Collector car auctions will often tell you the real story about what a car or truck is worth in the retail market.
That selling price is a snapshot of what some guy was willing to pay on a particular day at a specific time.
The recent mega-auctions in January 2025 told a story about what’s not hot in today’s collector car world.
Jerry Sutherland
I’ll start with the tri-five (‘55-7) Thunderbirds.
These cars are so aligned with pop culture, you can’t go into a retro diner, car museum or Hollywood-themed t-shirt place without seeing Marilyn Monroe behind the wheel of a Tri-five T-bird on a poster or static display.
I’m old enough to remember the late 1990s when a classic T-bird was selling for an average price of 50K, but today’s world tells a different story.

A supercharged, multiple-award winning, ‘57 Thunderbird sold for 231,000 at a Mecum auction last month–proving there’s always big money for high-end, rare examples.
On the other end of the spectrum at Mecum, a 1956 T-bird sold for 19,800.

I know—there’s a world of difference for an average or below average version of the same car, but the 15-20K range is the world where most regular car guys live at an auction.
A Barrett-Jackson auction in January told the same story because a dual-quad ’57 T-bird restored by a world-class restorer sold for 181,000.

Contrast that number with the three tri-five T-birds that sold at the same auction for between 20,000 and 30,000 dollars.

The point is simple—you couldn’t find four classic T-birds for under 30,000 back in the late 90s. One maybe—but not four.
The next surprise is the ’40 Ford.
The ’40 Ford was at the top of the heap for hot rod guys, because they were light, affordable and easy to build into street monsters. They also looked great with a touch of customization.
Mecum had a few ’40 Fords on the docket in January and the top seller was a 429 cubic inch, 700-horse, custom street rod that crossed the line for 220,000.

That car was the ultimate build, but Mecum sold two other ’40 Fords for under 30K—a coupe with a small-block Chevy under the hood sold for 27,500. The next one was a Tudor and it sold for 25,300.

Meanwhile, a ’40 Ford convertible sold for 26,600 at Barrett-Jackson in January. Those numbers are pretty low–even for an entry-level example of a customized 1940 Ford.
Classic Type II VW vans were easily pushing through the 100,000 mark a scant few years ago–especially the multi-window versions. Then a few things changed.

Barrett-Jackson sold a 1975 Type II 23-window van for 36,300 and a ’74 23-window sold for 33K.
Mecum sold a ‘62 Volkswagen Type II for 62,700 and that number told the real story. The Type II from 1962 represented the classic era for these vans, but the other two were imports from South America that looked like the classic version.

The newer vans changed the game on the VW Type II market. Speculators were scooping them up for low money in South America, bringing them back to the States and adding a few windows to cash in on the hot market.
That massive saturation killed the demand and that’s also why the older one sold for more at Mecum.

There’s a point to this story.
The T-birds and ’40 Fords reflect a shift in the market because a Gen-X or Millennial buyer doesn’t have the same reverence for those cars. The guys who really liked them are found in memorial notices, so their families are flipping them at estate sales.
The Type II VW vans are simply victims of supply and demand—the magic was over when the South Americans showed up at auctions.
Final thought. The car culture isn’t static–auctions drive that point home every week.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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