The question always arises: what cars are considered collectable? One way is to look at what Hagerty tracks with their valuation tools. For 1981 cars, the full list is below—I have added a few comments.
Alfa Romeo; GTV-6 hatchback coupe, Spyder convertible
Alpine; A310 coupe
Aston Martin; Lagonda sedan, V8 coupe and convertible
Avanti; Avanti II coupe
Bentley; Corniche convertible, Mulsanne sedan
Bitter; SC coupe
BMW; 320i coupe, 633CSi coupe, 733i sedan, M1 coupe
Bristol; 412 convertible
Buick; Regal coupe, Riviera coupe
Cadillac; DeVille coupe and sedan, Eldorado coupe, Fleetwood coupe and sedan, Seville sedan
Checker; Marathon sedan
Chevrolet; C10/K10 pickup truck, C10/K10 Blazer SUV, C10/K10 Suburban SUV, C20/K20 pickup truck, C20/K20 Suburban SUV, C30/K30 pickup truck, Camaro coupe, Corvette coupe, El Camino pickup truck
Chrysler; Imperial coupe
Clenet; SII convertible
Datsun; 280ZX hatchback coupe
Delorean; DMC-12 coupe
DeTomaso; Deauville sedan, Pantera coupe
Dodge; Ramcharger SUV
Excalibur; Series IV convertible
Ferrari; 308 GTBi/GTSi coupe, 400i coupe, 512 BB coupe, Mondial coupe
Fiat; 2000 convertible, X1/9 coupe
Ford; Bronco SUV, F-100 pickup truck, F-150 pickup truck, F-250 pickup truck, F-350 pickup truck, GT40 coupe and convertible, Mustang coupe and hatchback coupe, Thunderbird coupe
GMC; C1500/K1500 pickup truck, C2500/K2500 pickup truck, C3500/K3500 pickup truck, Caballero pickup truck
Jaguar; XJ-6 sedan, XJ-S coupe
Jeep; Cherokee SUV, CJ-5 SUV, CJ-7 SUV, CJ-8 Scrambler pickup truck, Wagoneer SUV
Lamborghini; Countach coupe
Lancia; Beta coupe, convertible, sedan, and station wagon, Gamma coupe and sedan, Scorpion coupe
Lincoln; Continental coupe and sedan, Continental Mark VI coupe and sedan
Lotus; Esprit coupe
Maserati; Kyalami coupe, Merak coupe, Quattroporte III sedan
Matra; Murena coupe
Mazda; RX-7 hatchback coupe
Mercedes-Benz; 240D sedan, 280CE coupe, 280E sedan, 300CD coupe, 300D sedan, 300SD sedan, 300TD station wagon, 380SEL sedan, 380SL convertible, 380SLC coupe
Morgan; 4/4 convertible, Plus 8 convertible
Panther; DeVille convertible and sedan, J72 convertible, Kallista convertible
Peugeot; 504 convertible
Plymouth; Trail Duster SUV
Pontiac; Firebird coupe
Porsche; 911 coupe, 924 hatchback coupe, 928 hatchback coupe
Puma; GT coupe, GTC coupe and convertible
Replicar; sedan and convertible
Rolls-Royce; Camargue coupe, Corniche I convertible, Phantom VI sedan, Silver Spirit sedan, Silver Spur sedan
Saab; 99 coupe
Stutz; Bearcat convertible, Blackhawk coupe, Iv-Porte sedan, Royale sedan
Toyota; Celica hatchback coupe, Land Cruiser SUV
Triumph; TR7 convertible, TR8 coupe and convertible
Volvo; 262C coupe
Hagerty casts a wide net, except when they don’t (why does the Toronado go away in 1981 if it was around in 1980?). Speaking of going away, AMC, International, and Subaru all get no love when it comes to 1981 models.
Coupes are dominant—37% of 128 models listed with an additional 5% being hatchback coupes. Unsurprisingly, the rarest body style is a station wagon, at 2%.
Eighties Cars 