The auction world is starting to prepare for January’s Arizona events, with some companies already announcing certain special consignments to their auctions. That’s got me thinking: What’s going to be this year’s big new trend?
Last year we saw hefty pricing for 5.0 Mustangs from the 1990s. The year before that, it was big money Bandit-era Trans Ams. Prior to that? Several years of increases on good original-style trucks and SUVs from the 1960s and 1970s.
I think we’ll see more of the same on all of the above — the market is still reacting here, and that means that more good examples of T/As, 5.0s, and SUVs will show up for sale, done up to the nines (or still wearing their original window stickers).
I don’t have a crystal ball, but beyond that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see bigger money spent on 2003-04 Ford Mustang Cobra Terminators — these cars really raised the bar with modern muscle performance with their shrieking supercharged DOHC 4.6 engines, and they’ve never been cheap. The downside is that they’re just not that old, and there are a lot of them out there. But I do think there’s movement in store for them. It’s just a question of time.
Another option? How about good original Jeep Cherokee XJs? They were built from 1983 to 2001 and there are a lot of them out there — but many are now rock crawling instead of hauling the kids to school. The vast majority of them are fairly heavily worn now, which isn’t far off from the 5.0’s market standing prior to its market uptick. So to find a low-miles example that’s still clean? I’d call that money in the bank. Will the market think so too?
Scottsdale is just a few short months away — in the meantime, we’ll just have to wait to see what happens. What do you think will see an increase in the opening months of 2018? Share your thoughts in the comments below.