Some car enthusiasts will remember the ’60s as being the decade of the muscle car, but it was much more than that. American buyers’ tastes shifted considerably, with domestic manufacturers offering faster and more powerful halo cars while European manufacturers focused on style and refinement as much as raw power. Japanese carmakers also began carving out their share of the American car market during the ’60s, although their early offerings were modest economy cars that aren’t particularly sought-after by collectors today.

In contrast, certain American and European models from the decade have emerged as long-standing favorites among collectors looking to relive the best that the ’60s had to offer. We’ve trawled through Classic‘s auction data to find five ’60s cars with both a high current value — somewhere around $100,000 — and a high volume of recent buying and selling activity. Thanks to that continued activity, each pick looks likely to hold its value over the long run.

Most enthusiasts will have heard of Enzo Ferrari’s famous reaction to seeing the Jaguar E-Type, when he supposedly called it the most beautiful car in the world. While there’s some debate over whether Ferrari actually said that, it’s easy to see why the quote has stuck. The E-Type is still instantly recognizable today, and will still turn plenty of heads wherever it goes. It’s one of the most game-changing English cars ever built, and it raised the bar for sports car design.

That importance has kept surviving examples in high demand among collectors, with average auction prices for the car steadily increasing over the last 12 months. According to Classic, the average resale value of the car at the time of writing is $109,156, although a handful of the most pristine examples have sold for more than $200,000. Most of the cheapest examples to cross the auction block are the 2+2 variant, which has a higher, longer roofline, and therefore loses some of the classic elegance that makes coupe and roadster E-Types so valuable.

The second generation of Chevrolet’s iconic Corvette sports car debuted in 1963, with an entirely new exterior design but the same 327 V8 engine under the hood at launch. The C2 was the first generation to use the Sting Ray name, and it would also be the first generation to offer a Z06 package. That package would push the car to new levels of performance, although it was the ultra-rare L88 engine launched late in its production that’s considered the pinnacle of the model today. While prices for L88-equipped Corvettes comfortably reach seven figures, the average sale price for the C2 is $125,151, according to Classic.

The exact specification of any given C2 Corvette has a significant effect on its value, with rarer and higher-performance variants consistently worth more. At the lower end of the price spectrum, some running examples have recently sold for under $50,000. A handful of ultra-rare C2 Corvette sales pushed the model’s average sale price higher at the start of 2025, before that average dropped again later in the year. However, the average sale price in December 2025 is still higher than a year prior.

It’s unquestionably one of the best-looking Mercedes-Benz models ever designed, and most enthusiasts would agree that it’s one of the best-looking cars of its era too. The “Pagoda” nickname comes from the shape of its roof, which was designed to be as stiff as possible while still offering good visibility for the driver through its windows.

Much like the C2 Corvette above, the W113 SL was first unveiled in 1963. It remained in production until 1971, evolving through three distinct iterations during that time. The launch Pagoda was the 230 SL, which remained in production until 1967. It was succeeded by the 250 SL, a relatively short-lived model produced until 1968 and replaced by the 280 SL.

Values vary between models, with the 280 SL selling for an average of $98,415 and the early 230 SL selling for $59,770, according to Classic. Overall, the W113 has attracted an average resale value of $85,180 over the past 12 months, although cheaper examples can be found for under $50,000.

While the first iteration of the Porsche 356 was launched in the late ’40s, the car continued to be produced in various forms until the mid-’60s. The third generation 356 B first appeared at the turn of the decade, and was available through 1963.

It sported more powerful engines than its predecessor, as well as various other mechanical upgrades and tweaks to its styling. Original examples of the car continue to hold their value well, with Classic data showing the average resale value of a 356 B to be $124,965 at the time of writing. Plenty of replica models also exist, although they’re usually not worth as much as the real thing.

The original 356 was the first production Porsche, and is considered by many collectors today to be a work of art as much as a performance car. The rarest examples regularly reach prices more commonly seen at high-end art auctions too, with several examples selling for more than $500,000 in 2025 and previous years seeing some examples cross the block for more than $1 million.

Buyers in the ’60s looking for some extra grunt from their new Chevrolet Camaro could spec the Z/28 package, which was unofficially said to produce as much as 400 horsepower with the correct options ticked. By Chevyy’s own estimates, it was good for 290 horsepower. It wasn’t like the standard 1967 Camaro was slow either, but that didn’t stop Chevy from selling around 28,000 examples of the Z/28 between 1967 and 1969.

Today, the car remains sought-after among muscle car fans, with average sale prices sitting at $104,990 according to Classic. The price range for the Z/28 is less broad than some of the other cars here, and while a few examples sell for less than $70,000, it’s unlikely that any buyers today will be able to find a running example in decent condition for under $50,000. At the top end of the valuation range, the rarest examples of the car can sell for more than $200,000.