I second that.

If I'm not mistaken, the SRT Magnum is the fastest & quickest production station wagon (or SUV in today's language) ever made in history.


17 years after it's introduction, and despite it's high performance and rareity, how collectable is the Corvette ZR1?

Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it won't be collectable. A few vehicles where I feel you are missing the point:

Mini Cooper: It's fun, highly desireable, and unique. It's not like anything else on the road, and even now, these things don't stay on used car lots.

Chrysler 300: It's an extremely high intrest car that had a huge impact on the American auto industry. It reestablished the large American sedan after years of US makers becoming more European or Japanese. It also reestablished RWD as sellable in large volumes in an age where even Bob Lutz once viewed FWD as the only way to sell a sedan in volume to the US public. Finally, it reestablished V8 performance as something the American public wanted in it's sedans and were willing to pay for it. Today, GM and Ford are racing to get V8 RWD sedans to market with distinct styling. Chrysler's 300 started that.

Toyota's FJ: It looks nothing like anything else on the road. I don't know about elsewhere, but people out here are snapping them up. It actually has some off road ability. Again, it's having influence on other makers.


I think there's more to it than that. Collectability is based on how rare good examples of the vehicle are, the intrest in the vehicle (not just inside a small community) and either what the vehicle represents or what effect the vehicle had on the market.

 

While it hard to predict the future, its possible that the enforcement of the European pedestrian safety standard that’s currently forcing automakers to create blunt nosed vehicles (except on cars with mid-engines) could make non-blunt nosed vehicle sought after in the future.

While I freely admit I really like the blunt-nosed 300C and upcoming Camaro , but 10 –20 years from now we might all be very-very sick off generic blunt-noses driving around and start craving the pointy noses of the 4th-gen Camaros and ‘Cab-Forward’ Chryslers/Dodges.

 

Designs come & go. But when a design requirement is related to safety, there is a tendancy for design to adapt and adjust.

2 prime examples: 5mph bumpers and airbags. When you compare steering wheel airbags today to those just 10 years ago, we have smaller steering hubs housing them, and more style to them. Also, today's 5mph bumpers are a world away from the big, reinforced chrome railroad ties from the 70s. In both instances (like fuel economy standards) opinions of doom turned out to be pessimistic.

As years go by, I'd expect changes in front end supports & engine position that would allow better designs, not to mention designs that go beyond the "blunt nose" styling.

The 98 Camaro has a blunter nose and significantly higher hood than the '93-97 does. It didn't lose any flavor.

 

It doesn't hurt to be optimistic, but I doubt we will ever see the super pointy front ends like the 93-97 F-bodies and Chrylsers "Cab-Forward" cars ever again. While that cosmetic feature alone wont make them worth a lot of money in the future, but it could create a loyal niche of collectors who will talk about the 'good ol' days' of Chrysler's 'Cab-Forward" design before Mercedes bought them out and Euro-ized** them.

** Im being sarcastic because obviously having cars with RWD with a V8 option is significantly better then v6 FWD cars IMHO.

 

US cars are only required to have 2.5MPH bumpers. The 5MPH requirement was dropped some time ago. Airbags shrunk partially because they were "depowered" after the early ones were killing people. So your examples aren't simply, "innovation."

FWIW, I think the early 4th gen camaro's looked much better, too.

 

As for the Mini Cooper and the FJ, it depends what happens down the road. If they stop making them in three years for some reason, they will be instant classics. On the other hand, if they churn them out for 10 years like the New Beetle, they probably won't be that collectible.

On another board, I saw a long list of Japanese cars that have apparently held their value well. But you guys aren't interested in those

 

That might not mean a thing. Civics hold their value well but I'll guarantee no one is gonna call them a collector car in 30 years.

 

Yeah, you're right (unless you are talking about Civic SiRs or whatever).

But a special model car that holds more value 10+ years out is more likely to have collector interest than one that doesn't, even though there's some obvious exceptions to that rule (AMC Pacer, etc).

Another interesting car listed was Buick Roadmaster stationwagons (probably a last-of-the-line thing).