Next-Generation
12 Cars to Collector Cars Power the Next Wave of the Hobby
Text & photos by Barry Kluczyk
Confession time. The author of this story wasn’ t speed-shifting a Chevelle SS 396 on Woodward Avenue in 1969. I was born that year.
Indeed, there are thousands of muscle car enthusiasts in their 30s and 40s who don’ t have first-hand experience of Detroit’ s glory days. They’ re from the next generation – typically referred to as Generation X – and while their enthusiasm for muscle cars is strong, they weren’ t the cars that demographic group grew up with.
As a card-carrying member of Generation X, I admit my affection for 5.0-liter Mustangs of the late 1980s is as strong as my affinity for an original Boss 302. And coming of age when the prices on muscle cars skyrocketed means my chances of owning a Boss 302( a 1969 model in Bright Yellow, please) are in parallel with my odds of winning the lottery. In fact, there’ s an entire story to be written on the future of muscle car ownership, as affluent Baby Boomers drove up the prices to sometimes absurd levels and effectively eliminated the next generation from participating, but that’ s a topic for a different time.
So, I’ m one of those guys who love muscle cars, but didn’ t grow up with them in those formative high-school years; and lets face it, those adolescent years are where most of our automotive passions were created. We Gen Xers didn’ t have Barracudas and Fairlanes in the high-school parking lot. We had Omnis and Fairmonts. So cars like the Buick Grand National and those ubiquitous 5.0-liter
Mustangs resonated strongly, because they were dramatically more dynamic than the fourbanger front-drivers that permeated our lives.
And because Gen Xers didn’ t know first-hand the visceral thrill of a highcompression LS6 accelerating between stoplights, we didn’ t know what we were missing. The Trans Am sliding around in Smokey and the Bandit sure looked cool, even if the soundtrack was dubbed with a NASCAR stock car, and the production Trans Ams had only 220 horsepower. So, while I’ ll say traditional muscle cars will always appeal to me and my generation, I’ ll admit, too, that we were influenced by the era we grew up in. And while the Baby Boomers may look down on cars from the late Seventies and early Eighties, a red-blooded car enthusiast in his 30s or 40s secretly longs to own a black 1987 Monte Carlo SS, even if it can’ t run 12s.
Not surprisingly, as Gen Xers grow older, they’ re starting to seek out the cars of their youth and they’ re forming the foundation for the next generation of collector cars. Many of the classic muscle cars weren’ t even 20 years old when the first wave of collector mania started, with the real push coming about 25-30 years after they were built. The cars from the late Seventies through late Eighties are hitting those mile markers now, with Gen Xers approaching their peak earning years. We’ ve compiled a list of the cars we believe have the most collector potential – those with the greatest chance to increase significantly in value.
Like traditional muscle cars, those with low production numbers, a proper paper trail and original equipment are valued greater. Low mileage counts, too, as much for appearance as collector value. There simply aren’ t many restoration parts for cars of this era, and low-mileage originals are the least likely to have needs that aren’ t always easy to meet. It’ s not likely that a Buick GNX will set the collector world on fire like a 1971 Hemi’ Cuda convertible, but the cars of Generation X offer an entry into the collector market that has all but priced them out with classic muscle cars. Time will tell.
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