6 90s American Cars That Are About To Explode In Value

A week or so ago, Andrew Evans talked about 8 Awesome 90s Motors You Need To Buy Before Prices Rocket. He had plenty of great choices, but those of us on the other side of the globe didn’t really recognise many of them. North America - or at least the United States - hasn’t enjoyed the likes of Peugeot or Renault for some time. Only recently has Alfa Romeo returned to our shores, and while we share other familiar manufacturers, we never seem to get the really cool stuff.

So to oblige all the readers on the west side of the Atlantic (and because stealing ideas from other writers isn’t really stealing if you change things up just a bit), here are six cool 90s cars from American manufacturers that you can pick up on the cheap, and will almost certainly, maybe, potentially, increase in value at an undetermined rate. Maybe a lot. Maybe a little bit. Eventually. Is that different enough?

1991-1993 Dodge Daytona IROC

Let’s hear it for Dodge and its efforts to make a really cool front-wheel drive American performance car. Actually, I always loved the way these cars looked, and when Carroll Shelby’s contract with Chrysler ended in 1991, it picked up the International Race Of Champions (IROC) sponsorship and brought forth the Daytona’s final hurrah—the IROC.

This rakishly-sexy machine was offered with either the rare (and awesome) 224bhp Turbo III four-cylinder, or a weak-sauce Mitsubishi-sourced 3.0-litre V6 making 141bhp. The IROCs are rare though, and if you can find one with the turbo, snag it. I don’t know if they will ever be auction block rockstars, but I suspect the next few years will be kind to them.

1994-1995 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe

Ford built a lot of Thunderbirds through the 1990s. The gutsy model was always the Super Coupe, and though it was the only ‘Bird offered with a manual, most Thunderbird buyers preferred the V8 automatic. The earlier 1989-1993 models already enjoy an enthusiast following with an uptick in values, but I think the 1994-1995 Super Coupes will be the ones to watch. That’s because Ford quietly bumped their output from 210bhp to 230bhp, and equipped them with the five-speed manual, this T-Bird was faster than the same-year Mustang GT. 1995 was the final year for the Super Coupe, and with the manual transmission cars being rare finds, look for these to start climbing in value.

1993-1997 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

Chevrolet caught Ford completely flat-footed when the 1993 Camaro hit showroom floors with a 275bhp V8 and a six-speed manual. Yes, there are numerous special-edition Camaros that garner attention (and big bucks) but right now these LT-1-powered Z28s have bottomed out price-wise. And by bottomed-out, I’m talking $3000 for a decent six-speed car with under 100,000 miles.

If you consider the way late 1970s Camaros have jumped in price, I think there’s great potential for the LT-1 Camaros from the early and mid-1990s to follow the same trend in the next few years. And if not, then just enjoy driving a 150mph V8 muscle car for pennies on the dollar. That’s what people commonly refer to as a win-win situation.

1992-1995 Ford Taurus SHO

If you haven’t seen my CT profile, just trust me when I say I know a thing or two about these cars. The first-generation Taurus SHO rocked the sport sedan world in 1989, and it managed to hold onto some of that hype through the 1992 redesign. I’ve heard crazy stories from people that the engine is some mystical entity built at Area 51 by aliens, and that it can spin to 50,000rpm. In reality, it’s a slick Yamaha-developed 3.0-litre DOHC V6 making 220bhp that, in 1989, was among the highest horsepower-per-litre engines in the world.

Automatics got a slightly bigger version of the same engine, but those aren’t going to be where the money is at. The first-generation cars from 1989-1991 are already trending north of $10,000, and I think the smoother 1992-1995 cars will follow suit. But the trick is to find one that’s still original, that hasn’t been beat to death, and has the all-important five-speed manual.

1997-1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP

This one is a wildcard, because General Motors built a lot of them, and they were all automatics. That doesn’t necessarily trend well for enthusiasts, but the GTP stands out for its 240bhp supercharged V6 that can be modded to the stratosphere. And if you can get past the tacky GM plastic trim of the era, GTPs also came well-equipped with leather, power everything, and a cool heads-up display.

To this day they still have a huge following, but as with the SHO, the trick is to find one that hasn’t been driven into the ground. Unlike the SHO, finding one with some minor modifications seems to help, as long as it doesn’t look like a red-headed stepchild from a Fast and Furious video shoot. Prices have bottomed out on these cars, and whether you go with two doors or four, the chances are good that values will be slowly rising in the years to come.

1994-1998 Ford SVT Mustang Cobra

If the rocketing values of the original 1993 SVT Mustang Cobra are any indication, now is probably the time to get a 1994-1998 model. While the Mustang GTs of this era were wishy washy, the Cobras managed to keep some decent horsepower; specifically 240bhp in 1994 and 1995 from the holdover 5.0-litre V8, and a throaty 300bhp from 1996-1998 out of the 4.6-litre mod motor. Cobras have always had a strong following, and while the uber-rare Cobra R models in 1993, 1995 and 2000 are already bringing well over five figures, standard Cobras have bottomed out anywhere from $5000-$9000. All things considered, that’s a healthy price to bottom out at, but it’s also a further indication that these cars are going to age very, very well.