The Collector Car Market Is Stabilising - But Not Where You Think

The highs of Covid are long in the rear-view mirror - but are we seeing signs the market may be about to rise back up?

If you look at the headline cars - the Enzo, 288 GTO, F50 - the answer is clear. Yes, it’s already happening.

That’s not the market, though. Those halo cars make up 90% of the headlines but 1% of the reality.

So what’s happening on the front lines? What’s happening to the price of collector cars that don't just have seven figures next to their name?

To find out, you have to look past the PR spin.

The insights below aren't based on a handful of glossy catalogues. They're pulled directly from our TCV database, which aggregates live and historical data from more than 50 auction houses worldwide, alongside inventory from hundreds of specialist dealers and tens of thousands of eBay listings.

Auction catalogues tell you what sold.

Dealers tell you what they're asking.

We analyse both.

Here’s what’s happening.

The Headlines

After seeing prices decline on average by 10% over the past two years, the market is becoming noticeably healthier. While overall values still slipped 1.3%, nearly half of all collector cars (47%) rose in value during the first half of 2026, up from just 30% a year earlier.

For vehicles over 30 years old, we saw prices rise, albeit by 0.1% - the first price rise since 2023.

The Development of the Year

2026 has been a turning point. January started incredibly strong with some frankly ridiculous results in the US, but the market has steadied since that point.

Sell-through rate (STR) remains one of the best indicators of market confidence. Buyers can choose not to bid, but sellers ultimately decide whether they're prepared to meet the market. It's not perfect - large numbers of no-reserve lots can inflate STR - but over time it remains one of the clearest measures of demand.

The global STR reached 82% in January, before cooling as the excitement faded. By May it had fallen to 67%, the weakest month of the year, before recovering again in June.

That tells us something important. The explosive start to the year wasn't sustained, but nor did the market unravel. Instead, activity appears to have settled into a healthier, more sustainable level, with the year-to-date STR sitting at 75% - just one percentage point below the same period in 2025.

What’s Doing Well?

You don't need our data to know Ferrari is having a moment. Prices are up 39% versus 2025, driven largely by limited-production halo models. Cars like the Enzo, F50 and 288 GTO continue to attract new money and institutional buyers, while more attainable Ferraris such as the 360 Modena tell a much more subdued story.

Surprisingly, the best-performing marque isn't Ferrari at all - it's Lancia, with values up 51% compared with 2025.

Conventional wisdom says the 1990s are the hottest part of the market, and there's certainly no shortage of record-breaking sales grabbing the headlines. Yet our data tells a more balanced story. Overall, values for 1990s cars are up just 4% year-on-year, showing that a handful of exceptional sales are concealing a large number of cars that continue to depreciate.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the strongest-performing decade of all: the 1920s. Values are up 12% versus 2025, continuing a trend we've highlighted for some time. After several years of significant price corrections, buyers are beginning to return as expectations between buyers and sellers converge. That shift is also reflected in sell-through rates, which improved year-on-year for 1920s cars, suggesting this end of the market is becoming increasingly stable.

The Porsche 996 Surge

The 996 generation is firing and currently performing best out of the entire 911 lineup. Porsche’s ugly duckling is looking better by the day.

Average values are up 44% vs last year. To shine a spotlight on just how much that market has exploded, Bring A Trailer sold a 996 Turbo S Coupe with 222 miles on the clock for over $400,000 (inc. fees) in April. The bidding on that car was curious, to say the least - but more on that shortly.

The Transatlantic Trench

A lot of the big results have been driven by the US market at the top end. What’s happening on the other side of the Atlantic?

It’s a mixed bag. The UK collector car market fell 8% vs 2025. Why? The primary reason is too much supply. With 15% more cars coming to market than a year ago, buyers have significantly more choice. That inevitably puts downward pressure on prices.

The rest of Europe is performing much better and is the strongest, once again, of the core markets we track. Average collector car values are up over 20% in the first six months of 2026.

Where Does That Leave Us?

Let me be absolutely clear: we are still a long way from the Covid peak. In the UK, prices are down 47% from the absolute top, while the US sits 21% below peak. Overall, the global market is still marginally down (-1.3%) year-on-year.

But that headline figure masks a deeply nuanced and fragmented reality. Global and regional variations are stark, and even within specific eras, the picture is complex. We are seeing 90s unicorns break records, yet plenty of cars from the very same decade are falling flat.

The true takeaway is this: the rate of decline is slowing. The market is finding its floor, and the breadth of the recovery is improving. In the first six months of 2026, 47% of collector cars rose in value, compared with just 30% over the same period last year. While the overall market remains marginally down, the fact that almost half of all vehicles are now appreciating is one of the clearest signs yet that confidence is returning and the market is beginning to stabilise.

Don’t be put off by the softening of traditional 40s and 50s mainstays. As the 1920s resurgence proves, once prices soften extensively, they can stabilise and bounce back. After all, buy what you love but buy with a drop of data.

It’s a tricky landscape out there.

Markets like these reward good information. Whether you're buying, selling or simply keeping an eye on your collection, make sure you're tracking values rather than relying on the headlines.

Your TCV Garage makes that easy.

And keep an eye on your inbox next week. We’ll be diving into whether the record prices being achieved at the top of the market are truly all they seem...