Cheaper taste: Classic-car feeding frenzy is over for skittish collectors

Lower-cost cars are booming as younger collectors pile in

The classic car market is coming to terms with a new reality, as years of climbing prices and spirited buying give way to a new era of more discriminating collectors wary of overpaying in unpredictable times.
 

Demand for cars costing more than $1 million collapsed at the 2019 Monterey Car Week in California last month, according to Hagerty, which compiles an index tracking collector-car prices. The sell-through ratio — a gauge of the success of auctions — slumped to 48 per cent from 67 per cent for these elite vehicles, while sales rates held up for cheaper models.
 

The trend