Definitive Car Enthusiast List - Your Input!

chargerrich

Registered User
As an avid car collector who does not have the kind of money a Jay Leno might have, I am forced to look for "potentially" classic cars of the future. I know that I am not alone in this pursuit so I would love to solicit members opinions on what cars should comprise a definitive list of cars that might very well someday be classics.

Cars that are inexpensive, even cheap now and yet have the potential to increase in value over time. I am currently on a quest to buy one of each of these potential classics and feel like maybe I am missing a few so I would love your feedback!

While we all know that the Plymouth "superbird" is the apogee for a meteoric rise in value (can you believe dealers could not sell them at < $4000 back in the day?) but hindsight is always 20/20 so why not put a list together of some potential classics that are undervalued in the market today!

A more recent example might be the 1993-1998 Toyota Supra (MK IV) or even the 1994-1996 Chevrolet Impala SS (gen VII).

Some criteria for this list:

1. While the car can certainly be limited production or even rare, it must be undervalued in the market currently (i.e. cheap).
2. Car needs to be at least 10 years old (pre 1999)

Keep in mind that these cars may not be currently thought of as classics, thats the point! Opinions change over time like they did in the 70s with such classics as the Torino, Barracuda and Nova!

So here is my list, it is just one mans opinion and only serves as seed information because I want opinions of others who are probably more knowledgeable than myself.

I personally plan to buy one of each of these cars as restoration projects and would love opinions of cars to add to this list and my project stable!

In no particular order at this time:

1. 1991-1997 Dodge Stealth RTT/Mitsubishi VR4 - Very advanced, still beautiful and well built (excluding the horrible ABS system). Despite a lot of abuse by many a teenager these cars were solidly built)

2. 1990 Ford Thunderbird SuperCoupe 35th Anniversary (and to a slightly lesser extent the whole 89-93 generation of SCs) - Sleek design, ahead of its time for 1990 and somewhat limited in prodcution.

3. 1992-1995 Ford Taurus SHO - Classic looks, nearly bullet proof and power engine, enthusiasts mods from the factory.

4. 1990 Chevrolet Beretta Indy - Beautiful lines for 1990, retro digital dash, only 1500 made in yellow (approximately 5000 in teal), engine was reliable. Not a true muscle car but the rarity of the package and the current value of the car (can be had for under 1k if you can find one)

5. 1984 Nissan 300zx 50th Anniversary - These cars standout as oozing with 1984 tech and were WAY ahead of the time. Hard to find one that is not trashed but if you do these are almost classics now!
 
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Nice list. I just moved on from a 91 Stealth RT T/T to the SC :cool:. I only got to drive it for a little while because it had a bunch of problems and was a money pit :( Also, I almost got a 1984 300ZX, but it was pretty beat up and was out of my price range anyways. I know, I am off topic, but good list :D I think the 99 VR4s are going to be the most collectible out of any 3S, since they look so much better IMO and are more rare.
 
That's a hard one to pick because you don't see many cases of a big resurgence 35 years later over a vehicle that no one wanted in it's day.

I think the Carrol Shelby 2.2L Mopars will continue to rise in value. If you are going to spend the money on a clean VR4, may as well spend that on a clean 454SS or 1st gen Lightning as I think those would be safer bets.

I think one of the flagship vehicles would be a Terminator Cobra. Especially in a rare mystic or orange. Sure, you may have to spend $20K to get into one right now, but can you imagine the howling 20 years from now if you pulled one out with 15K miles on the clock! All these punks who had kids who are off to college now and they want to relive the good ole days. Yeah, I think those will do well.
 
Any Camaro with the 1LE option package...Firebird Firehawk...CRX Si...pretty much anything that's hard to find stock because they're cheap, modded and abused to death.
 
Any Camaro with the 1LE option package...Firebird Firehawk...CRX Si...pretty much anything that's hard to find stock because they're cheap, modded and abused to death.

CRX SI is a good addition for sure! The terminator cobra cannot be added because the list is really designed for hidden, unknown, speculation cars. Anything 20k is definitely not unknown, kind of like the Supra... really kicking myself for selling my 98 TT in 2001! (at least I got more than I paid new which I thought was insane at the time).
 
2. 1989 Ford Thunderbird SuperCoupe 35th Anniversary (and to a slightly lesser extent the whole 89-93 generation of SCs) - Sleek design, ahead of its time for 1989 and somewhat limited in prodcution.

No addition to the list, but the 35th Anniversary Super Coupe was a 1990, not an '89.

-Melon
 
Are you planning on trying to resell these someday or just have a collection of rare cars? I don't see anything you can get cheap now skyrocketing in value. I think low mileage cars not in need of restoration would be the first choice as most will likely be less than $10,000 now and would command higher resale in the future over restored versions if they ever did become a must have collector car.
As far as somewhat unknown rare cars to get now I would include the 84-86 SVO Mustang, 85 1/2 being the rarest or a competition prep version, and the 1989 20th Anniversary Trans Am Turbo which probably won't be all that cheap.
Along with the 30th anniversary SC the most desireable SC/XR7s are the '90 XR7 5-speed and the '94-95 SC 5-speeds due to the low production numbers and increased stock performance in the case of the '94-95 SC.
 
So you are really just asking what is "cheap now, but could be a classic later," since nothing on your list is unknown.

If you want unknown, try:

91-93 Spirit R/T or Daytona R/T
90 Turbo Grand Prix
87-89 Conquest/Starion
88-91 Saleen Ranger
77 Monza Mirage
89-91 Chrysler TC by Maserati
 
yes and i will throw in my 2 cents, svo mustang is hard to find at a cheap price as the mustang world already treats them as collectors cars, i think the one everyone is forgetting is the, should i say it,,,, MERKUR XR4TI, ugly as sin but the turbo 2.3 was no slouch and the car was pretty limited. Otherwise i would have to say the SUBARU SVX because they are good looking all wheel drive 2 door subaru's that nobody ever sees anymore, and i believe they mIght have made somewhere in the 200hp(correct if wrong) range so no slouch either
 
i will have to add if your looking at the 1st and 2nd gen Taurus sho's you have to look at the 3rd gen sho. last year was 99. tho the cams HAVE TO BE WELDED or you could have cam failure. but thats
another story..

if you look in the right place's you can pick up mint ones for under $5k
 
if there are any left that havent had cam failure, funny thing is i almost bought one way back before i heard of the cam failure, can you say LUCKY. Who knows maybe i would have gotten the one that didnt fail.
 
svo mustang is hard to find at a cheap price as the mustang world already treats them as collectors cars
I've seen several fully functional southern cars in the last year for $1,500-$3,000. I think that is pretty cheap.:rolleyes: The majority of the mustang world ignores them in my opinion.
There were also some mid 80's cougar convertibles made, I saw one of those for sale within the last year.
 
i would pick one of those cheap svo mustangs up and sell it up here, they have been going for over 6 in good shape, and more the better they get. some dude had a rust bucket backyard pile that was water damaged and rusted out from sitting so long, and he still wanted 3 for it last year.....yeah ok
 
So you are really just asking what is "cheap now, but could be a classic later," since nothing on your list is unknown.

If you want unknown, try:

91-93 Spirit R/T or Daytona R/T
90 Turbo Grand Prix
87-89 Conquest/Starion
88-91 Saleen Ranger
77 Monza Mirage
89-91 Chrysler TC by Maserati

oh! I always wanted a 87-89 Conquest/Starion since my friend had one years ago.
 
if there are any left that havent had cam failure, funny thing is i almost bought one way back before i heard of the cam failure, can you say LUCKY. Who knows maybe i would have gotten the one that didnt fail.

all i can say is i bought 1 when i was 18 and didnt know about cam failure......



guess what happen the car cam failed but i repaired it and drive it every day now:D
 
yes and i will throw in my 2 cents, svo mustang is hard to find at a cheap price as the mustang world already treats them as collectors cars, i think the one everyone is forgetting is the, should i say it,,,, MERKUR XR4TI, ugly as sin but the turbo 2.3 was no slouch and the car was pretty limited. Otherwise i would have to say the SUBARU SVX because they are good looking all wheel drive 2 door subaru's that nobody ever sees anymore, and i believe they mIght have made somewhere in the 200hp(correct if wrong) range so no slouch either

Wow how did I forget about the SVX!!?? Used to have one, the side windows are still confusing to me LOL!

The Merkur I did not forget, I simply think they were horrible cars but thats just me. They were basically rebadged Ford Euro Sierras if I remember correctly.

Here is one that is out there but too new to be considered yet... Isuzu Vehicross! :p had one of those too, actually good performance and I liked the looks (but no one else I knew did and the interior was awkward to be kind).
 
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