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Insuring Your Muscle Car
When shopping for cheap car insurance for a muscle car, there are two choices: try to fit into the box defined by standard auto insurance, such as the kind in force on the car you drive to work every day, or seek out specialty insurance. Many people feel that the first method is the only way to get cheap car insurance, but in fact the opposite is true: if your muscle car is not driven as a daily street car, specialty insurance will probably be less expensive than standard.

Before you fire up your favorite search engine and start comparing rates, however, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Your car does not need to be an antique to qualify. While many specialty insurers target vintage car owners, and require that cars be at least twenty-five years old, there are companies that waive this requirement for "modern" classics – performance cars of distinctive style, or sporting unique modifications. A true collector car policy will likely have an age requirement, but, unless you live in Massachusetts where state law mandates the 25-year-old minimum, most muscle cars fifteen years old and older will be accepted.

  2. You don't necessarily need an appraisal. While the specialty insurance company you choose will require confirmation that the car in question is stored in a garage when not in use, is driven only on a limited basis (as in, you DON'T hop in and do the weekly grocery shopping or use it for your daily commute, but you DO go to car events or out for periodic pleasure drives), and will need an itemized list of any major modifications, unless your vehicle is extremely rare, extremely expensive, or unique in some way that makes value difficult to determine, an appraisal is probably not necessary, though most companies will tell you they reserve the right to require one.

  3. Specialty insurance policies don't require scrimping on coverage to save money. Because insurance premiums and coverage for muscle cars, vintage hot-rods, and classic cars is based on agreed value, which means that you and the insurer determine the actual value of your car and all its modifications, as opposed to actual cash value, which represents replacement cost minus depreciation (how standard policies work), your muscle car policy will likely be less expensive than your normal auto insurance. This is doubly true because you are less likely to be driving your muscle car in city traffic, rather than on closed tracks, or empty streets, so there is less perceived risk.

  4. There are no attendance requirements. A misconception among vintage and collector car owners is that you have to be physically present in the car when something happens or the insurance won't cover any damage or loss. This is untrue, but there are some restrictions that most specialty insurers put in place to be certain they are insuring vehicles that are prized by their drivers, not merely owned. Those restrictions include:

You must own at least one "normal" passenger car, and it must be adequately insured.

The car must be garaged when not in use.

You must be an experienced driver (generally ten years behind the wheel) with a good driving record.

You must meet the "limited use" restrictions mentioned in section 2.

  5. Conventional insurance won't save you money. If your muscle car is street-legal, you probably can include it on your standard insurance policy and get enough coverage to cover your medical bills if you are in an accident, but you won't save money that way. Not only will a specialty policy give you more coverage, because of the agreed value we talked about above, but you may also be able to find coverage with a small or non-existent deductible.

  6. Specialty insurance is not difficult to find. While more and more mainstream insurers are offering coverage for specialty vehicles, your current insurer may not want to touch muscle cars. Nevertheless, asking your current agent is one way to find specialty insurance. Other methods include:

Searching the internet – use phrases like "collector car insurance" and "modified car insurance"

Asking other owners – either friends who also drive muscle cars or members of owners groups.

Joining a car club – motorists' clubs sometimes offer special insurance, and when they don't, they at least offer lists of recommended companies.

There's a powerful rush that comes from getting behind the wheel of a muscle car, revving the engine, and taking off in a burst of speed. Making sure you and your car are insured against auto accidents and theft when you do so does nothing to stop the flow of adrenaline, and everything to ease your peace of mind, so that you can concentrate on more important things, like taking the next turn.