The 2000s Classic Cars
The first wave of true 21st-century collectibles.
Cars from the 2000s are only now entering serious collector territory. Limited-production performance models from this decade — early Z06 Corvettes, the first-generation Nissan 350Z, the Dodge Viper SRT-10 — are appreciating as the generation that grew up wanting them starts buying, following the same pattern that made 1980s and 1990s cars collectible a decade or two after they were new.
Notable Models
Cadillac Eldorado
1953–2002Introduced in 1953 as a limited-production, hand-finished convertible flagship, the Eldorado spent nearly fifty years as Cadillac's most prestigious nameplate. It's best known for the 1959 model — home to the tallest tailfins ever fitted to a production car — and for the 1967 switch to a front-wheel-drive personal luxury coupe platform that redefined what the name meant for the next three decades.
Dodge Ram
1981–2001Ram debuted in 1981 as Dodge's new truck branding, replacing the D-series (2WD) and W-series (4WD) numeric naming with a single "Ram" identity across the lineup. It went on to become so central to Dodge's truck business that "Ram" was eventually spun off as its own standalone brand in 2010 — a rare case of a single model name outgrowing the make it started under.
Dodge Viper
1992–2017The Viper was conceived by Bob Lutz and Carroll Shelby as a spiritual successor to the Cobra — brutal, analog, and unapologetically extreme. Its 8.0-liter V10 produced 400 hp at launch and grew to 645 hp by the final generation. The ACR (American Club Racer) variants set production car lap records at tracks worldwide. No car captures the raw American performance ethos more directly.
Jeep Wrangler
1987–2006The Wrangler replaced the CJ-7 in 1987, addressing real safety and handling criticisms of the CJ line (a widened track and revised suspension geometry, in particular) while deliberately keeping the open-top, removable-door, fold-down-windshield format that defined the Jeep experience for decades. It remains in production today essentially unchanged in concept.
Land Rover Defender
1983–2016Introduced in 1983 as the One Ten and 1984 as the Ninety (named for their wheelbase in inches), the range adopted the "Defender" name in 1990 to distinguish it from the new Discovery. It carried the Series III's basic formula into the modern era with coil-spring suspension and permanent four-wheel drive.
Mazda Miata / MX-5
1989–2005Launched for 1990, the Miata (badged MX-5 outside North America) was Mazda's modern take on the classic British roadster — light, simple, and rear-wheel drive, but built with Japanese reliability the old British sports cars never offered. It single-handedly revived the small roadster segment and remains the best-selling two-seat convertible in history.
Buying Tips
- 1.These are still largely "used cars" mechanically — a proper pre-purchase inspection matters more here than provenance or documentation debates that dominate older-classic shopping.
- 2.Verify recall and factory service campaign history is up to date, since many 2000s models had well-documented manufacturer recalls that are worth confirming were actually completed.
- 3.Low-mileage examples carry a real premium for this era specifically, since most 2000s cars were driven as daily transportation rather than preserved from new.
- 4.Check for accident history and prior modifications through a vehicle history report — these cars are recent enough that this kind of documentation actually exists and is worth checking.
