Slow Economy Brings Certain Collector Cars Within Reach

Getty Images Pontiac GTO: Accessible for collectors on a budget.

In the last few days I have happily wasted time leafing through the catalog for this weekend’s Sporting Classics of Monaco auction. The event is out of range in every way for me and for the average car nut. But it got me thinking of the collector-car market and where one can find a deal.

While the economic downturn drove down prices for antique cars, Monaco is about the worst place to go discount shopping. The sale that RM Auctions put together included brands like Ferrari, Jaguar, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz that were among those least affected by the recession. Indeed, prices of some European sports cars seemed to appreciate even faster during the recent hard times. But this it is a bargain-hunter’s market for fans of American muscle cars or other models that have yet to take off.

Cars like the Pontiac GTO, Ford Mustang Boss and Plymouth Hemi ‘Cuda, essentially hopped-up versions of mass-market models, cracked the million-dollar mark a few years ago as demand from seemingly crazed collectors and speculators reached new heights. But when the economy sagged, prices for such cars fell like stones, driven by the same supply-and-demand rules we learned in Introduction to Economics. Compared with 1960s Ferraris hand-built in batches of less than 100, U.S. muscle machines that rolled off assembly lines by the thousand will never be truly rare.

But that shouldn’t stop you if you like driving and looking at them. There would be a lot less heartbreak in car collecting if people would just buy what they like and stop trying to turn old cars into investments. I cringe every time I hear the word “investment” in a discussion about cars because you are almost always better off buying stock.

I’ll never forget the teacher at my high school who avoided driving his 1978 Chevy Corvette, a special Indianapolis 500 pace-car edition, because low mileage would make it appreciate faster. Today, some 30 years after he made the comment the car is worth what? Maybe $20,000 if he’s lucky.

If the collecting bug ever bites hard enough to send me shopping for an interesting old car I think I’ll look for a “sleeper” –  something with potential that others haven’t yet discovered. I’m sure some of my favorite 1980s cars like the DeLorean and the Magnum P.I.-style Ferrari 308 GTS will eventually hit their stride, but I wouldn’t keep them in the garage while I waited.