Looking back through the Unique Cars classifieds
Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 – Advertised December 1994
It has been said and will be again that there is nothing so old as last year’s race car. By 1994 Australia’s Group A grids were distant memories and cars like this well-credentialed RS500 were retired or running as Sports Sedans. Values then took ages to move and people who held onto cars like this one probably tore up lots of dollars just on maintenance. Recently, prices being achieved have surged and some cars have even ventured overseas looking for new owners in the more active British Touring Car market. It will be a pity though if we lose everything from the Group A era.
Then: $55,000. Now: $240,000-270,000
Pontiac Fiero V6 – Advertised March 1992
The company that gave birth to the Muscle Car really laid an egg with its mid-engined Fiero. Pontiac reasoned that if Americans wanted economical sports cars then they should be happy to buy one built in the USA, and initially they were right. Around 136,000 of the original four-cylinder Fiero were sold in 1984, but then the complaints began to surface. To help with performance, a 2.8-litre V6 was added but production still ended in 1988. Cars that came here were expensive to convert and it’s no surprise that this one had sat, still LHD and untouched, for several years. They remain cheap today.
Then: $19,955. Now: $16,000-20,000
Stutz Blackhawk – Advertised April 1998
Yes, Elvis did own one of these, and so did a huge list of other celebrities including singers Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and even Willie Nelson. The car was based on a 1960s Pontiac with styling by the widely admired Virgil Exner, but it might have been an off week for Virgil when he penned the modern-day Stutz. Around 600 were built and several cars did come to Australia, including one similar to this that was firebombed during the late 1970s. They rarely reach the market locally, however one was sold at auction in 2021 for $146,500 and another has been recently offered at US$299,000.
Then: $65,000. Now: $150,000-165,000
Mercedes-Benz 170V Cabriolet – Advertised April 1996
Just 271 of the 170V Cabrio were made and an auction listing some years back suggested that only 11 survived. Performance even by 1930s standards was ‘leisurely,’ with a top speed of 118km/h, but in 1996 the owner of probably Australia’s only open-top 170V was still chasing $70,000. That at the time was $25k more than the money available for an excellent 190 or 280SL, and 2022 was a long way into the future. Now that we have arrived, we find a mega-scarce 170V offered in Europe at a hopeful A$270,000, while locally you can easily pay $300,000 for an unexceptional 190SL.
Then: $70,000. Now: $200,000-225,000
From Unique Cars #472, Nov/Dec 2022