HEMMINGS PREDICTIONS FOR 2018....I GUESS WE WILL HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR FOR THE ANSWER

• Electric cars - including classic cars with electrified drivetrains - will become more common place.

While the big news around electric cars has recently been centered on Tesla, the company has a surprising number of things stacked against it. Without addressing the production backlog for the Model 3, Tesla has introduced a new, priced-in-the-stratosphere Roadster with almost unbelievable performance specs, along with an electric semi, aimed at hub-and-spoke operations instead of over-the-road operators. Disappointing consumers with late deliveries is one thing, but disappointing fleet buyers like WalMart, UPS, and PepsiCo may prove to be Tesla’s undoing.

On the classic-car side, look for more companies—and more independent shops—to emulate what Jaguar has done with its E-type Zero. While a classic, sports or muscle car with a battery-powered drivetrain still won’t be to everyone’s liking, we suspect this segment will begin to emerge—and grow slowly—over the coming years, particularly as battery capacity increases and prices drop.

• Expect to see more museums close and more collections go to auction. 

 Overall, attendance at museums—including those dedicated to automobiles and automotive history—is down. To attract visitors (particularly younger visitors), look for increased use of new technologies such as holographic projection and virtual reality, already in place at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. As museums struggle financially, look for more collections to be downsized to fund ongoing operations. If you have a favorite museum, 2018 will be a good year to pay it a visit, or better yet, make a cash donation.

• Long-ignored cars will gain in appeal among a new generation of collectors.  

 Cars that many of us viewed as nothing more than basic transportation are gaining in popularity among a group of collectors that now have disposable income for such purchases. Look for cars of the 1980s, like GM G-bodies (excluding performance variants, which are already collectible), Ford Thunderbirds, and Chrysler minivans to become quirky favorites. As Jim O’Clair reminds us, station wagons from the 1960s and 1970s are hot, too, and will probably continue an upward trend in pricing.

•  After five-plus decades of speculation, the mid-engine Corvette will become a reality in 2018, but we are betting this will be a separate model and not a replacement for the C7.

 Why? While GM has built fast Corvettes in the past, it’s never had a halo model like Ford’s GT (either the 2005-’06 version or the 2017-’20 variant) or Chrysler’s Viper. Building an ultra-high performance mid-engine Corvette variant would enable GM to target a market segment dominated by manufacturers like Ferrari (which is expanding production to meet demand), but only if the car’s performance is on par. Since the current C7 Corvette addresses a different segment of the market, and since mid-engine cars have different handling dynamics than what Corvette buyers expect, our hunch is that the two will coexist.

• Motorcycles will continue to climb in value at auctions, even as ridership decreases.  

 Bikes from the 1970s and 1980s are increasingly relevant to a new generation of collectors, who are willing to pay handsomely for well-preserved or carefully restored examples. As roads become more congested, drivers more distracted, and new motorcycles more complex (and expensive), vintage bikes—ridden occasionally but otherwise displayed—will only grow in popularity.

edited text credit: © Kurt Ernst via Hemmings