
The muscle car that is escalating in value faster than any other is the 1973 Pontiac Trans Am Super Duty 455. This one can be found for sale on the Cars On Line website.
Collector Car Values Stumble on Their Way to a Recovery
According to the most recent research done by Cars On Line.com, the collector car market has hit a snag on its way back toward a recovery. Our numbers show that current collector car market values dropped 6.99 percent from June to September of 2013. (See our 2013 Mid-Year Market Trends Analysis). Although market values are still up 4.64 percent over 2012, they have not kept up with the prices we were seeing this past spring. After finally seeing some substantive growth earlier this year, has the market lost its momentum?
After viewing the Monterey Auctions last month we thought for sure that we were going to see greater strength in collector car prices. Turns out that only the very high end collector cars, i.e., classic Ferraris, Shelby 427 Cobras, McLarens, vintage Packards and Duesenbergs are rapidly escalating in value. But the average collector cars like Camaro Z/28s, Hemi Cudas and GTOs have not gone up at all.
We saw prices increase at the 2013 Barrett-Jackson Auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, which seemed to foretell an uptrend in the collector car market. A comeback of the market seemed even likelier after our Mid-Year Market Trends Analysis reported collector car values were up 11.6 percent over 2012 prices. So it was with cautious optimism that we did our market trends analysis this month to see if prices continued to go up in 2013. While we were relieved to see collector car values still up over 2012 prices, it was clear the market had lost some of its momentum from just a few months earlier.
Ford, Chevrolet and Pontiac all showed overall increases in values. According to our data, Pontiac prices saw the largest increase, as they were up 29.96 percent over last year. Meanwhile, prices for Fords and Chevrolets also went up 7.19 and .51 percent, respectively. In a surprise turnaround, Mopar prices dropped 3.41 percent from 2012 values. From our value chart below you will notice that the 1973 Pontiac Trans Am SD-455 has once again moved up the fastest of any individual collector car. Average prices have spiked to $130,000 on No. 2 condition Super Duties, up 77.27 percent over last year and up 14.99 percent over our Mid-Year Market Trends Analysis.
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.
Class |
End of 2012 |
2013 |
Market |
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FORDS | ||||
1928 Ford Model A Rdstr | No. 2 |
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1953 Ford F100 | No. 2 |
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1956 Ford Crown Victoria | No. 2 |
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1956 Ford Sunliner | No. 2 |
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1957 Ford Retractable | No. 2 |
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1957 Ford Thunderbird | No. 2 |
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1965 Mustang Convt | No. 2 |
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1966 Mustang Convt | No. 2 |
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1966 Shelby GT350 | No. 2 |
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1967 Shelby GT500 | No. 2 |
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1967 Mustang GT Fastback (S Code) | No. 2 |
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1969 Mach 1 Mustang (M code) | No. 2 |
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1969 Mach 1 428 CJ (R code) | No. 2 |
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1969 Boss 429 Mustang | No. 2 |
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1970 Boss 302 Mustang | No. 2 |
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1970 Ford Torino 429CJ | No. 2 |
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CHEVROLETS | ||||
1954 Corvette | No. 2 |
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1955 Bel Air Hardtop | No. 2 |
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1955 Bel Air Convt | No. 2 |
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1956 Nomad | No. 2 |
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1957 Bel Air HT | No. 2 |
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1957 Bel Air Convt | No. 2 |
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1957 Cameo Pickup | No. 2 |
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1958 Chevy Impala Convt | No. 2 |
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1963 Split Window Coupe | No. 2 |
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1963 Impala SS 409 Convertible | No. 2 |
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1967 Chevelle SS 396 | No. 2 |
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1967 Camaro Convt | No. 2 |
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1967 Corvette 427/435 Convertible | No. 2 |
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1969 Camaro Z/28 | No. 2 |
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1969 Camaro Pace Car | No. 2 |
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1970 Chevelle SS 396 | No. 2 |
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1970 Chevelle LS6 | No. 2 |
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MOPARS | ||||
1957 Chrysler 300C HT | No. 2 |
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1967 Dodge Coronet R/T | No. 2 |
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1969 Dodge Charger R/T | No. 2 |
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1970 Dodge Challenger R/T (440 6Pack) | No. 2 |
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1970 Dodge Challenger T/A | No. 2 |
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1970 Dodge Super Bee | No. 2 |
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1967 Plymouth GTX | No. 2 |
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1970 Ply AAR Cuda | No. 2 |
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1970 Plymouth Superbird (440) | No. 2 |
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1970 Hemi Cuda | No. 2 |
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1970 Ply Cuda 340 Convt | No. 2 |
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1970 Plymouth Road Runner | No. 2 |
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CADILLAC | ||||
1957 Cadillac S62 Convertible | No. 2 |
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1959 Cadillac S62 Hardtop | No. 2 |
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1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible | No. 2 |
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PACKARD | ||||
1937 Packard V-12 Victoria Convertible | No. 2 |
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1953 Packard Carribean Convt | No. 2 |
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PONTIAC | ||||
1957 Pontiac Chieftan HT | No. 2 |
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1965 Pontiac GTO (389 Tripower) Convertible | No. 2 |
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1967 Pontiac GTO Convertible | No. 2 |
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1968 Firebird Convertible | No. 2 |
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1970 Pontiac GTO Judge | No. 2 |
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1973 Trans Am Super Duty | No. 2 |
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1977 Bandit Trans Am | No. 2 |
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BUICK | ||||
1954 Skylark Convertible | No. 2 |
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1957 Roadmaster Convt | No. 2 |
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1970 Buick GS Stage 1 Convt | No. 2 |
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OLDSMOBILE | ||||
1957 Oldsmobile Starfire Convt | No. 2 |
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1970 Olds 442 W-30 (4-spd, HT) | No. 2 |
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AUSTIN HEALEY | ||||
1967 Austin Healey 3000 | No. 2 |
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JAGUAR | ||||
1967 Jaguar XKE Roadster | No. 2 |
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1956 Jaguar XK140 (MC) | No. 2 |
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STUDEBAKER | ||||
1957 Golden Hawk | No. 2 |
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* 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.
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