The Supercar Registry - Future collectables

I am a race car guy,but I just picked up a car that I used to own and now have the intentions of restoring back to 100% original and limiting it's use so that it might actually go up in value someday.I bought back my 1989 Pontiac GTA.It is a 5.7L/automatic car with T-tops,black exterior{only approx 650 of all GTA's in 89 were black},black cloth interior{approx 240 of all GTA's in 89 had black cloth interior}.Every major part is original.It had been hot rodded a bit with a gutted out cat and hot rod exhaust,it has a turbo hood on it,and has a mild cam,and a computer chip.I have replace the cat and the exhaust with parts store replacement stuff,and plan on replacing everything else in the near future,when the engine comes out to be freshened,and the underhood detailed back to stock.It also needs all new pollution hoses and tubes since most of them have been modified or removed.The trans is the original,but it has a V6 convertor which offers about 2000 stall,and it has a shift kit and a 2/3 kickdown kit.Everything under the car is solid and original,and it recently had 4 Delco shock/struts put on it.It has only been in 2 minor fender benders,and it has 1 partial repaint and 1 full repaint.The doors,fenders,decklid and front bumper all still have the VIN stockers on them.I think this car is a fair investment car since I just purchased it for $3500,and everything it needs is still very cheap.

There are some good and some bad investments in late model collecting.The problem is that too many"collectable" cars have been stashed away with no miles in the hopes of a future profit.This means that in 20 years,everybody who ones a GNX,or 89 Pace car,will have a pristine example with under 1000 miles.The same goes for the Cobra R Mustangs and things like that.
A good low buck way to ensure a decent investment would be to restore a popular car.These cars are popular because they are desirable,and when they cease to exist,the market for them will go up.Nobody had any great memories in a GNX,because nobody ever drove one and had fun with it.Now a better car to buy would be a plain Grand National in original condtition but needing a restoration,such a car can be easy to find parts for,and nobody will be looking for date code correct lug nuts 30 years from now,but you can still make it real nice and have something that somebody will want in 15 years.
A great example of a popular car would be a 5.0 5 speed 88 mustang GT with 2 tone paint.They made a zillion of these cars,and everybody who was anybody back in the late 80's or early 90's either had one or knew somebody who did.Such a car is high on "memory value".You can buy thrashed out examples for 3 digit prices and the parts are abundant to do a proper restoration on one right now.When done,you can enjoy it for a few years,and then know you have a clean car that somebody out there really wants.A 1LE Camaro is a decent car,but be careful since aside from those who know what it is,and how rare it is,it is just another 305 powered Camaro.A 350TPI Z28 is nowhere near as rare as a 1LE,but if you could produce a mint example of one in red with a black gut and T tops in another 20 years,you can bet there will be people looking for it.

Anything related to the early 90's 5.0 mustang craze is going to have some value.Period style"outdate" parts will be worth something in years to come.Some examples would be the aluminum spare tire wheels that all the racers used as front runner rims,early superchargers such as the paxtons without intercoolers,The early shorty headers and H pipes.Any old air indction parts from the late 80's or early 90's,10 hole wheels{for mounting 28x9" slicks},and short throw shifters.All of this stuff will be as sought after as cross ram intakes and finned aluminum valve covers are today.