German Brands Best for Classic Car Investors

Home to iconic brands like Porsche, Mercedes, and BMW, it’s been revealed that German car brands have  the highest median price change for Classic Cars over time.

The study looked at Classic Cars from the 1950s to the 1990s. With a median price increase of a whopping 84.5% across the five decades, German Classic Cars are far ahead of France’s, which come in second place at 64.8%. Interestingly, France’s average price across decades only just makes the top 5 at €22,014. Most listed French brands include Peugeot, Renault and Citroën.

The US places in third, with American listings for a dream classic rising by 62% every decade. It might come as a surprise to motoring enthusiasts that an average listing for a Classic Car from the US is only fourth globally, at €36,843, when the country boasts legendary brands such as Cadillac and Corvette, which sell on average at €96,306 and €119,000 respectively, for a 1950s model.

The UK comes in 4th in terms of price increase per decade at just under 50%, while Italy rounds out the top 5 with only a 34.3% price change over the decades.

Germany also tops the list with the highest average price across all decades at €71,007. Here the UK comes in second with an average listing of €63,055, followed by Italy’s Classic Cars valued at €54,483 across the decades.

Unsurprisingly, the highest average listing in any decade also comes from Germany, with a 1950s Classic Car fetching you a price in the region of a whopping €163,919.

It’s clear: if you own a Classic Car, or are planning on investing in one, your chances of dramatically increasing its value over time are best with a German brand. But, which brands will fetch the highest prices for you?

These Legendary Brands Live Up to Their Name

To figure out which brands age the best and therefore could potentially give the best ROI, the study also looked at the median price change per decade, for each brand. Most surprisingly, Germany’s best performing brand here is Opel, sliding into 5th place worldwide with an average 89.2% added on top of a listing every 10 years. 

The highest increase in value for worldwide brands goes to Chrysler, with the price typically rising by 138.9% per decade! The only other brand to double their value every decade, surprisingly, is Peugeot, in second place with a 107.4% increase.

When it comes to the highest average price itself, though, the results bring up the brands you would expect.The highest price worldwide and across all decades can be fetched with a 1960s Aston Martin, sold on average at €750,847. The brand is also leading the 1950s and 70s listings with a classic Aston from the 50s going typically at €398,500, and the 1970s models selling for €574,423. For the 1980s and 1990s, Italy’s Lamborghini is in first with €483,675 being the average value for the earlier decade, and €310,000 the typical price for models from the later decade.

Highest Priced German Cars

The German brands with the highest listings are Porsche for 1950s models, going at €346,069 on average, and 1960s models fetching €185,000. They are closely followed by 1950s Mercedes legends selling at €175,000. In fourth place, we have Porsche once again, with 1970s models leading the decade’s listings at €139,906 on average. 1960s Mercedes models fetch the fifth highest price overall at €129,900, which slides the brand into second place for the decade.

Methodology

1. BesteOnlineCasinos.com performed an analysis of over 20,000 used vehicle listings including almost 40 brands across all 16 German states to assess the difference in the current resale prices of classical vehicles produced in different decades. Our research identifies the classical vehicle brands that show the greatest increase in price per decade.
2. Firstly, sale listings for used vehicles located in Germany and produced between the years 1950 – 1990 were acquired from the parking.eu. The resulting dataset contained over 20,000 vehicle listings providing a comprehensive sample necessary for our research.
3. Our sample was subsequently aggregated by brand and vehicle production decade to calculate the 75th percentile of prices¹. The 75th percentile was preferred over estimations of the average attempting to compare only higher end, collectable vehicles². The comparisons by decade do not account for changes in product offerings of each brand. Shifts from luxury/sports vehicles to consumer vehicle offerings therefore will not be accounted for. The approach of using the 75th percentile helps to reconcile this.
4. Additional tables providing breakdowns by decade include the country of origin (of the vehicle brand), and the German region in which the vehicle is listed. For the latter, supplementary statistics including the total number of listings, total number of listings per 100,000 inhabitants, average price per decade, and total value of all listings were also calculated. Population statistics for per capita calculations were acquired from Statistisches Bundesamt.
5. Finally, for each breakdown category above, the median price increase per decade was calculated as an estimation of the increase in price per decade. The metric serves as an indication of potential long term returns of high end classical vehicles. The research and content  produced is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or any other advice.
6. The data was collected on 23/02/2022 and is subject to change.