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HomeMediaBarrett-Jackson 2032: How is Larry’s list holding up?

Barrett-Jackson 2032: How is Larry’s list holding up?

In 2007, I picked 10 cars that would be fun to own, but with an eye on their value 25 years down the road. How did I do?

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As I work to clean out the storage unit I rented when I moved from Phoenix to the Las Vegas area, I keep discovering relics that draw my attention. Yesterday it was a stack of printouts of some stories I’d written earlier this century. 

One in particular sucked me in. Back when ClassicCars.com was a fledgling website, and long before the launch of the Journal, we posted occasional articles we thought might be of interest to the collector car community. One such article, published May 5, 2007, was entitled “Top 10 Future Classics.”

My self-assigned mission was to identify 10 cars that could be purchased at new-car dealerships that could be enjoyed now but that figured to increase in value over time. Specifically, they might be consigned to Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in 2032, then a quarter-century in the future.

Turns out we’re about half-way through that quarter, so this might be a good time to see how my selections are doing. For the record, here were my top-10 choices back in 2007, presented here as then in inverse order:

Larry’s list in 2007

10. Porsche Cayman S

9. Lotus Elise (roadster) or Exige (coupe)

8. Any Ferrari

7. Toyota FJ Cruiser

6. Scion xB

5. Hummer H2

4. BMW Z4

3. Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG

2. Chevrolet Corvette Z06

  1. Ford Mustang Shelby GT

Looking back at what I wrote then, I suggested the FJ Cruiser would become popular in the same way as Chevy Nomads and Ford Woodies were in 2007, that the Scion xB would appeal to 20-somethings who then would be in their late 40s and looking to recapture their youths, and that the H2 would be sought as “a symbol of the wretched excess of the carbon-burning era of human history.”

And in case you’ve forgotten, the Shelby GT was a limited-production vehicle available only in black or white with silver “Le Mans” stripes, and thus was “black or white and red-hot all over.”

So, how did I do? Was my crystal ball clear, or cloudy?

Eldon Musk’s Tesla Roadster mounted on rocket nose as it was readied for its space flight in February 2018 | SpaceX photo

Wow! Things have really changed since 2007, haven’t they? There was the financial collapse, the subsequent resurgence in the housing and stock markets, a downright startling revival in the automotive muscle and super car sectors, and, of course, in vehicle electrification.

In retrospect, I wish I’d have included a Tesla Roadster on my list, though in my defense, while it had been unveiled in 2006, customer deliveries didn’t begin until early in 2008.

And now this: What 10 cars available today at dealerships would be fun to drive but with an eye on careful preservation in hopes they might be consigned to Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in 2045, a quarter-century from now?

As you think about your list, I’ll do the same, and I’ll share mine in this space tomorrow. But there’s one proviso that applies to your list and to mine, we cannot simply pick all 6- or 7-figure supercars, nor can the list be “10 new C8 Corvettes.” And remember, we’re talking about cars that people — people currently in their 20s and early 30s — will want to collect nearly mid-way through this century.  

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Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Oh, Mr. E- you missed the GM Holden of Australia manufactured ’04-’06 GTOs and subsequent ’07-’09 Pontiac G8s.
    My 6spd Tor-red 40th anniversary ’04 GTO draws ever increasing offers, even though it’s my year-round daily and looks it; I’ll never sell, I love it- my nephew and niece can deal with that when I’m in the forever box.
    The most compelling new ride for your 25 year list? Any of those flatcrank Voodoo engined Shelby 350s… have you driven one of these things? I grew up driving in the ’70’s, these 350s ARE Voodoo. And have you spooled one up to the 8200rpm(!) redline? Jeez-us wept- Godzilla doesn’t have this aggressive a voice. Really. It’s a revelation in automotive music, part Erik Satie and part Norwegian Death Metal, with a heapin’ helpin’ of Rob Zombie slathered atop.
    And you can only get it with a stick. That in itself puts it on your list, yes?

  2. slk 55 AMG roadster 2012-2016 – 5.5 V-8 (with cylinder deactivation 28mpg)
    0-60 4.1 / 175 top end/ Mercedes comfort / no longer available

  3. well, you missed the S2000 completely… in yellow, on BAT, with low milage, they are selling for more than I paid for mine in 07 fresh off of a Phoenix sales floor with the new car smell. Other colors are not doing as well, but with Mr Honda announcing that they are going to start to make parts again for the latest version, I expect the value of the “off colors” to grow also…except for that ugly silver iteration..

    Simply a great little roller-skate with an engine that just sings to you…

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