5 Cars Posting the Biggest Gains in a Slow Market

The enthusiast car market has been slowing since the summer of 2022, but it’s also a vast market that doesn’t behave uniformly. Some cars have stopped appreciating or are now contracting in value; others continue to realize gains. Here are five of the cars that increased the most in value in the latest installment of the Hagerty Price Guide, which was published online on January 1st. The group is eclectic, to say the least, which is partly due to the pricing volatility for low-volume cars, as well as a reflection that the market for most “known” cars is much quieter than it was to start 2022. (Read more to learn about the methodology behind Hagerty Price Guide.)

1970-1972 Nissan Fairlady Z 432 +48%

Most American car enthusiasts know the Datsun 240Z, but far fewer know the Nissan Fairlady Z 432. That lack of awareness hasn’t hindered values, though. The car surged in price by 48 percent to close the year, and one in excellent condition now costs a hair below $300,000.

The Z 432 is a performance variant of the original Z car produced for the Japanese domestic market, and features a close-ratio five-speed transmission, dual exhaust, a limited-slip rear differential, and a sportier suspension. Most importantly, though, it is powered by the same four-valve, three-carb, dual-overhead cam S20 engine that propelled the legendary Prince R380, Japan’s first purpose-built prototype racer. The 432 is exceedingly rare, too, with only around 420 built.

Given their rarity and the devotion of their owners, these cars change hands infrequently, but an excellent example found a new owner at Mecum’s Monterey auction last August for $297,000. This public benchmark is consistent with reported private sales activity for perfect cars soaring above $400,000. Furthermore, the Nissan “Hakosuka” Skyline 2000GT-R also had a strong quarter, with their price guide values increasing by 13 percent. These are proof that JDM fans are as interested in the older back catalog as they are in more modern models.

1968-1984 Saab 99 +30%

Historically, Saab’s unconventional styling and unusual technology limited the brand’s mass appeal in the U.S., but those same traits are what have earned the cars a loyal American fan base today. Loyal enough, in fact, that the Saab 900 Turbo landed on our 2023 Bull Market list.

The 99 preceded the 900 by a decade and was Saab’s first upmarket foray. Larger (though not outright large) and more luxurious than prior Saab models like the 93 and 96, the 99 brought the company a step closer to the mainstream. Gone were the company’s two-stroke engines, replaced with a two-liter inline-four sourced from Triumph, that could come equipped with a then-novel turbocharger. The 99 had a reputation for impressive build quality and had an abundance of trims available, including the sportier EMS. It was a massive sales success for the Swedish company and established the tone for Saab’s product line in the 1980s and 1990s.

In this update of the Hagerty Price Guide, the 99 Turbo and EMS versions increased by a stout 30 percent, pushing values of the Turbo models up to $21,600 for an excellent example. The EMS, meanwhile, now sits at $16,200 in the same condition. Apparently interest in the Saab 900 is carrying over to its older sibling.

1963-1969 Alpine GT4 +24%

If an Alpine A110 is too mainstream for you, consider the GT4, Alpine’s four-seat take on the diminutive French giant killer. The GT4’s tall roofline makes it clear the car is a hopped-up people hauler and not a purpose-built race car, and it justifiably trades at a discount to the A110. It’s also one of the rarer cars we include in the Hagerty Price Guide, with fewer than 300 produced, making it one of the more challenging cars in our guide to value. That said, Artcurial sold a needy example over the summer with a mid-estimate result that allowed us to dial in pricing, which is now at $32,500 for an excellent car. If you’re keeping score, the six-figure A110, a different animal altogether, saw its values drop by two percent over the same period.

1959-1960 Oldsmobile 88 / 98 Holiday Coupe +24%

The 1959 model year introduced a more modern, “Linear Look” to Oldsmobile’s 88 and 98 line-ups, with the Holiday Coupes being the sleekest and airiest of all. This iteration only lasted two model years and served as a transition between the stylistic exuberance of the 1950s and the Jet-Age refinement of the early 1960s. Due to its short lifespan and its position as a liminal design, this era of Oldsmobile is often overlooked, and its value story underscores that—pricing was essentially unchanged from the start of 2019 to mid-2023.

That wasn’t the case at the end of last year, however, as several public sales confirmed that buyers are now paying higher prices. Rather than a sign of an impending boom for this era of GM full-size coupes, this is more likely an aftershock of the pandemic surge, with the Olds starting to catch up to where other contemporaries have already gone.

1962-1969 Abarth 1000 +24%

In the 1950s and 1960s, Carlo Abarth’s eponymous company found fame by manufacturing go-fast parts for Fiats and eventually tuning Fiat models for motorsports use. Abarth even transformed Fiat’s cute and cuddly 600 economy car into the pugnacious 1000 Berlina and 1000 TC racers for competition in Group 2 and Group 5 touring car races. A front-mounted radiator, bored-out engine, and hemispherical combustion chambers, among numerous other tweaks, changed the car’s nature entirely and resulted in much success in European events.

The market for this car had been relatively sleepy since January 2021, but sale and advertised prices for these models have been increasing consistently enough to prompt us to push values higher. Authenticity is always a question for these cars, but even at their new levels of $30,000 for the Berlina and $47,700 for the TC (both in “excellent” condition), they seem like a ton of fun for the money.

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