Five great muscle car investments

[BonzoHansen]

1987 Buick Regal GNX: Built to lower the curtain on the rear wheel-drive Regal, the GNX may also have been the last Buick that gearheads have truly lusted after. The highest performance variant of the Regal T-type and Grand National, great ones have broken $100,000. But with fewer than 550 built and the generation that wanted but couldn’t afford one back in the ’80s now flush with disposable income, the sky is likely the limit for this car.
1977 Pontiac Trans Am: While the 6.6-liter T/As from this era were hardly the most powerful, they had one thing going for them: the wildly popular Burt Reynolds movie “Smokey and the Bandit.” They were also arguably one of the best-looking Malaise Era muscle cars, with the iconic black and gold colors, giant “Screaming Chicken” hood decal and gold simulated engine-turned dash applique. Burt Reynolds recently sold his personal car for a cool $450,000, and ordinary cars have tripled in value over the last several years. [Video: Click here to take a spin in a 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am]
1993 Ford Mustang Cobra R: The ’93 Cobra R was arguably the most desirable Fox-body Mustang, and as the launch car for the new SVT team at Ford, it’s a special car. While later Cobra Rs might have been more powerful and more heavily modified, collectors almost always appreciate firsts. The fact that just 107 were built ensures that this Mustang has nowhere to go but up.
1994-96 Chevrolet Impala SS: Chevy built a ton of these wildly popular four-door muscle cars, and it’s their enduring popularity that has been both a blessing and a curse. These cars tend to get driven to death, to the point where there is now an extreme shortage of low-mileage, stock, clean examples. Today, under $20,000 gets a near-perfect one. We’d wager that will seem cheap in 10 years.
1997 Pontiac Trans Am Firehawk LT4: This may be the rarest F-body variant. Sporting the exact same engine as a Corvette, the Firehawk LT4 was one of the rarest and fastest of 1990s muscle cars. Just 27 were built. They rarely hit the market, so pegging precise values is always tough, but we suspect that anything under 40 or 50 grand will seem like a screaming deal one day.

Interesting list, especially #5. I didn't even know they existed until recently. The 1st two in the list are no brainers though.

[Blackbirdws6]

The last three I'm skeptical about, especially the Impala SS. I don't know much about the Cobra R though.

[ThoR294]

The only muscle car here is the 77 trans am lol.

[WildBillyT]

That's a pony car.

[ThoR294]

Originally Posted by WildBillyT

That's a pony car.

True. but the other 3 are definitely NOT muscle cars by any means. at least the 77 had a 400 lol.

[LTb1ow]

But dat 'vette engine yo!

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by ThoR294

True. but the other 3 are definitely NOT muscle cars by any means. at least the 77 had a 400 lol.

None of them would qualify to a purist.

[Paul Huryk]

The less made, the more desirable it is to collectors.

So#1, #3, and #5 would be tops on the list. Impala SS and 77 TA, not so much.

The Cobra R is an interesting car - Ford tried to make a road race ready Fox body with upgraded suspension and brakes (similar to the late 3rd gen 1LEs), but only sold them to road racers at the time, hence the low volume produced. Not sure how well they did against the 3rd and early 4th gens, but they did continue the Cobra R cars with the next chassis they used. Had seen one in person back when they were new and honestly didn't impress me other than the wheel styling.

[NJ Torque]

547 lucky ones with a GNX... and 1 special "X-ray"

And how about the 89 TTA's?

You could get a 1 or 2 off turbo regal, such as a sage green, with chrome package, LC2(GN drivetrain) and a astroroof... but, who would really want that over a badass black GN or GNX?

[1320B4U]

GN's in general are getting to be high dollars. Just gauging the auctions, hemmings motor news, barret and local listings on ebay/etc have shown those going 20k and beyond on average. Other cars that I have seen go up significantly are 2nd gen Camaros and birds (10-15 years ago they were around 5-10k for nice ones..now 18-30k, 80s montes, and syclone/typhoons are slowing creeping up. albeit a decent xtreme blazer and s10 may be in the cards down the road as they were also like 94-96 impalas and g/bodies, driven hard with not many surviving in great shape.

Blue chip imports like nsx's and mk4 supra's are in the stratosphere now and were never really 'cheap'. Still would love to own either one along with a box caprice (for some odd reason, I love those cars) from 87-90.

[//<86TA>\\]

Why not a 3rd gen firehawk over the 97 one on the list? Same production numbers, but the 91-92 were more modified with limited production parts, some had aluminum race prepped engines along with the t-ram, dana 44 rears, zf6 speeds, 4 piston brembo brakes ect. The 97 was pretty much a sticker package with the production "corvette" engine, and a spring and shock upgrade.

But as usual, no love for the 3rd gen guys.

[sweetbmxrider]

Its a yahoo news article, I think, so I wouldn't get too worked up over it.

[Paul Huryk]

I think most of that is due to "car investor creep" - the product of the older desireables (BB vettes, Hemi cars...) being so expensive, only the wealthiest can afford to collect them. They just go to the next ones on the list and so on - early 2nd gens are so expensive that the disco 2nd gens are going up in price now - along with some other cars that were cheap only a few years ago.

I throw up in my mouth when I think of all the articles on how the 70's Laguna and other lackluster cars are now collectible...

Originally Posted by 1320B4U

GN's in general are getting to be high dollars. Just gauging the auctions, hemmings motor news, barret and local listings on ebay/etc have shown those going 20k and beyond on average. Other cars that I have seen go up significantly are 2nd gen Camaros and birds (10-15 years ago they were around 5-10k for nice ones..now 18-30k, 80s montes, and syclone/typhoons are slowing creeping up. albeit a decent xtreme blazer and s10 may be in the cards down the road as they were also like 94-96 impalas and g/bodies, driven hard with not many surviving in great shape.

Blue chip imports like nsx's and mk4 supra's are in the stratosphere now and were never really 'cheap'. Still would love to own either one along with a box caprice (for some odd reason, I love those cars) from 87-90.

[Featherburner]

Originally Posted by //<86TA>\\

Why not a 3rd gen firehawk over the 97 one on the list? Same production numbers, but the 91-92 were more modified with limited production parts, some had aluminum race prepped engines along with the t-ram, dana 44 rears, zf6 speeds, 4 piston brembo brakes ect. The 97 was pretty much a sticker package with the production "corvette" engine, and a spring and shock upgrade.

But as usual, no love for the 3rd gen guys.

Phil, didn't they only build 25 of the 91-92 Firehawks? I think I recall they even equipped them with rollbars as well. I'd take one of these in a heartbeat!

[grazi]

I might be alittle bias to turbo buicks but I don't think that any of those cars on the list or really any other cars from the 80's are ever going to be close to the value of a GNX.

[grazi]

Originally Posted by NJ Torque

547 lucky ones with a GNX... and 1 special "X-ray"

And how about the 89 TTA's?

You could get a 1 or 2 off turbo regal, such as a sage green, with chrome package, LC2(GN drivetrain) and a astroroof... but, who would really want that over a badass black GN or GNX?

Im alittle surprised about how low in price the TTA's still are, like a driver for 15-20k. Maybe because they made so many of them compared to GNX, I think they made 1555 of them.

[V]

Originally Posted by grazi

Im alittle surprised about how low in price the TTA's still are, like a driver for 15-20k. Maybe because they made so many of them compared to GNX, I think they made 1555 of them.

even less. I've seen them for 10-14k for decent ones.

[BigAls87Z28]

This desire for Malaise Era cars is blowing my mind. It's an era when all major manufactures just threw their hands up in the air and gave up.

GNX, TTAs, Firehawks, Cobra Rs, SVOs, and the like are the mega-rare and will always be desirable.

[Dudbird113]

Lt juan yo

[edpontiac91]

To see "Turd" Gen models coming up in value is interesting. My Formula was never bought to be an investment or a collectable, but time and rarity has made it so. There were only 1,197 made with the L98 350 option, so it started out with low production. Add to that, all the SLP mods I installed are no longer produced. When you factor in that it is 25 years old and in original condition, its nice to see the value coming up, when most of these have been beaten to death or wound up wrapped around a tree or a phone pole.

I also can appreciate the fact with so many muscle cars bringing prices going to the moon, that really nice 2nd and 3rd Gen models can still be purchased without laying out the cost of a new home. Also to, you can mod these cars without worrying about crayon marks on the rear end or incorrect chrome pieces that could take away from the value. It is still really nice to take them for a cruise or a car show and have people tell you they can remember having one, but long ago gave it up for an SUV.

[wrong generation]

Originally Posted by edpontiac91

all the SLP mods I installed are no longer produced. When you factor in that it is 25 years old and in original condition,.

how it is original condition if it has slp mods ? once you put 1 mod of any sort on the car it is no longer in its original conditon.

[edpontiac91]

By original condition, what I meant was it has the original paint (Bright Red code #81) as is the interior and original motor except for bolt-on SLP parts.

[//<86TA>\\]

Originally Posted by Featherburner

Phil, didn't they only build 25 of the 91-92 Firehawks? I think I recall they even equipped them with rollbars as well. I'd take one of these in a heartbeat!

Yeah, 26. Some had cages some didnt.

[edpontiac91]

Yes, and there was actually one made in the Green color. The competition package had a roll bar, Brembo brakes, competition seat belts and brought the list price closer to $49,000. I also can't figure out why the TTA's havent't gone WAY up in price. I owned a new one and it was a HUGE sleeper on the street, beside running low 12's @ 115 mph in the 1/4. That means (with some bolt-on mods) it was putting out around 450 hp! Had to sell it due to a large drop in earnings in the early low 1990's. The 6 cylinder up front made the car really handle awesome and the 1LE package was fantastic for its braking ability. The one weak point was the 200 R4 trans that was not built up to handle that type of power. Even the stock horsepower number (250) was way off, because it could run mid to low 13's right off the shelf.

[BonzoHansen]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

This desire for Malaise Era cars is blowing my mind. It's an era when all major manufactures just threw their hands up in the air and gave up.

GNX, TTAs, Firehawks, Cobra Rs, SVOs, and the like are the mega-rare and will always be desirable.

No, the opposite. The 80s is really the beginning of the renaissance of performance cars. It's not a mystery. Those cars are climbing due to the old supply&demand curve. When those cars were new a kid in high school could not afford one but really wanted one. Now that same 'kid' can. With the exception on that list of the 'bandit' trans am which is much earlier than those others, and I think those models have probably finished their steep price ascent. GNX probably too.

Originally Posted by grazi

I might be alittle bias to turbo buicks but I don't think that any of those cars on the list or really any other cars from the 80's are ever going to be close to the value of a GNX.

I don't think that's the point, the point is trying to ID cars that are going to climb the price appreciation scale. Not that they will all cost the same.