The Most Collectible Corvette from Each Generation

These collectible Corvettes can be a thrill on the road, the track and even on your balance sheet.

Any time we talk about cars from a value or investment perspective we must start with the same disclaimer. Do not buy a Corvette because you think it will make you money. Buy a Corvette because you love it. That way, no matter if the value goes up or down you will own something that you truly enjoy. Also, the market is unpredictable. A Corvette you own could double its value in five years. Or be worth half as much as you paid for it. On top of that, you must factor in running costs to keep a collectible Corvette running and insured. These will eat into any profit you hope to make down the line. But there are some cars out there that have the potential to increase in value. So, if you love any of these cars on our list, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Like most of you we don’t own a reliable crystal ball. So, what we did was look back at the C1 through C6 generations of Corvette using the Hagerty Valuation tool. And because in the last year or two prices have been so inflated, we took a longer-term view and looked at values over the last 5 years. We looked at condition number two cars that have increased by the highest percentage over that time. These are not the most expensive or most rare cars. But those that increased in value the most.

The C7 and C8 generations are too new for the valuation tool so we based our picks for those cars on our own set of criteria. These are all cars built by Chevy. No tuner-built or modified cars were considered. Will values continue to rise for all these? We can confidently say, maybe. Here’s the list.

C1 – 1961 Base Corvette

Most C1 generation cars are collectible. Many saw values increase over the last five years. But somewhat surprisingly the car with the largest increase was the 1961 Corvette with the base engine that saw values increase by 24.2 percent over the last 5 years. For additional value and collectability look for one with the 4-speed transmission and a hard top. Cars with heavy duty brakes and suspension also command a premium that will likely continue for years to come. Sateen Silver was the rarest color so if you can find a good one in that color, grab it.