Hagerty Names 2015 ‘Hot List’ Of Collectibles
Want to own a future collector’s car? Car insurance company Hagerty releases its 2015 picks.
What we drive tends to make a statement about us.
Feeling green? You may drive a hybrid, diesel, EV (electronic vehicle), or fuel-sipper.
Performance enthusiasts can opt for a sports sedan—often a luxury model—or go for lots of horsepower or maybe pick something that looks a lot like a rally car.
Back when being a “soccer mom’’ wasn’t a tag to be shunned, the minivan reigned in suburbia.
While most of us travel in the mainstream—or sit together in traffic—there are an awful lot of compact and midsize sedans that look remarkably alike. The same goes for small and midsize SUVs.
However, there’s another group among us: The Collector Car Clique. Some opt for wide-ranging collections; others covet the car(s) of their youth, many of which now cost 100 times what they did new.
Then there are those who look at today’s market offerings and wonder which cars will be both fun to drive today and sought after by collectors down the road.
With all that in mind, the experts at Hagerty, the collector car insurance company based in Travers City, Michigan, compiled its annual “Hagerty Hot List’’ of cars that project to be collectible 25 years down the road.
To be considered, the vehicle must be in production in 2015 with an MSRP of less than $100,000. Special consideration is given to newly launched vehicles, such as the No. 1 entry on the list, the Alfa Romeo 4C launch edition.
“We hear a lot of chatter about how cars made today are boring,’’ says CEO McKeel Hagerty. “The cars that make this list prove there are still cars to be excited about. They are true drivers’ cars that definitely are enjoyable now, but each one that made the list has that special something that will make it collectible in the years to come.’’
Why devote so much space to Hagerty’s list? Because I’d love any one of these vehicles in my driveway, either for a day or a lifetime.
Here’s a look at Hagerty’s list, including base price and a collectability characteristic.
1. Alfa Romeo 4C Launch Edition ($69,685). Alfa Romeo returns to America after a 20-year absence with a junior supercar that boasts an impressive 0 to 60 time of 4.1 seconds, and a carbon fiber chassis. It oozes Italian-ness from every single carbon fiber making it perhaps the hottest car on a very hot Hot List.
2. BMW M4 Convertible ($73,450). The M3 and M5 have been the go-to cars for BMW junkies since the late 1980s. The M4 offers those fans the silky torque of a twin turbo, inline-six engine, but, perhaps more importantly, it’s the only M-car, other than the pricey M6, that can be had as a convertible.
3. Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 ($75,000). The ultimate road course-ready Camaro. The car boasts a weight loss of 300 pounds and the LS7 V-8 with 505 horsepower and 481 lb.-ft. of torque. Clearly, Chevrolet let the engineers out to play, and they created a monster. Anyone who isn’t aware that we’re living in a new golden age of automotive performance has been clogging up the left lane for too long.
4. Chevrolet Corvette Z06 ($78,995). Bang for your buck is an understatement for the supercharged Z06, which may well be the all-time performance-for-the-dollar champion. The Corvette has now entered supercar territory at a fraction of the price of the competition from GermanyandItaly.
5. Dodge Challenger Hellcat ($58,295). It feels like the 1960s again. The Cold War is back and so are the muscle car horsepower wars, and Dodge just exercised the nuclear option with this beast. Limited production and 707 horsepower mean that the Hellcat earns its moniker. Clearly the Challenger Hellcat is here to turn fuel into noise, rubber into dust, and little else.
6. Ford Mustang GT Performance Package ($37,125). Although the 50thanniversary edition will be produced in far fewer numbers, the folks at Hagerty think the GT performance package is the true driver’s car. Ford had a tough job following up the 2005-14 Mustang but they’ve done it very well (better perhaps than in 1967 when the Mustang was redesigned for the first time). Here’s to another 50 years.
7. Mazda MX-5 Miata 25th Anniversary Edition ($33,000). The popularity of Japanese collector cars is on the rise, and the Miata has established itself as the quintessential modern roadster.With this special edition also being the last of its generation, it is already sealed as a collectible with only 100 models making the trip toNorth America.
8. Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop ($24,950). New for 2015, the two-door hardtop John Cooper Works Mini is the most powerful Mini ever produced. The performance specs are impressive, but what will have collectors drooling in the future is the attention paid to the Mini’s design concept.
9. Subaru WRX STI Launch Edition ($38,190). With a stiffer body, advanced suspension, and turbocharged Boxer four-cylinder engine, the STI is a factory-built rally car that you can drive off the showroom floor. The smile-inducing acceleration is simply intoxicating, and the very limited release Launch Edition will be loved by collectors and rally fans for years to come.
10. Volkswagen Golf R ($36,595). “4Motion’’ all-wheel drive, 292 horsepower, 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph make the all-new VW Golf the most powerful VW hatchback to date. With a 2.0L turbocharged inline four, this VW is bound to excite collectors now and in the future. It’s the Golf that GTI fan boys and girls have been begging VW to build.
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