No bias here from the 97-2001 guys. haha :tongue::tongue::tongue:
My opinion- GENERALLY SPEAKING... the newer the car, the higher the value. Zanardi aside, I don't see any 97-2001 cars going for MORE than a 2002+ (with similar miles).
I think what you are observing here is a remnant of the "normal" depreciation cycle. It's just common sense that in the "used car" market, newer gen is always trading at a premium to the previous generation(s). It can be observed in just about any car market, really. Whether you are talking about a Prius or a Porsche this will hold true on a normal depreciation curve. Perfect example would be the Porsche 993 vs. 996. It wasn't very long ago that the 996's traded at a premium to the 993's. Of course it's entirely "obvious" now that the 993 ABSOLUTELY should be trading at a premium to the 996, right guys??
The NSX is in a very weird place now and in my opinion, is just starting to turn over into collector's hands. Collectors value things a bit differently than that of a vanilla used car market. Essence over age, rarity/desirability over mileage. I personally believe, (and sure, many might disagree) this is the sole reason the 02+ gen is currently the highest price segment. Over time, I think "tof" is absolutely spot on in his assessment that the 97-01 gen will end up being the most desirable. It's a combo of the scarcity, higher output, and in some cases lighter weight Zanardi's and fixed roof coupes while maintaining the aesthetic of the pop-up headlights. I happen to love the look of the fixed roof on the 91-94 gen over the color matched top of the targas (and some pre-97 coupes). To me that captured the essence of the NSX look that I fell in love with way back when it was in concept mode.
Time will tell on all this, and as pointed out, the state of the collector car market is (again in my opinion) quite overheated. I see people acting in the car market the exact same way we saw people flipping real estate in 2006. It's apparently people's god given right to flip Ferraris for an instant profit. We'll see how that ends. That being said, when this correction happens, I have no doubt it will bleed into the NSX market as well. At that time, my plan is to pick up a second to handle the DD duties.
Longer term, I am absolutely certain that the NSX will be a "hot" collectors item where the values will surprise many of us. Just please, take my advice on this: hold on to all your original parts if you do any modifications. I can't stress the importance on this enough. Collectors prize originality quite highly. The ability to bring a car back to "stock" is very important to future value.
OH! and to the OP's original question:
For over 18 months now, I've been keeping a running log of every confirmed observable transaction (Prime, eBay, dealers, etc.) Some of you may have even gotten PMs from me
On a higher level, these are some observations; assuming like condition & milage:
02+ Highest prices
97-01 next (very slight premium for 00-01; people care about perforated leather???)
now for something interesting 1991s and 95-96 trading similar
and 1992-94 are currently the lowest values.
Tells me early collectors are currently placing a premium of 1st year cars.
Over time, I would guess that value chart for USDM cars may look more like this:
Zanardi
1997-2001
1991
02+
1992-94
1995-96
Color doesn't seem to make nearly as much of a difference as many people seem to squawk about on the boards here. So, yeah, get what you like.
Another interesting observation is that when I started tracking the market, nicely modified cars certainly traded at a premium to stock. A CTSC car would almost certainly trade at a premium to a stock engine. It's been amazing to see over the course of the past 18 months or so that original cars went from a discount, to parity and since about 9 months ago, a steadily increasing premium to modified cars.
