Muscle Cars are Bringing in the Big Bucks

Reading this makes me wish I would have kept that old Trans Am I had in high school.

- The once-astronomical price seems quite reasonable today, as survivors of the muscle-car era enter the millionaires club, shouldering Bugattis, Ferraris and Duesenbergs out of the limelight. In January, at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Scottsdale, Ariz., two icons of the period sold for seven-figure prices.

A 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle convertible with a 454-cubic-inch V-8, decked out in replica lettering from its days as a drag racing champion, sold for $1,242,000. A 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda convertible in blinding orange — High Impact Vitamin C in sales brochures — brought $2,160,000.

Two months later, a 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350R with a history of racetrack wins just missed the mark, bringing $990,000. A Shelby Cobra racecar sold for $1.65 million at the same Amelia Island, Fla., auction.

Why would a car that cost $5,000 when new 35 years ago command $1 million or more today? The simple answer is that wealthy buyers know what they want and are willing to pay for it. And years of steadily rising prices have made the purchase of a rare muscle car easier to justify as an example of investment-grade wish fulfillment.

While there is no concise definition of what constitutes a muscle car, it is certain that the horsepower race in Detroit heated up considerably with the arrival of the Pontiac GTO for the 1964 model year. The one-upsmanship among carmakers continued for eight years, until escalating insurance rates, unleaded gasoline and tepid horsepower ratings shifted buyers toward personal luxury cars.

Purists insist that a muscle car is made by marrying a big engine with a four- or five-seat body, citing the example of the original GTO. The engines are typically from 383 to 454 cubic inches in displacement (in the vernacular, "big-block" V-8s), with factory ratings of up to 450 horsepower.

While sports cars like the Shelby Cobra and Chevrolet Corvette may qualify on the basis of horsepower and zero-to-60 performance, sticklers regard these powerful two-seaters as no more than affiliate members of their club. Imported cars were never considered for membership.

Mr. Comer, 34, was born as the muscle car era was fading. He admits that some of his affection for the cars is pure rebellion. "My dad told me muscle cars were cheap kids toys," he said. "I figured that if he did not like them, they had to be pretty cool."

Like prices for other types of collectibles, muscle car values are determined by well-established guidelines. In this lofty price class, experienced buyers and sellers use special language to appraise their qualities.


Read more