10 Personal Luxury Coupes Cheaper Than a New Camry
One brilliant and particularly unique niche in American Cars is the personal luxury car. These luxury coupes ruled the roost at the top of the American luxury car market for decades, and represented some of the best comfort and quality you could get out of Detroit. While these cars were often very expensive when new, these days several of them can represent great value for money. Quite a lot of them are, in fact, cheaper than the $29,000 MSRP of a brand-new base model Toyota Camry!
10
AMC Matador (1971-1978)
Average Used Value: $22,553
The AMC Matador is perhaps one of the least talked about of all the classic personal luxury cars. This is a coupe version of a car that AMC sold in multiple different body styles. That included a sedan and a station wagon. It was available with a selection of different AMC-built engines. That started with the dependable 232 cubic inch inline-6, and also included 302 cubic inch and 360 cubic inch V8s.
Even though it’s one of the least-known classic personal luxury cars, it’s the most valuable one on average on this list. The average used value of the AMC Matador is $22,553, not far off the MSRP of a base-model Toyota Camry today. That mainly comes from this one example, as it’s extremely rare to see Matadors of any body style (let alone the coupes) come up for sale. One example (claimed to be the last Matador ever built), sold for $41,000 all the way back in 2021. With that in mind, it’s very clear that AMC Matador Coupes are almost out of reach of the average enthusiast.
9
Pontiac Grand Prix (1973-1977)
Average Used Value: $19,742
The Pontiac Grand Prix was once a big nameplate in the niche of personal luxury cars. It used the dependable General Motors A platform, bringing with it a variety of different V8 options. This went up to a 455 cubic inch unit, which was dropped after 1975. That huge engine was only available in the top-of-the-range SJ version.
Unfortunately, the SJ variant has now gone above the MSRP of a brand-new base-model Toyota Camry. Just to show how expensive they are now, one 1977 example of an SJ with 2,800 miles on the clock recently sold for $61,500. That’s a big part of the high average used value (around $19,742) compared to the other cars in this list. Lower-level models are still within the price bracket we’re looking at, though. A 1976 Pontiac Grand Prix J with just 20,000 miles on the clock sold for $14,500, well below the MSRP of one of those brand-new base-model Camrys.
8
Lincoln Mark IV (1972-1976)
Average Used Value: $18,068
If there’s any car that fully embodies the 1970s personal luxury car, it has to be the Lincoln Mark IV (also known as the Lincoln Continental Mark IV). It’s a distinctive-looking land yacht, and it has many of the short-lived styling trends of that era. That includes headlamps that stay recessed behind covers until they’re turned on, and a vinyl roof. It exclusively came with one engine – the massive 460 cubic inch Ford 385 V8, which produced 212 horsepower in 1972. Perhaps even more fittingly for a car as emblematic of ’70s ostentatiousness as this, it received several special editions named after prestigious luxury designers. Bill Blass, Cartier, Givenchy and Pucci all got special namesake Lincoln Mark IVs with unique specifications, and they’re becoming prized by enthusiasts.
On average, the Lincoln Mark IV is worth around $18,068. That makes the average value of these cars over $10,000 cheaper than the MSRP of a brand-new, base-model Toyota Camry. Regular Lincoln Mark IVs can also sell for as low as $5,500. Some examples, though, are starting to go for huge values. This 1976 example with only 13,000 miles on the clock sold for $56,000, well above the top price of almost anything on this list. If you want a good-quality Lincoln Mark IV, you might have to buy one now before they become the exclusive domain of serious collectors.
7
Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (1978-1988)
Average Used Value: $16,860
Another General Motors A-body car, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme isn’t talked about or remembered as much as other personal luxury cars from the ’70s and ’80s. But it has become a good bargain as the years have gone on. It doesn’t have the same kind of name value as other A-body personal luxury cars. That could partly be due to its engines, which are a bit underwhelming due to this being a product of the malaise era. It was even, weirdly, offered with a diesel V8!
The average used value for an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme of this era is around $16,860. You can get great examples with low miles as cheaply as $10,250, while the most you might end up paying for one is $20,250. Whatever the case, you’re getting an absolute bargain of a personal luxury car that’s this cheap because a lot of people have just forgotten about them.
6
Lincoln Mark VIII (1993-1998)
Average Used Value: $13,824
The Lincoln Mark VIII is perhaps the single-most criminally underrated personal luxury car ever made. Produced during much of the ’90s, this was a car that the Ford Motor Company wanted to be able to compete with the best that Europe and Japan could offer. As a result, it became the most technologically advanced American car you could buy at that time. It came with computer-controlled suspension, electronic traction control (initially as an option, later as standard equipment), and a dashboard full of digital readouts. It was also the first production car to use the 4.6-liter Ford Modular V8 (known as the InTech V8 in Lincoln parlance), producing 280 horsepower and 285 lb-ft of torque.
Despite all that top-of-the-line technology and the great performance from its muscle-car engine, the Lincoln Mark VIII has become a forgotten gem. That’s great for anyone looking for a used bargain, though! The average used value of these is now around $13,824. Really good examples realistically sell for $12,500, and special ones (like a pre-production car that was modified to break a speed record) can sell for $17,450. These really are bargain modern classics, and it won’t be too long before collectors really catch onto them.
5
Ford Thunderbird (1983-1988)
Average Used Value: $11,837
When people think of the Ford Thunderbird, they often picture those classic generations from the 1950s and 1960s. Those are the proper classic investment buys, but they’re much too expensive for enthusiasts on a budget. The 9th generation Thunderbird, however, is a bit of a bargain! Although you might not realise it at first, this version of the Thunderbird is a Fox Body car. That means it comes with the classic Fox Body engine options, including the 5-liter small-block V8. But those V8 models aren’t the most desirable 9th-generation T-Birds. That distinction actually belongs to the Turbo Coupe, a high-performance model powered by a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine!
The average used value of a 9th generation Ford Thunderbird is around $11,837. If you want one of the super-desirable Turbo Coupe variants, you could be looking at spending $20,000 for one of the best examples on the market. That puts it closer to the territory of a brand-new, base-model Toyota Camry than other Thunderbirds of this era. But it’s definitely a much more fun and interesting car than that base-model Camry!
4
Chevrolet Monte Carlo (2000-2007)
Average Used Value: $10,686
Much like the Lincoln Mark VIII, the final-generation Chevrolet Monte Carlo is massively overlooked. It’s definitely far from the classics that also bear that name in terms of what it is. It’s front-wheel drive, and the majority of its engine options were V6s. But, that doesn’t make it any less of a fantastic luxury coupe. That is especially the case with the SS, which received a V8 following the 2006 facelift. It was the first Monte Carlo to be offered with a V8 since 1988, and it used the 303 horsepower 5.3-liter LS4 engine.
The final-generation Chevrolet Monte Carlo is a departure from all the classics and modern classics on this list. But, it does have the potential to become a proper modern classic with time. The average used value for these cars is around $10,686. The most valuable examples are the super-desirable Jeff Gordon- and Dale Earnhardt-branded Signature Edition versions, which are in the same liveries that both drivers used while racing the NASCAR version of this car. A good Dale Earnhardt variant could cost you $8,800, while a good Jeff Gordon variant could cost you $16,200. That’s an absolute bargain for two variants that will definitely end up becoming very collectible with time!
3
Ford Thunderbird (1989-1997)
Average Used Value: $9,863
The second of the cheap Thunderbird models on this list, the 10th generation Thunderbird is actually quite similar to the Lincoln Mark VIII that we mentioned earlier. That’s because they share the same platform and many of the same mechanical components. That included the 4.6-liter Modular V8 once that engine became available, replacing the old 5-liter small-block unit. Like the 9th-generation Thunderbird, those V8 versions are not the most desirable variants. The one that the proper T-Bird enthusiasts want is the Thunderbird Super Coupe (also known as the Thunderbird SC), which is powered by a supercharged and intercooled version of Ford’s 3.8-liter Essex V6. At its height, this version produced 230 horsepower and 330 lb-ft of torque, significantly more than the old 5-liter V8 or the newer 4.6-liter V8.
The average used value of a 10th generation Ford Thunderbird is around $9,863. Cheap V8 examples can be had for as little as $5,700, while the best examples of the Super Coupe can be had for $16,000. For much less than the price of a brand-new base model Toyota Camry, you could have one of the most underrated gems from the American auto industry!
2
Chrysler Cordoba (1975-1979)
Average Used Value: $8,521
One of two Mopar entries on this list, the Chrysler Cordoba is another one of those classic personal luxury cars that doesn’t get a lot of attention. Based on the B-Body platform that also underpinned the Dodge Charger and Dodge Coronet at the time, this car actually helped Chrysler survive the worst of the oil crisis. Chrysler was losing a great deal of money from declining full-sized sedan sales, and so it adapted the Dodge Charger SE into a Chrysler model to sell as a more compact option. While it was clearly intended to be a smaller, more oil-crisis friendly car, it still had proper V8 engines. These went up to a 400 cubic inch variant of the Chrysler B engine.
The average used value for a Chrysler Cordoba from this period is now around $8,521. Great, low-mileage examples can be had for as little as $9,000, and you likely won’t end up paying more than $17,777. This is an absolute bargain personal luxury car that’s much better value for money (and has far more cool factor) than a brand-new, base-model Toyota Camry.
1
Dodge Magnum (1978-1979)
Average Used Value: $5,620
If you’re younger, you might associate the Dodge Magnum name with the high-performance wagon that was produced during the 2000s. But, the Magnum nameplate can actually be traced back much further than that. After being used as a name for the 440 cubic inch big-block V8 used in several of Dodge’s top-of-the-line muscle cars, the name was given to its own car in 1978. It comes from the same B-Body platform as the Chrysler Cordoba discussed earlier, and came with exactly the same engines.
Surprisingly, the late ’70s Dodge Magnum is the cheapest car overall on this list! The average used value is just $5,620, and even good examples with low miles will cost you $9,250. This rarely mentioned personal luxury car from Mopar could very well be the classic American car bargain of the century so far!
Sources: Bring A Trailer, Classic.com, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Lincoln, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Toyota
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