The popularity of the Volkswagen bus appears to be waning as the weather gets cold (perhaps something to do with the heating systems in those vintage vehicles?), but the interest in a couple of Chevys has picked up since the temperatures have fallen.
Each month we report on the most-searched-for vehicles on the ClassicCars.com Marketplace website, and the big surprise in recent months was the number of searches for Volkswagen Type 2 buses.
We track two types of searches, those for vehicles of a specific year, make and model, and those for a vehicle regardless of year. Beginning in early summer, the Volkswagen vans surged to the top of the all-years search list and they stayed there until October, when Chevrolets moved back to the No. 1 position.
Again in November, Chevy was No. 1, but next came Ford, Mustang, Chevy C10 pickup trucks, and then the VW buses.
“The limited practicality of vintage VW vans in winter weather may be a factor,” said Roger Falcione, founder and president of ClassicCars.com. “Or perhaps everyone who was searching for one found the vehicle of their dreams and is now either enjoying driving or working to get it ready for spring.”
Meanwhile, data on searches for specific year, make and model vehicles shows the 1967 Ford Mustang again in the top spot it’s held since July.
However, the 1967 Chevrolet Impala that was No. 1 back in June has slipped to fifth behind the ’67 Mustang, ‘69 Chevrolet Camaro, ‘69 Dodge Charger and ’69 Mustang.
Making a major upward move in November was the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, which was the 6th most-popular year/make/model search last month. The ’55 Bel Air hadn’t been among the top-10 since February. It and the ’57 Bel Air are the only cars from the ’50s decade that have rated among the top-10 in searches this year.
“Cars from the 1960s continue to be most popular with visitors to the website,” Falcione said. “That probably speaks as much to the fact that Baby Boomers still dominate the hobby as to anything.
“However, we expect to see a significant shift in searches in 2020 as younger enthusiasts continue to increase in number and in buying power.”