Graph of the Week: Cars Built After 2010 at Classic Car Auctions

The collector car auction market is a whole lot bigger than it used to be even just a few years ago, and newer cars that are less than five years old have seen tremendous recent growth over the past year. 25 percent more cars came to auction in 2015 than in 2007. Part of that growth has come from the newer gigantic sales from companies like Mecum that can draw over 1,000 vehicles from all over a particular state or region. With so many classic cars sold at auction (over 135,000 over the past five years), it could be that there just aren’t as many traditional classics available for sale, leading auction companies to fill their sales with newer cars.

Another potential reason for why cars built after 2010 are coming up more often is that auction companies have correctly assumed that certain newer offerings from the Big Three are attractive to today’s collectors. Things like Dodge’s Hellcat cars aren’t exactly the kind of thing you can just go to any dealer and buy, and an auction offers convenience. Certain newer cars can also be considered instant classics or future collectibles so a collector car auction does make sense as a venue to sell them, and the fantastic performance and looks on offer from the latest Corvettes or Shelby Mustangs could also be encouraging people to sell their three- to five-year old models. And as they watch the results on Mecum’s or Barrett-Jackson’s TV coverage, an auction seems like a good place to do it.