Some of the major classic car retailers offer financing on their vehicles so that raises a question.
Is it smarter to finance a new car or truck or a collectible car or truck?
The answer is found in the numbers.
Jerry Sutherland
Let’s assume you have a great relationship with your banker, so you get a 2.9-2.99% interest rate. Let’s also assume you want to finance your vehicle over five years. What would be the basic cost to finance a car or truck over five years?
This is based solely on the cost of financing, so forget about adding insurance, registration, repairs, maintenance and fuel into the mix. It’s all about the banking side.
The first example is a 2026 GMC 3-liter Duramax that retails at 80,000 dollars.
You financed it over 5 years at 2.99% so your monthly payment would be $1437.14. That adds up to a total of $6228.39 in interest. Your truck has also depreciated $45,600 over those same five years. That, plus the cost of your loan, means you have burned $51,828.39 to finance your ’26 GMC.
Compare that to a mint 1972 Chevy K-20 Cheyenne long bed.
You paid $80,000 for that classic pickup, so you ended up with the same financing numbers you had for the 2026 GMC. That ’72 K-10 is probably going to tread water in value at minimum so your only cost will be the $6228.39 in interest. Plus, there’s a chance you might even make up the interest costs in a resale scenario.
The next example is a 2023 Challenger Scat Pack.
If you bought one brand new, you paid roughly $67,000 for it. Your financing cost you $1203 per month for a total cost of $5216.27. The depreciation was a much bigger number because your Challey depreciated 63.3% over the five years, so you lost 42,411 in value. Add the $5216 in interest and your total hit is $47,627.27.
A 1968 Dodge Charger 440 RT is the comparable car in this case.
Let’s assume you found a mint example for $87,000. Your payments will be 1562.89 over five years and your interest will cost you $6773.37. The depreciation is a moving target, but realistically, it could be around 5% because muscle cars aren’t spiking in value. That means your ’68 Charger cost you $6773.37 in interest and $4350 in depreciation for a total of $11,123.37. That’s still infinitely better than the $47,627.27 hit on the ’23 Challenger.
How does a 2026 Ford Explorer do in this old-iron-versus-new-iron comparison?
The ’26 Explorer will cost you $52,100, so the financing will be $935.40 per month, and the interest will be $4056.24 over the five years. Sadly, your Explorer will depreciate by $33,628.60 over those same five years, so you’ll be down $37,685 after 60 months.
That’s when a 1964 Ford Galaxie four-door sedan enters the equation.
Here’s the scenario. You found a mint survivor with 8000 original miles for $14,000 and financed it at $292.66 per month over five years for total of $925.77 in interest. This where it gets interesting–because you paid full value for a 4-door sedan.
If you put miles on it, it’s going backwards in value so your ’64 Ford will be down to $9000 at 16,000 miles and $5000 at 40,000 miles. Call it the four-door sedan curse, but in both those scenarios you bleed far less than that ’26 Explorer—and you still own a cool car.
The last scenario involves a collector car that’s almost bulletproof in depreciation—the Corvette.
A ’26 Stingray will set you back 85K so if you finance it over five years, you’ll pay $1523.26 a month for a total of $6412.60 in interest. That Vette will depreciate $24,885 over the five years, so the total cost will be $31,298.60.
The alternative purchase is a 1966 Corvette pro-touring resto-mod.
You found a great example for $125,000 and financed it at $2240 per month over five years for a total cost of $9432.40. After that, you’re done bleeding money because a resto-mod Vette is a great investment. The reasons are simple: (A)–it’s a Gen 2 Vette and (B)–it drives like a new Vette. You could even make money after 5 years.
The lesson is simple—classic iron will always beat a new car as an investment.
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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