The real collectors car from 1957?

Last night the Friends of the National Automotive History Collection (NAHC) at the Detroit Public Library gathered to announce this year’s winner of the Future Collectible Car of the Year award.

In this season of almost daily COTY/TOTY/VOTY awards, the NAHC award, though largely ignored by the conventional media, stands out.

The award is based on the fact that the ugly duckling of the 1957 Model Year, Chevrolet, became over the years, the surprise go-to car for collectors. Who would have thought? In 1957, both Ford and especially Plymouth had all new cars and the Chevy was warmed over from 1955 and 1956 models, although with crisper lines and tail fins. So the NAHC award reminds us all how hard it is to predict the future.

Past winners of the FCCOY award have included the reborn Ford Thunderbird of the new Millennium (likely) and the Olds Aurora (we will see).

Awards!

The vehicles are chosen from a list of models declared to be “new” each year by the Consumer Reports annual auto issue. Ballots are filled out by the members of the Friends of the NAHC to designate which vehicle is most likely to be the top collectible 25 years in the future, and in the past have tended to favor Chrysler products. (If you want to vote in the future, you will have to kick in $40 annually to the Friends.)

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