The Dropping Prices On These Collector Cars Sure Do Make Them Tempting

The collector car market is wildly inconsistent, often growing exponentially when the economy is booming, but tanking just as hard during a recession. And while it's probably best not to think about cars as investments, knowing when a car you love has hit a pricing low is valuable knowledge. Following the post-COVID boom of collector car values, it seemed like increase in car values would never end. Then, at the close of 2025, we saw some impressive vehicles starting to go for even less money than they did pre-boom. 

If you bought in at the peak of collector car silliness, potential losses were huge. The experts say that the entire market has decreased by significant percentages — some individual cars are worth 15 to 30 percent less than they were just three years ago. To mentally justify some of the prices paid, owners would have to keep theses machines forever, or be prepared to take a bath when it sells. 

Hagerty research indicates that the collector car market is at a 15-year low right now. So, there's a bit of a downward spiral at the moment, and it's worth asking which vehicles are starting to become attainable again. Which cars have come down enough to warrant giving them a second look? We've come up with five of our favorites that have come down (or will be coming down soon) that should satisfy just about every enthusiast. And maybe this list will inspire you to go out looking for a properly priced ride that will make your weekend driving a bit more fun. 

There's something special about the hot-hatch-iness of a MkII Volkswagen GTI. It offers a uniquely manic driving experience paired with some throwback vibes. It is also an attainable collector car that offers a ton of driving fun for not very much money. 

A combination of millennial nostalgia and peak earning years has helped the iconic GTI graduate into the category of the all-time collector-grade cars. I think, long-term, there's a potential for nice GTIs to reach "blue chip" collector status alongside vehicles like the Porsche 356 and BMW 2002. The VW's are reliable enough that some people still drive them every day, simple enough to work on yourself, and aren't saddled with the experience-sapping "driver aids" like many modern cars. 

After a few years of ballooning, the GTI hit its peak in April of 2025 and values have been dropping ever since. According to Hagerty, a good driver-grade GTI has come down as much as 15% since that peak, and trending downward. Here's a decent driver-grade example that sold on Bring A Trailer in late 2025 for just $6,000. With spring still a few months away, you might be able to find a good winter bargain right now, but I expect these to keep dropping across 2026. 

Don't let an outlier concours-restored Mk III "Split Spit" selling for $80,000 on Bring A Trailer discourage you; the Triumph Spitfire is still among the most affordable collector cars on the market right now, and it's dropping in value. This iconic "little Brit car" was built from 1962 to 1980, and there are thousands of them on the market at any moment.  

Trends indicate that Spitfire values never really exploded during the post-pandemic buying spree. In 2022, for example, you could buy one in "Good" condition for around $7,300 and that same car is estimated around $6,700 today. That's about the same price you would have paid in late 2021 or early 2022. 

In any case, you can still get a really nice driver Spitfire for under ten grand, and that's probably going to be the case from now until infinity. About 315,000 examples of this little two-seater were built in its 18-year production run, so you can practically throw a stone and hit a Spit. Unfortunately, finding one without rust or electrical issues is a bit more challenging. Considering their sub-10k prices, it's not a surprise that some Spitfires will likely need a bit of work to run and drive properly, but I think they're worth the effort. 

The American approach to sports cars is to attach two seats and a steering wheel to a monstrous engine, and call it a day. There's no need to worry about creature comforts, NVH, or fit and finish, just a big V10 engine with enough torque to pull stumps, a loud exhaust, and enough lateral grip to make it somewhat competent on a race track. That's the recipe, and the Dodge Viper of the early 1990s really nailed it. 

If that sounds enticing to you, it's all the better that values of these monster machines are finally coming back down to earth. For the last couple of years fools parted with lots of money for an objectively terrible, if exhilarating, driving experience. Driver grade Vipers from the SR-I generation (1992 to 1995) are down about 15% from their 2023 peak, and you can still get a nice example for around $30,000, and a somewhat shoddy example for $20,000. It's a bit rough for most, and it will never be a great investment car, but compared to a lot of other collector cars in this price bracket, the Viper offers a truly unique driving experience. If you want raw, this thing is an entire sushi bar's worth at all-you-can-eat prices. 

If you're looking for an American-made two-seat sports car with a more Grand Touring feel than the Dodge Viper's twelve-rounds-of-boxing driving experience, you probably want a comfortable and stately Cadillac XLR. The angular Art And Science design carried by Cadillacs of the era looks quite fashionable on this slimmed down machine. Built on the Corvette platform, the XLR has the goods in all the right places. And with the Corvette's venerable LS engine replaced by Cadillac's comparatively calm Northstar V8, these machines haven't been bastardized by power-hungry hot rodders. And it's got the coolest trunk of all time! 

After jumping 20% in value between January 2021 and January 2024, the XLR has returned to basically exactly where it was in 2021. Considering the massive inflation the market has seen since then, the XLR has dropped quite a lot in value recently. The nicest examples in the world struggle to crack $40,000, while excellent versions are under $30,000, and good drivers can be found for under $20,000. 

These are definitely modern enough to make good summer daily drivers, and fun enough to enter in a track day or two if you really want to experience it. With values way down, and a new F1 team to root for, now is the time to jump on the Cadillac sports car bandwagon. 

Regular Porsche 911s are no longer attainable by normal everyday driving dorks, and I'm not going to argue that the 911 is currently a good buy, considering these things are basically $60,000 and up. I do think, however, that this is a car to watch in 2026 as people are going to start realizing just how inflated their values have become. These actually saw a brief dip in value across 2023 and 2024, but then re-popped in 2025 to a new high peak in January of 2026. 

It's a bold move, but I'm going to predict that the 911 SC specifically has reached its peak and will see a market correction of 10% or more this year, dipping back closer to the $50,000 mark, and potentially dropping below that marker. Back in January of 2021 you could get a nice driver SC for around $38,000 and I'd love to see that return as our normal for these. At that price, it's a great buy for a fun driving experience and an iconic shape. If prices remain anywhere near where they are right now, then it'll still be overpriced. 

Obviously, this is not financial advice — none of my musings here should be considered as such. But if I were a gambling fella, I'd wager that six to eight months from now will be a much better time to buy a vintage 911.