Classic Classified: 1972 Pontiac Trans Am

From: Hemmings Motor News
Date: March 1989
Price then: $9,500 ($18,300 adjusted for inflation, about the cost of a new 2015 Honda Fit today)
Price now: $16,400 – $62,500
Approximate dollar difference: $44,200 (assuming No. 1 condition)
Annual rate of return: 4.8%

Trans-Am: 1972, 455 H/O, totally restored, many new parts, $12,000 invested, $9,500 firm.

It is hard not to want a ’72 Trans Am when there is so much going for it. The brutal 455 High Output engine came standard and outdid the Camaro’s 402 by 60 hp, and it had a limited but purposeful range of available colors (white with a blue stripe or blue with a white stripe). It also has exclusivity going for it. In 1972 only about 1,286 Trans Ams were produced, making it a tough find. While this example saw reasonable gains in value, the cool factor is off the charts.