Some Classic Cars Are Actually Losing Value
Andrew Koole
· 3 min read
Owning a
classic car
is a labor of love. It takes a lot of auto knowledge and T.L.C. to maintain one, but for many, there’s no other way they’d rather spend their time. Historically, people expected that the more work they put into their classic car, the more they could appreciate its value, but in the last few years, that benefit has begun to dwindle.
The average auction price improved slightly in June as the global pandemic slowly faded away, but it hasn’t managed to return to its all-time high in 2015.
Why market prices for classic cars aren’t as high as they used to be
The
Hagerty Market Index
, which tracks the prices at which collector cars are sold, gives the current market a rating of 66.16, the highest it’s been since 2017. That’s a big improvement from September of last year, when the market reached its five-year low of 58.95.But classic cars sales have slowly sunk since May 2015, when the market reached its highest rating at 71.95. Not all experts agree as to why this is so, but
ABC Money
says some interpret the decline as the market correcting itself after years of growth left it over-saturated.Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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Car values depend on Hagerty’s "index"
MORE: These Classic Cars Might See a Jump in Value
Not all collector cars are selling for less. Models in what Hagerty calls the "affordable car index" saw steady gains in the past few years—even during the pandemic. These include cars like the 1967 Volkswagen Beetle and the 1969 Javelin from the now-defunct American Motors Company (AMC).
American "muscle" cars like the ‘65 Pontiac Lemans and the Chevelle LS6 Coupe dipped in value considerably in 2019 and 2020 but have quickly rebounded this year.
Vehicles in the top tier, called the "blue chip index," have had the worst price drops over the last couple years, but prices flattened out in the last quarter of 2020 and improved ever so slightly in the first half of this year. Ferrari, Maserati, and Austin Martin are a few of the automakers with models in this category.
Insuring your classic car
Whether you already have a classic Mustang in the garage or you want to take advantage of the current market and buy a classic car, you need
classic car insurance
.With many classic cars valued at over $100,000, you might think that insuring one would be expensive, but classic car premiums are often much less than that of normal cars. That’s because the risk of a claim is much lower.
You can find the best prices for classic car insurance by shopping with
Jerry
. A licensed broker that offers end-to-end support, the free Jerry app gathers affordable quotes, helps you switch plans, and even cancels your old policy for you.
