Classic Car Buyer's Guides
Expert buying guides for classic cars and trucks. Pre-purchase checklists, common issues, year-by-year analysis, and current market pricing — written by our editorial team of restoration specialists, historians, and collectors.
The MGB is the best-selling British sports car of all time — affordable to buy, rewarding to drive, and supported by the deepest parts network of any classic import. Knowing which years to avoid saves you from an expensive restoration before you ever turn a wheel.
Definitive buyer's guide for Ford Model A 1928-1931. Body style verification, four-cylinder engine inspection, mechanical brake adjustment, MAFCA Authority verification, current market pricing.
The Fox Body Mustang GT is the blue-collar muscle car of the 1980s — light, simple, and with the 5.0 HO under the hood, genuinely fast for its era. Values have moved sharply as the generation that grew up with these cars starts buying them back. A rust-free, unmolested GT is harder to find every year.
The Super Beetle is the most livable version of the air-cooled Beetle — MacPherson strut front suspension, a curved windshield from 1973, and a significantly larger front trunk. It's not the purist's choice, but it's a better car to actually use. The Cabriolet is the headline variant; a solid closed Super Beetle is one of the most accessible entries into air-cooled VW ownership.
Definitive buyer's guide for classic Jeep CJ7 1976-1986. Frame and tub inspection, AMC inline-six and V8 identification, Renegade and Laredo trim verification, current pricing.
Definitive buyer's guide for Datsun 510 1968-1973. Rust hotspots, L16 engine identification, BRE racing pedigree, two-door coupe vs four-door sedan, current market pricing for survivors.
Complete buyer's guide for classic Chevrolet Corvette C1, C2 and C3 (1953-1982). Birdcage rust, frame inspection, engine code identification, and current market pricing for split-windows, L88s and LT-1s.
The Dodge D100 gave the American half-ton pickup a distinct personality when the Chevy and Ford dominated the market — a tough, honest work truck with the legendary Slant-Six and optional V8 power that has earned a quiet but devoted collector following.
The Oldsmobile 98 was GM's statement that luxury and performance need not be mutually exclusive — a full-size flagship that introduced the high-compression overhead-valve V8 to the American public and defined the postwar luxury car formula for a generation.
The Chevrolet Deluxe is the honest working man's version of the wartime and early postwar Chevy — same 216 Stovebolt engine and body as the Special Deluxe, less chrome, lower price then and now. For a buyer who wants to drive a piece of American history without paying Special Deluxe premiums, this is the car.
The 1949–1952 Chevrolet Styleline was the first all-new postwar Chevy — lower, sleeker, and finally leaving the prewar look behind. These cars are the forgotten bridge between the Master Deluxe era and the iconic Tri-Five generation, and they're undervalued because of it.
Expert buyer's guide to the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1970–1988. SS454 verification, T-top rust diagnosis, vinyl top blistering, Aero coupe identification, and market pricing by generation.
Definitive buyer's guide for classic Ford Thunderbird 1955-1979. Two-seat Baby Bird era, Square Bird, Bullet Bird, and personal luxury generations, rust hotspots, current market pricing.
Definitive buyer's guide for the Mercedes-Benz 450 SL (R107) 1973-1980. Rust hotspots, M117 V8 maintenance, hardtop roof storage, and current market pricing for survivors and restorations.
The Dodge Charger is one of American muscle's most iconic silhouettes — a fastback bruiser with a long hood, a short tail, and a HEMI option that still makes hearts race. From its 1966 debut through the B-body generation, the Charger defined what a performance car could look like.
The Master Deluxe was Chevrolet's bread-and-butter premium car through the Depression and into the war years — tough, practical, and built in huge numbers. The 1937 "turret top" body is the styling high point. These are honest prewar American cars with parts that are still findable and an engine that hot rodders have loved for decades.
Expert buyer's guide to the classic Chevrolet Nova 1962–1979. SS396 verification, COPO documentation, cowl tag decoding, floor pan inspection, and current market pricing tiers.
The Cadillac Fleetwood is not merely a car — it is the summit of coachbuilt American luxury, the standard by which every full-size automobile of the postwar era was measured, and the vehicle that defined what the word "Cadillac" meant as an aspirational shorthand for the very finest.
The Chevrolet 210 is the affordable entry point into Tri-Five collecting — the same legendary bodies and engines as the Bel Air, at a consistent discount. For buyers who want to drive rather than show, this is where the value lives.
Definitive buyer's guide for classic Cadillac Eldorado 1953-2002. Generation breakdown, fin-era cars, front-wheel-drive variants, current market pricing for survivors and concours examples.
Definitive buyer's guide for classic Chevrolet El Camino 1959-1987. SS variants, frame and bed inspection, A-body and G-body generations, current market pricing for survivors and restomods.
The Chevrolet S10 was America's best-selling compact pickup for two decades — a practical, capable small truck that is now crossing into classic territory with an enthusiast following that appreciates its simplicity, its lowrider heritage, and its growing status as a 1980s icon.
The GMC 1500 half-ton has always been the quiet achiever of the classic truck world — built on the same bones as the Chevy C/K but sold as the "professional" option, with distinct styling and a following that fiercely defends the difference.
The Ford Tudor Sedan is one of the great kustom building blocks — the Model A through early V8 era produced a two-door sedan body that chop-and-channel artists have been working with since the 1940s. Original survivors are becoming genuinely rare. Know what you're looking at before the seller's story becomes your reality.