There have been a few low-mileage Golden Age auction-busters, like the 1,845-mile 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona that sold for $3.3 million a few years ago, but for the most part, people bought classic muscle cars to drive the hell out of. The concept of speculative collecting didn't really become a thing until the 1980s, which is when we first started seeing people buying cars to sit on, hoping for a big payday down the road. Collectors weren't snapping up Chrysler K-Cars thinking that they would somehow become less awful and more valuable in the future, but there were some fairly limited performance rides that definitely seemed like keepers.We noticed a few low-to-no mileage classics on Bring a Trailer that have quietly become high-volume collectibles, with dozens of listings. There's actually some discipline involved with parking an awesome ride in the garage for decades instead of enjoying it to the extreme and, as you will see, it doesn't always come with a huge reward. In addition to pointing out these sat-on classics, we will do some muscle car math to determine if it was worthy investment to trade ripping up the streets in a killer set of wheels for a potential jackpot. 2006 Dodge Charger SRT8 High Retail Value: $9,950 Bring a Trailer Though it doesn't seem like that long ago when Dodge reintroduced the Charger, it's been 20 years and so the rebooted muscle car icon is officially a classic. When the Charger reemerged in 2006 as a four-door, Mopar enthusiasts were a bit shocked, because it had a couple of points of entry too many to be a muscle car. The design, however, was bold and aggressive, winning over even the most particular of purists. Also, the fact that the Hemi V8 was also back helped sell the Charger to long-time fans and a new generation of speed freaks. The 2006 Charger SRT8, came with a 425-horsepower 6.1-liter Hemi engine, matching the output of the legendary 426 Street Hemi that powered the Golden Age classics.Considering that this was the first time a Charger had a 425-hp Hemi since 1971 and that Dodge finally had a 13-second car in 35 years, many people figured the '06 SRT8 would be a car worth collecting. On Bring a Trailer, there are several low mileage 2006 Charger SRT8s, but they have not sold for very much. The highest sale was $26,500 for a 5k-mile car, which beats the J.D. Power high retail price of around $10,000, but that's hardly cashing in. The MSRP on the '06 SRT8 was around $36,000 so, adjusted for inflation, the car would have to sell for $60,000 just to break even, making this a complete bust. 1987 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z High Retail Value: $23,500 Mecum Along with the Ford Fox Body Mustang GT 5.0, the Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z was a defining ride of the 1980s, that let everyone know you were totally rad and maybe even just a little bit bitchin'. The IROC-Z started out as a performance package on the 1985 Camaro Z/28 and was named after the International Race of Champions series. Initially equipped with an okay 5.0-liter V8, in 1987 it was gifted a 5.7-liter engine that produced up to 245 hp, which was fairly gnarly for the time, and we promise that is the last use of inane '80s-speak in this piece. A 1987 Camaro IROC-Z was the money car that began the comeback of American performance, which more than a few people recognized as historically significant.Bring a Trailer has listed almost 50 '87 IROC-Zs in recent years, many of which barely saw street use over the past decades, but almost none that broke the bank. A 3k-mile car sold for $36,000 in 2020, a 569-mile car went for $67,500 in 2022, and a 2k-mile IROC was auctioned off for $60,500 in 2024. A loaded '87 IROC-Z originally sold for around $20,000 so most of these outpaced inflation by a couple of grand, but not driving that glorious car for almost 25ish years for a few extra bucks hardly seems worth it. That blue beauty pictured above has 3,053 miles on it and recently sold for $87,000 at the Mecum Florida Summer Special 2025, which actually is a decent profit, but it is a rare example of the IROC-Z investment plan paying off. 1990 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 High Retail Value: $35,400 Bring a Trailer When the C4 Chevrolet Corvette hit the streets in 1984, the performance landscape was pretty barren, still reeling from the effects of the Malaise Era of the 1970s that robbed American cars of their power. The 'Vette, however, had a reputation as a super-predator and so Chevy gave it a better-than-everyone-else 205-hp 5.7-liter V8, so it could maintain its position at the top of the food chain. Then, in 1990, in cahoots with Lotus, the ZR1 was developed as the world's fastest production car with a 375-hp LT5 version of the 5.7-liter engine, which was the baddest thing on the road that year. Production for the ZR1 in 1990, was only 3,049 units, so this was kind of rare and there was plenty of reason to think it would increase in value exponentially.The 1990 Corvette ZR1 wasn't cheap, originally retailing for $58,995, which translates into $149,050 in today's money, so this was a high-risk investment. Just as staggering as the price of the '90 ZR1 is the sheer volume of cars auctioned off on Bring a Trailer, with 164 listed. Nearly all of them are low-mileage cars that were sat on with dreams of a cash avalanche by the owners. Unfortunately, the most expensive one we could find was an 89-mile car that sold for $68,000 in 2023, which beats the average retail and even the original MSRP by a little, but isn't close to a major score on a long-term flip. More recently, a 381-mile ZR1 was bought for $58,277, indicating it's a buyer's market for the ZR1. 1989 Pontiac Firebird 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am High Retail Value: $66,300 Bring a Trailer In 1969, Pontiac unleashed the Trans Am performance package for the Firebird that would go on to be even more famous than its host model. In 1989, to commemorate two decades of awesomeness, Pontiac released the 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am, which was actually more badass than the original. Equipped with a more powerful version of the Buick GNX's 3.8-liter turbocharged V6, the car was laughably underrated at 250 hp. We know this is a joke because the Turbo Trans Am went 0-60 in 4.6 seconds and had a 13.4-second quarter-mile ET, which requires a lot more ponies to pull off. For what it's worth, a '69 Trans Am with a 345-hp 400 Ram Air IV had a 13.7-second ET, but definitely wins in the areas of collectibility and value.Speaking of value, a lot of people must have thought that a limited-edition turbocharged Trans Am was going to be a big moneymaker if preserved, because there are dozens of them on Bring a Trailer that still have that new car smell. With an original price of $29,999 ($79,887 adjusted for inflation) and a high retail value of $66,300, a low-mileage '89 20th Anniversary Turbo Trans Am isn't that great of an investment. There were a pair of sub-700-mile cars that sold for a little over $80,000 in 2025, but that's barely cracking the break-even point. For 3k or 4k-mile cars, the price drops significantly to the $40,000-$50,000 range. A 1,100-miler Turbo Trans Am sold for $57,000 in 2023, that could have been used to school suckers on the streets back in the day, instead of limping across the auction block. 1993 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra High Retail Value: $125,400 Bring a Trailer When we promised to stop talking like an '80s Valley Girl, we forgot that there was still a Fox Body Mustang on this list, but thankfully it's a '90s car so we don't need it. The third generation Mustang recused the nameplate from the awful 1970s Pinto-esque Mustang IIs and reestablished it as America's premier muscle car. Ford sent the Fox Body out in style with the 1993 Mustang SVT Cobra, which was a track-oriented variant packing a 235-hp 5.0-liter V8 and loaded with performance equipment. Only 4,993 SVT Cobras were produced in '93, but even rarer was the Cobra R variant that stripped about 450 pounds off the Mustang for serious racing, that saw a production run of just 107.All the other cars on this list technically made money, but didn't outpace inflation, so in reality they didn't make money. Those who sat on a '93 SVT Cobra, on the other hand, are seeing nothing but dollar signs at auction. If someone had invested $60,000 in a 4% CD in 1990, that would be worth $245,000 today versus the $70,000 people are getting for their un-enjoyed Corvette ZR1s. With a '93 SVT Cobra, people who spent $18,505 on a 1993 Mustang SVT Cobra are seeing six-figure returns on their investment. Bring a Trailer has over 100 auction listings, including many low-mileage ones like a 12-mile car that sold for $204,000 in 2025. There are quite a few SVT Cobras that have gone for over $200k and the high retail price of $125,400 proves this was the right car to sit on for a nice retirement egg-nest.Sources: Bring a Trailer, J.D. Power, Mecum