In this special episode of Assess and Caress, Jay Leno and appraiser Donald Osborne analyze three diverse automotive treasures from the Vehicle Museum in Newport, Rhode Island: a 1957 Ford Thunderbird, a 1951 Ferrari 212 Inter, and a 2019 Porsche 911 Speedster. Instead of determining which car has appreciated the most, they examine which one has depreciated the most in value over the last five years.
The Contenders: 1957 Ford Thunderbird: Once a massive sales success that outsold the Corvette five to one, the Thunderbird was marketed as a “personal luxury car” with creature comforts like power windows and a V8 engine. Jay notes that cars from the 1950s seem to be “falling off a cliff” in value because younger generations don’t connect with the lack of modern amenities like power steering or seatbelts.
1951 Ferrari 212 Inter: As one of the first road-going Ferraris, this car features a chassis built by Ferrari and an elegant body by Vignale. The “Inter” model was the road-going version of the “Export” race car and was originally designed with a single carburetor for the road.
2019 Porsche 911 Speedster: This modern car is a slightly minimalist open-top version of the 911 with a manual gearbox, designed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Porsche. Donald explains that while it’s a desirable car, the market for modern, limited-production Porsches has seen a decline after an initial “feeding frenzy”.
Watch to find out which of these cars has depreciated the most and discover the surprising reasons why the market for classic and modern cars is changing.
