MUSCLE CARS PRICED TO SELL
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Muscle Cars Priced to Sell
TEXT BY RYAN MATTHEWS
Throughout the past, few markets have been able to outperform the rise in American muscle car values. In the face of an economic meltdown, falling stock prices, collapsing European values, massive foreign trade deficits and conflicts aboard, prices for post-1972 coupes, hardtops and convertibles continue to skyrocket.
Not since America was taken off the gold standard has anything steadily increased in value like these once discarded hunks of horsepower and metal. It’s been a remarkable ride that has left many a broken dream in its vortex. Many makes and models are now out of enthusiasts’ price ranges.
One needs only to step back into history to find where the acceleration began. Motion pictures and television played a big part in shaping the current marketplace. What was seen on screens big and small embedded into the psyche of impressionable teens and young adults the idea of the muscle car. In theaters, “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Vanishing Point,” “Two Lane Blacktop,” “Gumball Rally” and “Dirty Mary Crazy Larry” all featured fast cars. TV, shows like “Route 66,” “The Dukes of Hazzard,” “Knight Rider” and “Mannix” all featured cars that would become highly desirable in the decades that followed.
From the turn of the 21st century, pre-1972 Plymouth and Dodge models have experienced the most meteoric ascension. It all started with the Plymouth ’Cuda. That quickly led to the rise in popularity of the Challenger. As those EBody cars became scarce and expensive, it elevated the interest in B-Body models, like the GTX, Super Bee, Road Runner and Coronet. Soon those models reached collector car status, which put the Post 1972 A-Bodies (Duster and Demon) on the watch list.