Dan's Papers - December 12, 2008 - Classic Cars - Classics: Lusted after Today, Sought after Tomorrow

One of the most popular questions I'm asked by people is, "What current cars do you think will be classics in the future?" Before I comment on that question, let me say this one more time: If the car is lusted after today, it will be highly desirable in the future. Period. That being said, there are certain other esoteric factors that may be involved with a car's future value, such as originality, rarity, provenance, mileage and condition.

It has been proven that the right collector car is indeed a good investment, especially when compared to the current erratic state of the stock market. Plus, don't forget that your car investment is a real object that sits in your garage as a piece of art that you can see and touch. Many owners enjoy racing their investments on a track, while others just like to show them to other car enthusiasts at car shows. Some just enjoy pampering their pets on a Sunday morning with a soft rag dipped into a can of Simonize. Try doing all that with a stock certificate.

So what are the future classics? Historically, the exotic cars have always been the gold standard of collector cars. Ferraris, Lambos, Dusys and Bugattis were always an expensive club to join. However, there are currently a few less popular models of these types of cars that are affordable as collector cars now, although they're certainly still expensive investments. Take the early '70s Bertone designed Ferrari GT-4. A good one, if you can find it, can be had for Honda Accord money, about $25,000. A step up is the TV series "Miami Vice" poster car, the Ferrari Testa Rossa. It was the Ferrari to have during the excesses of the '80s and is an absolute bargain on today's market. I've seen them sold for as little as $40,000. There is one caveat. Maintenance requirements on the Testa Rossa are stupidly expensive, like the engine has to be removed for routine servicing.

Currently, used Dodge Vipers are very reasonable, probably because of the high gas prices. That monster V-10 engine in the thing really gobbles fuel. But with the kind of performance the Viper delivers, who cares. Remember, no one really uses a collector car as a daily driver, and gas consumption should be of no concern. The Viper is a performance bargain. Speaking of performance bargains, what about the Corvette? From a collector's standpoint, they are slow and steady investments. The main problem I see with Corvettes is that so many of them are made, their future exclusivity suffers. Obviously, the super high performance models will be the most valuable, but they are usually quite expensive new, and pricey even used. The good news is that they are very easy and inexpensive to maintain.

Like the owners of each marque, Porsches and Corvettes have nothing in common except for the following. They both make good daily drivers and all models have a normal new car depreciation cycle, with a slow upward spiral in about 20 years time towards collector car status. However, the one contemporary model Porsche that has a strong resale and will in the future, is the 1990 series 993 model, the last 911 with the last air cooled engine. These models were also smaller and more nimble than the later series. Car color is very important with any Porsche, with black, silver and gray being the most desirable. No true Porsche enthusiast will want a Porsche with automatic. Stay away. The Porsche Boxster is a good buy on the current market, but, traditionally, the market for the lesser Porsche models, with the sole exception of the 1950s Speedster, has not been as strong as the top of the line. Obviously, the best investments will be the powerful ultra high performance special Porsche models, but they are currently very expensive.

There are some question mark cars such as the exotic Acura NSX and the more mundane Nissan Z cars, Honda S2000, Miata, Toyota MR-2, etc. The NSX is a spectacular car, in many ways better than the Porsche it competed with, but it never really caught on with the die-hard car enthusiasts. It was also never successfully raced. I'm not sure what it will be worth in the future, but it is a very good buy today. The other Asian sports cars will all be the MGs, Austin Healeys and Alfas of the future. I believe they will slowly go up in value over the years, just like the early British sports cars. Meanwhile, they are all great buys today, and are all as dependable as an Asian car can be.

Then there's the old American favorites, the retro Ford Mustang, and the soon to be marketed Chevy Camaro. Ford and GM will build millions of them, and just like the same models built in the '60s, they will be wildly popular. All the new retro cars will have collector value, but are nothing when compared to the originals. However, today you have a chance to buy one new and keep it forever. If you take care of it and don't run it into the ground, someday the thing will pay you back. Retro cars are nice, but the originals will trump them as being the models that started it all. The one retro car that I believe will be worth a lot of money in the future is the retro limited production, Ford Motor company factory made GT-40. What a car. So all of you guys out there who have been lusting for a new toy, if you need approval, show this article to your wife. I hope it helps.