“Special Edition,” “Collector Edition,” “Limited Edition,” even “Wolfsburg Edition.” For decades, we’ve seen such trim packages slapped and stickered on the cars we love.
Cynics would call these pure marketing ploys on the part of the automakers, and they aren’t entirely wrong. But once cars become collectible classics, sometimes a special edition can mean serious market value. For example, a 2006 Ford GT “Heritage Edition” is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the equivalent base model.
There are plenty of instances, however, where bright decals and “special edition” badging make little difference, often under 10 percent. Here are six so-called special editions of famous classics that make the market shrug its shoulders.
Lincoln introduced its monstrous Continental Mk IV in 1972, and tricked it out in an almost dizzying number of special editions during its relatively short run. All of them were purely cosmetic, and oh-so-seventies. There were the “Gold Luxury” (1974), “Blue Diamond Edition” (1975) and “Lipstick and White Edition” (1975), but in 1976 came the “Designer Series,” with styling cues and special color combinations credited to notable fashion designers. These included the “Bill Blass Edition,” “Cartier Edition,” “Givenchy Edition,” and the “Pucci Edition.”
Any Continental Mk IV offers 19 feet of ’70s kitch and the special versions are particularly sharp, but they don’t mean much in the market. The cheapest condition #2 (“excellent”) value for a base model in our price guide is $20,000, while the most expensive special edition is $22,600, and most versions are within a few hundred dollars of each other. Lincoln continued offering the Designer Series trims on the 1977-79 Continental Mk V, and those fancy names carry a slightly higher premium there.
By 1978, the C3 (1968-82) Corvette was entering its senior years and GM did what it could to keep America’s sports car relevant. At the height of the malaise era, that meant flashy paint and decals.
Two new packages joined the lineup for ’78. There was the “Pace Car,” a replica of the black-and-silver ‘Vette that paced the Indy 500 that year. And since 1978 also happened to be the Corvette’s 25th birthday, there was also a “Silver Anniversary” model with two-tone silver and gray paint, aluminum wheels, and sport mirrors. Both models wound up being big sellers, with over 6500 Pace Cars and over 15,000 Silver Anniversary versions. They aren’t exactly rare, then, but while the Pace Car does carry a hefty premium over a ’78 base Corvette, the Silver Anniversary doesn’t. A base ’78 with the 350 cubic-inch L82 engine carries a #2 value of $27,900. A Pace Car with the same engine is worth a much higher $42,100, but the Silver Anniversary is just $29,500.
The CJ-7 could clearly trace its roots back to the military Jeeps of old, but the “C” does stand for “Civilian”, so it was offered in various trim packages and special versions to lure adventure-loving buyers into showrooms. One of them was the Levi’s Edition, and ticking that box got you special badging and Levi’s-branded upholstery that looks like denim but, for the sake of fire safety, is actually a nylon material.
The Levi’s look was a popular one that started in AMC’s cars and eventually spread throughout the Jeep lineup. It can add as much as 20 percent to the value of something like a Gremlin, but on a CJ-7 it’s less pronounced. On a ’77 V-8 model, for example, a base trim carries a #2 value of $34,400, while a Levi’s Edition is worth $37,200. Meanwhile, a “Golden Eagle” model with the same engine and in the same condition is worth a much heftier $50,400.
In 1979, Scottish F1 champ Jackie Stewart drove a new Fox-body Mustang to pace that year’s Indy 500, and Ford seized on the marketing opportunity, selling nearly 10,500 pace car replica Mustangs with two-tone pewter and black paint plus orange graphics. Ford offered a similar pace car graphics package on that year’s F-Series pickups and sold nearly 6000 of those, too.
Sixth generation (1972-79) F-Series in general have gotten rather pricey, with the median condition #2 value more than tripling over the last seven years. The big price differentiators on these trucks are body style and engine, while the Indy decals don’t do much. The median #2 value for a ’79 F-Series (F-100, F-150, F-250, F350) is $45,300, and for the Indy 500 Edition it’s $48,400. A ’79 Mustang Indy Pace Car, meanwhile, is worth two-and-a-half times as much as the equivalent base model.
For any carmaker that’s been around a couple of decades or won a major race here and there, “heritage” is a word that appears over and over in marketing copy. Ford, though, has stamped it quite a bit on its actual vehicles, with “Heritage Edition” versions of everything from old T-Birds to newer GTs and Broncos.
On the Thunderbird, Ford first marketed a Heritage model in 1979, and a Heritage model was still part of the lineup for 1983, the first year of the ninth-generation T-Bird. The ’83 Heritage Edition included chromed mirrors and available wire wheel covers, and standard velour bucket seats. These touches surely helped it stand out in the showroom, but 42 years later and the market doesn’t care much. The current #2 value for a base ’83 Thunderbird coupe is $10,100, and a Heritage Edition is actually worth less at $9800.
After 2002, GM killed the Camaro temporarily (and the Firebird permanently), but gave the Chevy a sendoff in the form of a “35th Anniversary Edition” model on SS-equipped cars. All were Bright Red with black and gray leather seats that had embroidered headrests. Each 35th Anniversary car also got a glovebox case with inscribed tire pressure gauge, depth gauge, pen, history booklet, and polish cloth. A total of 3369 buyers paid $2500 for the option.
That $2500 isn’t reflected in what people are paying today, though. For a standard SS, #2 values are currently $28,000 (coupe) and $30,900 (convertible), while for a 35th Anniversary Edition they’re not much different at $30,400 (coupe) and $31,000 (convertible).
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