Collector Car Values Rise 11.6%

 One of the top muscle cars that is regaining its pre-recession popularity among collectors is the 1973 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455. This one just sold on the Cars On Line website.

Collector Car Values are Up 11.6 Percent Over 2012 Prices

According to the most recent research done by the Cars On Line.com staff, the collector car market is ever so slowly inching its way back toward a recovery. The numbers show that 2013 collector car market values grew 11.65 percent over prices seen at the end of 2012. After flatlining for years the market is finally seeing some substantive growth.

We saw prices increase at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona this winter. Once again the Barrett-Jackson Auction seemed to foretell an uptrend in the collector car market.

In 2012 we thought the market was making a comeback only to lose that momentum during the summer lull. The market remained flat all through 2012. So it was with trepidation that we did our market trends analysis this month to see if prices had gone up so far during 2013. You can imagine our relief when we discovered that prices are ahead of last year at this time.

All marques were up across the board with Chevrolet, Mopar and Ford vehicles all showing increased value. According to our data, Chevrolet prices were up 16.5 percent over last year. Meanwhile, prices for Mopars and Fords also went up 9.2 and 7.8 percent, respectively. From our list below you will note that the 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD-455, one of the most popular muscle cars of all time, has moved up the fastest of any individual collector car. Number two condition Super Duty Trans Ams are fetching over $100,000 at recent auctions when they have low miles. The average prices have spiked to $113,050 on No. 2 condition Super Duties, up 35.2 percent over last year.

Below you’ll find the Cars On Line “Hot List” of the most popular collector cars. Newsletter readers know that we watch the top collector cars to determine how market values are trending. This “Hot List” is a quick measure of how collector car prices fare in the current market. We try to make sure we are looking at only No. 2 condition cars for our report. There is a better discipline on pricing when you get into the higher quality cars. By averaging the prices that top quality cars are drawing we can see which way the market is trending.

In the chart below we have recorded actual prices paid for some of the most popular collector cars in this current market. The first column shows the average values paid in 2012. The next column shows the 2013 Barrett-Jackson Auction averages. In the third column you will see this year’s current market averages. Remember, these prices were recorded for No. 2 condition, show quality cars only. An (*) indicates no No. 2 condition vehicle was sold for that column.

* Some of the vehicles that we follow were not sold during the time frame represented by this column. We have simply put an asterisk in those boxes where a similar No. 2 condition car was not known to have been sold.

Cars On Line Daily Update newsletter readers know that we watch a “hot list” of top collector cars to determine how market values are trending. We frequently publish the chart below. We update it with the most current average pricing for the cars that are on our “hot list.” This is a quick measure of how collector car prices are doing. We base our numbers from auction prices on No. 2 condition cars. We look at No. 2 condition cars only because they are a smaller group to analyze and reflect a more stringent price discipline. Click here to view the definitions of classes for appraising collector cars as used by our Cars On Line Appraisal Service.