It seems that one can’t go five minutes in the car world without being told ‘this is the car that has appreciated the most’ or ‘this car has tripled in price’ and granted we are often guilty of this. The classic car market is currently in an extremely dynamic phase with car numbers getting lower and values increasing but political movements meaning that expending income on classic cars isn’t top of everyone’s ‘to-do’ list.

The classic car market endures and so too will the enthusiasm of the classic car mag reader. ‘Classic Cars’ magazine recently compiled a list of the best classics to invest in as a series of ‘Smart Buys in 2017’ and of course our ears pricked up. Contained within that list were some absolute gems of classic cars for the discerning buyer to toggle over. While your classic car mag can tell you what the prices are doing, they can’t show you the data like we can, and you certainly can’t engage with the data in a magazine like you could here.

So without any further ado let’s look at the cars that ‘Classic Cars’ mag picked out and show you who the real winners are.

Jensen Interceptor

One of a fair few on this list about whom we have already spoken, this must mean we’re on the right track. The Interceptor is a hallmark of all things British and a home grown brute that we’re proud to have on this list.

What we can see is that their prices have been steadily on the increase over the last 22 years. Where values struggled to hit £20,000 before the turn of the millennium good models are now achieving between £20,000 – £40,000 comfortably. The baseline prices for less desirable models has remained largely unchanged over the course of Interceptor sales until 2015 at which time the baseline prices start to lift also, showing a net price increase for the model.

From the graph it seems the Interceptor is a good classic to start with as encouraging values, name recognition and a large vehicle support network make the Interceptor an ideal classic car in 2017.

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Lancia Fulvia

Another marque on the list with instant name recognition for any motorsport fans, the Lancia Fulvia made the list for a strong upturn in values. However not as strong as the Interceptor’s values the Fulvia still shows a good positive trend that will encourage even the most sceptical of buyers.

The models in the upper echelons of the price bracket are the ‘Rallye’ and HF versions, with special edition Zagato models idling in the mid to high areas of the price bracket. Post 2015 the bottom end of values have taken a sharp upturn in a similar fashion to the Interceptor although a lot more sharply, could this booming at the bottom end be the beginning of the Fulvia’s rise to fame? Take a look at the graph below and see for yourself.

 

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Lotus Elan

 

Yet another classic on this list that we’ve previously taken an interest in, the Lotus Elan is a lightweight British hero that many people have been taking an interest in and if you hadn’t thought about their values recently then you really should. Looking at the graph above of values from UK auctions in the last 20 years the average sale price has risen from around £5,000 to nearer £15,000 and values are clustering at a higher mark significantly higher than at the turn of the millennium.

So why are more people buying into the Elan now?

With the recent FBHVC survey showing the classic car market in better health than ever, it makes sense that values of an early iconic British car would start to pick up. Despite the car’s known reliability issues there are fortunately only a handful of things that can go wrong, as the car is explicitly simple and light-weight any problems are often singular and have easy fixes.

 

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Saab 900 Turbo

 

Th fourth offering of the ‘Classic Cars’ smart buys list is an interesting one and one loved by many. The Saab 900 Turbo might not be one of your first thoughts when considering the best classics to invest in but it does have an appealing price graph. Although quiet, the sales at UK auctions are convincing in the recent past with values taking a rapid spike post 2015. While the data set is too small for us to start inferring trends from this it does show off the little Saab in a positive light, although we are unsure of how long it will last…