Senior Journalist
Senior Journalist
What new cars today will be collectible classics in the future and could you currently be driving a goldmine right now?
After owning several sought after classics myself and also testing new cars for almost 20 years I’ve put together my top five list of potential future collectible classics.
Now we’re not talking about ultra high-end of supercars here – Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bentleys and the like. Nope, what’s far more interesting is how every-day cars can reach automotive stardom.
Yes, like Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons, but also not in this case because we’re only looking at new cars currently on sale.
This is all my opinion of course (and does not constitute financial advice)! Don’t sell the house and buy a car hoping it will be worth a fortune one day – the house will almost certainly be worth more in 25 years!
No, your Mum’s i30 isn’t going to be a classic, but I do think the performance-tuned i30N version will be in a decade or two. It features super high output from the four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, a superb manual gear box or even a finely-tuned auto and outstanding handling.
Extremely popular in hatch form but also offered as a sedan, the i30N is a track beastie you can also drive to the shops. Hard to find a better bang for your buck sporty car, really.
The hatch could turn out to be the more collectible I think, but the sedan will have its own followers. Examples in the Performance Blue hero colour will likely fetch more moolah.
Mazda’s MX-5 roadster is already a legend in its own time and possibly the most loved car ever among the world’s motoring journalists. Cute, fun and not very fast, the MX-5 is wonderfully engaging to drive, apart from the time I was in a 10km-long tunnel with the top down.
As the MX-5 is already a cult car, with a huge legion of fans, if you’re hoping for a collectible one then it’ll need to be in pristine condition.
My advice: buy two – one to play with and the other to keep in the box.
Ford’s Mustang is the Coca Cola of cars – it’s been around forever and everybody loves it.
While 1960s and ’70s versions are obviously classics, the seventh generation on sale today (and the gen before it) could be the last of the pure petrol powered Mustangs and go on to become highly prized.
Just to be clear we’re not talking about the electric Mustang Mach-E SUV, it’s the two door sports car we’re referring to, and specifically the V8 because the four cylinder version is the diet version and nowhere near as desired as its louder, angrier sibling.
I’m going out on a limb here but MG’s electric re-incarnation of the brand’s iconic roadster could become ridiculously collectible.
I’m feeling this way because MG, under the ownership of Chinese giant SAIC, has truly earned the trust of Aussies and the world with its new SUVs and hatches, becoming more popular than in its entire pre-SAIC history. Now the time is right for something very special and an electric successor to the legendary 1960s MG B roadster is perfect.
The Cyberster costs $115K which is a lot for an MG but it looks like the money with its scissor doors and sportscar proportions. The dual motor version can sprint form 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds which is supercar quick.
The Cyberster is yet to prove popular (this could increase its rarity in the future), but it’s one worth watching.
We know nostalgia is a huge driver of collectible cars and you can see it in the stratospheric auction prices for early Holden Monaros and Ford Falcons, but as a new generation of teens grow up what will they pine for when they’re middle aged? A Ford Ranger Raptor, that’s what.
In 30 years we’ll be living in a world of mainly electric vehicles that look like bars of soap and rolling up to the traffic lights in a Ford Ranger Raptor from the ’20s will have people gawking and remembering a time when cars made noises and looked terrifying.
The Raptor with its lifted, wide body and desert racing look will be very sought after but given that off-road utes are the new Commodores and Falcons (read: likely to be thrashed) any pristine hardcore version of the Ranger or Toyota HiLux could become highly rare, and therefore collectible, too.
Senior Journalist
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