summer Car is a ’64 El Camino. I’m building a ’67 El Camino now and my Winter POS is a 2000 S10. I don’t care for anything newer, too expensive and not interesting.
2020 Honda Clarity Hybrid
2003 Honda S2000
I’m a longtime owner of a 70 Cuda and a 69 Charger. My last two dailies have been an ‘05 Hemi Durango and a ‘19 Ram. Did not even consider a different brand.
I have a ‘65 Mustang convertible and a Mustang Mach E, so guess that is loyal!
1965 Mustang for affordable vintage fun, 2019 6 speed Honda Fit for affordable modern fun. I was going to buy a Fiesta ST, but Ford walked away from the small car market. Now Honda’s killed to US Fit as well. I’ll just have to see if anything fun and economical is left the next time I buy. It’s going to be difficult with giant electric trucks replacing econoboxs for cafe credits.
My daily driver is a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack (6-speed, of course) and my weekend/project car is a 1955 Jaguar XK-140 roadster.
I have, from time to time, entertained getting something like a mid-60’s Jaguar S-type 3.8 4-speed with OD as a daily, but that’s kind of going the opposite direction of this question.
5 car garage Charlevoix, MI
Summer fun: E-Bike, 06 Corvette Convertible
Wife summer cruiser: Kia Sole! Whole shebang, glass roof moonroof leather
Winter and marina cruiser: 04 Dodge Durango Limited Hemi AWD
Hwy cruiser performance travel: 20 Tesla Model Y FSD BETA tester dual motor performance upgrade
Eclectic free thinker.
One footnote to my previous comment about what cars to have in your garage.
I was a GM dealer franchised for selling Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, GMC and successfully operated the dealership for 14 years.
There is still 1 GM car out of 5 in my garage from 4 different brands.
Sometimes brand loyalty can be described as tunnel vision, or brain washing.
Be a free thinker and do your research and explore with an open mind.
The world out there will amaze you.
I have a 1966 Mustang and a 1969 Camaro. I’m a fan of both. Just love classic cars!