Bel Air, Mustang, Camaro among Hagerty Value Rating’s ‘Middle of the Road’ cars
They are automotive icons. With names like Bel Air, Mustang, Camaro, Continental and Eldorado, they personify the classic car world.
So how in the world could any of them be labeled a “middle of the road” car? Data doesn’t lie.
The Hagerty Vehicle Rating tracks a car’s performance relative to the entire classic car market. Based on a scale of 0-100, a car scoring 50 means that it is keeping pace with the overall market. A car rated higher than 50 is appreciating more quickly, while a score below 50 means the car is lagging. And some of history’s best-known classics are hovering around that 50-point mark.
Sixty percent of all cars and trucks listed in the Hagerty Price Guide have a Hagerty Vehicle Rating between 40-60 points. One of the reasons these beloved models are considered market-making, middle-of-the-road cars is precisely because they are highly popular and plentiful. To a large degree they define the market.
“A first-gen Mustang or 1950s Bel Air are what a lot of people picture in their mind when they think of classic cars, so it makes sense that they define the middle of the collector car market,” said Hagerty Information Analyst Jesse Pilarski.
The Hagerty Vehicle Rating is derived through the use of the following data:
- Hagerty Price Guide – Measures the change in value of No. 3-condition (good) cars.
- Insured Activity – Measures how many cars have been added to Hagerty’s insured book and their average value at the time they’re added.
- Quote Activity – Measures how many cars have been quoted.
- Auction Activity – Measures the number of cars, their average sale price and the sell-through rate for those cars.
- Private Sales Activity – Measures number of cars sold, average sale price and what percentage sell above their insured value.
“The higher the production number, the harder it is to move the market for a particular vehicle because buyers have more options,” Pilarski added. To that end, none of the 10 cars has seen a move of more than one percent in value (average No. 3 condition) in the past eight months.
| Vehicle | |
|---|---|
| 1955-1957 Chevrolet Bel Air | 54 |
| 1964½-1973 Ford Mustang | 52 |
| 1964-1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass | 51 |
| 1965-1970 Chevrolet Impala | 50 |
| 1970-1981 Chevrolet Camaro | 50 |
| 1979-1985 Cadillac Eldorado | 50 |
| 1960-1966 Chevrolet C/K Series | 50 |
| 1968-1972 Chevrolet El Camino | 50 |
| 1961-1969 Lincoln Continental | 47 |
| 1993-2002 Chevrolet Camaro | 45 |
The Hagerty Vehicle Rating is a 0-100 score that tracks a car’s value change compared to the entire classic-car market. A car with a rating higher than 50 means it is appreciating faster than the overall market. A score below 50 means the car is lagging. While our rating algorithm uses Hagerty’s extensive valuation database and detailed market data—we go deep and include the number of recent insurance quotes and auction sell-through rates—the usual disclaimers apply: Use this score as a guide and not an indication of future results.
