What Eras Have Performed Best in the Hagerty Bull Market?

Each December, we put together the Hagerty Bull Market List, our annual selection of the collector-car hobby’s movers and shakers. Basically, it’s a group of 10 or so cars (with the occasional truck and motorcycle thrown in) that the data tells us are poised to grow in value over the next 12 months. This isn’t investment advice per se—rather, an opportunity to point out that, with some due diligence and a smidge of luck, you can experience the joys of the collector-car hobby and maybe get your money back or a bit more when it’s time to sell.

The 2025 group that we’ll reveal on December 9th will be the eighth list, so we’ve had plenty of time (and opportunity) to assess how our predictions panned out.

Now that we’ve built up seven years of Bull Market selections, Hagerty has accumulated a wealth of data on our picks and how they’ve performed over time. We’ve sliced and diced this information in several different ways to see if there are any discernible patterns. One of the segments we broke down was annualized return by era.

Last time we explored this data, we split our selections into three overarching sections: Vintage (pre-1980), Radwood (1980-99), and Modern (1999-present). Radwood cars ran away with the show, averaging a 16.8 percent average annualized return. This year, we got a little more granular in our assessment and broke down annualized return by decade.

A year of valuation changes in a slowing market means the average annualized returns have tapered somewhat since last December, but the values of cars from the ’80s and ’90s continue to show just how ascendant they are among collectors. The surprise car that leads the ’80s pack with a 36 percent annualized return is a boxy favorite of tweed-wearing professors and LS-swappers alike: the Volvo 240 Wagon. That’s followed by the more-expected Fox-Body Saleen Mustang at 21 percent.

On the other end of the spectrum, boost hasn’t spooled up for the cult-favorite Saab 900 Turbo, which has fallen off 21 percent. On the whole, though, 13 of of the 15 Bull Market cars from the 1980s posted positive returns, and 10 of those 13 were in the double digits. It would seem, at least based on the performance of these picks, that the ’80s are as hot as ever.

Bull Market selections that hail from the ’70s also performed well, yielding an even 10 percent annualized return. The Ferrari Dino 246 GT leads the pack at 19 percent, but more workaday classics like the 1969-72 Chevy C/K Blazer, Jeep CJ-7, and International Scout II came in with healthy returns of 12, 10, and 10percent, respectively. Despite some recent slips in valuation, all picks in this decade managed a positive annualized return.

The 1990s came in a close third, with a 9.1 percent annualized return, led by the Volskwagen Corrado (36 percent) and another wagon, the Buick Roadmaster (21 percent). The Mk IV Toyota Supra, one of the most identifiable cars from this decade and certainly one of the period’s more mature cars in terms of collector status, came in at 14 percent. Plenty of other picks from the ’90s are steady or slightly positive (which, in this market, is saying something): 1996 Corvette Grand Sport (2 percent), 1996-2002 Dodge Viper GTS (6 percent), first-generation Porsche Boxsters (nine percent). The only one to net out a negative annualized return from our ’90s picks is the Plymouth Prowler at -10 percent.

Though the other decades posted lower overall returns, that doesn’t mean they didn’t have standout performers. The Lexus LFA flies the 2010s flag with a healthy 17 percent annualized return, while Audi’s 2000-06 TT trailed closely at 16 percent. Our best pick from the 1960s was the 1965-70 Cadillac DeVille Convertible, also at 16 percent. We’ve only picked a couple of cars from the ’40s and ’50s so far for Bull Market, but the 1948-54 Jaguar XK 120 nevertheless enjoys a 6 percent annualized return. Not to be outdone, the 1946-50 Chrysler Town & Country came in at 9 percent.

Ultimately, while a given era’s car values and collector status will ebb and flow, there are always at least a few cars that stand out as opportunities to enjoy that particular snapshot of time, and maybe even come out ahead when it’s time to move on.