When it comes to assessing future automotive classics, experts usually focus on used cars that are well over 10 years old, but what about brand new models? Here’s where Hagerty steps in, with its annual list of vehicles that stand out as likely being collectible within the next 25 years. To qualify for the “Hagerty Hot List”, a car has to be made during the 2015 model year and have an MSRP of under $100,000, with Hagerty’s collector experts giving a special preference to newly released vehicles over ones that appeared in previous lists - whenever possible. The only model that reappears in this year’s Top 10 is the Alfa Romeo 4C. Obviously, this list is for cars sold in the US market. “We hear a lot of chatter about how cars made today are boring,” said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty. “The cars that made this list prove there are still cars to be excited about. They are true drivers’ cars that are definitely enjoyable now, but each one that made the list has that special something that will make it a collectible in the years to come.”
Alfa Romeo 4C Launch Edition
$69,685
“ Alfa Romeo returns to America after a twenty year absence with a junior supercar that boasts an impressive 0-60 time of 4.1 seconds, and a carbon fiber chassis. It oozes Italianness from every single carbon fiber making it perhaps the hottest car on a very hot Hot List.”
BMW M4 Convertible
$73,450
“The M3 and M5 have been the go-to cars for BMW Motorsports 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.”
$75,000
“The ultimate road course ready Camaro. Boasting a weight loss of 300 pounds and the LS7 V8 with 505 horsepower and 481 pound feet of torque, 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.”
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 Germany and Italy. “
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 means that the Hellcat earns its moniker. Clearly the Challenger Hellcat is here to turn fuel into noise and rubber into dust and little else. “
Ford Mustang GT Performance Pack
$37,125
“Although the 50th anniversary edition will be produced in far less numbers, we 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 re-designed for the first time). Here’s to another fifty years.”
Mazda MX-5 Miata 25th Anniv.$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 the last of its generation, it is already sealed as a collectible with only 100 models making the trip to North America.”
MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop
$24,950
Subaru WRX STI Launch Edition
$38,190
“With a stiffer body, advanced suspension and a turbocharged Boxer four cylinder the STI is quite literally 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.”
Volkswagen Golf R
$36,595