It is driving season. The sunny sky and temperate weather make it just the right time to cruise around town with the top down or take a winding road trip. And with the car auction calendar in full swing, it is easy to start shopping for the perfect classic that will be a joy to drive and possibly appreciate over time. After scouring investment guides, auction results, insurance reports, online sales and back-alley buys, we have come up with these five categories where you might find a bargain. Cars in these loosely-defined groups will cost quite a bit less than a blue-chip Ferrari, but they have great potential for gains. And they are sure to give you some memorable moments in the meantime.

The mighty Japanese

Cars from Japan are beating just about everything else this year in terms of their gain in value. Across all Japanese brands, a car in “fine” condition with minimal wear has appreciated an average of 18% over the past three years and 39% over the past five. The corresponding average for the market in general was 13% and 24%, respectively. The uptick is due in part to video games, which often heavily feature these cars. Primary among the jewels is the 1997 Acura Integra Type R; one at a Barrett-Jackson auction sold for US$63,800 in September, topping a 1970 Dodge Charger and a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback.

Overlooked Germans

Those who can afford a German luxury car are also often the type who can afford to maintain one. Most survivors then have remained in good condition. That even goes for “lesser” models such as the Porsche Boxster or the BMW Z4 coupe, less expensive options when compared with the brands’ top-tier sports cars. Classic BMWs saw the second-highest increase in requests for insurance quotes at Hagerty over the past year, most of them from shoppers under age 55, a sign that the cars are set up for years of popularity.

Weird but fun

This is a catch-all category for cars that were mocked when they came out but have developed a cult following on social media — a groundswell likely to push real-time sales. Apparently, some people just love their quirks: On Hagerty’s website, the number of insurance quotes for the homely Buick Roadmaster leads the overall market by 14 percentage points — that is more enquiries than about classic Jaguars.

Youngtimers

“Youngtimer” is a term first used by German car enthusiasts to denote any decent car 20 to 30 years old but not yet a classic in the traditional sense. In American pop culture, the term has evolved to refer to those top-end sports cars millennials and Gen Xers fantasised about in high school during the 1980s and 1990s. What is new is that these buyers can now afford them. And that is producing some surprising results. A mid-1990s Mercedes SL-Class rose 8% in value from 2017 to 2018, beating the appreciation of such icons as the 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo and a Jeep CJ-7 over the same period. Look for the interest here to creep into 2000-era models. In 2018, the value of a 2000 BMW M3 rose 22% from the previous year.

Trucks

Auction prices for trucks are up 15% from last year, and Hagerty insurance quotes have risen 40%. Sixty-one per cent of those quotes come from Gen Xers and millennials — a younger market bodes well for producing return buyers. — Bloomberg