Five Old-School Car Features That Are Considered Highly Valuable Today

The world of cars is changing — sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Long gone are the days when automakers were largely free to build cars without layers of regulations governing emissions, noise, safety, and even design. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noted that cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks sold today emit roughly 99% less of key pollutants than vehicles from 1970.

At the same time, the Competitive Enterprise Institute‘s analysis reports that, since the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued 73 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), covering virtually every aspect of vehicle design and performance that automakers must meet before a car can be sold in the United States. Rules such as these ended fan-favorite features such as pop-up headlights and side-facing rear seats.

Moreover, our 2022 survey found that 28% of car lovers most want to own vehicles like the Lamborghini Diablo Strosek or Porsche 959 — cars never sold in the U.S. because they didn’t meet strict FMVSS safety standards. With that in mind, it’s clear that car enthusiasts still long for old-school features — features that, in today’s age, can actually make a car more valuable. Here are five old-school car features that are considered highly valuable today.

If you know anything about old-school Porsche 911s, you have probably heard Porsche guys complaining about the 1998 996 introducing a water-cooled engine and thus forever changing what the 911 carried for 35 years. We ranked every Porsche 911 generation from worst to best, and one of the reasons why the 996 is widely recognized as “the worst” is because it is exactly that. When comparing values of 996s to 993s, the air-cooled 993 consistently sells for significantly higher prices.

The 996, with its first water-cooled engine, remains far less valuable despite being newer. If we take a look at Hagerty‘s value assessments of the 996 and the 993, we can see how Porsche 993 Turbo values increased from about $165,700 to $189,000 — roughly 14 %. At the same time, 996 Turbo values dropped 3.5 %, with an average value of just $54,500 over the same period. Of course, such value discrepancies aren’t just because of the switch to water cooling.

It’s because the 996 never really hit the mark with its design (eggplant-shaped headlights) and because it suffered from dreadful IMS bearing failures. However, people love air-cooled engines because they were simpler, lighter, easier to maintain, and smooth. Like Brian Cooley from CNET on Cars said, “We shall not see their kind again, at least not in new car showrooms.” 

According to James Pumphrey from Donut Media, “Pop-up headlights are like a design icon that were weird. They didn’t really make a lot of sense. They actually came from a restriction or a limitation, and I think they’re like a perfect representation of everything that I love, and I think a lot of you guys love, about cars.” This quote perfectly encapsulates why car enthusiasts love pop-up headlights. They were cool, nostalgic, theatrical — all qualities that are difficult to achieve in the modern era.

The end of the pop-up headlight came in 2004 when, Chevrolet was forced to abandon it. This makes the Corvette C5 the last car to ever feature pop-up headlights. The reason why new cars don’t have pop-up headlights has to do with pedestrian safety laws and the fact that these tend to be sharp and protruding at the front. The Honda NSX, often regarded as one of the best analog sports cars of its era, features earlier models with pop up headlights (NA1) and later models without them (NA2).

The NA1 generation NSX is loved by enthusiasts partly because of the headlights, and some people were even willing to convert NA2 generations to NA1 pop-up headlights. The Lamborghini Diablo was also a car that lived throughout the pop-up era, and earlier Diablo models (approximately 1990–1998) designed by Marcello Gandini feature pop ups while very late models (circa 1999–2001) use fixed headlights. For many, the pop-up Diablo is what defines the Diablo.

Manual transmissions aren’t extinct just yet, but they seem to be holding on by a thread. Motor1 reported that, in 2023, only 1.3% of all new cars sold in the U.S. were equipped with a manual. Although this represented a slight increase (less than 1% in 2021), it is still a stark contrast compared to cars from the 1980s, when more than a third of all cars were sold with a manual. In 2025, less than 30 cars were offered with a manual transmission option.

It must be said that 1980s and modern-era automatic transmissions share little in common. Moreoverm, modern automatics are simply better than a manual in most daily situations. However, for car enthusiasts, an old-school manual car can make all the difference. This is also apparent when looking at values. At the top end of the market, iconic cars like the Lamborghini Murciélago can cost twice as much as a Murciélago equipped with an automatic.

For “relatively” more affordable cars like the 2015 Subaru WRX, a manual example is going to cost you approximately 21% more than an automatic. Even at the lower end of the enthusiast market, cars like the Mazda MX-5 Miata command higher prices when equipped with a manual. Although this is generally more true when looking at enthusiast’s cars compared to mainstream models, it still showcases how valuable a stick shift can be for the right buyer.

A naturally aspirated (N/A) engine is something we (largely) lost due to tightening regulations surrounding emissions and efficiency. It’s safe to say that not everyone is happy. Although you can still buy a large N/A engine in 2026, these are typically only reserved for high-end cars like the Ford Mustang GT and its Coyote V8, the new Corvette ZO6’s N/A V8, or the Ferrari 12-Cilindri N/A V12.

Regardless, people love naturally aspirated engines for their sound, linear power delivery, mechanical simplicity, and quick throttle response. If we take a look at examples of cars that switched to forced induction, downsized engines from N/A engines, we can see how the market reacted. For example, Hagerty reported that the naturally aspirated Ferrari 458 Italia has held value well or appreciated about 20 % on average from 2021 to 2023

At the same time, the comparably newer and more expensive twin‑turbo Ferrari 488 GTB has seen less demand and even depreciation in the used market. Besides often being the less popular pick for driving dynamics and feel, a turbocharger can also hurt an engine’s reliability because it demands more from the engine, while also raising operating temperatures drastically.

When comparing carburetors to fuel injection systems, carbs are preferred because they are simpler, purely mechanical, less expensive to produce, easy to assemble, and easier to maintain or repair with basic tools. Newer fuel injection systems are typically accompanied with more electronics, and not everyone prefers that. Some of the absolute most expensive cars in the world rely on carburetors.

For instance, the triple-barrel Weber carburetor 1960s Lamborghini Miura (the first mid-engine supercar) routinely sells for $1.7 to $4.5 million dollars. The 1962/64 Ferrari 250 GTO also uses Weber carburetors. In original form, as Ferrari Lake Forest reports, the two most expensive Ferrari’s ever sold were 250 GTOs — $52 million and $70 million. The 1965/67 Shelby Cobra 427 also relies on carburetors (Holley), and the price — $1.2 to $3.3 million.

As with most features on this list, the carburetor was also doomed with strengthening emissions regulations, and the 1980s were the turning point when carburetors began to be phased out completely. With that in mind, carbs represent a totally different era of motor vehicles, and because of that nostalgia and legacy, cars such as these are sometimes worth millions.