You know how the start of any new year goes. It usually begins with a plan to better yourself in some way, whether it be knuckling down at work or hitting the gym - which you end up sticking to throughout most of January. But then February rolls around. It’s still cold, it’s still dark when you leave for work and somehow there’s even more rain. So you end up filling the time you’d earmarked for responding to emails or exercising trawling the auctions and classifieds for that dream car.
Or cars, we should say. After all, it’s rarely just one particular model that occupies our waking thoughts. And then there are the cars that you’ve never given two hoots about, but that suddenly appear in the right spec with sensible mileage that bowls you over. Before you pull the trigger, however, we thought it would be a good idea to go over the cars that have proven particularly popular (or trending, as the kids would say) on PH over the last 12 months and what their position in the market looks like - just to get you up to speed before your hard-earned goes on the line.
To do so, we’ve trawled through many internal data points and even called in the help of The Classic Valuer co-founder, Giles Gunning, to come up with a list of cars that the market seems to be going cuckoo for. Our list comprises nine cars spread across three eras - classics, modern classics and future classics - to cover off all corners of the market. And because we like to consider ourselves a broad church, we’ve split our list up into three price points: a budget option (around £30k or below), a mid-level car (around six figures) and a sky’s-the-limit choice (seven figures or more). Without further ado, let's get into it...
Classics (pre-1985)
… the Peugeot 205 GTI. Needless to say, the diminutive French pocket rocket has been in high demand for quite some time now, particularly with the punchier 1.9-litre engine. Lightweight, rorty and delightfully analogue: all are desirable attributes in the age of the two-tonne hybrid performance car - and there’s no sign of the market cooling down any time soon. Not only was there a sustained uptick in its popularity on PH, the market shows that prices continue to trend upwards. The 1.6s today are around “£5k to £15k on average”, says Giles, whereas the 1.9s range from around £10k to £20k. This 1.6 sold on PistonHeads Auctions last year for a smidgen under £9k, while this very tidy 1.9 looks bang on at £16,950.
Upping the budget a bit brings the Datsun 240Z (or Fairlady Z if you bring one in from Japan) into play. Just 2,000 examples of the original 168,000 production run came to Britain, which seems unfathomable given how they a) came with a straight-six, b) were properly good-looking and c) were considerably more resilient than their European counterparts. That has made them hot property in the tuning car world, meaning stock examples typically carry a decent premium. “Prices on these have doubled in the past ten years”, says Giles. “Ten years ago, these were £10k to £20k. Today, £20k to £30k.” Find one that’s been fettled by one of the big-name tuners and you’ll comfortably be spending six figures. Luckily, this restored example sits somewhere in the middle.
Hard to imagine anyone disagreeing with our sky’s the limit pick going to the Lamborghini Miura, but you might be wondering why we didn’t go for the countless other twelve-cylinder Italian classics that sell for zillions at auction. Well, after years of unprecedented growth, the upper end of the classic market looks to be cooling somewhat. “50s to 60s cars have fallen around 10 per cent each” between 2023 and 2024, notes Giles, “then again, every single decade when you look at the rest of the car market fell in 2024 versus 2023.” The Miura, however, seems to be bucking the trend. “A base car has pretty much tripled in value in the past decade or so”, he adds. “Now you’re looking at around £1.5 million. Ten years ago, £500k wasn’t uncommon.” Go for one of the specials like an SV and the millions quickly rack up, especially if Jay Kay’s been anywhere near it.
Modern classics (1986-2009)
While some oldies might be going off the boil, the modern classic market continues to gather pace. There are plenty of options out there that won’t break the bank (at first), like an R53 Mini Cooper S or a 986 Porsche Boxster, but collectors are starting to zero in on one of the greatest hot hatches of the 21st century: the Renaultsport Clio 182. It’s the Sachs damper-kitted 182 Trophy that tends to get all the attention, although Giles notes that it’s actually the base 182 that’s the big mover in the market. “The Trophies are not climbing as you would have thought, not far off flat”, he says. “ The base 182s have actually doubled since before Covid.” Of course, pricing can vary wildly depending on condition and provenance, but this 182 Trophy sold for a smidgen over £9k last September. Meanwhile, this 182 Cup with nearly identical mileage went for just £5.3k last month, so they’re not out of reach just yet…
Moving on, (or back in the case of our next pick) we’re heading to the early '90s for the Lotus Carlton. A hugely important car, that comfortably took the crown of the world’s fastest saloon in 1990 with a top speed of 176mph. Incredible when you consider that it’s based on a very drab Vauxhall exec. Back to the present and we’ve noticed a surge in interest for the Lotus Carlton over the last 12 months, which is reflected in current values. “Ten years ago, you’d pay £20k [for the Carlton]. Today, if you’ve paid double that, you’re the one laughing”, Giles says, adding that The Classic Valuer has seen two examples sell for six figures. You can still pick one up for five figures, but you’ll still be paying £84,995 for this 1992 example with 73k miles on the clock.
As for the top spot, you could easily chuck a multitude of cars in here. The Maserati MC12, all the different stripes of Pagani Zonda, and we’ve even noticed the Lamborghini Reventon getting more popular of late. But our numbers suggest PHers have been fawning over the Ferrari Enzo more than usual, and it isn’t hard to see why. A mid-engined V12 Ferrari named after the company’s founder with input from the great Michael Schumacher. You could pick one up for around £2 million five years ago - which, according to Giles, is more like £3.5 million today. “They’re highly mileage sensitive”, he adds. “If you get one in Nero, they make low double figures. Very, Very desirable. A lot have been repainted black to try and lean into that.” The sole Enzo for sale on PH at the time of writing is a Nero example, though you’ll only need £3.7 million to get your hands on it.
Future classics (2010-present)
Finally, the future classics. Cars destined to go down in history as all-time greats, but that aren't quite old enough to mix with the cars above. Seems only fitting that we kick off with the Toyota GR Yaris. Homologation specials always go down a treat with, well, everyone, and while the GR Yaris would never officially get its WRC break (the cars we have now are spaceframe prototypes), we still got a brilliant little all-wheel drive hot hatch with clever rally tech and a punchy three-pot motor. Any normal car would hold around 40 per cent of its value after five years, according to Giles, but the GR Yaris is sitting pretty at 80 per cent. “They’re super, super strong on residuals”, he adds. And he’s not wrong. This 2021 example with 5.1k miles sold for £27,336 last month, and this box-fresh car with some tasty Litchfield mods ended up selling for £7k more.
Have you noticed there hasn’t been a single Porsche yet? Well, that’s all about to change, even if it's potentially not the one you were expecting. The 997 GT3 is hot property at the moment, what with it being the last 911 with hydraulic steering and the Metzger engine, but it’s the GT2 that's been making gains of late and appears to be sticking close to its naturally aspirated sibling. “In the US, these are absolutely rocketing”, says Giles, though admits that prices have been relatively flat in the UK over the last ten years. “The interesting thing here is: does the UK follow the US price trend?”, he adds. For now, you can pick this ‘normal’ GT2 up for £169,995, but step up to the GT2 RS and that figure climbs to £334,995 for this GT Silver car.
Remarkably, our seven-figure modern classic, at the moment at least, can be had for six figures. LaFerraris, McLaren P1s and Porsche 918s are some of the most coveted cars to come out of the last decade, but we’ve noticed a lot more interest in the Lexus LFA of late. Back in 2010, precious few understood the LFA because Lexus hadn't made a supercar before - even if it came up with a V10 that wailed like an old F1 car. Now, though, collectors have cottoned on to just how special the LFA really is. According to Giles, you could pick one up for £350k before the pandemic, but prices today hover around the £700k mark (unless you went for a Nurburgring edition, which ups that figure to £1.5m. That does make this £999,999 example seem a touch on the steep side, though it’s difficult to see them going any lower than this in the short term.
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