Classic Cars, Beautiful, but Impractical. Is there a Solution?

Many people dream of owning one of the classic 1960 cars you occasionally see. Every time you see a Corvette Stingray C2, a 1960's Mustang, or sometimes an old Jaguar E-Type or Ferrari you remember how beautiful those cars are and how you've always dreamed of owing a car like that. There are however some problems with those sorts of cars that you don't notice. One is the cost of these cars, a good restored 60's Corvette will cost at least $60,000 and if you want one of the fast ones it can easily be 100,000. That isn't the only cost either, the fuel costs will be huge, as will the repairs. Classic cars are terribly unreliable, so most of the time they're only good for looking at, since they often won't start or work right if the do. Driving them isn't much fun either since the 1960's technology wasn't any good at making cars by today's standards. The classic cars we dream of now are terribly impractical for all sorts reasons, but there are some newer cars that aren't yet classics, but I think will be fairly soon. These cars can all be bought now for reasonable prices, they all have good performance, and they're all reliable. 

Along the lines of the old Corvettes, the 1990-1995 Corvette ZR1 is one example. The ZR1 had a Lotus designed 5.7L V8 with 405hp (originally 375hp, in 1992 it was upgraded) and a very modern active suspension system. This ZR1 was the first Corvette that was a proper sports car with good handling and it did 0-60 in 4.6 seconds on top of that. A good 405hp 1992 ZR1 Coupe with a manual transmission can be bought for $15,000-$25,000. The Acura NSX is another good example, it's fast, very reliable, and inexpensive. The NSX had a 270hp 3.0L V6, a mid -engine layout, and very modern suspension. The NSX is fast, very fun, and now you can get a very good early 1990's NSX is about $35,000 now. The 993 generation Porsche 911 is still rather expensive, but being the last of the air cooled 911's has a certain appeal as one of the sort of real 911's, not one of the new very good, but not quite original 911's. The 993's were the first 911's that didn't try to kill you every time it saw a turn. The 911 is a fast and fun 911, but unlike the older 964's is a manageable car. A good 1995 911 is $25,000(C2)-$60,000(C4S), but these are getting rare and 911 fanatics will appreciate the 993 as the last of the air-cooled 911. The Porsche 928 is another good future classic, it has everything a future classic needs. The 928 was a truly revolutionary car in 1978 and it doesn't really seem very outdated or old 30 years later. The 928 had parts and design elements that weren't common until the 1990's. Porsche stopped making the 928 in 1995, but it was just as advanced as the Toyota Supra it competed with in 95'. A good 316hp 928 S4 from the late 1980's or early 1990's is between $30,000-$35,000. All these cars and more of them I haven't included here are good sports cars that aren't impractical or extremely expensive. These cars also could of increase in value because of their age and appeal. Unlike the highly regarded classic cars of the 60's these are newer, nicer, good cars and won't break the bank. If you buy one of these possible future classic you could make some money off it after some time  and enjoy owning the car.