We asked three experts—specialists who work for auction companies that regularly conduct muscle car sales, and who therefore have extensive knowledge of these vehicles’ values—to select their favorite muscle cars from the era spanning the early 1950s through the mid-1970s.

Donnie Gould
RM Auctions Car Specialist

1957 Chrysler 300C Convertible
"It’s a really good-looking car, with a big open grille, a European-style grille. It’s short on chrome, which is unusual for a car from that era.

It’s extremely fast, the fastest production car built that year in the United States. It set the measured-mile fastest time at Daytona in 1957. It’s a pure performance car, the one that started it all."

1965 Shelby Mustang GT350
"This was the first year of production for the Shelby Mustangs. Ford wanted to upgrade its performance image, so it got together with Carroll Shelby, who was already building his Cobras. They gave him 100 cars initially, and he modified them at his shop at LAX airport. He modified the engine and the suspension and the interiors for racing. He made a total of 562 that year."

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS LS6
"This was GM’s most powerful production car ever. It was built for all-out performance, for the drag strip. It has 460 horsepower. It’s an asphalt-melter.

But it’s also very responsive, and it’s the best-looking muscle car that GM ever built. You could drive it daily if you wanted to. It has power steering and power brakes. By 1970, the engineering had become pretty advanced."

Drew Alcazar
Russo and Steele CEO and Co-owner

1965 Shelby Mustang GT350
"With Fords, it’s a toss-up between the Shelby and the Boss 429."

1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429
"The ’69 Boss usually carries a little bit of a premium over the ’70, because the styling is less clunky. It’s a little prettier to look at."

1969 Chevrolet COPO Camaros
"COPO [Central Office Production Order] covers everything with a shotgun blast—the ZL1s and the L89 convertibles."

1967–69 Chevrolet Corvette L88
"That’s still a highly coveted car. That’s where everyone gravitates with Corvettes."

1970–71 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda
"Our grandkids’ grandkids will know what a Hemi ’Cuda is."

1970–71 Dodge Hemi Challenger
"The pony cars are always going to lead the pack of the Chryslers. As long as they have Hemi engines, these are going to be the big daddy dogs."

Jason Rose
Barrett-Jackson Consignment Liaison

1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429
"They were built for race purposes, to compete in NASCAR. They always command top dollar."

1970 Plymouth Hemi ’Cuda Convertible
"They built fewer than 20 of them, and there are not many of those left intact. "

1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 COPO
"It was built with an all-aluminum 427 engine. Very rarely do you see one for sale, and when one is sold it always brings a lot of money."