Just about every city and small town in America hosts a classic car show at least once during a given summer in which local enthusiasts shine up their vintage rides and proudly put them on display for the public to appreciate.
We’ve been to many of these shows over the years and have noticed a significant difference in the types of cars being shown, depending on the area. Cars taking stage at a show held in a modest suburb may be populated mainly by older Mustangs, Camaros, and the like, while one held in an affluent area often feature a higher ratio of rare European sports cars, and another conducted in the central city might exhibit a more eccentric assortment of vintage rides.
Illustrating the regional preferences for certain collectible cars, ClassicCars.com recently tallied up its online searches over the course of a year to determine which vintage models are of most interest to enthusiasts in each of all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia.
Muscle cars rule the roost in this regard, with various model years of the Dodge Charger being the most-searched collectible car in the nation. Running in its original iteration from 1966 through 1978 (and subsequently revived as a performance-minded sedan in 2006), the classic muscle car is perhaps best known in its 1969 edition for its role as “General Lee” in the Dukes of Hazzard TV show from the early 1980’s.
The Charger ranked first in 13 U.S. states as the most searched collector car, followed by the iconic Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Chevrolet Camaro, and the Pontiac Firebird. In a list that’s dominated by good old Detroit iron, the lone European car to be favored by a given state is the tiny British MGB roadster, which for some reason is the vintage ride preferred by those living in Nebraska.
The few other less-conventional models among the most favored collectibles include the much-beloved Chevrolet El Camino car-based pickup truck in Illinois and South Dakota, the Ford Custom in Connecticut, and the Ford Fairlane in Oklahoma, and a 1935 Ford Pickup in Idaho.
“Nothing truly personifies American car collector’s pride, passion and freedom like a muscle car,” says Roger Falcione, president and CEO of ClassicCars.com. “They are powerful, beautiful, designed for maximum performance. Tastes evolve regionally, but the staples of the performance car market have remained constant, and that is why we believe values continue to be so strong for cars like the Charger and Mustang.”
Here’s a quick look at the nation’s preferences for classic cars by state, based on ClassicCars.com data (click here to see this expressed as a map-based infographic):
- Alabama: 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
- Alaska: 1963 Chevrolet Corvette
- Arizona: 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
- Arkansas: 1968 Pontiac Firebird
- California: 1967 Ford Mustang
- Colorado: 1970 Chevrolet Camaro
- Connecticut: 1949 Ford Custom
- Delaware: 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS
- District of Columbia: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Florida: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Georgia: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Hawaii: 1962 Chevrolet Corvette
- Idaho: 1935 Ford Pickup
- Illinois: 1969 Chevrolet El Camino
- Indiana: 1968 Chevrolet Camaro
- Iowa: 1964 Pontiac GTO
- Kansas: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Kentucky: 1967 Chevrolet Impala
- Louisiana: 1971 Ford Mustang
- Maine: 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
- Maryland: 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air
- Massachusetts: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Michigan: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Minnesota: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Mississippi: 1969 Ford Bronco
- Missouri: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Montana: 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
- Nebraska: 1980 MG MGB
- Nevada: 1956 Ford F100
- New Hampshire: 1969 Chevrolet Camaro
- New Jersey: 1969 Dodge Charger
- New Mexico: 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
- New York: 1969 Dodge Charger
- North Carolina: 1969 Dodge Charger
- North Dakota: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette
- Ohio: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Oklahoma: 1964 Ford Fairlane
- Oregon: 1970 Ford Mustang
- Pennsylvania: 1967 Chevrolet Nova
- Rhode Island: 1963 Chevrolet Corvette
- South Carolina: 1968 Chevrolet Camaro
- South Dakota: 1960 Chevrolet El Camino
- Tennessee: 1965 Chevrolet Impala
- Texas: 1969 Dodge Charger
- Utah: 1923 Ford T-bucket
- Vermont: 1967 Oldsmobile 442
- Virginia: 1967 Ford Mustang
- Washington: 1958 Chevrolet Corvette
- West Virginia: 1966 Ford Mustang
- Wisconsin: 1969 Ford Mustang
- Wyoming: 1965 Ford Mustang
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