Which cars made today or in recent years do you think will ultimately be recognized as all-time classics, thereby retaining or increasing their value? I will go first: E46 BMW M3 with SMG drivelogic transmission (SMG II). Perhaps the greatest sport sedan ever made, not even BMW will likely ever top this one. The 2006 models (the last model year) still have a great resale value last I checked, when I was still in the market for one
You ruined your thread with that giant picture - and that car is way too new to be considered a future classic. I've actually been thinking about starting a similar thread, but with more specific time frames -- so props for a good idea.
Was reading the other day how the classic and collectible car market will never have the "magic" of all the 70's and back classics. For good reason, cuz all the safety and fuel regulations in the auto industry makes everything more uniformly generic. Doesnt allow for much uniqueness in design, especially muscle cars. But the definition of classic itself can change. Though I myself wouldnt want to put much restoration into a '90 Pontiac Grand Am.
I disagree with the BMW E46 (330ci model) I had one and so did some friends .... you buy a new one for $46k in 03' and is only worth 13-15k today. You could had bought an Acura NSX for $65k back in 92' and 18yrs later you can still get 20k for it. The Supra was 45k new back in 93' and you can still get 17k for it. Worst car value: 2003 Mercedes SL500 new $85,000 and you can buy them on autotrader/ebay for $26k
^ This. IMHO, the primary reason is because quality of today is much lower and because current design trends don't have the longevity that traditional classic cars do.  .
SMG II is their clutchless manual transmission right? I'll argue that a future classic car is different than a car that will retain its value in a decade. There was an article where Jay Leno was discussing what he thought will be future collectibles. He said innovative cars like the first gen prius will be valued, as well as I think the Aztec, just because its probably the ugliest design ever. He also believed the manual transmission will be extinct eventually, which sucks, and I can see it happening with the newest supercar, the GTR not being offered with it. I'll disagree with your offering about the e46 m3. As far as the m series goes, it was the most powerful at the time, but what makes it a better collectible? It foregoes more of the drivers heritage than the e30 and e36 in favor of luxury. The e30 will probably be the most classic of them all, one for the 4 banger engine, two for being the most driver-focused of the 4 generations, three for making the 3 series the standard to what all luxury sedans are compared to, and four for sporting the boxy style that BMW is/was so famous for. I'd put the 850 and old 635 over the new m3s too.
Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Diablo? The two big '80s Porsches (911, 959)? The '80s convertible Mercedes SL's from the cover for Beverly Hills Cop? The Ford GT?
I may be bias from owning a '94, but I'll throw the 300ZX Twin Turbo into the mix. MSRP was around $40,000 when it was sold in the U.S. from '90 to '96. I bought a '94 in 2003 for $17,000. You can find some, like this one that have extremely low mileage and are sold at $20k or more. That particular car is 19 years old now. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TsocJNT7E14&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TsocJNT7E14&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Random Z drifting... and My Z...it looked like new inside and out, more than 10 years after its production date. Spoiler
Winner!!! The body lines on that car were soooo ahead of their times, they still don't look out of place with current sports cars. The two rotor Wankel was adequate at best IMO, even with the sequential twin-turbos. Get a hold of 20B 3 rotor and things get really interesting.
The 300zx is probably the epitome of the wedge shaped sports car. I don't want to live in a time where this is considered dated.
The 300 ZX was my college car. For the Gents out there, it got women... It always will..... <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/L8QKK5IDSXE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/L8QKK5IDSXE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I might be a bit partial but the E39 M5 is what started a lot of trends in todays cars. It was one of the first 4 door sedans that had the power of a sports car. When it arrive in the US in 2000 it was the first of it's kind really. You were talking about a sedan with 400hp that could take on almost any sports car at it's time. Even today it can destroy a good number of cars on the road. The angel eye rings you see on all the BMW's these days...started with the E39. To this day it has some of the best styling and doesn't look dated. All the new sedans these days with all this power were starting way back when this hit the market. Other cars I put in the mix. 94 Body style 300zx twin turbo, 94 body style Supra, RX7 Twin Turbo.... As a BMW fanatic I don't think the E46 will get the classic car status. There were too many of them made and they were really saturated. I think you mistyped but the E46 never came in a sedan. It was only a coupe so it definitely not one of the best sports sedans ever made. The E36 and E9X series did come in 4 door models. The e30 M3 is a true thing of beauty if you really keep up with BMW's but to say that the standard E46 is the best is pushing it a bit. If anything I would put the E46 CSL edition up there before the US based E46. But all in all it was definitely a huge jump in the M3 history.
It depends on what you define as classic, I guess. Classic in the sense that they're rare and hard-to-obtain (Enzo, Veyron, Reventon, etc.)? Or Classic in that they made an impact on the car culture and could be iconic for the era? I'll throw a few out there off the top of my head : Mazda Miata/MX-5 Skyline GT-R Chevy Volt (when it comes into production next year)
I completely agree with the Acura NSX. Honda hit it out of the park with that concept/design. Nothing like it before or since. (I'm not counting Italian supercars and the like, since they're always going to be classic/collectible.)
