What do the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and all-years Plymouth have in common among collector cars? Each of those aforementioned vehicles surged in searches in January on the ClassicCars.com Marketplace website.
The 1955 Chevy Bel Air has been among the most-searched vehicles by model year list for many, many months, but the ’57 version suddenly appeared among the dozen most-searched in that listing in January.
While the top-10 remained pretty much the same, dominated by late 1960s Impalas, Mustangs and Chargers, the ’57 Bel Air continued its climb to the point of ranking 12th on the list.
“I am simply surprised by this,” said Andy Reid, our East Coast editor and collector car market analyst. “The Tri-5 chevy has been dying in popularity in the market and maybe we are seeing an upswing that I never would have expected.”
Meanwhile, among those searching simply by make or model regardless of model year, all-years Chevrolet, Mustang and Ford continued to shuffle the top-4 places among themselves, and this month with the classic Chevy C-10 pickup again in the No. 4 spot.
Dodge edged ahead of the Buick Grand National to round out the top-5.
There was some shuffling for position in the bottom half of the top-5, but the news was all-years Plymouth emerging strongly in the mid-teens for the first time in ages.
“Collectors are always looking for alternatives, especially as other like cars become more costly to buy,” Reid responded. “Plymouths, with exception of the mythic Superbirds and Cudas, have been that kind of a left of center value for a while.”
Also of interest was this note: vintage Ford Broncos dropping out of the top-20 searches for the first time in memory.
I had one that was pale blue and had a good time with it