NOT COLLECTORS YET, BUT THEY WILL BE SOON
Classic Restorations Identifies 10 Classics in the Making
Have you ever wondered what the next collector car will be? Perhaps you have always admired a certain marque but weren’t sure if it would be a wise investment. With this in mind, Melvin Benzaquen, collector car expert and owner of Classic Restorations in New York, has developed a list of the top 10 next potential collector cars.
Benzaquen compiled this list based on his 30 plus years in the collector car industry and identified these vehicles based on rarity, design, performance, investment potential, and fun-to-drive factor:
1970 Buick Skylark GSX 455 Stage One
Buick is not often thought of as a muscle car. However, those in the know are aware of the fearsome performance of which these cars are capable. The Skylark GSX 455 Stage One came with a 355 hp 455 ci V8 with a four-speed transmission and a posi-traction rear end. The paint choice was either Saturn yellow or Apollo White with black stripes. Buick built only 768 GS455s with the GSX option, and fewer than 200 were offered in white. The Stage One performance package only cost $113 extra and provided higher compression, cold-air-induction, a higher-lift camshaft and a 3.64:1 rear axle ratio.
1977 Pontiac Trans Am Black Special Edition
There were 68,745 Trans Am's sold in 1977 but out of that, only 2,699 Black Special Editions with the W72 performance package and four-speed were produced. This option only cost $50 at the time and offered a host of high-performance upgrades including a Turbo 350 transmission and a beefier torque converter. The huge success of the film Smokey & the Bandit made this car a hit for Pontiac.
1979 Pontiac Trans Am Black Special Edition
This was the swan song for the venerable 400 CID W72 performance package which was only available with a 4 speed manual transmission. This was also the highest production year for the Trans Am with 117,108 units rolling off the assembly line. Only 1,107 units of the Black Special Edition 400 CID four-speed were made.
1977 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
The Z28 was discontinued in 1974 but brought back for 1977. Chevy built only 14,369 Z28s out of an approximate 204,000 Camaros produced for that year. This was the last year of the metal bumper styling. The Z28's 350 V8 engine made 185 hp and featured dual exhaust.
1983 Oldsmobile Hurst Olds
This marked the 15th anniversary and the last year of the collaboration between Oldsmobile and the Hurst Corporation. Only 3,001 vehicles were produced with a unique paint scheme of black and silver, but were powered by a rather anemic 180HP 307 CID Oldsmobile V8
1985 Ford Mustang GT
This was the rebirth of the muscle car era, part two. Ford got it right with this car. It boasted a full roller 5.0 liter V8 producing 210 HP with a 5 speed manual transmission and a limited slip Trac-Loc rear held in place with 4 rear shocks. Speed rated tires on 15x8 aluminum wheels rounded out a superior package. For its day, nothing could touch a Mustang GT. Ford produced 36,879 GT hatchbacks and 5,549 GT Convertibles out of 156,514 total Mustangs for the 1985 model year. This also marked the last year for the Holley carburetor as fuel injection became standard the following year resulting in a loss of horsepower. 1973 - 1974 VW Thing
These cars were as basic as transportation gets! They had doors that removed without tools and an optional radio that placed the speaker in a box on the floor. With air cooled motors, these "Things" have a cult following and are definitely the next "Thing" in collectible automobiles.
1980 Triumph TR8
The TR8 was Triumph's answer to the complaints of no power in the TR7. Using the good old American philosophy of dropping a V8 in for increased power, Triumph did just that. Utilizing a Rover all-aluminum V8 motor that General Motors originally developed for the Buick in the 1960's, this little wedge shaped car became a powerhouse overnight. The TR8 was produced for the 1979, 1980 and 1981 model years with 1980 models getting the first fuel injected motor. A total of 2750 TR8's were produced during those model years and they have not hit the collector car radar yet.
1967 - 1974 Ferrari Dino 206 / 246 GTS
One of the most beautiful Ferrari's around, they started early in production with a 2.0 liter V6 and grew later to 2.4 liters. This car is still readily affordable and they drive as well as most modern cars. Ferrari produced somewhere around 2,487 cars in the eight model years of production.
1995 Porsche 928GTS
First sold in 1978 as a 928S, later changed to the 928S4 in 1987 and the GTS in 1991, Porsche sold a total of 61,000 928s for the entire model run from 1978 to 1995. 1995 was the swan song for the front-engine, water-cooled and rear-wheel driven hot rod. Special body work and a larger 5.4 liter engine were part of the package for the GTS. 1995 models were stickered at $100,000.00 making it one of the most expensive production cars at the time. Total US production for 1995 was only 77 cars. Rarity, good looks and lots of power are all a good recipe for a future collectible. “While there aren’t any guarantees that these cars are a shrewd investment, I think they will certainly become more prevalent in the minds of collectors,” says Benzaquen. “They all are somewhat to extremely rare and practically all of them perform well. I would have no problem recommending any of these to a collector looking for something fun, affordable and exclusive.”
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