Introduction
Welcome to Hagerty's Cars That Matter, an undertaking four years in the planning which has grown out of an interest to provide a more accurate, up-to-date, and relevant price guide for those involved in the post-war collector car marketplace. Premiering in August of 2006 and published three times a year, Hagerty’s Cars That Matter has quickly become an authoritative and respected resource for valuing classic, collectible, and historic vehicles.
More than anything else, Hagerty's Cars That Matter was born out of frustration in helping clients establish values for their vehicles. Widely varying values, incorrect model names, vague condition ratings, and counter-intuitive formatting were issues we felt needed addressing. You'll find that Hagerty's Cars That Matter is therefore different from other collector and special interest car valuation guides in content and style. Starting with our "true #1" pricing for cars that are the best example available in the marketplace, to our easy-to-understand layout, we think you'll soon find us to be your favorite price guide.
Our promise to readers is that Hagerty's Cars That Matter will attempt to accurately report classic car values without bias or prejudice. At times the collector car market has experienced widely varying swings in value. It is our pledge that Hagerty's Cars That Matter will report these variances when the market reports them to us.
Hagerty's Cars That Matter's pricing comes from a variety of sources. We have built a network of professionals which includes appraisers, dealers, collectors, auction houses, brokers, and others, ensuring that Hagerty's Cars That Matter obtains values from all corners of the market. Auctions worldwide are monitored; their sales data is part of our reporting. Individual, private party sales are also used. Hagerty's Cars That Matter monitors websites worldwide offering vehicles for sale, and considers those findings as we analyze our compiled data.
Hagerty's Cars That Matter is also aware that there is and will be market manipulation — persons who report cars sold for inflated or undervalued prices — and market anomalies including cars that sell for unusually high or unusually low numbers. This publication endeavors to weed out pricing facts from pricing fiction, and we provide the reader with responsible numbers they can use in reaching their own value conclusions for the cars that matter to them.
In choosing the name Hagerty's Cars That Matter, we meant it. This is a price guide about cars that matter in the marketplace and to you. As markets continuously change, we ask for your assistance in determining which cars matter. Your feedback is important to us, so please let us know how we are doing at Dkinney@carsthatmatter.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
David H. Kinney, ASA
Publisher