Anticipating the next rising classic stars...

[niagra]

rossub said:

I just think there are too many 205s left to become worth loads, because they don't really rust.

I think you'll be surprised to know that there are only around 2000 left down, from 20odd thousand only a few years ago. Just looked at how mamy left, it seems there are only 1400 on the road.

[swisstoni]

The fun in all this is nobody has a clue. It also assumes that there are rising generations that will continue to give a toss about old cars.
Today's kids could easily regard old cars the same way as most of us regard old washing machines or computers.

[dudleybloke]

[rufusgti]

swisstoni said:

The fun in all this is nobody has a clue. It also assumes that there are rising generations that will continue to give a toss about old cars.
Today's kids could easily regard old cars the same way as most of us regard old washing machines or computers.

That's a very interesting point, and one I've never considered. Yet speaking with younger generations it could well be the case.

[Welshbeef]

XJS v12 coupe or soft top
Lotus Carlton
Renault Alpine Turbo
928 any version
968 club Sport

[oldnbold]

Sparky137 said:

Jaguar XKR both in convertible and hard top versions. To me this was the sucessor to the E-Type. Currently available for beer money but give it another ten years and these will sky rocket. Buy a good one now and store it away.

Missed the boat on XKR convertables, they are a long way from beer money, unless beer money around your way is £18 - £25k

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

[DaveCWK]

10 years from now people in their 40s will have a bit of cash & want to relive their youth. What cars were popular in video games during the 90s? In mint condition they are all probably safe bets.
All the high profile jap turbo stuff from the period are the obvious choices.

[85Carrera]

DaveCWK said:

10 years from now people in their 40s will have a bit of cash & want to relive their youth. What cars were popular in video games during the 90s? In mint condition they are all probably safe bets.
All the high profile jap turbo stuff from the period are the obvious choices.

This. Jap crap will be all the rage.

[jamies30]

Alfa Romeo SZ and RZ.

Alfa Romeo as a brand has a fantastic history and is (hopefully) on the way back up after a less-than-stellar years, Zagato is one of the greats (even though they had less to do with these cars than most folk think), they were built in relatively tiny numbers of 1036-ish and 284-ish respectively, unmistakable styling, and one of the great V6 engines. Lack of motorsport heritage is the only thing that counts against it.

I can't for the life of me understand why so many less "worthy" cars command much higher values than these.

Mind you, I've been saying they must go up soon for more than 15 years now...

[peteA]

928
DB7

[Welshbeef]

oldnbold said:

Missed the boat on XKR convertables, they are a long way from beer money, unless beer money around your way is £18 - £25k

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

Considering you can get plenty examples of the new shape XKR for this money and the models discussed here from £6k not sure why you'd want to spend £18k.

[MH82]

My own personal opinion is that cars that define a decade tend to go up:
MK1 and 2 Escorts already there
80s cars: E30BMWs, Xr3is, RS Turbos, Golf GTis on the way
90s cars: Lotus Elise, Clio Williams, 106 GTis?
00s cars: Focus RS, Megane (the sporty one), 350z, type-r Hondas?

It's a struggle to define cars that defined the decade as they seem to be diluted and normal cars are now so competent. Compare an RS Turbo to a pop plus, or a Golf GTi to a 1.3 in the 80s and they drove quite differently. From the 90s onwards, the equipment and the competency of run of the mill cars increased a lot.

[wildcat45]

Rock bottom value now like a 60s Jag in the late '70s but what about te Rover 75 and it's MG equivilant?

Big British saloon. Some very well appointed, motors from diesels to a V8.

Love them or not, they do represent the last of te line.

I can see these being worth something. Not daft money but good SD1 money in the future.

[Dapster]

Immaculate and original C124 and C126's. Since Mercs of the 90's and later were a backward step in terms of fit, finish, style and substance, people are waking up to the fact that these really were the last true great Mercs. There are others of that era but the coupe's were always the sexy ones. I can't imagine a 200D in Stuttgart Airport taxi beige troubling the investors.

[Sparky137]

oldnbold said:

Missed the boat on XKR convertables, they are a long way from beer money, unless beer money around your way is £18 - £25k

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/j...

Sorry, typo on my part, should have said XK8 (as in the pictures). Plenty of them around:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-JAGUAR-XKR-SUPERCHA...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-convertible-1...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-Convertible-1...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-xk8-convertible-4...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Jaguar-Xk8-4-0-V8-A...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-JAGUAR-4-0-V8-XK8-C...

A lot of (very nice) car for not much money.

[Crosswise]

As much as I don't buy cars to make a profit, I've never lost anything through depreciation either and do look to buy cars before they go up in value. Of my current fleet, the ones I have hopes for are;
- Series 2 Daimler Vanden Plas 4.2. I'm hoping XJ6 prices will follow the Mk2, quite possibly the best luxury car of it's time with great looks, banger racers have contributed to it's rarity too.
- TVR Cerbera 4.5. I can't believe these haven't gone up much over the last 10 years, outstanding performance, even today, rare even in their time and the kind of design that will probably never be repeated.
- MGB GT. I know they divide opinion, and to be honest I never really expect them to be worth a lot, they are already regarded a classic but an affordable one. However, I bought my restored, chrome bumper, tax exempt manual O/D example for £2k, it just seems too cheap for such a popular classic.

And to whoever said Lotus Elan, I can't believe you don't think the price rise in the last 5 years doesn't make it a risen classic. Most enthusiasts have already been priced out of the market, even with the plus 2 now.

[Welshbeef]

Sparky137 said:

Sorry, typo on my part, should have said XK8 (as in the pictures). Plenty of them around:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-JAGUAR-XKR-SUPERCHA...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-convertible-1...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-Convertible-1...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-xk8-convertible-4...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Jaguar-Xk8-4-0-V8-A...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-JAGUAR-4-0-V8-XK8-C...

A lot of (very nice) car for not much money.

However none are investments miles way too high. You need a nice 20-40k mile example then simply don't use it for a decade or so. 140k plus isn't going to worry any investors - that said from an ownership and enjoyment perspective ideal cars.

[lowdrag]

swisstoni said:

The fun in all this is nobody has a clue. It also assumes that there are rising generations that will continue to give a toss about old cars.
Today's kids could easily regard old cars the same way as most of us regard old washing machines or computers.

+1 No one seems to have mentioned the 205 GT1 or the 406 coupé, which are shining lights in a sea of mediocrity. But as swisstoni says, kids just don't do cars today, except on Playstation. Yesterday for example we went to see friends on an upmarket camp site 30 miles away and being a nice day took the E-type. It was educational to see that in the time we were there only one person took any interest in the car, and he was in his fifties. Not one child, teenager or older stopped to look. Also, the golden age of being able to really make a living and have a good pension are gone. Will today's generation even have the means to indulge in heaps of metal, and will global warming mean that they will be more or less forced off the road? As swisstoni also says, we don't have a clue.

[rob0r]

Sparky137 said:

Sorry, typo on my part, should have said XK8 (as in the pictures). Plenty of them around:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-JAGUAR-XKR-SUPERCHA...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-convertible-1...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-XK8-Convertible-1...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jaguar-xk8-convertible-4...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Jaguar-Xk8-4-0-V8-A...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-JAGUAR-4-0-V8-XK8-C...

A lot of (very nice) car for not much money.

I've just bought this last weekend for a tiny bit more than the ones linked above but with 91K and FSH. It's not an investment as such and the car has been bought to use during the summer, I plan to keep it very tidy and fully maintained. In fact I'm spending £1K this week getting the top secondary tensioners replaced and the autobox serviced. If it's worth more in 10-20 year then that's great, but if not I won't worry

[spoodler]

If there's any future market for classics then I reckon you could do worse than a nice unmodified example of anything that it's all the range to "slam" at the moment...
Any desirable VW group product with a bit of go and some Playstation toys (no idea what it would be tho', some sort of Golf?)
In a similar vein an "Evo'" or a "Scooby" that hasn't been Barried...
Small pick up truck - Caddy, Felicia or Proton Jumbuck.

None will make your pension but they might not lose in real terms... most suggestions for making money on rising classics fail to appreciate the effect of inflation (the classic "I bought mine for a tenner and sold it for loads" tends to forget that a tenner was a lot of money back then!), and the cost of storing and maintaining... oh well back to driving them then...