A small production run of these classic muscle cars has made them super rare, which has made their value skyrocket, making them inaccessible to most.
Muscle cars took the American automotive scene by storm in the 1960s and the 1970s. Whether it was on the street or the drag strip, muscle cars were a force to reckon with. Since the first muscle car rolled out of the assembly line more than half a century ago, muscle cars are still highly sought-after and many keep skyrocketing in value. In fact, some of the most badass muscle cars ever made like the Pontiac GTO and Shelby Mustang command seven figures at auctions.
Rare, old muscle cars like the Cobra Super Snake, Dodge Charger Daytona, and Corvette L88 still possess their head-turning charm and can go against many of their modern counterparts on the strip. But even if you manage to find one today, you probably won’t be able to afford it.
10 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 Super Snake: 1 Unit – $2.2 Million
Carroll Shelby was the brain behind putting a 427 cubic-inch V8 engine into the super fast Shelby GT500 Mustang to test the new Thunderbolt line of economy tires.
While this was a good idea, selling the GT500 Super Snake, which was roughly double the price of the already expensive Shelby GT500, became a challenge. Hence, the Super Snake never made it to production. The one-of-one GT500 Super Snake, which was initially sold for $5,000 commanded $2.2 million at an auction in 2019.
9 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350R: 36 Units – $770,000
The Shelby Mustang GT350R was Ford’s multi-race winning car, adorned in Wimbledon White with blue stripes. The turnkey race car was fitted with fender flares to accommodate the 15×7-inch wheels, while aluminum frames were used for the windows.
Underneath, Shelby installed a 289 cubic-inch V8 with an output of 350 ponies and 350 lb-ft of torque. Only 36 examples of the 1965 GT350R are available, and they are valued at $770,000, per Hagerty.
8 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ZL1: 2 Units – $3 Million
Whether you define “rare” as a couple of hundreds or just about ten, the 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray ZL1 easily qualifies. Only two examples of the C3-generation ZL1 were produced, and they are valued at a whopping $3 million.
The 1969 Corvette Stingray ZL1 gets its energy from Chevy’s famous L88-code, 427 cubic-inch big-block engine and delivers up to 430 hp, according to the American automaker. But rumors suggest that the actual output is in the neighborhood of 500 hp.
7 1967 Chevrolet Corvette L88 Coupe: 20 Units – $2.7 Million
The 1967 Corvette L88 Coupe is one of the most attractive and rarest C2 body style Corvettes. Only 20 examples of the Corvette L88 were built for 1967 and just 80 examples for the following year. The 1967 Corvette L88 Coupe went under the hammer for $2.69 million at a Mecum Glendale auction.
Chevrolet equipped the 1967 Corvette L88 Coupe with a fire-breathing 427 cubic-inch big-block engine, backed by a four-speed manual transmission. The Corvette L88 boasts a rich racing history, competing at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Le Mans.
6 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible: 12 Units – $3.5 Million
The 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda Convertible is one of the hottest and rarest Mopars ever made, and so a staggering auction price of $3.5 million is not so surprising. Just 12 examples of the 425 hp 426 cubic-inch Hemi Cuda Convertible were built, and only three were equipped with a four-speed manual transmission.
Other notable features on the Hemi Cuda Convertible are power steering, a six-way manually adjustable driver seat, and a set of Goodyear Polyglas tires.
5 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle 454 SS LS6: 20 Units – $172,000
During the peak of the muscle car war, Ford was conquering everything on its path with the Boss 429 and 428 Cobra Jet engines, while the 454 cubic-inch V8 was Chevrolet’s weapon of choice. Dubbed the “King of the Streets,” the 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle 454 SS LS6 was the most powerful Chevelle ever made.
Producing an underrated 450 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque, the 1970 Chevelle 454 SS LS6 was a beast on the drag strip. Only 20 examples of this rare gem exist, and to get the keys to any of one of them you should be ready to spend up to $172,000, according to Hagerty.
4 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge Convertible: 17 Units – $440,000
The Pontiac GTO is considered the first true muscle car, and the Judge is the highest-performance variant. Powering the 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge is a YE block 455 cubic-inch V8 engine that produces up to 335 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. The engine is bolted to a three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 400 transmission.
While the GTO Judge is rare, the convertible form is even rarer, with only 17 examples available. Of the 17 GTO Judge Convertibles, two examples were finished in Tropical Lime, and one went under the hammer at the 2022 Mecum Indy auction for $440,000. A 1970 Ram Air IV GTO Judge Convertible was also sold for $1.1 million recently.
3 1970 Dodge Coronet R/T 426 Hemi Convertible: 2 Units – $385,000
After disappearing from the automotive scene for a while, the Coronet returned in 1965, just at the start of the muscle car era, to solidify Dodge’s lineup. Only 2,319 examples of the 1970 Coronet R/T were built, and just 296 examples were in the form of a convertible. And only two of those convertibles were powered by a 426 Hemi engine.
The 1970 Coronet R/T 426 Hemi Convertible V8 was paired with a TorqueFlite automatic transmission and equipped with heavy-duty suspension. For your maximum comfort on the street or drag strip, the 1970 Coronet R/T is furnished with six-way adjustable vinyl bucket seats.
2 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake: 2 Units – $5.5 Million
Cars like the Ferrari 250 GTO and Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray 427 are quite similar to the 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake, but they are not nearly as loved. Carroll Shelby built only two 1966 Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snakes, one for himself and the other for his friend, Bill Cosby.
Unfortunately, Cosby’s Super Snake with chassis number CSX3303 was destroyed when he drove off a cliff. The only surviving Cobra 427 Super Snake was sold at auction for a staggering $5.5 million.
1 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama: 2 Units – $3.3 Million
Renowned General Motors designer Harley Earl is the brain behind the 1954 Pontiac Bonneville Special Motorama concept car, which is a testament to Pontiac’s innovative thinking as far back as the mid-1950s. Jumping on the styling that was trendy at the time, the Bonneville Special was fitted with an aircraft-style Plexiglas bubble top and gull wing glass door tops.
Under the hood of the Bonneville Special was mounted a 268 cubic-inch inline-eight with an output of 230 hp. Only two examples of the Bonneville Special were built, and one was snapped up for $3.3 million at the Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in 2015.
Sources: Barrett-Jackson, Hagerty, and Mecum Auctions
