Consumer Reports Says These Models Could Be Future Classics

Andrew Koole
· 3 min read
The concept of the
classic car
is widening. This has been true for a long time, but it hasn’t dramatically affected auction sales until recently. Models deemed “affordable classics” are skyrocketing in price like never before.
The garages of collectors might hold a more diverse selection of vehicles today, but the characteristics that make a car a classic remain the same—uniqueness, rarity, “fun-factor,” and good old-fashioned nostalgia.
Read out of context, you might think that these terms are more or less synonymous with each other, but each of them points to a particular aspect that makes certain cars stand out. Most classic cars hold claim to more than one of these things, and all of them hold onto at least one.
Will the Honda Element be considered a classic one day?

What makes a car a classic?

The word “unique,” in the context of classic cars, refers to specific qualities of a car that set it apart from the vehicles of the era. Think odd-ball designs, special edition engines, and early adopters of technology. A unique feature could be anything from a
V8
to a car phone.
Uniqueness admittedly often shares a lot of the classic car Venn diagram with “fun factor.” But it’s very different from rarity, which refers more to how many units were produced by the manufacturer or how many of them survived long enough to be considered classics.
Rarity is often considered for supercar models like Ferraris and Porsches, but it also seeps into the value of nostalgic models like Honda Accords. Most people didn’t preserve their family vehicles, so finding a mint-condition Dodge Grand Caravan from the ‘80s isn’t easy.
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Consumer Reports’ picks for the classic cars of tomorrow

MORE: The Classic 1970 AMC AMX Muscle Car
The auto experts at
Consumer Reports
(CR) recently took these characteristics into account to speculate which vehicles from the last 25 years will become the classics of the future. Some of their opinions on the matter might surprise you.
CR’s Julia Stockburger says “quirk” will be a major factor for what models will achieve classic status and which ones will be forgotten. She points to the Honda Element and the Plymouth Prowler as examples of vehicles whose designs set them apart from their contemporaries.
Her teammate, CR autos editor Keith Barry agrees, but he also highlights features like manual transmission being key to what will make a car a classic in the future. As cars become more autonomous, nostalgia for the control found in older models will make them more desirable.

Owning a future classic

MORE: Which Classic Car Best Represents You? Zodiac Edition
Figuring out which cars will be the classics of tomorrow will always be a guessing game, but one thing’s for certain—the better the condition of the vehicle, the better chance it has of getting a good price at auction.
If you want to make money by buying something that’s cheap now but will increase in value later, finding something in supreme condition should be your primary objective. 
Car insurance for something like this shouldn’t be too expensive, especially if it’s 25 years old or older. That’s generally the cutoff age for
classic car coverage
.
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