Yes that one. Mark my words, that will be an "ugly duckling" cool collector at some point. Aztec, love or hate it has distinctive styling which most American cars do not.

 

With the latest of trends it would seem to be anything with large displacement. Everyone is going small with boost.

A car doesn't have to be "good" to be collectable. Old British cars are a perfect example. Most of today's cars look like they all use one designer. You can hardly tell a Civic from a 3 series from 100 yards away anymore. This makes any speculation of "normal" cars challenging. The one's that will most likely be collectable (IMHO) are the ones that are unique or different enough to set them apart. The Honda S2k and NSX, the Toyota FJ, the BMW Z3/4 coupe etc. My 1990 Toyota Celica Alltrac/GTFourRC has actually climbed in value as of late. Desirable and unattainable to the current teen generation is usually safe too.

Ultimately your 401k will most likely perform better.

 

Another point I neglected to mention in post 40 above is there must be a degree of 'exclusivity', which is missing from many of the modern vehicles. So having the electronics refurbished and finding a competent Technician may prove to be the undoing of many of the current vehicles when it comes to being collectible.

Finding a Honda or other Japanese 'performance' vehicle that has not been molested by aspiring Formula One drivers, or 'drifting' champions, may prove difficult. I always find the various modifications to the Japanese cars very amusing, including the S2000, MR2 and Supra.

I do not know if many people aspire to Japanese cars as they do the various European marques, especially the exotics, so that may limit their future appreciation to a larger degree.

 

There were several "abortions" to come out of Detroit - Pontiac Aztec, Chevy Citation (we called it the Mutation or Crustation), AMC Gremlin and Pacer, Cadillac Cimarron, Pinto and Pinto station wagons, Vega's that were not 8cyl, the Mustang II, the list goes on but the point is just because they were hideously ugly, poorly designed and atrociously made I don't think will qualify them for collectors status. Same will be said for the Nissan Juke and the Cube though those are likely MUCH better made. I think the Hummer II, as awful as that is, would qualify more so than the Aztec and lord knows I'm not a fan there either. Possibly the Fiero with the fastback V6 not the knotchback one.

Bottom-line is that there will be VERY few cars from the mid 70's - almost 90 that will qualify simply because they were crap with the exception of just a couple expensive ones... mfg's lost their way for several years couldn't figure out what they wanted to be as they navigated the mpg highway focusing a little more on function over form.

 

The thing about these cars, they will probably all have the snot beaten out of them before you can get hold if it by the Current Generation of owners.
Personally, I can't stand anything that blats out through a fart can.

 

Exactly - which will limit the number of decent car's available to buy substantially. High demand, low supply.

 

I speculate that any modern cars that a lot of (especially young) people want and cannot get are going to be collectible in the future. The above is a poll started by Doug DeMuro of Jalopnik (original post: Here Are The Cars You Told Me To Buy).

Viper. NSX. DeLorean. Supra. M5.

I see a clear trend here. All of these cars are rare, unique in their own ways, and are worshipped by young enthusiasts. They are just a little bit more expensive than average young people can afford today. Many of these young enthusiasts will remain poor growing old, but for the rest of them, they will drive the market price of these cars sky, sky high.

 

When the value of some of these cars double- we forget how much money people have had to put into them.
Lotus Espirit- holy smokes
Delorean- OMG
Mazda RX7- Oh God.

If you had put that money in the stock market, at least you would not have to pay the capital gains tax and quadrupled your money. Without getting an ulcer.

 

I know why I BOUGHT each one of these ‘collectibles’ … what I don’t know is why I SOLD each one … for less than I paid for it!

In my younger days, I owned and sold (for peanuts) a pristine red 1961 Corvette, 283-270hp, 2x4s, Duntov cam, solid lifters, 4-speed, bolt-on hardtop, power soft top, positraction, metallic brakes, etc.

In my younger days, I also owned and sold (for peanuts) a silver 1966 Corvette Coupe 427-450hp, 4-speed, black leather interior, positraction, side exhausts, knock-off wheels, etc.

In my younger days, I also owned and sold (for peanuts) a red 1965 Olds 442, red interior, white convertible top, 4-speed, positraction, bucket seats, full console, etc.

In my younger days, I also owned and sold (for peanuts) a yellow 1969 Corvette T-Top, 350-350hp, 4-speed, black leather interior, positraction, side exhausts, power steering, power brakes, power windows, etc.

Collectively, these 4 today are probably worth $250,000 … and I probably got $20,000 ... for all of them put together!

My only hope now is that my 2009 XK at least holds its value and that my pristine 1995 red Acura NSX-T, 5-speed appreciates like crazy.

It could be worse … my buddy bought a new 1966 427 Cobra roadster from a Ford dealership in Toledo for $7,500, kept it only 3 years and sold it for $9,000. Easily the fastest car I’ve EVER driven! And today probably worth between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000!

 

I bought it cause i liked it. Not as an investment, but if the price could go up, I will be happy, if i still have it, this example might be worth keeping.

 

BMW z8

 

What makes the question difficult to answer, as in difficult to imagine a particular model becoming a collector's wet dream, is the market and marketing has evolved into a massive business. Cheap-when-new 60's and 70's era muscle cars sell regularly at auction for six figures because there is demand but also because the demand is marketed. These were not good cars, and are still not good cars, but like most things sold to the affluent class, they are positioned as having inherent value and high worth. That message is now broadcast regularly so the value gets validated by the mass participation we all get to witness. Same model art galleries use.

Will 30 year old Mitsubishi Evo's someday push past their sticker price? Would anyone here drop 100K on one? The odds are if in the distant future one rolled across an auction block it will probably be had for short money while the 275GTB will still collect most of the marbles.

Now that said, some current offerings will most likely make collector class, though it's hard for me to imagine modern versions of cheap pony cars fetching a 10 to 20 multiple of sticker payday. But then again, maybe the Ford Focus will be the next million dollar baby.

 

I don't think I could hold on to a car long enough to make it appreciate. There's only so much garage space and too many cars I would like to own/experience over my lifetime.