It’s going to be cars that we wished we own right now, and/or have friends that currently own. The Hemi Cuda wasn’t a very expensive or exotic car at the time, but now they are among the most desirable.
my guesses:
Euro crowd: B5 S4, E36 M3, E46 M3, VW MK4 1.8t…
JDM: Any gen Civic Si, Supra, Rx7, 300zx, DSMs, blah blah blah
Chest pounding domestic: 3rd and 4 gen f-bods, fox bod stangs, Buick GN, t type, dakota RT
My point is that what makes a classic isn’t necessarily whether it is a good car or not, but if it is something people will think is cool and brings back memories of the old days. The old muscle cars that demand so much $ today were really garbage from the factory. I have driven a lot of these cars. They were and still are junk! Poor build quality, terrible handling and dangerous brakes were the most common traits among these cars. With that being said, I see the DSM having no trouble becoming “classic”