Hagerty UK calls the Ford Capri “Ford of Europe’s equivalent to the Mustang,” so two Capris and their Opel rival join five American pony cars on this list. Each one earns its place with a value record, a price guide or a survivor count.
Shine here means the market kept caring. Some of these cars climbed steadily for decades, while others came back from cheap-used-car territory. Where a source shows softening, that appears as well.
1. 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Yenko SC 427
Yenko Chevrolet ordered “a couple hundred” COPO Camaros for 1969, then added its own striping at the dealership. Each one carried a 427 big-block rated at 425 hp. In December 1983, a green example with 21,000 miles sat in a Hemmings classified for $15,000.
Today, Hagerty puts a #1-condition car at $158,000 to $330,000, an annual return of about 7.2%. Its Canadian valuation tool counts 24 auction sales in three years and a headline value of C$392,000. That figure was down 4.2%, though, at the time of reading.
2. 1968 Ford Mustang 428 Cobra Jet
Ford rated the 428 Cobra Jet at 335 bhp, although Hagerty’s guide says it really made more than 400. Ford put it in 2,253 fastbacks and 564 hardtops for 1968.
That small count matters at auction. According to Hagerty’s 1968 Mustang GT page, the top sale for a 1968 GT in the last three years reached $162,000.
3. 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 Fastback
The more common big-block GT used the 390 FE V8, rated at 325 bhp. Hagerty says 11,475 buyers chose that engine in 1968. Ford also sold 17,458 GT packages that year, and the Mustang line built 42,325 fastbacks in all.
Those numbers make it the attainable way into a big-block 1968 fastback. Even so, Hagerty cites about $79,589 for a good-condition GT with average equipment. In other words, the 390 fastback has kept its value.
4. 1967–1969 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S
Hagerty tracks the 1967–69 Formula S as part of the wider Barracuda market. It says Barracuda values rose nearly 15% over 10 years, and median #2 values climbed 7.5% over three years.
The peak came in May 2019, when a 1969 Formula S notchback with a 340 V8 and the rare Mod Top sold for $440,000. That made it the most expensive second-generation Barracuda sold, says Hagerty. To be fair, Hagerty also flags weak demand from younger buyers, and millennials make up less than 14% of Barracuda quotes.
5. 2001 Ford Mustang Bullitt
Ford built 5,582 Bullitt Mustangs for 2001. Of those, 3,041 wore Dark Highland Green, 1,818 were black and 723 were True Blue, according to MustangSpecs. The 4.6-liter V8 got a cast aluminum intake and twin 57 mm throttle bodies, while Brembo front brakes and a 3/4-inch drop sharpened the chassis.
Its price curve is the story. Conceptcarz logs a single 2009 auction sale at $7,500. By 2022, four sales produced a $32,450 median, and a 2024 car brought $24,200 at Mecum’s Indy Fall Special. The samples are small, but the trend points up.
6. 1970 Ford Capri RS2600
The RS2600 put a 2.6-liter Cologne V6 with alloy heads and Kugelfischer injection in the Capri. Hagerty UK quotes 148 bhp at the rear wheels, along with a close-ratio four-speed, lighter panels and ventilated discs.
On track, Dieter Glemser and Jochen Mass won the European Touring Car drivers’ titles in 1971 and 1972. Meanwhile, the Hagerty Price Guide values the car from £21,300 for a usable driver to £57,400 in concours condition, per Hagerty UK.
7. 1981 Ford Capri 2.8 Injection
Ford showed the Capri 2.8 Injection at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1981, and classic-car site Zwischengas credits it with a 160 hp six-cylinder engine.
Survivors are now thin on the ground. Of 8,500 examples still licensed in 1995, only 532 remain, according to Classic Cars magazine. Because the Capri has a strong following at home, the magazine called its price rise “inevitable.”
8. 1975–1988 Opel Manta B
The Manta B was the Capri’s main rival, and it outsold it. Hagerty UK counts 523,000 Mantas sold from 1975 to 1988, compared with 324,045 Mk3 Capris. Then the 1982 facelift added a fuel-injected 2.0-liter GT/E with 110 bhp and a 0-60 mph time of 8.5 seconds.
In November 2020, Classic Cars magazine reported that the GT/E had jumped 59% in its price guide. Today, Hagerty UK puts a good GT/E at around £12,000 and the best examples at about £18,000.
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