Classic market's risers revealed – market news

► Back in 2016 we tipped these gilt-edged classics to climb in value
► How many did we get right?
► Values have shown strong growth in the late 2010s
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We’ve been tracking the fortunes of hundreds of cars being bought and sold on the UK’s classic market every week and predicting where prices are likely to head next.

The ups and downs of the classics covered in our pages give an indication as to what’s happening on the wider market and where they might be heading next. They’re calculated from what results cars are achieving at auction, what dealers are asking for them and what you’d expect to see them listed for in our classic cars for sale

They’re also based on what a classic in good  condition has been fetching at auctions in the UK, so in some cases they’ll appear lower than the prices that some concours or low-mileage examples, or one with a significant history or famous former owner, might be being advertised for.

So, how many of our price predictions came to pass?

Triumph TR6

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £18,000

  • PRICE TODAY £17,000

While Historics hammered away a restored TR6 for a world record £57k in 2020, the reality is that prices for most TR6s haven’t been anywhere near as eye-opening. The devil’s in the detail here, and it depends a lot on what sort of TR6 you have – there have been strong rises for fuel-injected UK market cars in good condition, but the overall average is skewed by the number of carburettor-fed cars and repatriated US examples also on the market, which aren’t considered quite so desirable and so are still fetching nearer £12-15k.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £25,000

  • PRICE TODAY £35,000

The Cossie’s come a long way since 2001, when it was at the bottom of its depreciation curve and could be snapped up for less than £10k. Good ones were making well over £20k by the time we visited values in 2016, but our anticipated easing of market appetite hasn’t happened because classic fans who grew up with them new are now in a position to buy them. There are now fewer survivors than there are would-be owners. 

Mercedes-Benz 280/300 SL (R107)

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £15,000

  • PRICE TODAY £17,500

Back in 2016 we predicted that R107s – then typically fetching around £11-12k at auction – were due for a rise, adding that ‘Mercedes-Benz is a marque on the move, attracting a huge number of new fans on the strength of its general popularity’. In fact, values have picked up even more than we’d anticipated, particularly during last year’s online-only sales, due to the wider market seeing them as safe bets. Now you’d be looking at nearer £18k for a good ‘un, and we’ve seen concours examples being advertised for considerably more.

MGC GT

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £15,000

  • PRICE TODAY £16,000

H&H Classics hammered away a ‘C GT for £16,875 at its Warrington sale last month, which is about right for Abingdon’s pint-sized Aston. We think that the average price has climbed steadily from 2016’s £12k average because buyers are increasingly appreciating this once-misunderstood grand tourer for what it really is, which is slowly pushing up prices. However, values still lag behind its al fresco cousin, one of which sold last year for a record £31k.

Jaguar E-type Series 3 Roadster

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £60,000

  • PRICE TODAY £66,000

‘The trade has long viewed British sports cars as a safe bet – and the E-type’s one of the most sought-after of the lot’. Our assessment of the V12 E-type back in 2016 still stands today, which explains why values have climbed steadily, but probably won’t take any market watchers by surprise. However, with all the attention focused on the E-type’s 60th anniversary this year, prices could be pulled up a little alongside its straight- six forebears.

Ferrari Testarossa

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £120,000

  • PRICE TODAY £85,000

We tipped the Testarossa, with prices in 2016 touching £100k for a really good one for price increases, noting that ‘1980s nostalgia is big business, and the spending power of children who grew up with Duran Duran is affecting values of the cars they lusted after’. In reality, that growth only lasted another a year or so and have since dropped back as prices at the upper end of the classic market have cooled off. Prices are now almost exactly where they were in 2016.

Opel Manta GT/E

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £7500

  • PRICE TODAY £8000

Even though prices had crept up since the late 2000s, we still believed that the Manta GT/E was ‘a great example of an underrated car that’s taken the market far too long to wake up to’ and predicted prices – hovering at around £5-6k back in 2016 – would be nearer £7-8k today. That’s proven to be pretty much right, although there are exceptions to the rule – Anglia Car Auctions hammered one away with a similar estimate last November for a whopping £15,660.

Porsche 944 Turbo

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £15,000

  • PRICE TODAY £18,000

Air-cooled 911s were already enjoying steady price rises five years ago, but we felt that the smart money was in Stuttgart’s transaxle models, particularly performance variants like the 944 Turbo. Since then they’ve risen in value even more quickly than our 2016 predictions, and we’ve seen £25k+ results at auction for the very best examples. Silverstone sold a 1986 example for £19,800 back in May of last year, which is towards the upper end of what you’d pay for a decent example now.

Aston Martin DB7

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £25,000

  • PRICE TODAY £22,000

DB7s stopped depreciating a decade or so ago, with the cheapest examples setting buyers back somewhere in the region of £15-20k. We noted that prices were starting to creep up back in 2016 and while that’s continued since, the reality is that plenty of the earlier straight-six models are still selling at auction for less than £25k. Prices have picked up more strongly for the V12-engined Vantage and GT models, but we reckon that the earlier car is overdue a rise, so snap a good one up while they’re still cheap.

Lotus Elite

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  • WHAT WE PREDICTED £65,000

  • PRICE TODAY £65,000

We figured that strong demand for Hethel’s GRP monocoque pioneer, particularly from buyers on the continent, would push prices beyond the £56k average we reported back in 2016. That’s proven to be bang on the money, but with one major caveat – several examples listed with estimates above £65k have actually failed to sell. With that in mind, we think that values for all but exceptional examples are unlikely to rise further in the current climate.

Richard Barnett

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Classic Car Weekly is the UK’s biggest-selling weekly classic car publication. It’s at the heart of the classic car scene, packed with cars for sale, news, reviews, nostalgia and advice.