Collectability of 1980s cars

[Guest]

I know that this has been brought up before but areound here(Northeastern Georgia) I see a <span style="font-weight: bold">LOT</span> of 1980s Detroiters in marvelous condition. I am starting to beleive some may become very collectible. Some cars with collectibility potential are:<BR>Buick Riviera/Electra T-Type<BR>Oldsmobile 98 Touring Sedan<BR>Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo<BR>Any Buick Riviera/Cadillac Eldorado Convertible

[Guest]

Any thoughts(comments, suggestions)?

[Guest]

This is a noteworthy topic. In my own personal experience, the subject has come up more than once. I have discussed what cars are future antiques/classics with quite a few people, usually while sitting around at car shows.<P>To throw out a few thoughts, I think the majority agrees most of today's cars are all too similar. After the demise of the convertible in the mid-70's, the rounding off of fenders/roof in the '80's, and, so on, I agree with your list. Of recent vintage, if one could afford to take a Prowler, store it away for 30 years, you may have a collectible in the future. After roughly 1974, there are, in my opinion, very few diverse designs to be considered collectible 25 years from the model year.

[novaman]

I feel that you would be looking at limted production cars only for collectablity. Ex. Prowler, Viper, etc. You might have some of the more preformance cars like the Buick Grand National Regals, Impala SS, Trans AM, etc.

[Guest]

Not much from Detroit other than the usual suspects (ponycars, Corvette, GN, etc) but there was a lot of really neat stuff coming out of Europe in the '80s that is quite affordable right now.<P>Bry

[John N. Packard]

Any well preserved 80s car will be collectible in 2015 and beyond. That's true today of the cars of the 60s. As far as all vehicles looking alike, the majority have been that way from the very beginning of the industry. I had the opportunity to visit Barney Pollards collection of teens and twenties vehicles back in the 60s. They all looked alike to me; but the well preserved ones were the desireable ones. This is not to deny that in any period there are unique designs that will always generate interest. That's my opinion from Philadelphia!<P>jnp

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by John N. Packard:<BR><B>Any well preserved 80s car will be collectible in 2015 and beyond. That's true today of the cars of the 60s. As far as all vehicles looking alike, the majority have been that way from the very beginning of the industry. <BR>jnp</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Point Well taken. Considering that by 2015, the Big Three will be peddling tiny fuel cell cars, a mid 1980s full-sized Buick would be a wonderful alternative, provided that gasoline will still be available. <P>

[Dave@Moon]

It's not hard to predict that high-end Euro-lux cars and mint-preserved examples will be collected in any era. That's a certainty. However, hidden among all the unreliable chaff there may be a few grains of seriously interesting cars attainable by mortals. There might be a '57 Chevy or '65 Mustang hidden in there yet!<P>I raised this flag once before, and most people still think I'm crazy. But, I think that the Subaru Brat will wind up being one of the most sought-after cars of it's time. It's unique, technically interesting and important, it's an early model of a manufacturer which later gained repect and prominance, and (in it's 1982 & up form) rather attractive.<P>Also the 1984 and earlier Mazda 626 will be considered significant someday, although maybe not particularly valuable. It was the last true 2-door hardtop coupe (excepting some high end exotic Europeans, which I've already discussed. <P>I think the more signigicant topic to be discussed is: will <I> any </I> of these cars be worthy of what we today condsider to be "restoration" in the years to come. The complexity, the annual uniqueness of <I> many </I> mechanical parts, and the comparitive hum-drum nature of the cars of the 1980's compared to cars 20 years in either direction, (I think) will conspire to create a "dark age" in our hobby over the next 20 years.<P>But then, most people still think I'm crazy!

[Guest elk93001]

Is that a Brat with or without rotting body panels?

[Guest c.johnson]

The Buick Regal of the '80's already seems popular in the hot-rod, "tweek-them-out" scene.<P>I've never been interested in Buicks newer that the '50's. But maybe this will be the<BR>'57 Chevy of a new generation.<P>cj