In 1969, General Motors manufactured 69 limited-edition Chevrolet Camaros
featuring unusually large, 560-hp engines. With its standard 375-hp motor, the
Camaro was a growling, eight-cylinder beast that inspired awe among automobile
enthusiasts. The introduction of an additional 185 hp quickly made these limited
edition models the stuff of muscle car myth. Chevrolet sold them for $7,100
each, a far greater sum than the $2,800 base price of a standard Camaro. Those
with means to shell out this then-princely figure quickly snapped them up.
Not-so-fortunate Camaro groupies—many of them teenaged boys—dreamed of the day
when they, too, would own one. For some of them, that day has arrived. The
covetous teenagers of the muscle car era are now middle-aged men with
considerably more money to pursue their passion for the Chevy Camaros, Ford
Mustangs and Plymouth Barracudas of their youth. The savviest of these
collectors can indulge their vintage car enthusiasms not only as satisfying
hobbies, but for the possibility of financial gains. Indeed, the limited-edition
1969 Chevy Camaro in good condition can fetch well into six figures.
“I can
buy a car and play with it, and if I do it right, it is a free ride, or even
something I can make money on,” says David Fluke, a venture capitalist in
Washington state, whose vintage automobile collection includes one of the fabled
1969 Camaros—now worth an estimated $210,000. A study of the vintage
vehicle market by Barrett-Jackson, a leading classic automobile auction and
consignment house based in Scottsdale, Ariz., indicates that certain models can,
over a period of time, offer substantial returns. Stephen Drake, a financial
consultant associated with Barrett-Jackson, examined the sale prices over 5- and
10-year periods of seven frequently traded, midshelf vintage models in different
categories (see box). “Our goal in putting together this ‘mini-index’ was to
give vintage car collectors a feeling of where the classic car market is in
relation to the stock market,” says Drake.
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