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7 Cars That Lost the Most Coin This Summer
We updated the Hagerty Price Guide last month, and “soft” is a word that keeps coming up. Most of our collector car indexes are down year-over-year, and some vehicles shed as much as 18 percent of their value. We’ve already highlighted some of the cars that lost the most in percentage terms, but below are some of the high-dollar classics that dropped the most in pure dollar terms. The bigger they are, the harder they fall, and all that.
As always, if you have questions about how we arrived at these changes, you can read more about the methodology behind the Hagerty Price Guide here.
1965–70 Aston Martin DB6 Vantage Coupe
Condition #2 decrease: -$58,900 (-11 percent)
Visually similar to the DB5 that came before it, the DB6 added four inches of wheelbase and a slightly higher roofline, resulting in a roomier Aston. The side profile also changed with the DB6’s Kammback tail and upward flourish at the very back. Mechanically the DB6 is largely the same, with the Tadek Marek-designed 4.0-liter six mated to either a ZF five-speed manual or Borg-Warner three-speed auto. In base form the triple SU-carbureted DB6 is rated at 282 horsepower, while the hot DB6 to have was the Vantage version, in which the triple Weber-fed engine makes 325 hp. British magazine Motor called the DB6 Vantage “a very Grand Tourer” that “makes the overall speed limit of 70 mph look ridiculous.”
In the DB6 value hierarchy, the ultra-rare Vantage convertibles and base model convertibles are worth the most, each coming in at over $1M in excellent condition. Coupes, even Vantages, are worth less than half as much, and while all DB6s got cheaper this past quarter, Vantage coupes sank the most. Weak sales, including a high number of cars in mediocre condition hitting the auction market over the past few years, have kept DB6 prices soft.
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1973–75 BMW 3.0CSL Batmobile
Condition #2 decrease: -$86,700 (-18 percent)
Launched in 1972, the 3.0 CSL improved upon BMW’s already solid E9 platform with lighter weight and more power, and nearly 1300 were built to homologate it for European Touring Car Championship racing. A lighter body, less trim, and Perspex side windows dropped weight. In 1973, things improved further with a bump in displacement to 3.2 liters and an aero package with a massive air dam, an even bigger rear wing, a small roof spoiler, and fins along the front fenders. BMW didn’t call this version the “Batmobile,” but the nickname has stuck with the car ever since.
BMW also didn’t sell this car in the U.S., but American Bimmer-heads have lusted after it for long enough that a decent number of them have made it to this side of the Atlantic. And, as classic BMW prices in general have appreciated significantly during the 2010s and 2020s, so has the Batmobile. From 2013-23, the condition #2 value of this car essentially tripled. Last year, however, was the peak, and sale prices have been soft. Since then, #2 values have sunk by 27 percent.
1955–57 Mercedes-Benz 300Sc Cabriolet
Condition #2 decrease: -$87,000 (-11 percent)
Part of the W188 generation of Mercedes-Benz, the 300Sc is quite rare with 98 coupes, 49 Cabriolet As, and 53 roadsters built. They are magnificent hand-built cars that retain some of that prewar coach-built streamlined elegance, but combine it with advanced postwar features like independent suspension and a fuel-injected engine similar to the one found in Mercedes’ 300SL sports car. In fact, a 300Sc actually cost more than a 300SL when both cars were new.
Not so now. In fact, 300Sc prices have been consistently dropping for nearly a decade, and two recent sales for the rare cabriolet models don’t show that trend reversing. A solid example sold this summer for $582,500, which is under its condition #4 (“fair”) value, and another brought even less at £368,000 ($477,885).
1963–64 Alfa Romeo TZ-1
Condition #2 decrease: -$150,000 (-9 percent)
Alfa Romeo’s racing successor to the Giulietta Sprint Zagato (SZ), the Tubolare Zagato (TZ) features a lightweight tube (tubolare) frame and an aluminum body by, you guessed it, Zagato. These days, people refer to it as the TZ-1 to distinguish it from the much rarer fiberglass-bodied TZ-2 that replaced it. Its distinctive Kamm tail (the Italians call it a coda tronca, or “shortened tail”) and curvy shape make it gorgeous, and it truly is light, weighing in at under 1500 pounds. TZ-1s were highly competitive in their class in the great sports car races of the day, and Alfa Romeo built just 112 of them.
With cars this rare, individual sales can swing price guide numbers significantly. Although prices high-end 1960s sports cars in general were soft this past quarter, one auction result for a TZ-1 made the case for dropping this Italian favorite’s value by six figures. An aged but good car in #3+ condition sold in Monterey back in August for $819,000. While 819 grand is a lot of money, it’s well under the car’s $1M presale estimate, and less than the TZ-1’s condition #4 value in our Price Guide.
1960–63 Aston Martin DB4 GT
Condition #2 decrease: -$450,000 (-14 percent)
Introduced in late 1959, the same year Aston Martin won overall at Le Mans, the DB4 GT is shorter, lighter, and more powerful than the standard DB4. Its wheelbase is about five inches shorter, its body made of thinner-gauge aluminum, and its engine tweaked with higher compression, twin-plug ignition, and three Weber carburetors to bump power from 240 to 302 hp. Visually, the DB4 GT is most distinguishable by its handsome faired-in, covered headlights, a feature Aston Martin later adopted on the DB4 Vantage and the DB5. Other details include quick-release fuel fillers for the large fuel tank and Borrani wire wheels.
DB4 GTs mixed it up on track with Ferrari 250 TdFs and SWBs (more about those below) and had considerable success. Aston Martin built 75 of them, and 19 more received lighter, curvier bodywork from Zagato in Italy.
Like the Alfa TZ, this is another scarcely seen ’60s sports car, and sometimes just one sale can precede a big price swing. One such sale happened in Monterey back in August, where a DB4 GT in #2- condition sold for $2.1M, which was condition #3- money, or about half a million less, at the time.
1956–59 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France
Condition #2 decrease: -$700,000 (-11 percent)
Ferrari won the Tour de France automobile race eight times between 1951 and 1964, and the company even nicknamed the long wheelbase, competition version of its 250 GT the “Tour de France” (TdF) after it won the event in 1956.
TdFs are among the most valuable and sought after of all classic Ferraris, so when their prices drop, a lot of dollars (700K of them, in this case) are shed. Vintage Ferraris in general had a tough go of it this past quarter. A TdF posted a soft $5.2M in Monterey, and Hagerty’s Ferrari index saw its biggest drop in over four years.
1959–63 Ferrari 250 GT SWB
Condition #2 decrease: -$800,000 (-10 percent)
The 250 GT SWB (Short Wheelbase) is an evolution of the successful 250 GT TdF and the predecessor of the famous 250 GTO, as well as a highly successful racing car in its own right. It has long been one of the most valuable classic cars in the world, and alloy-bodied examples can sell for eight figures. Given the soft market for 1950s and 1960s Ferraris this past quarter, though, the most valuable ones were bound to drop along with the rest of them.
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If you’re really a car guy all this doesn’t mean squat. All the cars I have I bought was because I liked/wanted them to drive. I never think about market value because I didn’t buy them for investment or expecting to make money on them. I also know how to work on them and not dependent on trying to find someone who knows how to repair old cars. I let my teenage grandkids drive them around, even by themselves, and they have become enthusiastic about older cars which makes them, to me anyway, far more valuable than your market value. Plus part of the value is passing them down to the kids and grandkids. Not selling them. Of course no guarantees on what they will do, but at least I did my part to keep the interest and love going
I suppose these cars do matter if you were planning to create yet another “James Bond” film and needed some stars that roll. Good thing is we all have the freedom to own or drive whatever interests us that falls within our snack bracket, I suspect the owners of this type of high end investment may not really be with Haggerty for the reasons the rest of us are. I still enjoy the perspectives in many of the articles but don’t really care about prices as I am preserving history for family heirlooms and holding on to excitement and feelings from yesterday when somehow looking back with rose coloured glasses times seemed really good. Perhaps we should all be thankful to have or rent a garage and enjoy what we keep in it. So many people don’t have garages or even homes and worry more about the next meal than the next car to add to the collection.
This is a reflection of our stinky economic situation overall. Even the rich are getting poorer these days. Maybe now we can hope for a little daylight after these four dark years.
That’s BS, and you know it. Stocks at an all-time high, unemployment at an all-time low, inflation has stabilized, gas prices are dropping. Trump will take credit if things continue to hum along, but we know Biden is the one who stabilized the economy that had tanked at the end of Trump’s first term, after his abysmal handing of the pandemic, and the American economy is now the envy of the world. Yes, Biden’s health deteriorated a lot this year and he should have not decided to run again, but history will judge that he did a lot of good, even with his failure to stop the flow of migrants earlier in his term.
Completely incorrect. The economy was actually improving during the four “dark” years and inflation was declining. The Inflation was a result of the reduction in corporate tax rates and handling of the pandemic and all the free money that was given away starting in 2020, ie, during the prior, prior administration.
The comments were definitely more interesting than the article.
I too would have liked to have seen one or two collector cars more on-line with what I have in my garage.
I lucked up and did okay when I sold my first collector car but that’s not why I bought it. The two in the garage now seem to be holding their own, but bottom line is they will be worth what someone is willing to pay when I have to sell them. In the meantime I am having fun driving and showing them. And the used car market will always be better than the used boat market!
You guys need to do this same notification to NORMAL PEOPLE cars (Lincoln, Cadillac, Lexus, etc.) after they have been driven for 3-years. That way, we can have some valuable info to use while shopping for a good quality used car.
Please tell us who makes an every-day driver car that has excellent value and demonstrated performance.
Even though I can’t afford these cars, as a car person and a data person for as long as I can remember, I enjoy these articles. I’m also a European car guy, with plenty of vintage VWs, Alfa Romeos, and Mercedes under my belt. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy American cars, either.
I can see why the Beamer went down. It should have been discounted the day it left the factory. Looks like a poorly done kit car with all the parts coming from J C Whitney!
So, in talking about raising the nostalgia bar for some of the younger folks, I am imagining that the interest threshold for cars that were in any of the Fast & Furious movies is doubtless much higher than the average American 60’s – 80’s collector car. That includes the youngest of today’s kids. Seems like the way to rev up the interest is new car related movie focus to build the interest. If you have grand kids you should be watching movies that will build their interest in “Grampa’s car”.
On Any Sunday, kept me interested in and excited by dirt riding and vintage dirt bikes to this day. Lot’s of good memories. Build them in your family early.
I see dodge is reversing course and bringing back the v8. Over 700hp. With drones in the sky monitoring speeders, what the need for all that HP.
I’m shall we say, a person of high mileage, so I remember a time when owning a pristine auto was everything there was in this thing we call ” the sport.”. I’m quite sure some of you are not aware of that point in time when even the higher priced cars were affordable. As we all know, that’s not the case today. Keeping this short and to the point, we all need to look up the definition of the word ” vehicle “. Although I have slept in some of mine from time to time, I’ve never been able to cook meals or flush the toilet in anything less than my camper or a motor home. Never the less there’s always been some fool with deep deep pockets trying to impress the fact on me that his chrome water pipe is worth much more than mine. I don’t believe there is any truth involved in that equation as I’m beyond what we call hype in this sport and one of the very few to be happy with every and all my worldly possessions. When you are paying $1,200.00 for an oil change, I can’t help remember the time I purchased a ’59 Plymouth for $25.00 and then sold it for $25.00 after the clutch went out. I just hope I never loose all perspective and purchase any vehicle valued at a price greater than my address.
The prices for the whole line of DB4/5/6 have fallen. Don’t pick on the DB4GT or DB6 Vantage,
As a long term DB6 Vantage owner, I have owned mine since 1987. the price drop doesn’t faze me at all. The market for anything in the David Brown era was overheated. Secondly, the article is correct about a recent flood of poor quality condition 3 and 4 cars pulling down auction results, my sources tell me the well of these cars is running dry and once purchased and restored things will improve. Lastly, the DB6 was never a Bond star and I personally think dealers and others, especially in the UK, kept image of the DB6 distinct to protect the rarity of the DB5. This is complete fiction because the DB6 is in fact a superior car with minor weight gain but a stable aero-dynamic body. One has to remember that the DB6 is the only car in the series that could be driven safely on the unlimited speed Autobahns (which I did) , Autostradas and M roads in Europe, the DB4 had oil capacity/pump limits and the DB5 gets rear end twitchy at sustained high speeds. Also when introduced in 1965-66, the DB6 Vantage was the fastest road production car in the world.
Then again, I am biased since I love my DB6 Vantage.
I would like to thank Hagerty insurance company for doing an outstanding job as you know Florida was hit with not one but two hurricanes and my MG was flooded two times
I was trying to go down to the Local Porsche dealership and it just happened to be two or three block from where I live. The two people at the table at the dealership couldn’t be more genuine in every aspect of my situation superior service and just caring about my loss The tow truck was at my place the next day and took away my poor MG and to my surprise three working days later there was a check in the mail for my lost talk about great service. I was so sad and was so happy with the way the company treated me. I’ll always be a customer of theirs and like this text i’ll be spreading the word of the great service I receive from them again thank you 🙏
I was going to sell my collector car. But now with the government being changed. And electric vehicles won’t be mandatory. I’ve changed my mind. I also believe that the prices will go up. cheers to oil and gas. We definitely need it for a while longer.
Not a single piece of Detroit iron on that list. Interesting.