Would you have ever thought that a 2008 Honda S2000 CR would sell for over $100,000? No? Neither did Honda. But the S2000 isn’t the only car that has risen to astronomical values in recent years. Other cars like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, the Ford GT, and Acura NSX are other prime examples of cars that surprisingly increased in value.

As car enthusiasts, we wish we could predict these things. Luckily, Doug Demuro – a well-known YouTuber and auto journalist – has come up with a way to predict if certain cars will go up in value. In fact, he recently made a whole video on the subject.

Doug Demuro shares his secret to predicting which cars will increase in value

Doug Demuro’s method for predicting which cars will increase in value isn’t exactly rocket science, but it’s still ingenious. “The cars that will go up in value in the future are the enthusiast cars that aren’t very desirable or appreciated right now. That’s my secret!” Demuro explains in his video.

To break it down, Demuro discusses that if you want to figure out which cars in the current market will go up in value, then you just need to look at the cars that people aren’t that interested in. For example, the current-generation Toyota Supra. Sure, it has BMW DNA and polarizing looks. However, it’s not exactly a hot seller right now and you can still pick one up at MSRP ($45,000-$50,000).

Demuro states, “I think that the Supra has not sold tremendously well, and the fact that the manual transmission has been pushed toward the end of the model life cycle. Manual, late-production Supras, I suspect, will become desirable long-term even though it doesn’t seem like right now that could possibly be a car that takes off, watch when it does.”

We can see Demuro’s formula in action – the current Supra is an enthusiast car that’s not too desirable right now, hence it could be popular in the next 10 to 20 years. Especially as all of the new cars become hybrids or electrified.

Need more proof? Here are a few cars that have increased in value

Demuro also shared some examples of other discontinued cars that were once unpopular, but have risen in value in recent years.

• Ford GT: While you might think this American-made supercar was an enthusiast dream car in its day, it wasn’t. “The Ford GT. That car was not popular when it first came out, initially, it was, there was a lot of demand, but it slowed down and the car started to depreciate. Many Ford GTs were trading hands for under $100,000,” Demuro explains. Now, you would be hard-pressed to find one under $300,000.
• 2001-02 BMW M Coupe: Ah, yes, the “clown shoe.” Demuro says that the M Coupe was “famously laughed at when it first came out for being ugly.” Now, nice examples are selling for around $100,000.
• 2002-05 Acura NSX: Would you believe that the last version of the first-gen Acura NSX was laughed at when it was on sale? “It was an ancient car that was totally out-classed by every other sports car in its day,” Demuro explains. But now, good luck finding one of these for under $80,000.

Here are some examples of cars that aren’t popular right now

By now, you might be wondering which cars in the current market might come with a lucky rabbit’s foot and shoot up in value in the near future. Demuro went on to make a few predictions of his own:

• Current-gen Acura NSX: It’s no secret that the last Acura NSX was not too popular. In fact, Acura made less than 3,000 for the entire world. However, Demuro predicts that its limited production run will make it rare someday. “Mark my words, it has all of the fixings. It’s hated in its current time, very low production, and there’s a special model at the end of its line.”
• 2022 BMW M3: Many BMW fans don’t like the new M3. Some think that there’s too much tech and that it’s ugly. However, Demuro thinks that those attributes will work in its favor someday. “As much as people hate it right now, I will bet you that in 25 years people are going to talk about this as being a ‘special, end-of-the-line great car from a great era,’” Demuro said.
• 2021 Toyota Land Cruiser: The Toyota Land Cruiser has always retained its value over time. However, the latest 200 series could be worth a lot in the future. “I think those will become tremendously desirable. Right now, no one is really paying attention to them. But in the long term, this will be a desirable car,” Demuro said.

Should you go out and buy one of these cars right now?

Not really. If you have the means to do so, then, by all means, buy an Acura NSX. But don’t expect it to make you rich right away. Most of the cars on the market will depreciate in value and some of them will increase over time. That’s basically all Doug Demuro was saying and these are his predictions. It’s not like he has a crystal ball or anything.