And what I mean by "Collectible" is a car whose value will hit the high 5 figures at the very least without taking into account inflation or any of that crap. I'm talking about the Hemicuda phenomenon, where the Hemicuda is worth almost twice that of the 440 Six Barrell Cuda and the Six Barrel Cuda is worth a good 20 grand more than a normal 440 and even the basic engine Cuda is worth as much as a brand new fairly expensive car.
However, unless we're talking Aston-Martin or Ferrari, cars that have that sort of appeal to rich car collectors completely dissapear from the radar once you hit 1975. This is part due to the fact that most musclecars were gone in 1975 and what was left sure as hell wasn't too pretty. You could still get a 200hp car but eeeeeeesh... Just look at the hideous Roadrunner from 1975 to see what I mean.
Anyway, my point is, will any car from that era increase in value to something approaching the golden age of musclecars? Personally, I haven't been much movement on that front. Take the 1987 Buick GNX for example, you see them on eBay with the guy trying to get 80 grand off of them, but there's always zero bids. Then you see the same car a month later for 70 grand, still zero. Same
car a month later, 60 grand... a few bids, but his reserve is obviously 70k. If that thing was a hemicuda it'd have been sold a hundred times over, yet a GNX with not even 11 thousand miles on it can't sell. The reason I mention the GNX is because it's one of those cars that was intended as a collector car. From the minute it rolled off the assembly line there were only supposed to be 547 and guys got hard ons thinking about the car. They were bought up in a short time and all went into heated garages with humidity controls, and that's why I think the car won't ever enter the musclecar price realm. Because out of the 547 that were made, all 547 are identical and 547 are left. And they're all in as good of a shape as the car I linked to on eBay. Musclecars shot up in price because there's maybe 10% left of them.
Just look at this list of production figures for the 1970 Barracuda.
Total 50,617 *includes 2,724 AAR's
Hardtop 6 cyl 5,668
Hardtop 8 cyl 17,819
Hardtop Gran Coupe 6 cyl 210
Hardtop Gran Coupe 8 cyl 7,184
Hardtop 'Cuda 8 cyl 17,242*
Convertible 6 cyl 223
Convertible 8 cyl 1,169
Convertible Gran Coupe 6 cyl 34
Convertible Gran Coupe 8 cyl 518
Convertible 'Cuda 8 cyl 550
Well, do the math. They made 17,242 Cuda's? That means there's about 1,724 left. Maybe there's more, I'm sure that theres more, but they ain't falling out of trees either, and Cuda clones would pad out the numbers. But you just have to look at most of the cars being sold, nearly all of which are automatics, and realize that most Cudas had MANUAL transmissions to realize how hard a life these cars led. So if you take into account originality, color variation (not all of them were red or black or yella) transmission and engine type, a 1970 Cuda of any kind becomes a helluva lot more rare than any Buick GNX.
So for the GNX to become as rare as a true muscle car, there would have to be 54 or 55 left. That's never going to happen, and the kind of people who would think about buying it and have the money to buy it, have tons of other cars to choose from. Detroit made maybe 10 million cars between the year 1955 and 1975 that would quality as heavily collectible or desirable and even if only 10% are left that still leaves a good million. So there's plenty left to go around. Toss in clone cars and you can double those numbers.
Then you have to think of WHY some cars become collector pieces, and I think I have the answer. It's a stupid answer, but I think it's totally true.
Because they're cool. Because at one time someone lusted after them and they decided that when they'd have the money, when they grew up, when they got the chance, they'd buy one.
How else could you explain how a rare one off prototype 1971 AMC Gremlin with a Boss 351 that runs on hydrogen built by Cal-Tech in 1971, with almost no mileage at ALL, went for like 20 thou? How else could you explain how NASCAR racecars rolling chassis in damn good shape who had been owned by some famous people fail to sell beyond 10 thou? How else could you explain why super rare funnycars bodies from 1970's (when they were at their wildest and coolest) fail to get any sort of attention at all?
Cars in the late 70's and 80's did not inspire much desire, and those that did tended to be a lot better taken care of than their 1960 counterparts. You rarely see a Mustang 5.0 as a rusted out hulk. Unlike the earlier era, the modern musclecar has a 60 or 75% survival rate, more if you take in the rarer models. Most Dodge Dakota Shelby's for example are still around. As are most Grand Nationals and Monte-Carlo SS'. People don't throw away cars like they did back in the early 70's.
So what's collectible? What's rare enough to warrant paying 100k or more for it? The GNX, for all my harping, will probably be one of the few. Probably the 1991-92 Pontiac Firehawk. The 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra and Cobra R. F-body convertibles. Those Shelby GLHS cars in 1986 and 1987. I don't know what else... whatcha all think?
Non-Detroit iron will also probably become massively collectible as well. Probably moreso than their American counterparts since so few were kept in good shape and most of these cars rusted all to hell. I'll bet that the 1984-87 Toyota Corolla GTS and 1984-91 Honda CRX Si will be worth a pretty penny one day.
