MUSCLE l Nostalgic boomers bidding up prices of ’60s cars
rari and a $5 million Bugatti, there’s no reason you can’t have a $ 1 million muscle car.’’
And if the passion for muscle cars continues to grow, a few may ultimately become as valuable as the pure blue- chip classics, said Mike Fairbairn, co- founder of RM Auctions of Ontario, Canada, which says it is the world’s largest collector car auction company.
‘‘ I would actually go out on a limb and say certain of these cars will rise to the top,’’ Fairbairn said. ‘‘ What we’ve got right now in the muscle car segment is kind of the perfect storm.’’
Most enthusiasts agree that musclecar mania began in 1964 with the legendary Pontiac GTO, a car aimed at America’s burgeoning youth market. Engineers took a 389 cubic- inch V- 8 from a full- size sedan and dropped the big motor — and other heavy- duty parts — into a smaller LeMans.
End of the road
Though muscle cars attracted lots of attention, they generally accounted for less than 10 percent of overall sales, and many did not survive their abusive young drivers. By 1974, with gas prices high and new emissions standards strangling engines, the segment died.
Despite their limited supply, muscle cars are not considered classics — which makes the prices some are commanding even more astounding. They have no heritage or pedigree, for instance, and set no standards for design or technology.
But that doesn’t matter to muscle car buyers. While a few put their cars into collections, most want them strictly as pleasurable weekend warriors.
‘‘ This market is being driven not by investors but by people who dreamed about these cars as teenagers but were consigned to driving mom’s station wagon,’’ said Jerry Pitt, publisher of Hot Rod magazine.
‘‘ Baby boomers are buying muscle cars to drive them,’’ said McKeel Hagerty, chief executive officer of Hagerty Insurance, which insures 400,000 specialty cars. ‘‘ My dad’s generation would have barns of collector cars that never saw the light of day.’’
Muscle mania is a big factor in the cars’ growth in value.
‘‘ There is a broader appeal and more of a love affair with muscle cars than with Ferraris or exotics,’’ said Sam Pack, a Texas Ford dealer whose 175- car private collection includes several muscle cars.
While the wine- sippers of the classic car world look down their noses at muscle car mutts, other collectors consider them the last of America’s great cars.
‘‘ Duesenbergs are not what a lot of us grew up with. Muscle cars are,’’ noted Doug Hasty, chief executive of Unique Performance in Farmers Branch, Texas, which got its start four years ago building highly modified late 1960s ‘‘ Eleanor’’ Mustangs.
Some can even envision muscle cars getting invited to blue- chip classic car gatherings such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Upgraded versions
The popularity of muscle cars is even spawning offshoots. Hasty and California hot- rod builder Chip Foose are taking 1969 Camaros and upgrading them with new engines, transmissions, brakes and suspensions. The cars start at $ 124,000.
‘‘ As we move into this project with Chip, it is hard to comprehend the kind of money people are putting into these cars,’’ said Hasty, who is also considering new- old muscle- car versions of the 1969 Mustang, 1970 Dodge Challenger and 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. ‘‘ But baby boomers are ready to settle down and enjoy their affluence.’’
In one of the stranger twists in the collector car business, people are building muscle- car ‘‘ clones’’ and selling them for up to 90 percent of the price of a real muscle car, officials say. They start with base versions of a car such as a Camaro or Pontiac LeMans, then add the engine and other components of real muscle cars. The vehicles are usually sold as clones rather than legitimate muscle cars.
The potential for fraud, though, is one of several reasons Mark Hyman is not a muscle car proponent.
‘‘ Whether it be California real estate or stocks, anything that becomes very expensive very quickly has a tendency to correct,’’ said Hyman, who owns Hyman Limited Classic Cars in St. Louis. ‘‘ I think the very, very best cars with bulletproof histories will be all right. The rest may not.’’
In the late 1980s, for example, Ferrari values shot up. Their values later collapsed, leaving some people holding $ 1 million Ferraris that were suddenly worth $ 250,000.
The difference today is that relatively few investors are in the chase for muscle cars, officials say.
‘‘ This is a dream for a lot of guys,’’ said Craig Jackson, chief executive of Barrett-Jackson Auction Co. of Scottsdale, Ariz. ‘‘ Most people I know are holding on to the cars they buy.’’
Most muscle cars can still be bought for less than $ 50,000. But a few have skyrocketed into six figures and beyond — including Dodge or Plymouth muscle cars with Hemi V- 8s, some 454 Chevelles and 427 Camaros, and many Shelby Mustangs.
Many in the business think those values will stay firm for at least the next four years.