Gangster Octopus said:
Search for Gen 2 Lightnings on BAT. They're selling for very high 20s. New in 1999-2004 they were a hair over $30k. Granted, there are some cheaper than that, but they're higher mileage and ragged out.
It's been said before, but my generation is to a point where the cars of our youth that we lusted after or owned years ago are within financial reach. That will drive up demand (price) on decently preserved vehicles, regardless of make/model. Like the saying goes, "everybody is somebody's fetish."
This is going to play a huge part obviously.
The other thing is that late 90s - mid 00s era was kind of a sweet spot for performance cars. Think of something like the E46 or E9X M3. Some of the last great NA engines. And they can be worked on by yourself, or without going to a crazy specialist. Enough electronic nannies to keep you from killing yourself, but not so intrusive that the cars feel sterile. Cars that are pretty safe even if you do get in a wreck. Hydraulic power steering.
MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS. Great driver experiences. Good power but not some of the crazy numbers we see today. We're getting to the point where a lot of cars are too fast to enjoy in regular road.
The more electronic we get there will be a subset of people who are nostalgic for the more analog feel of those cars, and they're only getting more scarce.