These Are The 2020 Cars Most Likely To Become Tomorrow’s Classics

The car business has been upended in recent months as it manages to cope with the new (and hopefully temporary) normal as a byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, new-vehicle dealers have managed to stay in business by rewriting the proverbial playbook to embrace measures like full online commerce and no-contact delivery. 

But the same can’t be said for the collectible car business, where vintage vehicle auctions are largely a close-quarters hands-on affair. Planned events have been postponed, rescheduled, or cancelled en mass since the pandemic’s breakout in March, though many remain on the calendar—fingers crossed—moving forward.

At that, the landscape for collectible autos is expected to look different in the not-too-distant future with regard to the genre’s rising stars. Millennials who are now reaching their prime earning years are expected to drive the classic car market, and they won’t be paying top dollar for 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Airs and 1970’s muscle cars, but rather models they coveted as youngsters. In addition to the usual suspects like Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, and Pontiac Firebirds from the 1990s and 2000s, they’ll be snapping up SUVs from the era like the Jeep Cherokee and Toyota FJ Cruiser, and sporty imports like the Acura Integra, Honda S2000, and the original Toyota Supra.

But what if you want to speculate on the market, yet still obtain a daily driver that comes with all the modern convenience and safety features, remains fun to drive, and has the potential to appreciate in value? To that end, the classic car insurer Hagerty has just issued its annual “Hot List” of which vehicles from the 2020 model year are most likely to become future collectibles. As in the past, these tend to be cars that are either new to the market, are reaching a particular milestone, and/or are built in limited quantities. We’re featuring the top five below.

"Hot List cars have that just-right blend of performance and appeal that add a lot of value over time," says Hagerty's Jonathan Klinger. "These are also the cars that our team thinks will still be fun to drive years from now and grab people's attention."

Past hot-listed models include the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, the 2015 Mazda MX-5 Miata 25^th Anniversary Edition, and the 2013 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible 427 in its white-over-blue 60th Anniversary package.

However, you shouldn’t necessarily expect to turn around and make a profit on any of the models on Hagerty’s 2020 Hot List in the short term. It can take decades for a given vehicle to become established as an auction-worthy classic. There are exceptions, however. The aforementioned 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, with as much as 840-horsepower under the hood, that originally sold for $84,995 is already worth $135,000 in pristine “concours” condition, according to the Hagerty website’s valuation tool.

Here’s Hagerty’s Hot List for 2020:

1. Ford Shelby Mustang GT500 ($74,095). 

This is a no-brainer. It’s got a hand-built supercharged 5.2-liter 760-horsepower V8 engine—the most powerful ever in a factory-built Ford—and the Shelby nameplate. It harkens back to the original Shelby-badged pony car from 1967. Only around 5,000 will be built, which helps ensure exclusivity.

2. Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ($59,995). 

The long-awaited eighth-generation mid-engine ‘Vette is an instant classic with its stunningly dynamic styling and 490-horsepower V8 engine. If you’re fortunate enough to obtain a 2020 model, hold onto it tenaciously, as production numbers have been limited due to the United Auto Works strike against General Motors, and work stoppage because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Polestar 1 ($156,000).

This is the costliest model on Hagerty’s 2020 Hot List, and could be distinctive enough to resonate with future collectors. The Polestar 1 is the first in a new line of performance-minded electrified models from Volvo. It’s a sleekly cast sporty plug-in hybrid coupe with two electric motors and a 2.0-liter turbo- and supercharged gasoline engine that together generate 619 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque. Only 1,500 will be built, with just 450 headed to the U.S.

4. Jeep Gladiator Rubicon ($43,545).

Why it took Jeep so long to bring back a Wrangler-based pickup truck is anybody’s guess. Wranglers hold onto their values better than most anything on the road, and that’s likely to be the case with Gladiators, especially early-build models in original condition (Wrangler owners tend to modify them for added off-road prowess). As it is, the Rubicon trim is the most trail-worthy model in the line.

5. Cadillac CT6-V ($97,190).

The sportiest version of Caddy’s CT6 sedan is short-lived, with the model line being discontinued. The CT6-V is—and will be—the only General Motors vehicle to pack the company’s 4.2-liter 550-horsepower twin-turbocharged “Blackwing” engine, which virtually guarantees it both a place in automotive history and extreme scarcity (and collectibility) in the years to come.