What would you buy for the next "big thing"?

My guess is the 73-81 Camaros. They are still affordable around here. I thought about buying a few nicer ones to just store and use them as investments. Hedging against inflation. Knowing my luck, I'll collect 10 and then they will outlaw anything older that 2025's.

 

I never "invest" in old cars. I play with them until I get tired of them. My timing always sucks. If I had a do over, I would still be holding on to my air cooled Porsches.

 

I'd avoid anything 1974-81ish. 1974 was the start of the 5-mph bumper rule and, not coincidentally, the malaise era of low power, quality issues and excess weight.
The '73 Camaro is cool, especially with the split bumper. I also like 1969-70 Mustang fastbacks. The '71-3 Mustang fastbacks are probably a little cheaper, but I don't know if they'll be as popular.

 

we can still drive Model Ts....

Good luck with the guessing game. Who'da thunk some things would be worth so much today, and others so little? No one, that's why the values are what they are.

 

90's ZR1 Corvettes are cheap right now.
Speculators bought them new for around $65,000. Many were stored with low miles. 30K can get you one in near perfect shape.
Top model, lots of performance, many 'Vettes are out of reach for people. I can see where these special ones could rise in value.

 

If I had the green backs?????... A brand new fully loaded 1969 Z/28....
It's very possible to have one built!....

 

Keep in mind, take personal preferences out. I personally think the 79-81 Z28’s will be the next hot ticket. You have to forecast the average age of the folks that always wanted one, but couldn’t afford one, until their golden years.

 

There were a metric crap ton of IROC Camaros at the recent televised Mecum. I wouldn't hit a dog in the butt with one myself, but with my buy high sell low luck, I'm not really the guiding light you want to follow.

 

Around here that ship set sail about 8 years ago. If you can find a clean untouched car (living near dirt tracks has sucked up the supply) these cars are now in the mid $20k plus and climbing. Same thing has already happened to the IROC era cars they are already on a sharp climb. The 3rd gen is still in the odd spot where there is a demand for the cars but the aftermarket is not there with restoration parts to do them. Only a couple big names at the moment. The catfish 4th gens (98-02) would be a decent one to invest in as clean base Z28s are still cheap, the true SS cars are not too bad. The dealer specials cars have already jumped in value. They did that about 5-6 years ago.

 

I have never been a fan of Camaro's and Firebirds and still prefer the 50's and earlier cars, as far as the next big trend, I don't have a clue but I can assure you guys I probably won't be one of the cool guys!

It's like street rods ~ when they were popular with the splash graphics and the pastel colors along with the tweed interiors & billet dashes, I was driving my old stock style hot rods, I guess I was into traditional hot rods before I knew the terminology. HRP

 

While we may have a deeper understanding of cars in general and maybe even trends like the "cars lusted for in their teens will create demand later in life" there is no combo of buy in at any price level, very little cost to hold, liquidity, plus historical return that will beat the boring stock market.

How each generation is exposed to commodities is different, too. Some new blockbuster comes out with a car and suddenly 1958 Plymouths are double, triple if Red. I hope you timed that right, because they dropped again. Hardly anyone under 40 sits and watches 3-4 hours of TV a night, getting the same commercials.
Video games have had a huge impact on demand for a lot of vehicles and other things.
Modern cars are often seen not as freedom machines and reflections of the owner, but appliances. The groups interested in vintage appliances are small and very niche (watches, stereo equipment, home decor).

 

Mine would be a chopped 53/54 Stude Coupe with a complete front and rear independent suspensions, LS engine,6 speed manual, I'd drive the wheels off it! Of course at my age now, I'd have to have it built(not that I could afford that) but we're dreaming right?

 

2nd Camaros are worth their weight in gold up here !

I owned an 80 I paid $1800 bucks for it in high school black on black t-tops 4 speed posi . That car now in the shape it was in would be 20k easy

fox body mustangs are another that have become crazy up here

certain vw’s and Hondas are going for good money for fwd hatch back “econo cars “

the cars that me and my buddies thought where cool in high school and are 20’s are the cars that have climbed in value .

 

A 1966 2+2 Catalina with the 421 and a 4 speed, dark blue or black, 8 lugs. If money were no option… a 1961 Ventura 421 Super Duty.

 

Fox body mustangs are going up. I read the other day that early 90's Ford pickups are starting to take off. Int. Scouts have been good investments in the last few years. Anything that can be bought for not much and has growing aftermarket support can generate interest. Miatas are on that list right now. The 1st gen is bringing more than double from before covid. The camaro could be a safe bet but the question for me is how time before they become hot?????

 

Born in 1950 I never had any interest in cars built new in my lifetime. A low mileage pickup would be nice to have as a daily driver, they never go out of style.

 

Not really cars I am into but the 1st gen land rover Discovery because the range Rover Classic has went up in value as has the defender 90, more importantly they are the same exact chassis as the discovery and all are stupid capable for off-road and all have unique looks and were kind of expensive when they were new so there is a limited supply. It pretty much guarantees a vehicle to go up in value. When it comes to Classic cars it's a little more tricky and as much as I hate to say it I think most of the cars from the 1970s and older aren't going to go up in value anything more than what is inflation matched.
When it comes to any of the imports that were popular in the 1990s like the Mitsubishi eclipse GSX, the Nissan 300ZX that looks like a shoe and the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 are all going to go up in value as the millennial generation gets more money, because the reality is young gen x which would be people like myself and all of the millennial generation want cars from our youth and for some damn reason imports were the thing when I was fresh out of high school in the mid to late 90s..
Also one last car I think that will go up in value technically it's a segment of vehicles it will be pickup trucks from the late 90s or early 2000s excluding the Ford 3 valve 5.4, I think the 2002-2005 generation Dodge Ram hemis (no variable valve timing) and the 1999-2007 chev pickups. Because both platforms were great and they were not overly complicated to work on so it's a car guy + side and the reality is they will probably outlive their modern counterparts but they are realistically drivable at modern highway speeds and they are comfortable compared to pickup trucks from the 1980s plus with over 300 horsepower with the larger V8 models they get up and scoot for what they are.

 

I can see S197 Mustangs going up significantly in value in time. They're still plentiful, cheap, reliable, easy to work on, generally practical, are not overly encumbered with unnecessary luxury appointments and fragile electronic gizmos, and have a platform that is being phased out by new car manufacturers, that being a V8/manual/solid axle. Through basically now, if you want a car with that platform, there are new options available through Ford, GM and Mopar, but that's not going to last forever. Mopar has phased out the manual transmission. Ford still offers the Mustang but we can see the V8 going in lieu of turbocharged 6s and 4s, and the solid axle was gone in 2015. It is much more sports car than muscle car. GM doesn't offer anything with the Camaro being phased out in 2024.

Many people still love the sound and power of a roaring V8 (or at least they do on my IG feed of maniacs mowing down spectators at street takeovers). And I wouldn't be shocked that if in time, car enthusiasts grow weary of these new rolling computers and want something more analog that offer a more visceral experience that excites the senses rather than numbs them. The S197 does that.

In fact, for all those reasons, I bought one myself. For all but 4 of the last 13 years my daily driver has been a 2008 Ford Escape. The 2.3l/5 speed was tasked with hauling my ass back and forth to the office every day, 115 miles round trip. After over 280K miles and patching it back together more times than I can count, I decided it was time for a new daily. So last month I picked up this 2008 Ford Shelby GT500, which is now my new commuter. I'm not sure whether it will be the next big collector car, but I plan on driving this one into the ground.

 

You all should get a subscription to Hemmings Motor News. They research and go over this subject every issue. It’s also pretty easy to evaluate particular make and models based on the aftermarket support for each vehicle.

 

Another data point that's interesting.
Cold War Motors did a test drive of his 2 Plymouths. He remarks that they were wild and "of the time" and 5-10 years later linked to being outdated and out of style (worth nothing).
Then I saw an article talking about how automakers are pulling back from having the touchscreen in new cars control everything. They are bringing back buttons. Guess which cars are going to fall off a cliff soon?

 

It's funny you should say that. I was just lamenting to my wife the other day about how much I dislike the touchscreen in her car because of how difficult it is to utilize when you're moving and how distracting the interface is. But it becomes a necessity when the controls and features of the car are so numerous that there literally can't be a button for every operation. There has to be a happy medium.

 

Maybe one day they'll figure out that we could have a few buttons to configure, ourselves...

But the whole thing about cars with computers in them becoming worth a lot of money, when they're really old, kind of blows my mind. How do you keep them working? The plastic thing is bad enough.

 

I think 2nd gens have always been pretty popular, just living in the shadow of the 1st gens, but they're still out there for decent prices. The 3rd gens seem to be gaining popularity and value.

10 years ago you could buy a stock, typical-condition Foxbody 5.0 Mustang Coupe for $2,500, today that same car is $15k+. They've always been popular, but the market has been on a rising trajectory for quite a while and I don't see it slowing down

Bump-side & dent-side Ford trucks are still out there and some are still affordable, but they are definitely getting more popular, and I'm seeing some outrageous prices for them.

Not sure if they'll be the "next big thing", but I believe the oddball cars are going to start skyrocketing in value since so many people want to be the weird guy with the weird car and not fit in... Pinto's, Omni's, Dodge K-cars, Pacers, etc. I think rarity is the key. Look what happened to the Ford Fairmont. When people started realizing that a Fairmont is the same platform as the more expensive and more popular fox body Mustang, and they basically weigh less than the Mustangs, people started gobbling them up. I bought my old Fairmont 4door for $400 in 2017 and it was in excellent condition, I sold it as a roller in 2020 for $1800, that same car today would easily bring $5000 as a roller.

 

I also have felt that the computers and plastics were going to be a death sentence for restoration of modern cars, but with 3D scanning and printing and arduino computers already here, it will be only the bigger unique things like plastic gas tanks (see Fiero) and door/window seals that will be challenges.Even those stupid 200+ different unique plastic clips will be a scan and print away.
There are companies that redo seat belt tensioners, but using OE parts. Air bags and these use pyro, which could be difficult once the OE parts are old or depleted.

 

Next Big Thing;
I will not even try that financial-death-sentence. Guaranteed to be a looser for me, or has been proving so anyways for ~ 7 decades. I can't flip, much less speculate. Making up losses in volume doesn't pan out all that well either... My tastes are eclectic enough that whenever I find something(anything) I like, it's priced 'way outta my range, or it's unobtainium due to scarcity - or both. Also found what I like & own, is scarcer than prehistoric-saber-toothed-steel-wooled-sheeps'-fangs when I buy it, fkn commoner than air & dirt when I sell, all priced accordingly. Sigh... So, I own it 'till it dies - & usually for a time after that. But, gotta respect those lucky enough to have what's highly sought after when it is... & then sell it, too. Marcus...

 

Look for bone stock, unmolested 1989-2005 Miatas, particularly the special editions like the Clubsport, Mazdaspeed, M-Editions, and the BRG versions.
Getting harder to find and the nice ones are getting pricey. Most of them have been modified to death.

 

What a beauty! I’ve always liked the Ford Escape, and I even once asked Frandsen Bank about financing options to see if it could be a feasible choice for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out at the time, but I’m still really drawn to it. The Escape has so many great features, and I love the idea of having a reliable vehicle that’s both practical and stylish. Maybe I’ll give it another shot in the future, now that I have a better idea of what to expect with financing. It’s definitely still on my list, and I’m hopeful I’ll be able to make it work next time

 

My answer was going to be the Omni as well, but you beat me to it. My girl bought a nice Gremlin last year and drove it all summer, and people loved it, even the younger crowd. She lucked out, nice ones bring 20-30 grand already. Nice Pacers are already hard to find and expensive. Plus, the young kids like 80's stuff, and nothing looks more 80's to me than an Omni, and the GLH Turbo Shelby ones add some credibility to them.

 

I was thinking about this...if there's some car that you love, then just buy one, or a few of them, and enjoy them. Maybe they'll go up in value, and you'll slap yourself on the back in the future for having the foresight to buy them. Or kick yourself in the butt if they don't. But either way, it's something you want to have, so the value won't really matter.

When we get to talking about buying K cars as an investment, something is seriously wrong with the world.

 

I remember a guy in San Antonio in the early 90's that would bring his GLH out to the drag strip and click off low 12's every pass. I also remember another time being in the burnout box behind him when he dumped the rotating assembly on the starting line, lol. My youngest brother is into the weird stuff. He's got a Pinto Cruising Wagon, a VW Fox, a 70's Dodge Ram Camper Van, etc. His wife had an Omni as her first car, so they recently picked one up for free and got it on the road.