Japanese and German Performance Lead the Way With Young Buyers

There’s no avoiding it—tastes evolve over time. As the generational transition among enthusiasts and collectors continues, so, too, does the march of certain cars into and out of the spotlight. Sometimes, it’s cause to celebrate a fresh round of enthusiast rides getting the recognition they deserve; others, it’s a reminder to share the joys of older models in danger of fading from view. Here at Hagerty Insider, we seek to cover this topic’s many angles, but always with some foundation in the data we observe.

Though for many, this headline likely comes as no surprise, the data do help turn anecdotes into more concrete form—they show precisely where interests lie among buyers under 40. We took a look below at the rolling 12-month average of the share of insurance quotes sought from buyers under 40 for 21 popular collector cars. Here’s what we found.

You may have heard that “Miata is always the answer,” and while the first-generation Miata is a sought-after ride, when it comes to popularity among young collectors, it’s the Nissan Skyline GT-R that’s almost always the answer. For every modern generation of the Nissan Skyline, the share of buyers under 40 healthily exceeds their 27 percent share of the overall collector market. Unsurprisingly, the Mk IV Toyota Supra also occupies a top spot on this list.

German hardware is similarly popular. Two generations of M3, the once-ubiquitous 1995-99 second-gen E36 (49 percent) and the 2007-13 fourth-gen E9X (61 percent) rate as favorites, while Porsche’s 944 also sneaks in at ten percentage points above the under-40’s 27 percent market share.

There’s another side of this coin, but the fact that some collector cars haven’t garnered the attention of the under 40 crowd isn’t a death knell for values or enthusiasm by any stretch.

Pony cars of varying ages find themselves essentially at even interest, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks that the Camaro or Mustang nameplates will fade into obscurity.

Two generations of Porsche 911s, the 993 and 997, despite being near-locks as future classics, haven’t attracted nearly the interest as the 944, much less the vaunted Skylines. In these instances, these data can serve as a flag to examine the causes (though the 2000-2006 Jaguar XKR might not be in the same league as the above 911s, the delta in interest is cause for analysis).

Compared to the 100-year-old Ford Model T itself, all buyers are young buyers. With that in mind, that a significant portion of its buyers are under 40 at all bodes well for the car, and the same can be said for the Model A.

While it’s well-known that enthusiasts gravitate towards the cars of their youth, this quick glimpse illustrates that there are surprising exceptions to that rule. Price, performance, usability, and mystique all shape the choices people make when looking for their next car to buy.

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